Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	assume_v	person_n	union_n	5,317	5	10.0544	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81228	A discourse concerning Christ his incarnation, and exinanition. As also, concerning the principles of Christianity: by way of introduction. / By Meric Casaubon. D.D.	Casaubon, Meric, 1599-1671.	1646 (1646)	Wing C803; Thomason E354_1; ESTC R201090	58,852	100

and wickednesse in men and among men either at all or so far to prevail They commonly distinguish of severall degrees or kinds of creatures with relation to goodnesse by God created the last kinde whereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is their word are those whose condition is to be mutable to fall and to rise again sometimes to look upwards unto the fountain of good sometimes to be swayed downwards by the contagion of the body and deceitfulnesse of the world and their determination upon the matter is that neither the power nor the wisdom of Almighty God would or could so much have appeared if this kind also this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had not been What they say being grounded upon no better authority then humane ratiocination will not much concern us but to check our impiety if neither reason commended unto us with the advantage of such precedents nor religion grounded upon certain revelation can doe that in us which bare and naked reason could in them to make us if not to plead for our Creator by strength of arguments yet to acknowledge him good and wise in all his ways even beyond our understandings and where our reason is at a stand Another reason is given because God having in himself predetermined the redemption of collapsed mankind by the Incarnation of his Son he therefore left Adam to the liberty of his will and the Devill of his malice because no other way can be conceived how he might more effectually have demonstrated and revealed at once unto men and Angels the infinitenesse both of his goodnesse and of his justice as we shall have occasion afterwards to shew more at large Adam then and in him humana natura or mankind in generall being so created by God and through the temptation of the Devill and his own wretchednesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greek Fathers usually call it that is loosenesse and remisnesse of the minde accompanied with carelesnesse and security so lapsed it pleased Almighty God in the depth of his goodnesse and wisdome to appoint his restauration by the Incarnation of his Son that eternall Word by whom he had made as all other things so man particularly that is That his Son coeternall with him and from all eternity by an incomprehensible mystery begotten by him should in the fulnesse of time be made flesh that is assume the nature of man unto himself into a perfect Union but without mixture or confusion of two natures in one person that so united and so incarnated he might offer himself by his Passion Christ as God Man though not in his Deity suffering unto God his Father as a sufficient ransome in his strictest justice for the sins of all men to the end that whosoever should beleeve in him so incarnated and by a lively faith lay hold on the merits of his death might not perish but as a true member of his mysticall body might have in him everlasting life How Christ the eternall Son of God came to be the son of a woman as it doth deeply concern us not to be ignorant of what the Scriptures have revealed unto us about it so to goe beyond that I conceive no lesse dangerous The Scriptures say as we have it in our Creed that he was conceived of the holy Ghost born of the Virgyn Mary and the words of the Angel to the blessed Virgin are known Luke 1.35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that Holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God If any man venture beyond this in discoursing the manner how I dare not follow him It is observed and observable indeed that in this mystery Christ is not so properly said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is begotten though that word also be used sometimes as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made as not begotten of the substance or essence of the Holy Ghost as ordinarily children are of the substance of their fathers but made by the power of the Holy Ghost of the substance of the Virgin Mary onely Whereupon ancient Fathers were wont to say that as Christ in regard of his eternall generation is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is without a Mother so in regard of his temporall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is without a Father There is good use of this observation against those hereticks of old and the Anabaptists of later times who though they could not agree among themselves how Christ came to have a body whether true or imaginary and the like yet agreed in this to deny that he was made of the substance of a woman This is the mystery of which we may truly say that it is The chiefest of the ways of God That the justification of any one sinner is a greater work then the Creation of the world in generall is by many maintained and divers reasons are given for it I durst not undertake for the solidity of all those reasons those excepted that are drawn from this very particular of Christ his Incarnation that are given but certainly this mystery of the Son of God his Incarnation is so transcendent a miracle above all other miracles of the world whether Creation or any other as that wee may justly doubt whether he truly beleeve it or ever took it into serious consideration who in comparison of this doth admire any thing else For as for those things that are commonly most admired and for the wonderfulnesse by divers thought incredible if a man shall rationally consider of them they will not so appear in very deed It is the saying of an ancient Father one of the most learned and rationall of those times that there is but one true miracle in the world and that is an Omnipotent God Having instanced in some one particular which among the many strange sights of this world he thought might seem as strange as any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he Theodor Therapeut l. 3. Sed ibi Latinus interpres mentem verborum non assecutus est non expressit certè a miracle above a miracle and presently upon better consideration as it were he doth correct himself And yet I dare say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the miracle is no miracle For God to whom al things that he can think convenient are easie being the author or workman we have much reason to glorifie the author but no reason at all to wonder at the matter He gives the reason in another place That any thing should be whether by generation or creation whereof a cause God that is the supream cause can be given right reason will easily allow of But that any thing should bee without a cause as God onely is no reason can comprehend Vos enim ipsi dicere soletis nihil esse quod Deus efficere non possit quidem sine labore ullo ut enim

apud Comicum quidam suam in re praesenti certâ excusat incredulitatem Nescio nisi quia tam miserè hoc esse cupio verum cò vereor magis and wondered Whilest the text saith they beleeved not for joy it saith also that they beleeved for else whence was their joy He who in the consideration of this mystery never had any experience of this kind of unbeleef it may be doubted whether he ever did much fixe his thoughts upon the consideration of it Saint Paul himself as a man may gather from his words found it no very easie businesse therefore with such zeal and fervency addressed himself to God for others as where he prays for the Ephesians Eph. 3.16 17 18 19. That God would grant them according to the riches of his glory to bee strengthned with might in the inner man That Christ might dwell in their hearts that being rooted and grounded in love They might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height And to know the love of God which passeth knowledg that they might be filled with all the fulnesse of God By which words and others to the same purpose Ch. 1 v.16 17 18 19. doth appear that although he thought the mattter incomprehensible yet the frequent meditation and contemplation of it necessary It is indeed of sigular good use to wean us from the world to purge us altogether from the grossest and to moderate and allay in us the best of earthly affections and we may certainly conclude that whosoever by a settled and constant arbitration of his minde or judgement doth propose to himself the things of this world wealth honour or life as much considerable either never seriously beleeved or doth not actually beleeve this sacred mystery of Christ the Son of God his Incarnation for the redemption of mankind Of Christ his EXINANITION BEing to treat of Christ his Exinanition by its self as distinct from his Incarnation we must of necessity begin with the word it self and the different uses and notions of it in this sacred argument This word then Exinanition applied to Christ is taken the word we say for the matter of it is found elsewhere also from the words of the Apostle to the Philippians where in the second chap. and third verse exhorting them to meeknesse and humility Let nothing be done through strife and vain-glory c. in the sixth and following verses he proposes unto them the example of Christ in these words Let this mind be in you Phil. 2.5 6 7 8. which was also in Christ Jesus Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equall with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likenesse of men And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse Where we render it but made himself of no reputation it is in the Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated by the Vulgar sed seipsum exinanivit and by Beza sed ipse se exinanivit As concerning those words in the sixth verse Who being in the form of God with Arrians and Socinians who deny the Deity and eternity of Christ there is not little contestation about the true meaning so concerning these the form of a servant in the seventh with those called commonly Lutherans who maintain a reall communion or communication of proprieties whereof we have treated before There is also no small controversie concerning the right sense of those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate thought it not robbery In Diatriba De Verb usu c. of which I have had occasion to treat elsewhere at large where upon good grounds as I conceive it is shewed that the words import he made it not a matter of triumph or ostentation by which interpretation the Orthodox sense of the former words who being in the form of God is much confirmed and the most plausible objections against it taken away But this will not concern us here The Exinanition then of Christ is here in these words of the Apostle grounded in the first place in that hee took upon him the forme of a servant which words both in opposition to the former the forme of God and as they are further expounded by the Apostle himself in the words following in the likenesse of men and in the fashion like a man must needs imply the very essence and nature of man as principally intended yet with an aggravation as if he had said not the essence and nature of man onely but of an abject contemptible miserable man which is included in the word servant Hence it is that the ancient Fathers use the words Exinanitio and forma fervi very frequently in a double sense understanding by it oftentimes the Incarnation of Christ or his assuming of the humane nature barely and sometimes the low condition the personall reproaches and sufferings of that humane nature which he assumed Certainly in Christ his Incarnation was his greatest abasement that the Almighty the Creator of men and Angels would stoop so low as to be made man a creature in which word though it should not be added so vile a creature as man or so despicable a man the lowest fall of abasement may be thought comprehended Homo sum humani à me nihil alienum puto there is no kind of suffering but may be conceived incidentall and in some sort naturall unto man But that the Infinite Eternall Omnipotent would be man that he might suffer is above all that can be said or conceived or indeed beleeved by naturall man But on the other side because the same Christ as true man by his Incarnation and as man considered subject to sufferings so he continued neverthelesse as truly and entirely what he was before Infinite Eternall Omnipotent that he should though in his humane nature onely suffer can as little be conceived had not the Deity so far for a time though not by any separation withdrawn or withheld its influence as to leave the humane nature obnoxious to whatsoever bare humanity sin always excepted was capable of So that here is Exinanition upon Exinanition And so may Christ rightly enough and agreeably to antiquity though there is much contesting between some Protestants of the Lutheran Confession and some others about it be said to have been abased or exinanited according to both natures this always presupposed and understood that the divine nature in Christ did not by this abasement or Exinanition which cannot be conceived without blasphemy suffer any manner of change or alteration Exinanition as by learned men hath been observed is also taken sometimes by some Ancients in a more generall sense grounded perchance upon the words of the Psalmist Psal 113.6 Who humbleth himself c. for that affection of mercy and compassion which moved God