Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	call_v	law_n	moral_a	2,598	5	9.2562	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16623	A treatise of the nature and vse of things indifferent Tendinge to proue, that the ceremonies in present controuersie amongst the ministers of the gospell in the realme of Englande, are neither in nature nor vse indifferent.	Bradshaw, William, 1571-1618.	1605 (1605)	STC 3530; ESTC S106384	14,281	36

nor deformed hungrie nor yet satisfied sicke nor healthy c. 3 That may be Good a Circumstaunces of time place doe also v●ry the things of th●s kinde exceedingly For that in some tyme and some place is in different to sōe bodie that in an other place and at another tyme is Good or euill to the bodie in one respect that is evill in another et contra and that may be indifferēt vnto it in one respect that is good or euill in another Also that may be good or evill to one part of the bodie that is indifferent to another parte And a thing may be indifferent to one that is good or evill to another 4 A thing Indifferent in respect of the minde or Soule is whatsoeuer hauinge reference and relation to the soule b Either indeed or appearaunce of it selfe or accident actually or potentially doth it neither good nor hurt 5 The Goods and Evills of soule are either dispositions qualities or habitsin the soule or such actions as proceed from them As Thoughts words deeds All which are called Morall A Morall good is whatsoeuer in Man or from man is agreable and correspondent to the law of Nature Reason or the Diuīe Law of God revealed supernaturally in his word Vnto this head are to be referred all true wisdome knowledge vnder standing prouidence discretion and all actions flowyng from the same Also all Morall virtues as Iustice Tempterāce Holines c. With all the Actions proceedyng from them All which are squared and ruled by some or other of the former Lawes A Morall Evill is whatsoeuer is any wayes repugnaūt whether in generall or perticular to any of thos former Lawes As Ignorance Folly Iniustice intemperaunce c. with all Actions proceedyng from them 6 Those things are in a Morall respect indifferant whether they be Qualities inclinations Habitts or Actions That haue in them b neither vertue nor vice See ch●p 8. s●ct ●●●●●gent Herein such Actions of mans will are most frequent that are neither commaunded nor forbidden in the word of God 7 Ther is no Action of mans will so indifferent c So that by M. Hookers ●auor a man may by takynge vp astr●● or a ●●sh commit a Moral vice For example if he shoulde vse to d●e it in the time of p●a●e● but the doing thereof by some circumstaūce may be repugnaunt to the lawe of God and by consequent be hurt full to the soule of man 8 An Action that in some one respect vnto some one speciall lawe is Indifferēt in respect of some other lawe may bee Good or Evill As that action may be either Religious or Superstitious that hath in it neither Temperancie nor Intemperancie 9 Any action done by man that is not commaunded * Such are the Ceremonies in controuersie They are no where in generall or speciall commaūded no more then the shavē crown and holy water yet they haue been and are the speciall meanes and occasion of the Scisme of many hundred Brownists Of much superstion in many 1000. ignorant prorestants of confirmation of many infinits of wilfull Papistes in their Idolatry as is most evident Also yf it be a sinne to dislike our Lords spirituall there is no one greater caus that moveth those that the profane call Puritanes to doe it then these Ceremonies which if they might be freed from as all other re●ormed Churches are There is no other Ciuill obedience or subiection due vnto them that they woulde refuse to performe in as a lowe a degree as any other whatsoeuer by God either expresly or by direct consequent that is a meanes either of it selfe or by accident of any hurt either to the bodie or soule of a mans selfe or of his Neighbour either by bringing evill into them or nurishyng or increasing evill in them cannot beare the name of an Indifferent action For there is no indifferencie in that which being not required of God and therefore is not Good doth hurt any wayes a man which must needs be against the lawe of God For the some of the Lawe of God being the loue of God and our Neighbour And Loue aīming onely at the Good of the loued That action that besids the law doth any hurt to any must either haue an exceeption in the lawe or else be against it and thē it cannot be indifferent 10 Morall Actions whether virtues or vices respect either God imediately or our selues or our Neighbour as is intimated before So doe also all Indifferent Actions 11 That Action is indifferent in respect of God that doth neither advance nor obscure the glorie of God For this is the onely Good or Evill we can doe vnto God 12 Ther is no Action that a man can doe by the power of his will but either in it selfe or by accident it doth either glorifie or dishonor God and therefore no action in respect of God is merely absolutly indifferent c Such are the Cemonies and rites that are peculiarly acted in Divine worship if they be good lawfull but thereby God receaueth some Honor or dishonor 13 All Actions of Religion amongst which a What honor receaueth God by our ceremonies It is certaine that Antichrist receaueth great honor by them those are speciall that are peculiarly done in Divine seruice are if they be as they ought to be in a speciall manner good tending more directly to the glory of God then any other Actiōs th●refore no action of Religion whether it be Morall or Ceremoniall is indifferent but either good or evill 14 No Action of Religion whether Morall or Ceremoniall (b) Such are our Ceremonies else they are not Indifferent grounded onely vpon the will of man and not vpon the worde of God can bring any speciall glory to God and therefore no such Act can be an act of Religion but of superstition and therefore cannot be indifferent 15 Ther being some mysticall Ceremonies of Religion Good and some Evill If ther be any mysticall Ceremonies indifferent they must then in some speciall and materiall poynt differ from the Evill even as far as from the good But there is no mysticall Rite of religion (c) Crossing in Baptisme beinge no more commaunded nor no lesse forbidden then breathinge vpon the childe or anoylynge which are reiected as evill It must needs com nearer to these then it doth to Baptim which is commaunded but doth come many degrees neerer to the Evil then to the Good And therfore ther can be no misticall Rite of religion indifferent 16 An Evill Ceremonie of Religion being therefore onely Evill because it is forbidden of God A good Ceremonie of religion is therfore onely a good Ceremony because it is commaunded of God and that must be an indifferent ceremonie that is neither forbidden nor commaunded But all ceremonies in religion that are not good are evill and therefore there are no indifferent Ceremonies of Religion 17 As no man by his sole

that the Ceremonies in controuersie haue For that which is a grace and ornament to Good maketh the better hath power to make any thing good or evill better or worse For it is the property only of good evill either to make or increase good or evill in any thing 7 That e But such are the ceremonies incōtrouersie which doth more hurt or good then some things that are good or euell is not indifferent but either good or evill for nothing but Good can exceed in goodnes that which is good and nothing but evill can exceed in hurt that which is evil 8 Whatsoeuer f This doe the Ceremonies incontrouersie worketh vpon any affectiō of man stirring vp in him loue hatred delight sorrow zaele mallice envie Ielousie hope feare c. cannot be apprehended as a thing indifferent by him in whom these passiōs are wrought For it is the propertie only of those thīgs that present themselues as good or evil to begett and moue such passions in the soule of man For it is impossible that a thing indifferent apprehēded as a thing indifferent should beget any thinge in the soule of man but Indifferencie and a Stoicall apathie or sencelesnes So that whatsoeuer a g As our Prelates doe the Ceremonies man intirely loueth delighteth in admireth commendeth persueth with zeale cōmaundeth with authoritie Whatsoeuer also a man shall abhorre condeme forbid punish persecute he cānot in any sinceritie affirme that he iudgeth that thing to be indifferent but to be in some degree either good or evell 9 The omission of that is indifferent the commission whereof is indifferent and that whose h Such is the omission of our cerem●n●es said to be and that in a high degree omission is evel is certainly good 10 All the former premises considered this must needes follow That I To commaund our ceremonies is to commaund as the● saye a great good yea a publicke common good to commaund a thing indifferent is to cōmaūd noe good to for bid a thing indifferent is to forbid noe evell k But to vse the ceremonies is to doe much good if they edifie the soule To doe a thing indifferent is to doe no good To forbeare a thing indifferent l None are more spitfully intreated then those that forbeare these ceremonies and therefore sure their in they doe much euell is to doe no evell And therefore to punish for a thing indifferent is to punish for no evell Cap. 3. Of thinges indifferent in speciall 1 The essence of things indifferent consisting in a meere and equall priuation of Good and Evell there cannot be giuen any true kindes or degrees of thē For all priuattiues considered in them selues are of the same nature 2 Though their be no true kindes of them yet they may be varied according to the diuersitie of those extreames with which they are compared And therefore may be distinguished accordinge to the commen distinctions of good and evell 3 That Good that hath not an Evell opposite vnto it in the same kinde cannot be the extreame of any thing indifferent therfore cannot varie distinguish or denominat a thing indifferent as if their be not an opposit colour vnto white then it is impossible to imagine how white should be an extreame to any other colour or any other colour a mean vnto it 4 That which is properly a mean must agree with the extreames in althinges in which the extreames doe agree for example If blacke and white be both of them colours that which is properlie a mean between blacke and white must be a colour also for it were absurd to call any thing but a colour a mean between blacke and white so that the mean followes the common natures qualities of both the extreames for as it is saide before That only is a mean that is not only equally distant from two extreāes but withall is as neere to both as may be which cannot be verified of that mean that shall not be found to agree with the extreams in those things wherin the extreames doe agree within them selues and therefore things indifferent follow their extreames As therfore that cannot be an extreame that hath not in the same kind an opposite so that can be no medium to any extreams that doth dissent from them in that wherein they shall accord and agree So that that denomination and predication that belonges to both extreames belongs also to their mean The mean between two opposite Qualities is a Qualitie betweene two substances a substance between two actions an Action between two goods a Good betweē two evills an Euil betwen two quantities a quantitie c. 5 Hence it will followe that no a All substances therefore are indifferent only by accident in respect of some vse substance as it is a substance can be called thing indifferent because that ther is a no substance that is evill as it is a substance For an indifferent substāce must needs if ther were any such be a mean between a good and an evill substance Yf then there be no evill substaunces it cannot be imagined how there should be any indifferent 6 The like may be saide of all b As also of all artificiall which imitate natures created species and kindes of things cosidered not only in their substances but qualities and dispositions For the voyce of God pronouncynge them all to be good none of them are evell and if none of them be evell none are indifferent For indifferent created things can haue no place either reall or imaginatiue but between a created Good and a created Evell There is therefore no Creature of God nor noe created propertie or qualitie of any creature that is by creation a Thing Indifferent 7 Also vpon the said groūds it apperes that there is noe B And therefore there cannot be made an absolut and perpetuall law concerning any thing vnder the name of indifferent for a law bindeth onlye to good and punisheth for euell and therfore to imagine a law that bindeth to the doinge of a thing indifferent when that thing indifferent turns evel● as the most indifferent thing may then the force of the law ceaseth absolute Indifferent thing because their is no thing in nature either absolutly good or absolutly evell It being impossible that any thinge should be an absolute Mean whose extreames are not absolute for where one extreame is absolute and the other not absolute the Mean cannot be absolute for if it be it enclineth more to one extreame then the other which is to distroye the nature of a thinge indifferent CAP. 4. Of the first distinction of things indifferent 1 Things indifferent therefore being to be distinguished according to those distinctions of Good and Evell that are equally commen to them both we are in the next place distinctly to propounde the same and by them accordingly to distinguish the other 2 First therfore Good Euell is such either in