Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	ghost_n	holy_a	trinity_n	3,214	5	9.7060	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01093	Atheomastix clearing foure truthes, against atheists and infidels: 1. That, there is a God. 2. That, there is but one God. 3. That, Iehouah, our God, is that one God. 4. That, the Holy Scripture is the Word of that God. All of them proued, by naturall reasons, and secular authorities; for the reducing of infidels: and, by Scriptures, and Fathers, for the confirming of Christians. By the R. Reuerend Father in God, Martin Fotherby, late Bishop of Salisbury. The contents followes, next after the preface.	Fotherby, Martin, 1549 or 50-1620.	1622 (1622)	STC 11205; ESTC S121334	470,356	378

fecerit quae persuadendi vim habeant id Dei munere fit quod verò suadeaetur non semper ex Deo procedit The power of perswading is alwayes the gift of God though the thing perswaded sometimes be not Yea and God himselfe expresly chalengeth the same to be his gift Yea the whole Trinitie chalengeth it who haue all a true right in it God the Father he chalengeth it vnto the Prophet Moses who when hee detrected his returne into Egypt vpon pretence of his stammering God himselfe demanded of him Who it was that had giuen the mouth vnto man Is it not I the Lord God the Sonne hee chalengeth it vnto his Disciples forbidding them to be carefull when they came before Magistrates what answer they should make them and assuredly promising that in that very howre it should be giuen to them And the Holy Ghost he chalengeth it assuming vnto himselfe that gift of strang speaking wherwith the Apostles amazed all their hearers They beganne to speake with other tongues as the Spirit gaue them vtterance By all which specialties this Conclusion is proued 4 Thus all those three Arts Grammer Logick and Rhetorick are all of them giuen vnto men by God Yea and that by God the Word who is the wisedome of his Father and who is the true light that lighteneth euery man that commeth into the world And this also by the Confession euen of the very Heathen For it is Epicharmus his Tenet that Divinum Verbum omnes Artes hominibus suggerit It is onely God the Word which giueth men the knowledge of all Arts and sciences Which if it be generally true in all Arts then is it most specially true in those Arts. For all those three Arts doe carie vpon them the very name of that God who is the Giuer of them For as God the son is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so likewise is euery one of those forenamed Arts. There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum and that is Grammer There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ratio and that is Logick And there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oratio and that is Rhetorick So that as God the Son doth carrie vpon him the Character of his Father so doe those threearts the Character of their Author Euery one of them is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as God the Sonne is So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in generall is like the nature of the Deitie which is common vnto all the three persons of the Trinitie and so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto all those three arts So that as in the Trinitie it may truely be sayd That the Father is God the Sonne is God and the Holy Ghost is God So may it be sayd in the Trinitie of those arts That Grammer is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Logick is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rhetorick is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here they are al conioyned together as in one common nature And as in the Trinity it may againe be sayd That the Father is not the Sonne nor the Sonne the Holy Ghost nor the Holy Ghost the Father so may it be sayd likewise in those three arts and sciences That Grammer is not Logick nor Logick Rhetorick nor Rhetorick Grammer Here againe disioyned And yet in another respect againe conioyned For as in the Trinitie the Father doth beget the Sonne and they two produce the Holy Ghost so in this other Trinitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ratio doth beget 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbum and they two produce out of them an other third 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Oratio So that those three arts are not onely affirmed to be the gifts of God by the testmonie of the Heathen but they also declare it by their very name CHAP. 14. Philosophie leadeth a Man vnto God 2. It hath in it a kinde of resemblance of God 3. It is acknowledged to be the Gift of God 4. And so likewise is Poetrie 5. And so all other Arts in generall 6. Yea euen the Mechanicall HAVING now dispatched the liberall Arts and Sciences and shewed how all of them doe lesson vs to God it resteth that we should ascend by them as by certaine streames vnto Philosophie it selfe which is the Fountaine and Springhead from whence they all do flow Tullie calleth Philosophy The Mother of all good Arts Omnium laudandarum Artium procreatricem quandam quasi parentem And Damascene calleth it The Inuenter of them Per quam Ars omnis Scientia inventa est By which all Arts and Sciences were first found and inuented So that what good soeuer we haue receiued from all or any of them in teaching and instructing vs to know There is a God all that we owe onely vnto Philosophy which is the first Fountaine from whence it was deriued though by them as by Channells it were brought and conueied Nay that which they taught vs but obscurely and indirectly as occupied properly in another subiect that doth Philosophy teach plainly and directly as hauing God himselfe for his naturall Obiect As wee may euidently see not onely by the notation of the Name but also by the definition of the Thing Both of them implying that Philosophy in truth is a kind of Diuinity whose Obiect is onely God And therefore Theaetetus in Plato calleth Philosophers by the name of Divines Omnes Philosophos Divinos appello And Socrates well approueth his calling of them so Yea and the very name of Philosophy being rightly expounded implyeth that his principall Obiect is God For by interpretation Philosophy signifieth The loue of Wisedome as the Orator giue th the accompt of that name Now The beginning of Wisdome is the feare of God as is plainly affirmed by the Prophet Dauid Nay true wisedome it selfe is nothing else but Cognitio Numinis rerúmque Divinarum The knowledge of God and of those things that belong to him as Architas Tarentinus expresly defineth Nay God himselfe is indeed the truest and highest wisedome So Aristotle God is an Essentia de Sapientia perfectissima And this is further yet confessed by the learned est of the Heathen as Pansa reporteth and proueth Aristotle againe speaking of wisedome saith that it is not an humane possession but an honour which is proper vnto God And he citeth Simonides for confirmation of it So that if Philosophie be truely the loue of Wisdome then is it the loue of God who is the truest wisedome As diuers of the Fathers haue from this ground collected So Clemens Alexandrinus Philosophi apud nos dicuntur qui amant Sapientìam quae est omnium opifex magistra hoc est Filij Dei cognitionem They bee called Philosophers with vs that are louers of that Wisdome which is the Creator and Ruler of all things that is in very deede that are louers of the knowledge of the Sonne of God So Damascen Vera Philosophia est Sapientiae amor vera

sense in the same hight of words Nimirùm Spiritus Sanctus quum natura sua sanctus sit Deus nos homines sanctificat ac Deos reddit The Holy Ghost being by nature both holy God by sanctifying vs men maketh vs become Gods So likewise Dionysius Salus non aliter existere potest nisi ij qui salutem consequuntur Dij fiant A man cannot otherwise attaine vnto saluation then if he first be made a God Which exaggerations of those fathers and Scriptures must not be expounded according to the letter as thogh men could be made to be Gods indeed for that is a thing vnpossible But the true meaning of them is that by our imitation of Gods vertue and goodnesse we are made so like vnto him and so neerely ioyned with him that we may bee sayd in some sense to be made partakers of his diuine nature because all those vertues in him are nature And therefore we may obserue in al the forenamed places that there is a mollification vsed to reduce the fore-named Apotheosis and Deification within the compasse of this sense Dionysius Areopagita where hee saith that All they which shall attaine the saluation of God must first be made Gods addeth for explication Dei porrò effectio est Dei quoad fieri potest imitatio cum eodem coniunctio atque vt ita dicam vnio The being made a God is nothing else but the imitation of God and a coniunction with him and that I may so speake a very vnion Elias Cretensis where hee saith that the Holy Ghost doth make men Gods addeth that it is per adoptionem gratiam that this making of them Gods is but onely Gods adopting them by grace to be his Sonne So Nazianzen expoundeth His being made a God to be nothing but onely His coniunction with God Quo pacto me Deum reddit vel quo pacto me coniungit Deo Which coniunction with God as Trismegistus teacheth is onely effected by religion and godlinesse Propè Deos accedit qui mente qua Dijs iunctas est diuina religione Dijs iunxerit That man commeth neere vnto God indeed that ioyneth his soule vnto him by piety and religion So likewise Boetius where hee saith that Beatus omnis Deus Th●t euery one which is blessed is thereby made a God hee addeth for the qualification of that speech Sed n●tura quidem vnus participatione verò nihil prohibet esse quamplurimos Yet there is but one God by nature but there may be many Gods by participation Not by the true participation of his naturall deitie but of his vertue and of his felicitie Yea and euen the Apostle Peter himselfe doth vse a further modification euen of this participation For where hee telleth vs that there be great and precious promises giuen vnto vs That we should be partakers of the Godly nature lest wee should misconstrue this participation to be intended of Gods true nature or deitie hee expoundeth himselfe plainely that this participation of the diuine nature must bee gotten by flying of corruption by ioyning vertue with our faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience goodlines and with godlines brotherly kindenes and with brotherly kindnes loue Which is the bond of perfection and tyeth a man strictly vnto God And this is the first degree of our felicitie with God which is affoorded vnto vs in this present life There be two degrees more which come not vnto men before the life to come The first that vertue brings vs vp to Heauen which is the place of Gods owne dwelling and there maketh vs to liue aeternally with him A thing plainely confessed euen by the very Heathen Pythagoras affirmeth in his verses that Si relicto corpore ad purum aethera perveneris Eris immortalis Deus incorruptibilis nec ampliùs mortalis When as our Soules our Bodies shall forsake And to the Heauens they shall themselues betake Then shall we be as Gods immortall beene All incorrupt no longer mortall men For we shall then enioy God who is our very life as the Prophet Moses testifieth yea the life of our life our vita vitalis as the Orator speaketh whereas this our present life is but vita mortalis a transitory and a mortall life But this saith the Apostle Paul we know that if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolued we haue a building giuen vs of God which is an house not made with hands but aeternall in the heauens And therefore saith Musonius that Vir bonus est civis vrbis Iovis quae constat ex hominibus Dijs That he which is a good man shall bee a Citizen of the Citie of God which is a Citie common vnto Gods with men Which is a probable ayming at the Heauenly I●rus●lem which in the Booke of the Apocalypse is described vnto vs. I saw the Holy Citie new Ierusalem come downe from God out of heauen praepared as a Bryde trimmed for her husband And I heard a great voyce out of Heauen saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and hee will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe will be their God with them Vpon which our cohabitation with God Tullie saith that we are Deorum quasi Gentiles the Countrymen of the Gods Nay generis divini the Kinsmen of the Gods as he addeth in that place of their owne generation as Aratus speaketh And therfore Tullie in another place speaking of the state of God and vertuous men after this present life he saith that they shall liue among the Gods Qui in corporibus humanis vitam sunt imitati Deorum his ad eos a quibus sunt profecti facilis reditus patet Such as haue liued the life of a God in the body of a man shall finde an easie passage vnto God because from him they haue descended So that God calleth those men to liue with him in heauen with whom he himselfe hath liued vpon earth Now the way whereby they ascend vp into Heauen there to liue with God is by instructing themselues in the knowledge of God As some euen of the Heathens themselues haue taught vs. Trismegistus saith expresly that Vnica salus homini est cognitio Dei haec ad Olympum ascensio The happines of man is the knowledg of God and this is our way of ascending into heauen Agreeing well with that of our Sauiour Christ This is life aeternal to know thee to be the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ. For as Bernard truly noteth Summum bonum hominis est plena perfecta agnitio Creatoris The happines of the Creature is the knowledg of his Creator Not a naked or an idle knowledg but a knowledg which is ioyned with the practise of vertues As the Apostle Peter teacheth vs. Ioynes with vertue knowledge For if they be

therefore Homer doubteth not to affirme expresly that it is onely God himselfe that is the giuer of Felicitie Iupiter ipse distribuit felicitatem Olympius hominibus The highest God is th' onely He That giues to Men felicitie And Solon prayeth vnto the Muses to obtaine felicitie for him from the Gods Musae Felicitatem a Dijs immortalibus mihi praebete O Muses bring me happines Which must come from Gods Holines For as Eu●ipides truly noteth Nemo Dijs invitis vel felix est vel infelix No man against Gods will Is either well or ill And as I obserued before of Vertue so may I now againe obserue of felicitie that the Romans consecrated it for one of their Gods thereby plainely insinuating that as Vertue so Felicity is the onely gift of God Both which points are affirmed by Maximus Tyrius in expresse and plaine words Ex Iovis nutu actiones virtutis felicitatésque hominum pendent Both the actions of vertue and all humane felicitie doe absolutely depend vpon the beck of God Thus the Heathens confesse that not onely Vertue which is the way vnto felicitie but also that Felicitie which is the reward of Vertue are both of them the gifts of Almighty God And therefore they must needs confesse There is a God 3 Nay they goe yet further For they not onely teach vs that There is a God and that hee is the Giuer of Felicitie vnto men but also that hee himselfe is the true Felicity of them Which the Romanes implyed in consecrating Felicitie for a God For thereby they insinuated not only that Felicity is of God the point before noted but also that God is the onely true Felicity the point now in hand Which they demonstrate vnto vs by a Gradation of three degrees First that Vertue and Godliness● doe so strictly vnite a man vnto God that in some degree that it maketh him partaker of the diuine and heauenly nature Secondly that this neere coniunction of man vnto God doth bring him vnto heauen which is the place of Gods dwelling And thirdly that there it maketh him partaker of Gods most blessed and beatificall vision which is the highest summitie of all true felicity And all these three points are so taught by the Heathens as though they had bene catechized in the Schoole of Christians For the first of which three points it is the constant doctrine of the wisest of the Heathen that mans felicitie consisteth especially in conforming himselfe vnto the nature of God and in making himselfe to be like vnto him So saith Iamblicus Felix est qui Deo quatenus fieri potest similis est He is an happy man that maketh himselfe as like vnto God is hee possibly can So Syrianus the master of Simplicus Boni causa est vt cum Deo similemur It is the cause of all good to make a mans selfe to bee like vnto God Now that likenesse with God cannot bee attained by any thing else but onely by Iustice Vertue and Goodnesse as Seneca truely teacheth Parem Deo pecunia non facit sed animus hic rectus bonus magnus It is not thy money but it is thy minde which maketh thee conformable and like vnto God if it be a iust and vpright mind a vertuous and good mind a noble and a great mind This vertue makes a man not similem Deo but parem Deo saith Seneca not like vnto God but in some sort euen equall with God For Aristotle citeth it as a common opinion that Ex hominibus Dij fiunt ob virtutis excellentiam That by the excellencie of vertue euen men doe attaine to a kinde of Diuinity A very excessiue and hyperbolicall speech but yet diuers such there be vsed not onely by Heathens but also by Christians to expresse that great affinitie and neere coniunction which vertue maketh betweene God and man Saint Augustine saith that it maketh a man partaker of God Dei sunt participatione foelices quicunque sunt veritate non vanitate foelices They that haue indeed the true possession of blessednesse and not the false imagination of it are blessed by a kinde of participation of God The Apostle Peter saith that it maketh a man partaker of the diuine and godly nature For as Porphiry obserueth of wickednesse and vice that it transformeth a man into the nature of a Diuell so is it also true of vertue and goodnesse that it conformeth a man vnto the nature of God Yea and some haue gone so farre as to say it makes vs Gods So saith Hierocles that Finis vitae est Deum facere ex homine The end of mans life is to make a man become a God So Seneca in the fore-alledged place Animus rectus bonus magnus nihil est aliud quàm Deus in humano corpore hospes A good and vertuous minde is indeed nothing else but a very God abiding for a time in the body of a man Neither haue Christians themselues abstayned from these exaggerated amplifications the better to recommend vertue and goodnesse vnto vs. The Apostle Paul telleth vs that He which is ioyned to the Lord is but one spirit with him And Boetius telleth vs that God only is our blessednesse and that therefore whosoeuer by God is made blessed hee is made by him A God Deum esse ipsam Beatitudinem necesse est It is absolutely necessary that God himselfe should bee mans Felicity So likewise Palingenius Deus ipse supremum est Eximiumque bonum propriè vereque vocandus Quem qui habet is debet foelix dici atque beatus God is the onely supreme good so properly exprest Whom whosoeuer hath he may be happy call'd and blest And so it is indeed because Felicity is Summum Bonum that is The supreme and the chiefest Good And therefore if God were not The true Felicity he should not be The supreme good but should haue a superior good aboue him and himselfe bee but a second and inferior good Whereupon hee addeth but a little after that if God himselfe be the supreme Good that hee which obtaineth that same supreme good hee therewith obtayneth to bee made a God Quoniam beatitudinis adeptione fiunt homines beati beatitudo vera est ipsa diuinitas diuinitatis adeptione fieri beatos necesse est sicut iustitiae adeptione iusti sapientia sapientes fiunt Omnis igitur beatus Deus Because by the getting of blessednesse men are made blessed and true Blessednes is nothing else but God therefore by the getting of God men get to bee blessed as by the getting of Iustice to bee iust and of Wisedome to be wise Therefore whosoeuer is blessed hee also is a God So Nanzianzene proueth the Holy Ghost to be God because otherwise he could not make him a God Si eodem mecum est in ordine quo pacto me Deum reddit And his Expositor Elias Cretensis deliuereth his