Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	godhead_n	person_n	union_n	3,927	5	9.3251	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38007	A farther enquiry into several remarkable texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some difficulty in them with a probable resolution of them / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1692 (1692)	Wing E206; ESTC R37315	201,474	386

Tradition of Men i. e. it is the result of Humane Wit only it is the meer Institution of Man and hath nothing Divine and Heavenly i. e. of supernatural Revelation in it And therefore this Clause cannot be understood as it is by most Expositors of the Legal and Mosaical Ceremonies which we know were instituted by God himself The Apostle adds that it is after the Rudiments of the World i. e. it is a meer do●ing on the Custom and Prescription of the Men of the World It is an adhering to the Opinions of the chief part of Mankind who are pleas'd with the Philosophy as well as the Religion of their Country It is true the Rudiments of the World in 2 Cor. 2. 20. and in Gal. 4. 3. are the Ceremonial Law which was as the first Rudiments or Alphabet in which the World was instructed at first and train'd up and taught a Religion which was to make way for a more perfect One. Or the Jewish Rites and Ceremonies are call'd the Elements or Rudiments of the World saith * In Galat. 4. 3. Grotius because the chief of those Ceremonies viz. Temples Altars Sacrifices First-Fruits c. were common to all the World But though the Rudiments of the World are to be understood in those fore-named places of the Iewish Ceremonies yet it doth not follow thence that those Expressions are to be understood so here for the same words may be diversly taken according to the different Matter they are applied to It is probable that the Rudiments of the World mention'd in the 20 and 22 Verses of this Chapter wherein this Text is are meant of the upstart Doctrines of some Heretical Christians If ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World i. e. if you have no regard to Errors and false Opinions which worldly Men hold in opposition to Christ's true Doctrine Why do ye dogmatize so it is in the Greek after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men The Mosaical Ordinances seem not to be intended here as our Translators import for the things which the Apostle speaks of are * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doctrines of Men. This cannot be applied to the Ordinances and Rites appointed by God from Heaven as the Judaical Ceremonies were Therefore the Rudiments of the World here are the Inventions of worldly-minded Hereticks who were at that time crept into the Church and the Apostle smartly demands of the Colossians Why some among them did so stifly and dogmatically adhere to the Opinions of those Seducers who bid them touch not taste not handle not i. e. superstitiously forbad them to eat certain Meats and perswaded them to abstain from Marriage as a thing unlawful And as Heretical Opinions are referr'd to in this place so something else may be meant by these words in another and particularly in the Text where it is plain that the Rudiments or Elements of the World refer to the Philosophy just before mentioned the Apostle seeming to allude to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the four Elements of the World those simple Bodies of which all mundane Things consist and which are generally the Subject of Philosophers And thus the wo●d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken in Wisd. 7. 17. where you read that Wisdom teacheth Men the knowledg of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Composition of the World and the Operation of the Elements It is likely then that the Apostle hath an Eye here to the Mundane Philosophy or to the Philosophers who doted on the several Elements as Thales on Water another on Fire and the rest on the other Elements as the first Principles of all things Thus you see how reasonable it is to apply the Rudiments of the World to the Philosophy here spoken of and not to the Mosaical Ceremonies as Expositors generally have done So that Ancient and Learned Father Clemens Alexandrinus declares that Philosophy and the Rudiments of the World are in this place the same But he gives this Reason why the Apostle * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calls it the Elements of the World viz. because it teacheth the First Elements and is but a preparatory Discipline to Truth These first Rudiments and Elements are weak and beggarly as the † Gal. 4. 9. Apostle saith of the Jewish Institutions they are weak because they cannot throughly purge the Soul of Vice and teach it to master its evil Habits they ar● poor and beggarly because they cannot enrich the Soul with any of those Graces which are requisite to Eternal Happiness In this respect they are not after Christ as 't is said here i. e. they are not like the Excellent Doctrine of Christ which was from Heaven and is ever accompanied with extraordinary Efficacy The Apostle goes on in the Verses after the Text to give the Reason of his Caution against Philosophy * V. 9. For in Him i. e. in Christ saith he dwelleth all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily As if he had said Let no Man impose upon you by a lame and imperfect Philosophy for now there is introduced an absolute and compleat Doctrine namely that of our Lord Jesus who hath the Fulness of all Wisdom incorporated into him Or the dwelling of the Fulness of the Godhead bodily in him may signify the perfect Glory and Majesty of the Divine Nature display'd in the Flesh when the Word became Incarnate when God was made Man Bodily denotes the Hypostatical Union whereby the Divine Nature is united to the Humane and both concur to make up one Person The Godhead dwells in Christ not only Spiritually as in all Saints and Believers but so that the Divine and Humane Nature are joined by a Personal Vnion Or you may consider that of our * Dr. Ha●mond Learned Annotator who tells us that the word † Essentia substantia res ipsa idem ipse identitas Gnetzem which is the Hebrew word for Body signifies oftentimes no more than Being or Essence and imports the Existence and Reality of the thing spoken of And accordingly he saith that the Body of Sin and the Body of Death mention'd in the New Testament are no more than Sin and Death the real Being of them is denoted and nothing else Thus here also the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to the Hebrew one and is a kind of Expletive for nothing but the real Being of the thing here spoken of is to be understood by it But I conceive there is something more than this meant by the word Bodily for it signi●ies not only the Real but Substantial and Solid Fulness of Christ. The greatest Masters of Humane Wisdom attain'd to the Shadow only but he is the Body the Substance And so it follows * Ver. 10. Ye are compleat in him saith the Apostle you have all Things by Christ there is nothing wanting and defective in the Christian Doctrine it is an exact Model of Moral and Divine Wisdom But the Philosophy which