Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	believe_v	faith_n	revelation_n	2,830	5	9.5573	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29178	A minister's counsel to the youth of his parish when arriv'd to years of discretion : recommended to the societies in and about London / by Francis Bragge ...	Bragge, Francis, 1664-1728.	1699 (1699)	Wing B4199; ESTC R32860	70,334	248

Promises and Vows which every Christian we know as such lies under And therefore unless we think that Youth will excuse us from every thing of this Serious Nature and that the Promises we make to our Creator and our Saviour are of less Regard than those we make to Men we must upon all accounts of Honour and Justice as well as the Reason of the Thing apply our selves and that with the soonest to be as good as our Word and conform our Faith and Practice to the Gospel Revelation as being the Condition necessary to be perform'd on our Part in order to our being finally the better for what Christ has done on His. And that such is the Condition no grown Christian that has been duly instructed in his Religion as we all along suppose those to be to whom these Advices are given can be to learn The Third Advice OUR next Advice therefore to Young Persons shall be relating to their Christian Faith or in what manner they are to give their Assents to the Great Truths revealed to us in the Gospel And but too much need there is of Advice in this Case in an Age when 't is accounted a great piece of Folly and Meanness of Spirit strange Credulity unbecoming Rational Creatures to Believe any thing that they cannot fully understand and Comprehend whereby the Aweful Mysteries of our Holy Religion which make it to be what it is and distinguish it from all others by the ill Arts of Sophistry far-fetch'd Glosses and Interpretations of Men over-confident of the reach of their own Understandings are brought down even to nothing and made Contemptible But if this be not the very Height of Prophane Arrogance what is 'T is the Destruction of all Divine Faith and the greatest Ridiculing of Religion when the most exalted Truths of it shall be twisted about and distorted according to Mens extravagant Fancies and made to submit to the Imperfect Reasonings of every Bold Intruder that is Wise in his own Conceit The Advice of St. Paul therefore is Highly needful to be recommended to all young Persons whose forwardness and warmth of temper makes 'em generally too apt to grasp at every thing and confide too much in their own Wit and Parts St. Paul's Advice I say is very necessary for all young Persons in this Age of Religious Scepticism and Infidelity which we have in 1 Cor. 3.18 Let no man deceive himself if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise That is they should so far distrust their own Reason in things of so Sublime a Nature as those we are now speaking of as to move with the greatest Caution and Modesty in their Enquiries about such Truths as these And tho as 't is fit they should they make the best use they can of the Understanding God has given them and endeavour by all due Means to Brighten and Improve it yet still Revelation should be valu'd as the surest Guide and all their own Notions humbly submitted to it For consider a little Does not common Experience assure any Man that will attend to it how very Imperfect Humane Reason is at best Don't we daily find that every Man's Understanding is of a very narrow Capacity in this World and that in things much more within our Reach than the Depths of our Religion are Now let any sensible Man say which is the most rational Course for a Man contrary to his own manifold Experience and that of all the World to centre in Himself in his Enquiry after Truths of the most exalted Nature or in a due Sense of the Defects of his own Reason to be very Diligent in seeking out and making use of better Helps and readily Assent to them upon the Testimony of the Divine Revealer tho' he cannot Comprehend the Immense Truth no r say How such things can be The things we now speak of are such as are utterly beyond the Reach not only of Humane but perhaps of any Created Understanding and which as they cou'd never have been known by us at all had not God been pleased to Reveal 'em so now they are Reveal'd cannot be known perfectly and throughly by any but the Divine Revealer But now every Man must needs confess that things of so High a Nature may be nevertheless True for being Inconsistent with a poor ignorant Mortal's former Notions and Conceptions That is in short an Infinite Understanding may Reveal what a Finite Understanding cannot Comprehend which yet ought by no means to be an Argument against the Truth of the Revelation And who that is a sincere Lover of Truth but would most willingly embrace it in what manner soever it might come to his Notice How glad of greater Light in this Dark World tho' for the present it may Dazle his Undestanding by its unusual Brightness and make him the more sensible of the Darkness he was in before Especially when assur'd that it proceeds from the Father of Lights in whom is no Darkness at all who is the Eternal Source of Truth Infinitely Wise and Good that can neither Deceive nor be Deceiv'd Psal 36.9 and in whose Light above it is that we can really see Light 'T is worth our while to take Notice here of the Behaviour of our Lord and his Apostles towads the too curious Inquirers into the Secrets of the Kingdom who we shall find have met with a Reprimand from them instead of any more Particular Satisfaction Thus when Nicodemus hear'd our Saviour Discoursing of the New Birth of a Christian John 3. and Interpos'd this Question How can these things be He could have no direct Solution of his Doubt our Lord only upbraids his Ignorance of what his own Religion might have furnish'd him with some Notion of and again affirms the Truth of what he had before asserted and then Diverts to something else And at another time when talking with the Jews about his being the True Bread that came down from Heaven John 6. and of the necessity of Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood if they would have the true Life and Spirit of Religion in them He returns no other Answer to their Question How can this Man give us his Flesh to eat than by Affirming that His Flesh and Blood were Meat and Drink indeed and how exceeding happy the Effect would be of eating the one and drinking the other and even to his own Disciples all the Satisfaction he thought fit to give so far as we can learn was only this The Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life When he discours'd of his being the Son of God and One with the Father and that from all Eternity tho' in appearance but a mean afflicted Man which exceedingly enrag'd the Jews against him and urg'd them to Blaspheme His way was only again and again to assert and affirm it and demonstrate that it was so by his Miracles

still leaving 'em in the Dark as to their Enquires how it could be so And so for the Mystery of Trinity in Vnity which is plainly enough Asserted both by himself and his Apostles neither he nor they ever attempted the Explication of this Mystery any more than they did of the rest Indeed St. Paul gives the Corinthians some Description of the manner of the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Cor. 15. which yet must be allow'd to be One of the Great Mysteries of Christianity But then we may take Notice that to the curious Enquirer How are they Dead rais'd up and with what Body do they come He ushers in his Answer with this very plain Rebuke Thou Fool. Now since our Blessed Lord and his Apostles thus wav'd the giving any Particular Explications of these and the like Mysterious Truths which yet they would have given had it been needful nay so much as expedient especially when so often urg'd to do it methinks it should be a sufficient Caution to every Man else not to Intrude too far into those things which he has not seen What they thought fit to leave as Mysteries to be only Believ'd and Reverenc'd by Christians methinks none that come after them should offer to unveil but chuse to exercise their Faith about 'em rather than their weak benighted Reason and ev'n in the necessary Defence of them follow the Scriptures as their surest Guide And how happy would it have been for the Christian Church had these Depths been always venerated at a Distance And that Quickness of Parts and Warmth of Temper duly employ'd in Provoking to Love and Good Works and in Confirming more and more the Foundation of our Faith which was abus'd in Digging up and Destroying it and Ruining that Charity without which tho' a Man speaks with the Tongues of Men and Angels and understands all Mysteries 1 Cor. 13.2 and all knowledge St. Paul says He is nothing And if such way of Proceeding in these matters would have been the truest Wisdom in the Ages past no doubt but it is so still in this The sad Consequences of the want of which and crying up the contrary Practcie of laying open all Mysteries are but too well known It has indeed expos'd Religion to Innumerable Wounds from all its Adversaries and tends more than we can imagine to Atheism and all manner of Looseness and Debauchery Highly needful therefore is it to give our young Reasoners Warning of so Dangerous a Rock as this and perswade them to avoid it And before I put an end to this Advice which is of such mighty Consequence let me appeal to their own Unbyass'd Reason Whether a Man would not be better much better employ'd in humbly and thankfully embracing what God has been pleas'd plainly to Reveal to his Church concerning the Incarnation of his Divine Son for Instance God Manifest in the Flesh to destroy the Works of the Devil and in sincerely endeavouring to Imitate his most excellent Example and pay Obedience to his Holy Precepts than in making curious and nice Enquiries into the Nature of the Personal Union which the more it is pry'd into the more Humane Wit will be confounded and nothing in the Conclusion but a Pernicious Brood of Heresies Does it not more become us heartily to rejoyce in the Satisfaction Christ has made for Sinners by his Bitter Death and Sufferings and continually to pay our Humblest Acknowledgements and Devoutest Praises to God and Jesus for their wondrous Love and make it our great Endeavour to perform those Conditions upon which alone we can be Sharers in his Merits Does not this become us better than to raise subtile Questions and be always Quarreling about the Nature of that Satisfaction and in the Scuffle commit such Wickedness as will render it unavailable if persisted in to those that are so unchristianly engag'd The like may be said of the Mystery of the Adorable Trinity in Vnity concerning which Thus much I may say I hope without Offence That to be contented with what the Scriptures have plainly told us in this matter and to give all Honour and Glory Love and Obedience to the Great Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier of the World God Blessed for evermore is more agreeable to the Piety and Humility of a Christian than to tear the Church in pieces and give the Enemies of our Faith too much occasion to Blaspheme and Ridicule it by so fiercely opposing one another in our Explanations of what will be an Inscrutable Mystery when we have done all Finally I may add That he is much the wiser Man and better Christian who with all due Awe and Reverence and Preparation frequently Adresses himself to the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and endeavours in good earnest to keep the Pious Resolutions he then makes than he who perplexes himself and disturbs and embroyls the Church about the manner of our Saviour's Presence there and of our receiving him And I can't but think Solomon's Counsel in this as well as other Cases to be very excellent and worthy of our greatest Regard Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding Prov. 3.5 The Fourth Advice HAVING thus endeavour'd to secure the Faith of young Persons the next thing to be taken care of is their Obedience Now the Main Spring of this is a Devotional Temper of Mind and a Quick Taste and Relish of good things whereby we become fully perswaded that 't is not only our Duty but our greatest Interest upon all Accounts to be Religious This will make us employ our Thoughts our Desires and Affections upon Divine Objects in Good Earnest and Quicken us on in the ways of Christian Vertue with Satisfaction and Delight Whereas when Men are Cool and Indifferent to things of this Nature Religion soon degenerates into bare Formality and from thence decays into Nothing The great Business then is to engage the warm Affections of Youth upon Religion before they are too far taken up with other things to turn the stream of their Passions into the right Channel betimes before they are Habituated to some other Course nothing being more Difficult than when they are so effectually to direct and keep 'em right My next Advice therefore is That they would cherish that Natural Disposition to Devotion which is in most young People before it is Destroy'd and Quench'd by Vice Now by Devotion I mean A settled Temper of Mind arising from a Due and Lively Sense of the Supreme Excellency of God and Religion whereby we entirely dedicate our selves to his Service in the way he has directed and in all things endeavour and that with Warmth and Spirit to behave our selves towards him as befits both him and our selves I have given this Description of it that we may know how to Distinguish it from Superstition and Enthusiasm which are the two Mimicks of Devotion and often borrow its venerable Name And 't will not be