Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	day_n	keep_v	sabbath_n	5,985	5	10.2345	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49895	Five letters concerning the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures translated out of French.; Défense des Sentimens de quelques théologiens de Hollande sur l'Histoire critique du Vieux Testament contre la réponse du prieur de Bolleville. English. Selections	Le Clerc, Jean, 1657-1736.; Locke, John, 1632-1704.; Le Clerc, Jean, 1657-1736. Sentimens de quelques théologiens de Hollande sur l'Histoire critique du Vieux Testament, composée par le P. Richard Simon. English. Selections.	1690 (1690)	Wing L815; ESTC R22740	97,734	266

Shepherd knows nothing more terrible than a Lion he compares the Anger of God to Lions St. Ierom should have said according to the common Opinion that God made use in speaking to Amos of popular terms and suitable to his Profession whereas he attributes plainly to the Prophet the choice of the Terms in which the Prophecy is expressed That words were dictated by God to the Prophets says a late Learned Critick as it cannot be denied to have been done sometimes so it does not seem to have been done always And hence it is that according to the variety of the Times and the Speakers the Phrase of the Prophets is also different But it is commonly alledged that the Prophets recite the same words they heard Because they introduce God himself speaking Thus saith the Lord c. That is no Proof For it is the custom both of the Hebrews and Greeks to bring in always those whose Sense they relate as speaking in their own Persons though in doing so they tye not themselves to their words I will give you a plain Example thereof It is the different manner in which the Decalogue is set down in Exodus and in Deuteronomy although God is said to speak personally in both places God says in Exodus Remember the Sabbath day c. In Deuteronomy Keep the Sabbath-day c. It is in Exodus To keep it holy Six days shalt thou labour c. In Deuteronomy To keep it holy as the Lord thy God commanded thee Six days shalt thou labour c. It is in Exodus Nor thy Cattel c. In Deuteronomy Nor thine Ox nor thine Ass nor any of thy Cattel c. And this Commandment ends thus That thy Man-Servant and thy Maid-Servant may rest as well as thou And remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence thrô a mighty Hand and a stretched-out-Arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day In Exodus the reason of keeping the Sabbath is taken from the Creation of the World in Six Days without any mention of Slaves or of the slavery of Egypt There are some other Differences in that which follows but not considerable However it appears by this that either Moses in Deuteronomy or the Author of the Book of Exodus did not tie themselves scrupulously to exact words as the Jews now a-days do altho both these Authors bring in God speaking personally Grotius has hereupon made this judicious Remark It is to be observed says he that the Words set down in this place in Exodus were pronounced by an Angel in the Name of God but those which are in Deuteronomy are the words of Moses repeating the same things and that with so great liberty that sometimes he transposes words changes some for others of the same signification omits some as sufficiently known by those gone before and adds others by way of Interpretation The like liberty of changing words is obvious to a careful Reader in other places of Sacred Writ as Gen. XVII 4. compared with 7. Gen. XXIV 17. compar'd with 43 Exod. XI 4. compar'd with XII 28. Exod. XXXII 11 c. compar'd with Deut. IX 27 c. Now this shews That we should not catch at words in Holy Writ as some of the Iews do who fancy that those words in Exodus and those in Deuteronomy were pronounc'd in one and the same moment of time They fancy also that where there is transposition and changing the order of what was said first what last that the last importing the same sense were also said first There are in the Holy Histories so many Miracles that we ought not to invent new ones without necessity and such as are of no use If you require yet another convincing Proof that this manner of speaking personally does not denote that they are the proper Words of him that is introduc'd speaking after this manner you have no more to do but to look into the Gospels where the Evangelists always make our Saviour to speak personally and yet recite not the same words that he made use of For beside that Christ spoke Syriac or Chaldee there is oft great difference between their Recitals The Holy Spirit never tied it self up to words as many of our Divines do now a-days He only prompted the Holy Pen-men to give us the true sense of the Words that God made use of to make the Prophets understand his Will and it is only in respect to the sense and to the things that the Apostles assure us that they were inspired from God The third sort of Prophecy or manner by which God made known his Will was by inward Inspiration without Vision and without Voice Hereof two different sorts may be conceiv'd For either God might inspire Prophecies or Predictions word for word as the Prophets should pronounce them As when there was occasion to tell some Name unknown before to the Prophet Or he might inspire only the sense which they might express afterwards in their own way As most commonly it happen'd the first Occasion being very rare It seems to me that when any one does apprehend a sense distinctly it is not difficult for him to express it faithfully And we ought to suppose that the Prophets full of the thoughts wherewith God inspir'd them had a very clear and distinct Idea thereof Which will be easily understood if we consider that the things wherewith God inspir'd them were easy to be conceiv'd and proportion'd to the understanding of all the World at least as to the literal sense It happened also sometimes that without inspiring either Words or Sense God drew from the Mouth of some Persons Prophecies which those who spoke them understood otherwise and did not think them to be Prophecies He cast them into certain Circumstances and involv'd them in certain Events which made them say things that were true Predictions without their knowing them to be so Such was Caiaphas's Prediction when he says That it was better that one Man should die for the People than that the whole Nation should perish Now he said not that of himself says St. Iohn but being High Priest that Year he prophesied To speak properly God inspir'd him not those words but the Nature of the Business they were about in the Sanhedrim drew them from him They were afraid that Jesus would draw all the People to him and enterprise something against the Roman Authority which would not then fail to send a puissant Army into Palestine and totally waste it Caiaphas thereupon urges a very common Politic Maxim That is were better to destroy one Man though he were innocent than to expose the whole State to utter Desolation In Caiaphas's sense there is nothing of Prophetic or Inspir'd But in the Gospel-sense that which Caiaphas said signifi'd more than he intended and contained a true Prophecy It 's very likely that more Predictions of this nature

most cruel Punishments whilst they saw that their Masters would not undergo any at all for it Now we see by the Passage of Tacitus which we cited that at the beginning of Christianity a great number of People declared themselves Christians tho they saw that the bare public Profession of that Religion would expose them to the Punishments due to Incendiaries and to Nero's Fury The reason of this must necessarily be that some of the first Preachers of the Gospel as their Disciples assure us gave Examples to others Without that it is impossible to conceive they could draw so many after them and especially so many who endur'd such horrible Torments for the Religion they learn'd from them From all this I draw no other Consequence than that the Apostles were sincere Persons who believed their own Doctrine as were also those who by their Example dy'd for it They must have been truly perswaded of the thing that would suffer so many Inconveniences Fatigues and Punishments as they suffer'd rather that abandon it Now the Apostles having been indisputably sincere Persons we must confess that if ever there were any in the World whose Vertue deserved Esteem they certainly deserv'd it from all Men. No design could be conceiv'd more profitable to Mankind than theirs as has been shown in treating of the Morals they preach'd None could go about to bring that Design to pass with more Earnestness and Zeal than they did who sacrific'd to it their Fortunes their Preferments their Honours their Pleasures their Repose and their Lives They compass'd Sea and Land under a thousand Dangers attempted a thousand Difficulties suffer'd Inconveniences and Pains unexpressible They expos'd themselves to most Mens Scorn Malice and Cruelty And to what end To perswade the same Men to live one with another after a manner so conformable to Reason so advantagious to Socity so pleasant so sweet that except the Soveraign Happiness to be injoy'd in the Life that never ends nothing can be imagin'd preferable to it I ask now If being perswaded of the probity and sincerity of the Apostles and otherwise satisfied by their Discourses that they were not at all out of their Wits we could deny Credit to their Testimony if they had said they had seen with their own Eyes certain matters of Fact which they related with many Circumstances and that they had heard with their own Ears Discourses full of Sense and Wisdom which they repeated from beginning to end Let every Man ask himself if he would refuse to believe one of his Friends whom he knew to be sincere and judicious if he assur'd him positively that he had heard such and such a thing Would one suspect for a Lie the Testimony of a rational Man and one who gave good signs of Sincerity when he affirm'd that he had been present at the Execution of one of his Friends had seen him die and had heard him say many things which he very distinctly remember'd I confess they that know not the Sincerity or Judgment of a Person may make a doubt of the Truth of what they hear him say but if once they are perswaded of his Integrity and Understanding it is impossible they should refuse to believe him Every Man may be convinc'd of this by his own Experience and may as I have already observ'd frame a thousand particular Examples to himself of what I have been saying Now the Apostles tell us they liv'd some Years with Jesus of Nazareth from whom they learn'd all their Doctrine that they saw him crucified such a day of such a Month of such a Year that they saw him die upon the Cross and after that buried in a Sepulchre hewn out of a Rock for the Family of a Jewish Counsellor call'd Ioseph of Arimathea who begged the Body of Jesus from Pilate and who after having put it into the Sepulchre roul'd a great Stone to the Door that they saw the Roman Souldiers keep Guard about the Sepulchre and that the chief of the Jews had carefully seal'd it up for fear any should take away the Body Can we being perswaded as we ought to be of the Sincerity and Wisdom of the Apostles refuse to believe them in these things Certainly we must have lost all Sense to believe that Persons of Wisdom and Integrity would prevaricate in affirming a thing of this nature with so many Circumstances The same Judgment must be made concerning the Discourses of Jesus Christ which they relate to us after a manner so lively and so circumstantiated that we could not relate them better if we came directly from hearing them It is more clear than day to those who are perswaded that the Apostles had but common Sense and Sincerity that they really spoke Truth in all these Particulars That being so Why should we not believe the same Apostles when they assure us that they have often seen their Master in a moment cure many incurable Diseases restore the Dead to Life raise himself after having lain more than thirty hours in the Sepulchre eat and drink with them afterwards for several days and at last ascend in their Presence in a Cloud to Heaven I perceive indeed that many Persons who would not have question'd the Testimony of the Apostles if they had said nothing of the Miracles Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ do for that reason only doubt of it They would have easily believed that in Iudaea during the Government of Pontius Pilate there had been a Man named Jesus who taught the Morals we read now in the Gospels that the Jewish Priests through Envy and Malice put him to Death but that his Disciples refrained not from teaching his Precepts and that the most afrightful Torments hinder'd them not from publishing them They would praise all Christ's Doctrine as the most excellent Philosophy that ever was known to have been taught amongst Men and the best Principles that can be thought on to oblige them to live well one with another But they reject all this and believe that the Apostles were Impostors only because they speak of Miracles which they say they saw their Master do Let us consider a little why these Men do so There are but two ways whereby the Falshood of a matter of Fact may be known The first is when it is known that the Witnesses who relate it are deceiv'd or have a design to deceive though otherwise what they relate seem very possible The second is when by clear and evident Proofs we know that the Fact in question is in it self absolutely impossible That the Apostles design'd not to deceive us has been made appear nor can it be said that they were themselves constantly deceiv'd in all the Miracles of Jesus Christ which they relate If the Question were about a small number of Miracles that could not without difficulty be examin'd this Suspicion might with some probability be started But they relate so many and of so many different sorts that if what they say