Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	apostle_n	know_v	tradition_n	2,265	5	9.2963	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32847	A theological discourse of angels and their ministries wherein their existence, nature, number, order and offices are modestly treated of : with the character of those for whose benefit especially they are commissioned, and such practical inferences deduced as are most proper to the premises : also an appendix containing some reflections upon Mr. Webster's displaying supposed witchcraft / by Benjamin Camfield ...	Camfield, Benjamin, 1638-1693.; Webster, John, 1610-1682. Displaying of supposed witchcraft.	1678 (1678)	Wing C388; ESTC R18390	139,675	230

are of a Rank and Degree above us a more excellent sort of Beings than Men are SECT 1. That there are such real Subsistences 1. That there is such a Species of Beings that there are such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 real and external Subsistences and that they are not ●mia rationis Notions only Creatures of our brain Chimera's of our fansie or impressions made upon the imagination or meer Dreams and Appearances or Vis●o●s or a Noise in the air as some have represent●d nor yet only certain Divine in●luences and inspirations or certain a●fections and dispositions in Men V●rtues or Vices as others have conceived but true personal and p●rmanent Subsistences that have of themselves a real p●rfect and actual Being The Sadduc●es say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that th●re is no R●surr●ction neither Angel n●r Spirit Act. 23.8 They believed that there was a God saith Grotius but nothing else besides which was not perceptible by their bodily S●nses They looked not on Angels as really subsisting nor on the Soul of man as continuing af●er its separation ●rom the body and consequently denyed a Re●urrection But the following words as he w●ll observes seem to intimate their opinion of Angel and Spirit as one and the same thing The Pharisees confess both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not making three distinct particulars of the before-named but two onely which is also favour'd by the verse immediately succeeding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If a Spirit or ●n Angel have spoken to him Where those two words are equivalent It seems very strange now to conceive That the Sadd●●●es should say There were no Angels or Spirits whom all agree to have owned the five Books of Moses wherein are many evident Reports on Record of their Appearances and Operations and more wonder still if what Iosephus is said to relate be true of them that they received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the Scriptures of the old Testament and rejected onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unwritten Traditions And therefore the Learned and Judicious suppose that their meaning was not to deny Angelos esse that there had been and were Angels so call'd but onely Spiritus esse immortales per se subsistentes that they were immortal and self-subsistent Spirits looking upon them but as certain apparitions ●or a time and such as vanished away when their Embassie or Message was dispatch'd And yet the whole Story of the Bible is a sufficient confutation of this vain conceit also which tells us those things of their Nature Multitude Order Ministries Rewards and Punishments from whence we must needs conclude them to have a real personal and permanent Subsistence I will not go about to mention the particulars here because they will be plentiful enough in the following parts of this Treatise It shall suffice therefore to set it down as a Point de Fide clearly deliver'd in the Holy Scriptures from whence we have all our certain and distinct knowledge about the Angels that there are undoubtedly such Beings Maximus Tyrius enquires of those who doubted of Socrates his Daemon whether ever they had read Homer speaking of the same thing under other Names as Minerva Iuno Apollo Eris and such-like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he calls them not that they were such as described by the Poet but that those Names imported certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assisting of excellent Persons both sleeping and waking And then he concludes his conviction thus If once thou thinkest that there are no such Beings take notice that thou must proclaim war against Homer and renounce Oracles and Prophecies and disbelieve credible Reports and declare against Dreams with their Interpretations And at last bid Adi●u to Socrates I may with greater Authority ask our Modern Sadduce●s Whether ever they have read the Book of God and therein observed the many and various passages concerning Angels set down at large and seriously admonish them to beware in time how they oppose or dispute against Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles In like manner as our B. Saviour said to their Ancestors Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Or as S. Mark hath it Do ye not therefore err because ye know not the Scriptures neither the power of God SECT II. That th●y are for Excellencie above us I add 2. That they are of a rank and degree above Men. Man is the Top of the visible Creation To whom God hath given Dominion over the works of his hands as the Psalmist witnesseth And therefore our B. Saviour puts the Question as to other Creatures Are ye not much better than they po●nting to the Fowls of the Air And the Apostle S. Paul having mentioned a Law providing for ●ea●ts comm●nts thus upon it Doth God take care for Oxen or saith he it altogether for our sakes And before them Iob's Friends Bildad not without indignation Wheref●re are we accounted as the Beasts And Elihu positively God our Maker teach●th us more than the Beasts of the Earth and maketh us wiser than the Fowls of the Heaven With all whom agrees well that of Ovid Sanctius his animal ment●sque capacius altae d●erat adhuc quod dominari in caetera possit Factus homo est That also of Iuvenal separat haec nos i. e Ratio à grege mutorum atque ideò venerabile soli sorti●●●ngemum divinorúmque capaces c. Sat. 15. Man is no fort●●●nous careless and uncontriv'd piece of work hundled up in haste as Seneca hath it but such as Nature hath none greater to glory of among her rarest and most exquisite draughts Cicero also to a like purpose Animal hoc providum sagax multiplex acutum memor plenum rationis consilii quem vocamus Hominem praecl●râ quâdam conditione generatum à summo Deo c. Lib. 1. de Legib. Hierocles placeth him between Heaven and Earth as participant of both Lives the lowest of Superiour but the first of all Inferiour Beings and by the possession of Vertue or Vice becoming by turns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a God or a Beast He hath indeed his Body in common with the Beasts but his Soul and Reason with the Gods as Epictetus tells us This briefly of Man's Excellency But yet no disparagement to him the Angels are his betters Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels saith the Psalmist which our Apostle applies even to Christ too wi●h reference to that Mortal Nature of ours which he assumed We may therefore note our B. Saviour's climax when he speaks of the uncertainty of the time of future Judgement But of that day and hour knoweth no Man no not the Angels of Heaven Where if Angels were not supposed beyond Man it had been ●lat and dull to have added no not the Angels of Heaven And as they excel us thus in knowledge so also in

attending him The Scriptures indeed commonly alledg'd for this do not of themselves necessarily inforce it yet if taken and expounded as generally they are by the Fathers according to the common belief of the Jewish Nation yea and the Tradition of the Gentiles too which was from thence most probably derived do very much favour it Spanhemius is positive and severe in condemning this opinion as 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 un-scriptural anti-scriptural unreasonable But the learned Zanchie is quite of another mind The common and constant consent of the Fathers saith he hath much of weight and authority with me unless the holy Scriptures do manifestly teach the contrary and they all seem to have be●n of this judgment which I l●ok upon as the more probable The whole Church hath always thought thus It was saith he ●arther and is the received opinion of the Hebrews that ●very ●aithfull person hath his certain Angel assign'd him and it may be con●irm'd from hence th●● the Doctrine abou● A●gels propagated among the Gentil●s did ●low ●rom the Iew● as Justin and Eusebius test●●i● however many things were corrupted in the relating N●w it was the received opinion among all Nations that all men so soon as co●ceived have th●ir Angels appointed them whence also they were call'd Genii I will instance only in some f●w Authorities first of the Fathers and secondly of Pagan-Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iust. Mar●yr Qu. Resp. p. 410. Aliquibus Ang●lis uniuscujusque hominis cr●ditam esse curam ne cos laederent perniciem cis asserrent scelerati ex●crati Daemones Theodoret. Divin Decret Epit. c. de Angelis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil. l. 3. contra Eunomium De Plato●e test●tur Apul●ius Plato autumat singulis hominibus in vitâ agendâ testes cuslodes singulos additos qui nemini conspicui semper adsint arbitri omnium c. De Deo Socratis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Max. Tyrius Diss. xxvi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian Epist. Diss. l. 1. c. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menander Vel ut alii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quod a●tem ab Hebraeis demanârunt quae apud ●entiles propagata sunt de Angelis utì è Zanchio paulò ante diximus confirmant magis quae sequuntur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numenius Vide Ludov. Viv. in Aug. l. 8. de Civ Dei c. 11. Quis Poetarum quis Sophistarum qui non omninò de Prophetarum fonte potaverit Tertul. Apol. c. 47. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quod apud vos studium non à Barbaris traxit originem Tatiani Orat. contra Graecos Iacob when he blesseth Ioseph's two Sons makes this Prayer for them The Angel which redeemed me from all ●vil bless the Lads Gen. 48 1● where he manifestly points at an Angel that had all along taken the care of himself whoe●er he were but then he assigns him over if I may so speak to both his Grand-children to Ephraim and Manasseh together Our blessed Saviour affirms of his Disciples that they have their Angels by way of propriety Saint Matth. 18.10 from whence Saint Chrysostom thinks it evident that the Saints if not all others have their Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 60. in S. Matth. But yet he determines not peremptorily one particular Angel to each of them The Church in Mary's house say when Saint Peter knock'd at door whom they supposed at that time fast in Prison It is his Angel Act. 12.15 and this as Zanchie notes juxtà receptam in populo Dei sententiam and Origen infers from thence that the other Apostles had in like manner their Angels Similitèr ergò intelligitur esse alius alterius Apostoli Angelus sicut est Petri singulorum per ordinem In Numeros Hom. 1. This seems to argue an opinion of particular Guardian-Angels in the speakers but yet amounts not to a conviction of the truth of that opinion Which is also rendred somewhat the more dubious because there is not an exact agreement about the time when this Angel enters upon his supposed charge Some say at the Nativity according to that of Saint Hierom magna dignitas animarum ut unaquaeque habeat ab ortu nativitatis in custodiam sui Angelum deputatum with whom agrees Saint Augustin Maximum aestimo illud fuisse beneficium quod Angelum pacis ab ortu nativitatis ad finem usque meum mihi ad custodiendum me dedisti Others upon Baptism and so Origen is thought to believe and teach Singulis pueris statim post acceptum Baptismum certum assignari Angelum Others not only before Baptism but before the Birth too even at the instant when the Soul is first infused whence Tertullian ascribes all those good offices unto Angels as the Ministers of Divine Power which the Superstition of Rome Heathen divided among several feigned Goddesses as Alemonia so call'd from nourishing the foetus in the Womb Nona and Decima from the moneths of Note for Child-bearing Partula from the governing of the Birth and Lucina from the bringing of it into Light Omnem hominis in utero serendi struendi fingendi paraturam aliqua utique potestas divinae voluntatis ministra modulatur Nos officia divina Angelos dicimus De animâ c. 37. The Pythagoreans conceived That every man hath both a good and a bad Angel attending him which Mahomet hath adopted into his Religion And that was also the saying of Empedocles binos Genios ab ipso natali di● cuiqu● mortali Deorum munere datos bonum scil malum which Origen seems not at all to mislike Vnicuique duo assistunt Angeli alter justitiae alter iniquitatis The Stoics as Seneca tells us ascribed to every one Genium junonem which though Lipsius interpret Genium nempe viris Iunonem faeminis others understand after another fashion Iunonem Genium suum singulis dederunt quasi praesides oppugnatores Again the Egyptians taught that every Man hath three Angels one to govern his immortal Soul which was call'd Sacer Daemon a second from the disposition of the Heav'ns call'd his Genius and a third with reference to his Vocation or Imployment stiled therefore Spiritus Professionis By all which it appears how uncertainly and at random we guess at these matters The holy Scriptures speak not only of one but a multitude of Devils we are in danger of and to watch and war against Ephes. 6. And in like manner not only of one but a multitude of Angels imploy'd by God for our aid and relief He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee Ps. 91. And are they not all ministring Spirits saith the Text. Yea and where it is said The Angel of the Lord encampeth Ps. 34. We are to construe it Angels for he