Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	authority_n	believe_v	infallible_a	5,104	5	10.1902	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10228	Purchas his pilgrimage. Or Relations of the vvorld and the religions obserued in all ages and places discouered, from the Creation vnto this present In foure partes. This first containeth a theologicall and geographicall historie of Asia, Africa, and America, with the ilands adiacent. Declaring the ancient religions before the Floud ... With briefe descriptions of the countries, nations, states, discoueries, priuate and publike customes, and the most remarkable rarities of nature, or humane industrie, in the same. By Samuel Purchas, minister at Estwood in Essex.	Purchas, Samuel, 1577?-1626.	1613 (1613)	STC 20505; ESTC S121937	297,629	804

Iudgement to try and weigh the particulars which wee apprehend That out of them wee may sever for our use the pretious from the vile for Knowledge lies in Things as Gold in a Mine or as Corne in the Straw when by diligent inquiry after it wee have digged it up and thresh'd it out wee must then bring it to the fire and fanne to give it us purified from drosse and levity And this in Speculation answereth unto the generall vertue of practicall prudence in Morality whereby wee weigh the severall Mediums unto the true Ends of life and accordingly select and prosecute the Best Thirdly Fidelity of Retention for hee is not likely to grow Rich who puts up his Treasure as the Prophet speaks into a bag with holes For as Nature hath given to the Bodies of men for the furtherance of corporeall strength and nutriment a Retentive power to clasp and hold fast that which preserveth it untill a through concoction be wrought so proportionably is the Faculty of Memory given to Reason as a meanes to consolidate and enrich it And fluxes as in the Body so in the Minde too are ever Arguments and Authors of Weaknesse Whence it comes to passe that in matter of Learning many of us are faine to be Day-labourers and to live from hand to mouth being not able to lay up any thing And therefore in the choice of fit persons to breed up unto Learning wee should take a like course as wise Architects doe in choice of fit timber for Building They choose first the straitest and that which hath fewest knots and flawes in it which in the mind answereth unto clearenesse and evennesse of Apprehension For a cleare minde like strait and smooth timber will work easiest Next they take the heart and strongest substance and cut out the sap because that is best able to beare the weight that shall be laid upon it And this answers unto Maturity and firmnesse of Judgement Lastly they doe not take Sally or Willow or Birch and such other Materialls as are quickly apt to putrifie and weare away but such Timber as is lasting and Retentive of its Nature as Oake and Elme which may make the Superstruction of the nature of the Foundation strong and lasting and this answereth to that excellent Faculty of the Minde a Rationall memory from which one particular I think more than any other doe arise those vast differences of felicity and infelicity in the mindes of men addicted to the search of Knowledge Strange was the unhappinesse of Calvisius Sabinus in Seneca who being at vast charges in matter of learning was not yet able to retaine fast the Names of Achilles or Vlysses But as his Parasite was wont deridingly to advise him wanted a Grammaticall Attendant to gather up the fragments which his Memory let fall And Curio the Orator in Tully was wont when hee had proposed three things in an Oration to forget some one or other of them or to add a fourth yea Messala Corvinus forgat his owne name as Pliny telleth us And as wonderfull on the other side hath beene the felicity of some others Seneca the father could repeat two thousand words together in their Order Cyrus and Themistocles could call all their Souldiers by their Names by which one Art of Curtesie Otho aspired unto the Empire Adrian could read a Book which hee never saw before and after recite it by memory and of the Emperour Iulian it is said that hee had drunk Totum memoriae dolium the whole vessell of memory To say nothing of Simonides and Apollonius Tyanlus who in their old age the one at 80 the other at a 100 yeeres old were very famous for the exquisitenesse of their memories nor of Cyneas Charmidas Portius Latro and divers others who have beene admired for this happy Quality Now unto this Felicity doth conduce a Methodicall and orderly Disposition of minde to digest and lay up things in their proper places It was easier for Cyrus to remember men in an Army than in a Throng And hence hath proceeded the Art of Memory invented as Pliny tells us by Simonides and perfected by Me●…rodorus Sceptius consisting in the committing of severall Heads of matter unto distinct places whereof Quintilian discourseth in his Oratory Institutions Of Knowledge there are severall sorts according to severall considerations with respect to the Ends of it Some is Speculative for the improving of the Minde as Physicall Metaphysicall and Mathematicall Knowledge Others Practicall for fashioning and guiding of the manners and conditions of Men as Ethicall Politicall Historicall Military Knowledge Some mixt of both as Theologicall Knowledge consisting in the speculation of Divine Verities and in the direction of Divine Duties Some Iustrumentall being only subservient unto others as Grammaticall Rhetoricall Dialecticall learning In regard of Order some Superiour others Subalternate as Musick to Arithmetick Opticks to Geometry In regard of their Originall some Ingrafted as the supreame Principles of Verity and implanted notions of Morality which is called the Law of Nature and written in the Heart of all men Rom. 2. 14. 15. Other Acquired and by search and industry laboured out of those Principles and the others which are taught us Other Revealed and Divinely manifested to the Faith of Men whereof the supreame Principles are these two 1. That God in his Authority is infallible who neither can be deceived nor can deceive 2. That the things delivered in Holy Scriptures are the Dictates and Truths which that infallible Authority hath delivered unto the Church to be beleeved and therefore that every supernaturall Truth there plainely set downe in termini●… is an unquestionable Principle and every thing by evident consequence and deduction from thence derived is therefore an undoubted Conclusion in Theologicall and Divine Knowledge In regard of the manner of Acquiring some is Experimentall A Knowledge of Particulars and some Habituall a generall knowledge growing out of the reason of Particulars And those Acquired either by Invention from a mans Industry or by A●…scultation and Attendance unto those that teach us In regard of Objects some supre●…me as the Knowledge of Principles and Prime Verities which have their light in themselves and are knowne by evidence of their owne Tearmes Others derived and deduced by argumentation from those Principles which is the Knowledge of Conclusions In regard of Perfection Intuitive Knowledge as that of Angels whereby they know things by the View and Discursive as that of Men whereby wee know things by Ratiocination In regard of Order and Method Syntheticall when wee proceed in Knowledge by a way of Composition from the Causes to the Effects and Analyticall when wee rise up from Effects unto their Causes in a Way of Resolution With this noble Endowment of Knowledge was the Humane Nature greatly adorned in its first Creation So farre forth as the Necessity of a happy and honourable life of the Worship

on them proceed onely from the Impression of Fancy and sensitive Appetite to serve themselves but not to improve one another And therefore Speech is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Name of Reason because it attendeth onely upon Reason And as by this the Soule of man differeth in Excellency from all other Creatures so in two things amongst many others both subservient unto Reason doth his Body excell them too First in the Vprightnesse of his Stature whereby he is made to looke up to Heaven and from his Countenance to let shine forth the Impression of that Light which dwell●…th within him For the Face is the Window of the Soule Pronáque cum spectent Animalia caetera terram Os homini sublime dedi●… Caelumque tueri Iussit erectos ad Sydera tollere Vultus Whil'st other creatures downward fix their sight Bending to Earth an Earthly Appetite To man he gave a lofty Face might looke Vp to the Heavens and in that spatious Booke So full of shining Characters descry Why he was made and whether he should fly Next in the Faculty of Speech which is the Gare of the Soule through which she passeth and the Interpreter of the Conceits and Cogitations of the mind as the Philosopher speaks The uses whereof are to convey and communicate the Conceptions of the Mind and by that means to preserve humane Society to derive Knowledg to maintaine mutuall love and supplies to multiply our Delights to mitigate and unload our sorrows but above all to Honour God and to edifie one another in which respect our Tongue is called our Glory Psal. 16. 2. Act. 2. 26. The force power of Speech upon the minds of men is almost beyond its power to expresse How suddenly it can inflame excite allay comfort mollify transport and carry captive the Affections of men Caesar with one word quiets the Commotion of an Army Menenius Agrippa with one Apologue the sedition of a people Flavianus the Bishop of Antioch with one Oration the fury of an Emperour Anaximenes with one Artifice the indignation of Alexander Abigail with one Supplication the Revenge of David Pericles and Pisistratus even then when they spake against the peoples liberty over ruled them by their Eloquence to beleeve and imbrace what they spake and by their Tongue effected that willingly which their Sword could hardly have extorted Pericles and Nicias are said to have still pursued the same Ends and yet with cleane different successe The one in advancing the same busines pleased the other exasperated the people and that upon no other Reason but this the one had the Art of Perswasion which the other wanted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One spake the Right with a slow Tongue Another fluently spake wrong He lost this stole the Cause and got To make you thinke what you thinke not And this power of Speech over the Minds of men is by the Poet in that knowne passage of his thus elegantly described Magn●… in popule cum sapè Coorta est Seditio savitque Animus Ignobile vulgus Ian●…que faces Saxa volant furor arma ministrat Tum pietate gravem ac merit is si fortè virūquem Conspêxere silent arrectisque auribus astant Ille regit dictis Anim●…s pectora ●…ulcet When in a Multitude Seditions grow And Vicerated Minds do overflow With swelling Ire when stones firebrands fly As Rage doth every where weapons supply Then if some Aged man in Honor held For Piety and Prudence stand to wield And moderate this Tumult strait wayes all Rise up with silent Reverence and let fall Their Angry Clamors His grave words do sway Their Minds and all their Discontents allay The Vertues of Speech whereby it worketh with such force upon the Minde are many which therefore I will but name some Grammaticall as Property and Fitnesse and Congruity without Solaecismes and Barbarousnesse some Rhetoricall as choice Purity Brevity Perspecuity Gravity Pleasantnesse Vigo●… Moderate Acrimony and Vehemency some Logicall as Method Order Distribution Demonstration Invention Definition Argumentation Refutation A right digesting of all the Aydes of Speech as Wit Learning Poverbs Apologues Emblemes Histories Lawes Causes and Effects and all the Heads or Places which assist us in Invention Some Morall as Gravity Truth Seriousnesse Integrity Authority When words receive weight from manners and a mans Speech is better beleeved for his Life than for his Learning When it appeares That they arise esulce pectoris and have their foundation in Vertue and not in Fancy For as a man receiveth the selfe same Wine with pleasure in a pure and cleane Vessell which he lo●…ths to put unto his mouth from one that is soule and soiled so the selfe same Speech adorned with the Piety of one man and disgraced with the Pravity of another will be very apt accordingly to be received either with delight or loathing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Speech from Base men and men of Respect Though 't be the same works not the same Effect And therefore the Spartan Princes when they heard from a man of a disallowed and suspected Life an Opinion which they approved They required another man of reputation to propose it That the prejudice of the person might not procure a rejection of his Iudgement For wee are apt to nauseate at very good meat when we know that an ill Cooke did dresse it And therefore it is a very true Character which Tully and Quintilian give of a right Oratour That he must be Vir bonus dicendi Peritus as well a Good man as a Good speaker Otherwise though he may speake with admirable wit to the fancy of his hearers he will have but little power over their Affections Like a fire made of greene wood which is fed with it as it is fewell but quencheed as it is greene Lastly some are Civill in Causes Deliberative or Iuridicall as Wisedome pertinency and fitnes to the Nature and Exigence of the End or Matter whereupon we speake For in that case we are to ponder and measure what we say by the end whereunto we say it and to fit it to all the Circumstances incident thereunto Paul amongst the Philosophers disputed with them from the Inscription of their Altar from the Authority of their Poets and from confessed Maximes of Reason by these degrees convincing them of Idolatry and lending them to Repentance But amongst the Iewes hee disputed out of Scripture With Felix that looked for money he disputed of Righteousnesse and Iudgement to come but amongst the Pharisees and Sadduces of the Resurrection that a Dissention amongst themselves might procure a party for him It is not wisedome for a man in misery to speake with a high stile or a man in Dignity with a Creeping The same speech may be excellent in an umbratile Exercitation which would be too pedanticall and smelling of the Lampe in a matter of serious and weighty debate and that may