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	church_n	depend_v	6,335	5	9.7549	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38026	Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing E210; ESTC R17845	511,766	792

Religion which Christ himself founded and deliver'd to his Apostles and Disciples The Tradition of these things is true and certain and we may safely rely upon it For tho the Authority of divine Truth depends not wholly on the Testimony of the Church for then the Authority of the Scripture would not be Divine but Humane and consequently not the Word of God but of Man yet the Church doth yield its Testimony to the Scripture and that Testimony or Tradition is a good Ground of Belief For Tradition is one way of communicating Matters of Faith and Fact to us By it we have them transmitted to us but this is neither the grand Motive nor the Rule of our Faith yet it is the Medium or Channel to convey the Belief of such things to us and we are to use it and prize it as such and to thank God that we have this among other Means to establish us in the Truth of the Gospel Hitherto I have consider'd the Testimony of Friends I will shew you in the next place that even Strangers and Enemies viz. Iews and Heathens bear witness to the Truth of Christianity First as for the Iews if Christ had not been thought by them to have been some extraordinary Person yea to be of the Holy Ghost miraculously why did they not prosecute Mary for an Adulteress The Sin of Adultery was severely punish'd by their Law and it was a very reproachful Crime You may be sure they would have urged this hard to the disgracing of the Son through the Mother But tho Ioseph denied him to be his Son and consequently she fell under the Law yet you read no where that the Iews made use of this against her which sheweth their tacit approving of Christ and that his Birth was extraordinary and divine Suidas tells us that Christ was chosen one of the Priests of the Temple at Ierusalem upon the death of one of the two and twenty for his singular Piety and excellent Doctrine Iosephus his Testimony of Christ is well known and St. Iohn Baptist his forerunner is made mention of by most of the Hebrew Writers with exceeding Praise and Admiration of his Holiness But I will con●ine my self to those Instances which are recorded by the Evangelists St. Luke observes that when he taught in their Synagogues he was glorified of all Luke 4. 15. And in the following Verses he subjoins a particular Instance of his preaching in one of their Synagogues at Nazareth and then adds all bare him witness and wonder'd at the gracious Words which proceeded out of his Mouth ver 22. Even some of the Jewish People who believ'd not in Christ cried out he is a good Man John 7. 12. Others said of a truth this is the Prophet ver 40. And others this is the Christ ver 41. And the Jewish Officers who were sent by the High Priests to lay hands on him admired his wise Deportment and excellent Discourse and freely declared that never Man spake like this Man ver 46. No one ever spoke Matters of greater moment and concern and with that Simplicity and Plainness that Authority and Efficacy which he did When Herod harangued the People they cried out It is the Voice of God But it was only the flattering Voice of the Multitude which made his such Here it was otherwise it was the real Voice of the true God and his very Enemies attest the unparallel'd Efficacy of it Christ was confessed and owned by the Iews in a most signal manner when he rid into Ierusalem on an Ass and when they strewed the way with Palm-branches and when all the People applauded him and treated him as some great Conqueror or mighty Prince Mat. 21. 8 c. For they were wont to congratulate the coming of such Persons to a place after that manner So the valiant Simon was receiv'd after his Military Success 1 Mac. 13. 51. So the Old Grecians in their Olympick Games after Victory wore wreaths of Palms as a reward of Conquerors And sometimes they bore the Branches of Palm-Trees in their Hands as the Emblem of Victory because the Branches of this Tree grow streight and stately as the Hand extended and tho they be loaded with much weight yet they bear up against it and shoot upwards Hence it was that this Honour of bearing Palm-branches and sometimes Branches of other Trees besides the Palm was given to Princes in Triumphs Thus Heliodorus saith that Hydaspes the King sent before him Harbingers of his Victory shaking Boughs of Palm in token of it Hence he that was generally applauded and received publickly with the Acclamations of the People was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they did not only strow Boughs but Leaves and Flowers in his way which sort of Honour was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor were they contented with this sign of Favour but they used to affix on the Doors of great Men the Boughs of Palm especially which Honour Lucian takes notice of telling us that green Palm-branches were set up at the Doors of the Rhetoricians Many more Testimonies might be alledged to this purpose And I could add also that this bearing of Branches was used in the Worship of the Pagans it being a Testimony of Honour to their Gods How fitly then did it come to pass by the over-ruling Hand of Providence that the Messias who was truly God and King was receiv'd by the People with Palm-branches He came in this triumphant manner into Ierusalem and was saluted with Cries of Hosanna and with that Gratulatory Benediction Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord John 12. 13. to testify that his Kingdom was come that he was to be victorious over Death and Hell and that he was to be a mighty Saviour and Deliverer I will briefly add two or three other Testimonies of the Iews Caiphas the High-priest prophesied of Christ John 11. 50 51. One of the Thieves on the Cross if he were a Iew which some have question'd acknowledg'd Christ and cleared him This Man saith he hath done nothing amiss Luke 23. 41. And even Iudas who betrayed our Saviour confess'd his Innocency I have sinn'd in betraying innocent Blood Mat. 27. 4. Secondly Heathens bear witness to Christ and the Truth of the Christian Religion He was acknowledg'd and ador'd by the wise Men that came from the East Tho he was condemn'd by Pilate yet he was first acquitted by him he declaring that he found no fault in him at all John 18. 38. And his Wife sent to him when he was on the Bench to have nothing to do with that just Man Mat. 27. 19. When a Title was to be set over the Cross Pilate wrote Christ the King of the Iews and would not alter it tho he was told of it Iohn 19. 22. The Centurion who had at that time the Sheriffs place and was to see the Execution perform'd when he saw

Revelation there is need of this help of the Spirit the internal Testimony of the Holy Ghost such a hidden but powerful Operation of that giver of all Grace whereby a firm Faith and certain perswasion of the Truth of those things are wrought in us For that we may be certain of Divine Truth first it is requisite that we be outwardly helped that we make use of Moral Arguments and Evidences that we attend to Reasons and Proofs that we weigh especially the several particular Testimonies in the Word of God the Scriptures of Truth These in a moral way will make it evident to the mind that this or that which is propounded to us is Divinely reveal'd and can proceed from no other but God But then besides these outward means we must have our minds inwardly illuminated by the Holy Spirit for it is this alone which can inable us effectually to see and discern the Light and to take the force of the Arguments which prove the several Truths and to turn the Moral Evidence into Divine Demonstration Lastly as I mention'd among the divers ways of Revelation under the former Dispensations the Divine Impulse whereby Persons were instructed and excited to undertake and atchieve great things so at the erecting of the Gospel there was not wanting this way of communicating the Divine will and pleasure By such an Impulse as this Christ himself whipped the buyers and sellers out of the Temple by this powerful Afflation his Apostles and Followers were stir'd up to do strange and extraordinary things several of which are mention'd in the Acts of the Apostles and many more in Ecclesiastical History which nothing but this Divine Motion could legitimate it being immediately from the Spirit whereby they were instructed as well as enabled to effect these wonderful things Secondly The next Divine Testimony of the truth and certainty of the Christian Oeconomy and Religion is the fulfilling of the Prophesies of the Old Testament which had respect to the New I have already in another place when I proved the Authority of the Holy Scriptures insisted upon the fulfilling of the Prophesies of the Old and New Testament as they are an attestation of the Truth of those Sacred Writings But at present I am to mention only the Prophesies of the Old Testament and among them only those that relate to the Messias and the circumstances which more nearly and peculiarly appertain to him And the producing of these and shewing how they were exactly fulfill'd will be a clear and demonstrative Argument of the Truth of Christianity For though Spinosa would perswade Men that all the Prophesies in the Bible were the mere result of a brisk Fancy that there was no foundation in the things themselves but that Imagination made all yet surely the bold and impious Man would not have gone so far as to have asserted that the actual fulfilling of the Prophesies is nothing but Fancy No certainly he could not have the face to deny that the completion of those Predictions is some real thing and not founded on Imagination For here is matter of fact which carries reality and certainty with it and therefore is a convincing proof not only of the Truth of those Prophesies but of Christianity it self This then is that which I will now enter upon The Prophets of the Old Testament speak frequently of the Messias they have described and characterized him nothing almost was done by Christ but they predicted it every particular act circumstance and accident of Importance that should happen about him was foretold Now all these were actually verified and fulfilled as namely what related to his Birth his Life his Death his Rising again First what related to his Birth as that Iohn Baptist should be his Forerunner and make way for him Behold I will send my Messenger and he shall prepare the way before me Mal. 3. 1. And ch 4. v. 5. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. Compare these places with Mat. 11. 10 14 Mark 1 2 9. 11. Luke 1. 17 and 76. 7. 27. and you will not question their Accomplishment And the Birth it self and the Conception which was in order to it were plainly prophesied of many Ages before As that in Ier. 31. 22. is thought to be a Prophesy concerning the Conception of Christ the Lord hath created a new thing in the Earth a Woman shall compass a Man Some indeed have interpreted it thus the Church tho weak as a Woman shall compass and besiege her Enemies and take them Captive But this is very flat and frigid especially if you observe the Preface to the Prediction the Lord hath created a new thing in the Earth It is no new thing that the Church gets the better of her Enemies there are many Instances of this in the History of the Israelities So that something else is justly thought to be the meaning of the words And what should it be but this that Christ who was made of a Woman should be incompassed and shut up by her in her Virgin-Womb Her compassing a Man expresses the conception of him The word Sabab circumdedit agrees very well with it for the Mother encompasses round the Faetus with her Womb. And the Greek ●itly answers to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 1. 23. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 1. 31. The plain meaning then is that a Woman Nekebah not Ishah one that is no Wife but a Virgin shall conceive a Man-child in her Womb. And the Woman here meant is the blessed Virgin Mary and the Man is Christ who is God and Man See Dr. P●c●ck in Not. Misc●l in Port. Mos. And this Interpretation is the more remarkable by reason of the Hebrew word which we here translate Man It denoteth not barely one of the Male kind in contradistinction to one of the other Sex but it properly signifies a Man of Power and Might and so it is fitly applied to the Messias who is Omnipotent Yea the antient Iews as Abarbinel one of their own Rabbins testifies understood by this word here God himself to whom Power more peculiarly and eminently belongs It is no wonder therefore that the Fathers of the Church generally interpret this place of the Virgin Mary bearing Christ in her Womb in which he may properly be said to be incompassed and infolded by her This was a new thing indeed there never was the like before nor shall ever be afterwards And therefore a worthy Writer is here to be blamed who unadvisedly saith the Iews might justly laugh at this Interpretation The Delivery and Birth of the Messias thus shut up in the Womb is expresly foretold in Isa. 9. 6. To us a Child is born to us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder It is true some of the Jews say Hez●kiah is spoken of here but they are confuted hence that the Epithets here

not of Human Race And further it is remarkable that this People endeavour'd in the Emperor Adrian's Reign to restore and reedifie their Temple but were forced to desist from it And afterwards when Iulian out of hatred to the Christians set them about that Work as they were laying the Foundation an Earthquake shatter'd all they had done and Fire flash'd out of the ground wherewith many thousands of the Iews were destroyed as is testified not only by several Christian Writers but by Ammianus Marcellinus who was a Heathen But by the way it may be observ'd when the Christians built a Temple in the same place they were not molested but finish'd it and made it the Patriarchal Seat and flourish'd five hundred years till the time that Ierusalem was taken by the Saracens This Iewish People now have neither Temple nor Priest Altar nor Sacrifice their Rites and Ceremonies are ceas'd their Tribes are confounded their Prophets are extinct they have no certain State or Commonwealth no Laws no Prince no Governor of their own they are scatter'd over the face of the whole Earth and are a despised and loathed People This cannot but be thought to be the just Iudgment of God upon them for their murdering of Christ. And there cannot be a more visible Evidence of the Truth of Christianity than this viz. the Destruction of the Iewish Poli●y and the miserable Dispersion of that People for these sixteen hundred years It was observ'd by the Enemies of the Iews heretofore how they prosper'd above all other People They are a certain sort of Men saith an Historian who tho they have been often diminished yet they have so increas'd that they have been too hard for the Power of the Roman Laws and they have almost arrived to the Confidence and Liberty of making Laws for the rest of the World But this singular Providence of God towards the Iews is long since changed and they have been through many Ages the remarkable Example of Divine Justice and Vengeance such as no Story can parallel Tully is not to be regarded when speaking of the Iews he saith That Nation doth sufficiently declare by its being conquered and made Tributary and by being reduced to the utmost Servitude how dear it was to the Gods He speaks this after his Pagan manner But Sulpitius Severus who was a better Judg of Religion and of the Issues of it speaking of the Destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and of the dispersion of the Iews thereupon gives us this Remark This last overthrow of the Temple and Captivity of the Iews whereby they are banished from their Country and are daily seen to be scatter'd over the whole Earth are a Testimony to the World that this Punishment hath befallen them for no other cause than for laying their wicked hands upon Christ for when at other times this People were deliver'd to Captivity for their Sins they never underwent that slavery beyond seventy Years But now these Persons who were the Dear Off-spring of those that were the Darlings of God Almighty the Beloved of the Lord his Chosen People his peculiar Charge and the singular Care of Heaven have been for sixteen Centuries forsaken of God and all Men and are the very Offscowring of the World This utter Extermination of the Iews is an unanswerable Argument against them and shews that they lie under the Curse of God for their rejecting the Saviour of the World and for putting to Death the Messias Two of their Rabbies seriously pondering this Argument urged upon them by Luther were convinced of their gross Error and Sin and were the day after baptized at Wittenberg in the face of the whole University And truly this must be said that the total dispersion of the Iews can never in all its Circumstances be reconciled with the Providence of God his Goodness Wisdom and Promises if they continue the People of God still and are in favour with him For can it be imagined that God would leave his Beloved People so long and wholly disown them Is it worthy of God and agreeable to his Wisdom and Mercy which are interested in the Salvation of Men to let the True Religion so they count Iudaism fall to the ground and be utterly abolished and to set up another a False one so they reckon Christianity to be in its place This is plain and convincing I think It is harsh and incredible that the God of Order and Righteousness should deal thus that he should cause this Confusion in the World and throw down and even break in pieces a Religion which is the only True one according to them It cannot enter into any Reasonable Mans mind that God would let his own Religion and People be thus confounded It is evident therefore that the Iewish Religion was but for a time and that the Christian Religion was to succeed that and that this is the True Religion likewise that God sent this severe Punishment on the Iews for their refusing of Christ the True and Only Messiah and for their Opposing and Persecuting and at last Crucifying this Holy One. Thus the Christian Religion is attested and vouched by the dreadful Plagues and Iudgments on the Persons and Nations that opposed it Vengeance hath pursued the Enemies of the Gospel Lastly from the Excellency of the Christian Religion and of all the Principles Doctrines and Truths that belong to it I gather the Reality and Certainty of it This is another Divine Testimony which might be enlarg'd upon Never was Holiness so strictly urged as now never was there an Institution that was so Heavenly and Sublime as this never was there any that directed Men to such Noble Ends and afforded them such Joys and Solaces Wherefore it cannot proceed from any but God A Religion that so immediately leads to him must needs come from him Since Christianity doth fit us for Heaven we have Reason to believe that it came from thence But because I had occasion to insist largely upon this Particular when I undertook to assert the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and afterwards when I demonstrated the Excellency and Perfection of them I will say no more of this last Argument of the Truth of Christianity And thus you see the firm Basis of it These ar● the Testimonials to prove the Truth of our Religion and that it is a Dispensation different from all the rest These are the Proofs whereon we found this Oeconomy and there is no other evidence that a Reasonable Man can desire I say no other becaus● here are all kinds of Evidience Christianity is proved by the Witness of credible Men and by the Attestation of God himself It is proved by Natural and Supernatural Arguments by Reason and by Faith We have the Certainty both of Human and Divine Testimony which may be call'd a Demonstration for a thing is demonstrated when it appears that there is an absolute Impossibility that the thing should not be thus