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	tradition_n	unwritten_a	2,200	5	12.3175	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43344	A discourse concerning meekness and quietness of spirit to which is added, A sermon on Acts 28. 22, shewing that the Christian religion is not a sect, and yet that it is every where spoken against / by Matthew Henry ...	Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714.; Henry, Matthew, 1662-1714. Sermon on Acts XXVII, 22.; Howe, John, 1630-1705.	1699 (1699)	Wing H1475_PARTIAL; Wing H1476_PARTIAL; ESTC R14901	132,581	220

made all things Nay even now he is set down at the right-hand of the Majesty on high far above all Principalities and Powers i. e. both good and evil Angels so as to be no more hurt by the contradictions of the one than he is benefitted by the Adorations of the other yet still he is spoken against Besides the Contempt cast upon him by the Iews and Mahometans are there not with us even with us those that daringly speak against him Arians and Socinians are daily speaking against him as a meer Man thinking that a Robbery in him which He thought none to be equal with God Quakers and Entbus●asts speak against Him as a meer Name setting up I know not what Christ within them while they explode that Iesus that was Crucified at Ierusalem Atheists and Deists 〈◊〉 against Him as a meer Cheat accounting the 〈…〉 a great Imposture and His 〈◊〉 a Iest. Profane and Ignorant 〈…〉 slightly of Him as if our Beloved were no more than anoth●●●eloved and some 〈…〉 cornfully of Him as Iulian the Apostate did that call'd Him in disdain the Galilean and the Carpenter's Son Such as these are the hard speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against Him the Lord rebuke them even the Lord that hath chose● Ie●●salem rebuke them 2. God himself the great Object of our Religious Regards is every where spoken against It is not only the Christian Revelation that is thus attack'd by virulent and blasphemous Tongues but even Natural Religion also The Glorious and Blessed God the great Creator and Benefactor of the Universe that doth Good to all and whose tender Merc●es are over all His Works even He is every where spoken against Some deny His Being Tho' His Existence be so necessary so evident that if He be not t is impossible any thing else should be yet there are Fools who say in their hearts what they dare not speak out that there is no God Psal. 14. 1. And he that saith there is no God wisheth there were none and if he could help it there should be none Others Blaspheme the Attributes of God that charge the All-seeing Ey● with Blindness saying The Lord shall not see Psal. 94. 7. that charge the Eternal Mind with Forgetfulness saying God hath forgotten Psal. 10. 11. that charge the Almighty Arm with Impotency saying Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness which is there call'd speaking against God Psal. 78. 19 20. Thos●● 〈…〉 promise themsel●● 〈…〉 They shall not surely die 〈…〉 re●uire it And th●se that bold●● 〈…〉 and Irreligi●●● saying unto 〈…〉 Depart from us Job 21. 14 15. 〈…〉 of God tho' He is infinitely Great and Glorious others speak hardly of Him tho' he is infinitely Just and Good The Name of God is spoken against by the profane using of it so it is construed Psal. 〈◊〉 39 20. They speak against thee wickedly thine Enemies take thy Name in vain● Can there be a greater slight put upon the Eternal God than for Men to use his Sacred and Blessed Name as a By-word with which they give vent to their exorbitant Passions or fill up the vacanci●s of their other Idle-words The Name of God is thus abus'd not only by those that bel●h out bloody Oaths and ●urses which make the Ears of every good Man to tingle but by ●●ose that mention the Name of God slightly and irreverently in their common Conversation in whose mouths he is near when he is far from their reins To use those forms of speech which properly signify an Acknowledgment and Adoration of God's Being as O God or O Lord or an Appeal to his Omniscience as God knows or an Invocation of his Favour as God bless me or God be merciful to me● I say to use these or the like expressions impertinently and intending thereby to express only our wonder our surp●ize or our passionate resentments or any thing than that which is their proper and awful signification is an evidence of a vain mind that wants a due regard to that glorious and fearful Name The Lord our God I see not that the Profanation of the Ordinance of praying is any bett●● 〈◊〉 the Profanation of the Ordinance of Swearing The serious ●●●sideration of this I hope might prevent much of that 〈◊〉 which is 〈…〉 God and to his Holy Name by some that 〈◊〉 not with others to an exce●● of Ri●t The Pro●●dence of God 〈◊〉 likewise every where spoken against by Mur●●u●ers and Complainers that qua●●el with it and find fault with the disposals of it and when they are hardly bestead curse their King and their God Thus is the mouth of the ungodly set against the Heavens and their Tongue walket●●●hbrough the Earth 〈◊〉 The Word of God the great Rule of our Religion is every where spoken against so it was 〈◊〉 was first preached wherever the Apo●●●es 〈◊〉 preaching the Doctrine of Christ they 〈…〉 those that spake against it ●ontradicting and 〈…〉 So it is now it is 〈◊〉 Atheists speak against the Scriptures as not of Authority 〈◊〉 speak against it as dark and uncertain further than it is expounded and supported by the Authority of their Church which receives unwritten Traditions pari pietatis affectu ac reverentiâ with the same pious affection and reverence that they receive the Scripture nay and if we may judge by their practice with much more Thus is the Word of God blasphemed by them who call themselves the Temple of the Lord. But if we take away Revelation as the Deists do all Religion will soon be lost and if we derogate from the Scriptures as the Papists do all Revelation is much endangered Those also speak against the Scriptures who profanely Iest with them and that they may the more securely Rebel against Scripture Laws make themselves and their idle Companions merry with the Scripture Language The Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach as the Prophet complains Ier. 6. 10. And another Prophet found it so whose serious word of the necessity of Precept upon Precept was turned into an idle Song as Grotius understands it Isa. 28. 13. The word of the Lord was unto them Precept upon Precept Very likely it was done by the Drunkards of Ephraim spoken of v. 1. and it gave occasion to that Caution v. 22. Be ye not mockers lest your Bands be made strong Profligate and Debauched Minds relish no wit like that which ridicules the Sacred Text and exposeth that to Contempt As of old the insulting 〈◊〉 must be humour'd with the Songs of Sion and no Cups can please Belshazzar in his drunken Frollick but the Sacred Vessels of the Temple Thus industrious are the Powers of Darkness to Vilify the Scriptures and to make them coutemptible but he that sits in Heaven shall laugh at them for in spite of all the little efforts of their impotent Malice He will magnifie the Law and make it honourable according to the

thus the Heart 〈◊〉 impregnably fortify'd for Satan against Christ and his Gospel Wrath is treasur'd up against the Day of Wrath and those who might have been the Blessing prove the Plague of their Age which is a Lamentation and shall be for a Lamentation to all that wish well for the souls of Men and to th●s● especially that are desirous of the welfare of the rising Generation Fourthly Let us take heed that none of us do at at any time directly or indirectly speak against the ways of Religion and Godliness or say a Confederacy with those that do so Submit to Divine Instructions given with a strong hand not to walk in the way of those People that speak ill of Religion Take heed of embracing any Notions which secretly tend to d●rogate from the Authority of the Holy Scriptures or to diminish the Honour of Religion in the Soul or of accustoming your selv●● to such Expressions as treat not Sacred Things with that awful Regard which is due to them Those were never reckon'd Wise Men that would rather lose a Friend than a Iest much less are they to be accounted so that will rather lose the Favour of their God Those that in their common Converse make themselves merry with serious things how can it be expected they should at any time be serious in them or experience the influence and comfort of them It is not likely that those who make the Word of God the subject of their Iests should ever make it the Guide of their way or find it the spring of their Joys Let us not chuse to associate with those that have light thoughts of Religion and are ready upon all occasions to speak against it It is not without good reason that among the many words with which St. Peter exhorted his New Converts this only is recorded Save your selves from this untoward Generation Acts 2. 40. Those that listen to the Counsel of the Vngodly and Stand in the way of Sinners as willing to walk with them will come at length if Almighty Grace prevent not to set in the seat of the Scornful Let us therefore abide by that which Iob and Eliphaz even in the heat of Dispute were agreed in that the Counsel of the Wicked shall be far from us which Protestation we have Iob 21. 16. and 22. 18. It 's dangerous making Friendship with those that have an enmity to serious Godliness lest we learn their way and get a Snare to our Souls There are two common Pretences and seemingly plausible ones under which those that speak against Religion shelter themselves but they are neither of them justifiable 1. They pretend that it is only for Argument sake that they object against Religion and pick quarrels with it and so little esteem they have of the thing call'd Sincerity they will not be thought to mean as they say And are the great Principles of Religion become such Moot-points such Matters of doubtful Disputation that it is indifferent which side of the Question a Man takes and upon which he may argue pro or con at his pleasure That grave and weighty saying of a Learned Heathen is enough to silence this pretence Mala enim impia consuetudo est contra Deos disputandi sive ex animo id fit sive simulate It 's an ill thing to talk against Religion whether a Man means as he saith or no or in the Language of our Age whether he speak seriously or only banter Iulian the Apostate when before he threw off his Disguise he frequently argued against Christianity pretended it was only for Disputation sake But out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks and whence can such evil things come but from an evil Treasure there 2. They pretend that it is not Religion that they ridicule and expose to Contempt but some particular Forms and Modes of religious Worship which they do not like And this is one ill effect of the unhappy Divisions among Christians that while one side hath labour'd to make the other contemptible Religion in general hath suffer'd on all sides To reprove what we think amiss with Prudence and Meekness is well but to reproach and make a Iest of that which our Fellow-Christians look upon as Sacred and make a part of their Religion cannot be to any good purpose at all To scoff at the Mistakes and Weaknesses of our Brethren is the way to provoke and harden them but not to convince and reform them They who think to justify this way of ridiculing those that differ from them by the Instance of Elijah's jeering the Priests of Ba●● perhaps Know not what manner of Spirit they are of no more than th●se Disciples did who would have their intemperate Heats countenanced by the Example of that great 〈◊〉 Fifthly Let ●s that profess the Chri●●●an Religion be very cautious that we do not give occasion to any to speak against it If there are those in all places that are industrious to cast ●eproach upon Religion then we have need to ●alk circumspectly and to look well to our goings that those who watch for our halting may have no occasion given them to Blaspheme It is certain that tho' in Religion there is nothing which may be justly spoken against yet a●ong those that profess it there is too often f●und that which deserves to be tax'd and which cannot pass without just and sever● Reflection● Pudet haec opprobria nobis Are there no● those within the Pale of the Church through 〈◊〉 the Name of God and his 〈…〉 and by reason of whom the way of 〈…〉 evil spoken of Are there not those who 〈◊〉 Christ's Livery but are a Scandal to his ●●mily Spots in the ●ove-Feasts and a standing Reproach to that worthy Name by which they are call'd Now though it is certainly very unjust and unfair to impute the faults of Professors to the Religion they profess and to reproach Christianity because there are those that are call'd Christians who expose themselves to Reproach yet it is without question the Sin of those who give Men occasion to do so This was the Condemnation in David's Case and entail'd the Sword upon his House though the Sin was pardon'd that by it he had given great occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12. 14. Let us therefore double our diligence and care 〈◊〉 no offenc● either to Jew or Gentile that Religion which hath so often been wounded in the House of her Friends may nev●r be wou●ded through our sides If we ●●uire as we are commanded to do what it 〈◊〉 that gives occasion of Reflection upon Religion we shall find that the Imprudences of those that profess it give some occasion but their Immoralities much more 1. The Imprudences of Christians often turn to the Reproach of Christianity There may be such over-doing even in Well-doing as may prove ●ndoing When more stress is laid than ought to be upon some