Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	darkness_n	light_n	shine_v	2,694	5	9.5580	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76079	A declaration demonstrating and infallibly proving that all malignants, whether they be prelates, popish-cavaleers, with all other ill-affected persons, are enemies to God and the King: who desire the suppression of the Gospel, the advancement of superstition, the diminution of the Kings prerogative and authority, with the oppression of the subject. All which is evinced by strong proofes, and sufficient reasons. By John Bastwick Dr. of Physick.	Bastwick, John, 1593-1654.	1643 (1643)	Wing B1061; Thomason E101_8; ESTC R1900	48,987	64

in whom there is no darknesse For the Prophesie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost 2. Peter chapter 1. verse 21. We have also a more sure word of Prophesie saith the same Apostle whereunto you doe well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a darke place verse 19. So that the Scriptures were of purpose penned by holy men inspired by God himselfe for a direction and light to the Saints to be guided by and so they are termed by the holy Ghost So that as Peter said unto Christ in the sixth of Iohn when he asked his twelve Disciples if they also would goe away To whom shall we go saith he Thou hast the Words of eternall life Even so we may truly say whither shall we goe for light and direction to get to heaven but to the Holy Scriptures for they have the Words of eternall life in them and this saith Christ and his Apostles and yet notwithstanding all this excellent light that shineth in the Scripture the Prelates everre they are but blinde guides and preferre humane darknesse before the splendour of these sacred Oracles the Scriptures and say without the interpretation of the Fathers they cannot be knowne which is unsupportable blasphemy and as much as to tell the everliving God and truth it selfe he lies It is most veritable that they see not the light of the Scripture the eyes of whose mindes are blinded neither do they see the light of the Sun whose eyes are plucked out If our Gospel be hid saith Saint Paul it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded their mindes that is in Infidels lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ which is the image of God should shine upon them 2 Corinth chap. 4. verse 3 4. every one knoweth the voice of that man with whom he is acquainted as soone as the sound of it commeth to his eares and shall we not know the voice of God so clearly and perspicuously speaking unto us in the Scriptures Those that are taught of God know it the true worshippers of him know and understand it those that have any familiar commerce with heaven and in heavenly things But worldly men and those that are given to the love of the same and are carelesse of heaven and happinesse they understand not the divine language nor heavenly voice Can any heare the voice of God and not assent unto it without the aid and authority of the Fathers What a contumely is this to holy Scripture Shall God have lesse authority and credit among men then the Fathers Shall we not beleeve God speaking unto us and shall we beleeve the Fathers Shall we not give credit to Gods Word and shall we beleeve men Let the dishonour of so great a contumacie against God be farre from Christian obedience Truly the Fathers being conscious of their owne imbecility and weaknesse never thought themselves worthy of so great dignity as to suppose that any honour came unto the Scriptures from their Interpretations and Expositions who in their Writings frequently exhort their Readers not to listen what they say but what the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles speake in them and no farther to receive their authority and doctrine then it is grounded upon the holy Scriptures and expressions to this purpose the Defendant saith he could accumulate infinite out of the Fathers which for brevity he omitteth fearing to be over tedious though it be a matter of greatest importance Such was the modestie of the Fathers fearing to be wise above that which was written ever-making the holy Scripture the rule and measure to be guided by And in this moderation the Fathers imitated Christ the Prophets and Apostles who ever fetch the proofe and testimony of their Doctrine from the Scriptures and not as now the Prelates do preposterously bringing authority to the Scriptures from the interpretation of the Fathers according to their owne sense To the Law and to the Prophets saith Esay chapter 8. verse 20. whosoever speaketh not according to that hath no light in him And Iosua that great Commander is injoyned by God to order and governe himselfe and the people and the whole Common-wealth according to the rule of the Scripture Iosua chapter 1. verse 7 8. Onely be thou strong and very couragious that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law which Moses my servant commanded thee turne not from it to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest This Booke of the Law shall not go out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good successe And in the 23. chapter verse 6. he saith Be ye therefore very couragious to keepe and to do all that is written in the Booke of the Law of Moses that you turne not aside therefrom to the right hand nor to the left And Christ himselfe our great Master saith Iohn 5. verse 38. Search the Scriptures for in them ye thinke to have eternall life and they testifie of me And in the third of the Acts verse 22 23. Saint Peter brings all men unto Christ to be taught by him not in somethings onely but that Prophet must be heard in all things and no other in Gods matters must be listened unto the words are these For Moses truly said unto the Fathers a Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall you heare in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you And it shall come to passe that every soule which will not heare that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people And in the 12. of Iohn verse 48. our Saviour saith He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my Words hath one that judgeth him the Word that I have spake the same shall judge him in the last day And therefore doth it not stand with all good reason that we should guide and square our lives and actions by that word and rule onely by which we shall at the last day be judged Paul in the 2. of the Rom. verse 16. saith That the secrets of mens hearts shall at that day be judged according to his Gospel and shall not all our doctrines yea and our whole Religion be squared and regulated by the same all good reason would dictate so They have Moses and the Prophets saith Abraham let them hear him saith he Luke 16. verse 29. We have Christ and his Apostles we are onely to heare them in all things not the Fathers not the traditions of the Elders not the use and customes of former ages if they dissent from the holy Scriptures and written word of God For the great doctor of his Church telleth

had ever been the fiction and excogitations of mens braines as some prophane and Atheisticall men thinke who suppose and say that Religion was by Policie invented to keepe men in awe then the Defendant saith that all men would willingly and without reluctation have embraced and received them given ever them admittance and free entertainment for the world ever loveth his owne Now it is notoriously knowne that no carnall men either love the Scriptures or regard them nay it hath beene alwayes the endeavour and the greatest plot and conspiracy of wicked and ungodly men and the adversaries of the truth either totally to extinguish them or to vilifie their authority as King James of renowned memory in his Apologie to all Christian Princes sufficiently declareth discovering therein the Popes double diligence in that businesse So that were there no other reason but this alone it were of conviction enough to prove the holy Scripture to be the Word of God because it so much opposeth impiety wickednesse cruelty unrighteous dealing errours and darknesse which carnall and sensuall men love more then light And whereas the Prelates with the Papists produce the authority of the Fathers for the maintaining of what they speake and in Court alledged that of Augustine Where he saith that he would not have beleeved the Scripture if the Church had not told him it was the Scripture The Defendant for his part is sorry to see such a profane Sympathie between the Prelates and Papists in these things who deale with true Christians as the Gibeonites dealt with the Israelites in the 9. of Iudges who pretended they were Ambassadours and tooke old sackes upon their asses and old tattered bottles and clouted shoes and ragged clothes and pretended they came from a far Countrey and so the Israelites not taking counsell of the Lord were cousened and deluded by them Even so the Papists and Prelates under pretence of the ancient Writers and with their old shoes mouldy bread of uncouth antiquity rob us of the truth and take away from us the bread and staffe of life by which we should safely and comfortably walk to heaven and happinesse and under the pretence of the Fathers and their authority they abuse and deceive the simple But in this cause Augustine is not very usefull unto them for his authority in this so weighty a matter is to rationall men of no great validity for the Defendant demands of any that hath but the grace of understanding that if Augustine would never have beleeved that there had beene a God without the Church had told him so must his infidelity make others Atheists also This will not be thought good reason amongst the learned for then one mans imperfections should be a rule for multitudes to go to hell and unbeliefe should be a vertue And yet it is not altogether denyed but that the perswasion and report of men may be a motive to stirre up men many times to the hearing and perusall of a thing which of it selfe doth not alwayes beget saith or but very little as dayly experience teacheth us but the thing it selfe seene or heard is that that worketh effecteth it and makes their faith so firme and stedfast that although the same parties should a thousand times after deny that to be so yet they to the death would persevere in that true beliefe As for example we see in the people of Samaria that were by the womans perswasion brought out to see Christ and in some small measure beleeved in him from her relation that he was the Messiah yet when then they had talked with him themselves they openly affirmed that then they beleeved not because the woman had told them but from more excellent reasons and grounds that they themselves had heard him And should the Samaritan woman a thousand times after that have denyed that he had beene the Messiah they would never have beene removed from their faith in Christ for all that The same may be said of Nathaniel in the first of John to whom Philip said That he had found him of whom Moses spake in the Law and the Prophets Jesus of Nazareth and Nathaniel said unto him Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth Philip said Come and see Jesus saw Nathaniel comming unto him and saith to him Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile Nathaniel said unto him Whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him Before that Philip called thee when thou wert under the Fig-tree I saw thee Nathaniel answereth and saith unto him Rabbi Thou art the Son of God thou art the King of Israel And howsoever Philip here was an occasion of bringing Nathaniel to Christ yet the sight of Christ and his Miracles were the things onely that begat true faith in him and such a faith as all the Philips in the world could never after have removed him from it againe And so it was with Augustine perhaps that being a learned Infidell or little better a Man●●nee through the perswasions of learned Christians he came to looke in the Word of God as all faith commeth by hearing but doth it therefore follow that that was onely the cause of his faith and perseverance in it or if the Church had not told him so these had beene no other meanes for him to come to the knowledge of the Scripture this doth not necessarily follow But were it granted that had not the Church told Augustine which was the Scripture and the Word of God that he had then never beleeved it to be the Word must this conclusion of necessity be gathered from thence That all men must be like Augustine in this or that the authoritie of men is greater and above the Scripture All these are poore and lame consequences and not beseeming the worthy Fathers of the Church in open Court to publish to the infinite dishonour of holy Scripture and advancing humane authoritie above it which indeed is meete blasphemy against the holy Word of God For would not every man accuse one of folly if another being a stranger and never seeing the King and meeting him in a journey with all his Nobles richly clad as it beseemeth noble Peeres so to be for the honour of their Master and the Majestie of his Court and in this company where there are so many brave personages and all so excellently apparelled and he not knowing which was the King should aske some of his retinue or some Courtier which of those were the King Now doth follow because at that time the man should not have known the King without this information from some of the attendants that the King could no other way have been known unto him or that Kings could be knowne no other wayes but by such informations No rationall creatures wil so conclude at that time he in part beleeved from the Courtiers relation that it was the King but after that he seeth the King in his Court or upon his throne with his Crowne

the Saduces saying Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures Matth. 12. verse 24. and indeed from the ignorance of the Scriptures commeth all error they that follow the Scripture for their guide can never stray or straggle from the right way neither have they need to borrow the candle of the Fathers to be directed by so long as the glorious Sun of the word shineth so clearly and it was the eternall praise and commendations of the more Noble Bereans that they did dayly search the Scriptures whether the things the Apostles taught were so or no. Acts 17. verse 11. and Paul is greatly honoured with this applause in the 26. of the Acts verse 22. that he taught no other things then those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come to passe And so Christ taught his Apostles Luke 24. that all things ought to be fulfilled concerning him which were writ in Moses the Prophets and the Psalmes So that the Scriptures alone are the Foundation of all our religion and to say that the meaning of the Scriptures cannot be known without the Fathers is an unsufferable wickednesse done unto that holy booke and an infinite contempt and disgrace of it to say it hath need of the aid of man to support it Christ vanquished the Devill by the Scriptures Matth. 4. drove away the Saduces Matth. 22. and Saint Iames by the Scriptures put an end unto the great controversie of the Churches at Jerusalem and set the Churches of the Gentiles free for ever from all Ceremonies whatsoever but those God himselfe had appointed Acts 15. and onely by the Scriptures did Paul resolve all questions So that according to Gods owne instruction and direction which must ever be obeyed and listened unto the Scriptures onely and solely must be the Judge Law Square and Rule of all our Religion Words and actions Not the authority of the Fathers not the traditions of men not the practice and custome of the ancient and the name of Antiquity For they that shall preferre those things before the Word of God or at least affirme that these holy Oracles divine Records cannot be understood without the Fathers do not onely blasphemously disgrace and contemne the holy Scriptures but neglect the great Prophet whom we ought to heare in all things so that listening unto the voice of men before the words of this great Prophet and accusing the Scriptures of obscurity and saying they are the refuge of all Schismatickes and Heretickes is great impiety against God and most injurious to the holy Scriptures All which the Prelates being so highly guilty of the Defendant will never be afraid to charge them with it that they are disgracers and contemners of holy Scripture withall that they are very ungratefull to the King their Master and invaders of his Prerogative Royall all which he shall make also evidently appeare to this honourable Court and how unworthily yea prophanely they have abused not onely the King their now Soveraign but his Most excellent Father of pious memory And that they are invaders of his Prerogative it is most certaine not onely by the Statutes and Lawes of the Kingdome but by this very information For by the Lawes and Statutes specified before with many others it in solemnly inacted That whatsoever Authority is here exercised under the King in his Dominions whether it be Spirituall or Temporall whether by Archbishops Bishops or any other Ecclesiasticall men it is meerly in by and from the King and so ought to be acknowledged and that all jurisdictions superiorities all priviledges and preeminencies spirituall and Ecclesicall are annexed unto the Imperiall Crowne and so to be acknowledged And whosoever doth not acknowledge that all jurisdicton and Authority both Spirituall and Temporall is derived and doth flow immediately from the Kings Majestie as Supreme head under Christ in these Churches and in his Kingdomes as the Statutes declare at large is ipso facto in a praemunire and under his Majesties high displeasure For it is the Prerogative of Princes and the priviledge that onely agrees to Kings and Potentates to be absolute in their Dominions and that all other jurisdictions and superiorityes exercised by any other in their Kingdoms are derived from them and that of themselves they have none but as from the Kings So that it is arbitrary and in the Princes power to have or not to have such jurisdictions and preeminencies under them And that they may abdicate or annihilate them when they please And whosoever shall deny this or claime any right of Government to themselves in Princes Dominions jure Divino are Delinquents against their Kings and Masters and by our Lawes and Statutes they are proclaimed enemies of the King and his Prerogative Royall and that is true the mouth of the Law hath spake it And therefore the Defendants book cannot be called a Libell without the Lawes first be proclaimed such for the Lawes say That all such persons as shall challenge any Authority to themselves in his Majesties Dominions but from the King are Delinquents against his Majestie and invaders of his prerogative Royall and his Highnesses enemies and so they are Now that the Prelates are such they sufficiently declared it in the censure of the Defendant For he reading the Statutes at the Bar they notwithstanding affirmed that they had not their Authority and jurisdiction from the King but that Jesus Christ made them Bishops and bestowed their Authority upon them and that they were jure Divino and that they were before Christian Kings and held the Crownes of Kings upon their heads for no Bishop no King and all this in a publick Court of Judicature and in a most crouded assembly So that it seemeth the King is beholding to them and not they to his Majestie And if this be not to invade the Prerogative and to be enemies of it and to be ungratefull unto his Highnesse the Defendant knoweth not what it is to be enemies of the prerogative The Lawes say it and therefore if the Defendant hath erred the Lawes have brought him into this error Neither did the Prelates own words at the Bar onely declare their disloyalty to the King and their independency on him but this very information which comes from the Prelates in the name of the Attorney Generall sufficiently demonstrates it For in it the Defendant is accused as guilty of a great crime for writing against the Hierarchy and preferring a Presbyterian parity before the Sacred Orders of Bishops Priests and Deacons What the Defendant hath writ and the occasion of it concerning the Presbytery the honourable Court hath been informed in part and withall if so writing be libellous and the Defendant have erred in it the Holy Scripture is also libellous which were impiety to thinke and hath been the cause of it from which he varied nothing at all in that discourse and further the Defendant resolveth to live and die in that error concerning the parity of Ministers and Presbyters which