Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	holy_a	person_n	trinity_n	2,662	5	9.6888	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29845	A letter in answer to a book entitled, Christianity not mysterious as also, to all those who set up for reason and evidence in opposition to revelation & mysteries / by Peter Browne ...	Browne, Peter, ca. 1666-1735.	1697 (1697)	Wing B5134; ESTC R19095	82,171	238

much o● what they have no Idea of it must always end in darkness and confusion That part of a Christian Mystery which is intelligible and plain was ever so and that part which is mysterious notwithstanding all their vain endeavours will ever be so till we co●● to another World Therefore our way to deal with these men is to fix the right sence and meaning of those Propositions wherein the Mysteries of the Gospel are reveal'd to us and then to insist upon the Proofs we have for the truth of the Revelation and shew that they are such as ought to convince any reasonable unprejudic'd man insomuch that if they do not give their assent to them they shall be without excuse when they come to be try'd for their Infidelity Thus we shou'd turn the course of our Thoughts into a right Chanel and confound all these Enemies of our excellent Religion For by freely owning as becomes us that we have no notion at all of these mysterious things as they are in themselves we cut off a multitude of frivolous and impertinent Objections And shew these men that our Christian Faith however is no lazy credulity or blind implicite assent since it is built upon a better foundation than is possible for any man to lay without the concurrence of the Almighty Power of God insomuch that we are ready to join issue with them upon the Principles of Reason in every point of our Christian Faith as far as the things reveal'd fall within the compass of it And therefore were I to give a reason of my belief of the TRINITY laying aside all affectation of hard words and abstruse Metaphysical Notions I wou'd do it thus I am fully perswaded of the necessity of Revelation in general in order to all the purposes of Vertue and Piety in this life and I am convinc'd that those Revelations of the things of another World which are made in the Gospel have better proofs of their Divinity than any other whatsoever They have such testimonies of their coming from God from Prophecies and Miracles and the agreeableness of the Doctrines therein contain'd to our common Notions that if I use my Reason with the same impartiality in these that I do in other things I must give my assent to them In those writings I find this Proposition There are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are one From whence and from many other passages in the Scriptures I find that there is a Distinction made in the Godhead under these three names of Father Son and Holy-Ghost which the Church hath exprest altogether by the word Trinity and singly by the word Person And I think these terms proper enough to express all that we know of this Mystery Now I find no account of the Manner and Nature of this Distinction in the holy Scriptures any otherwise than that the Son was begotten and that the Holy Ghost comes from the Father and the Son I conclude there is something more than a meer Nominal Distinction because we are said to be Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy-Ghost Which must needs import something more than if that Commission had run thus Go Baptize all Nations in the name of Jehovah and of Elohim and of Adonai And if there were not something more intended than barely that they shou'd do it in the name of God this were a needless tautology Again I conclude that they are not three distinct different Spirits for then there must be three Gods contrary to Reason and Scripture From all which I infer there is in the Godhead something more than a meer nominal Distinction and something less than that of three different Spirits And because I find each Person seperatly as well as jointly mention'd as God and Divine Worship allow'd and paid to them Therefore as that excellent Creed expresseth it I worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance Now at the same time I make this profession of my Faith I allow I have not the least knowledg how strict this Union is nor how great the Distinction It is as much beyond my Reason as the Glory of God is beyond my Sight and any man who strives to conceive it himself or takes pains to explain it to others is guilty of such a folly that I can't think of any action in nature extravagant enough to match it If we saw a Man stretching up his hand with a great deal of Vehemence to pull down a Star we shou'd certainly conclude him distracted because 't is utterly impossible for him to reach it or grasp it if he cou'd 'T is the very case of those men who go about to account for the manner of that Unity and Distinction for which they have neither Words nor Idea's And therefore I say it again in opposition to this Insolent Man that I thus adore what I cannot comprehend This is one of those Mysteries reveal'd in the Gospel and it is never the less a Mystery for any thing he hath yet said or ever will say for the Union is inexplicable and will be so to the end of the World However my assent to this is not precarious and implicite or any easie blind Credulity but is ●ounded upon clear and distinct Idea's For there are three things to be done by every reasonable thinking man concerning any Proposition wherein a Mystery is reveal'd 1. To be sure that he understand well the meaning of the Words 2. That he discern no Contradiction in them 3. That he hath sufficient evidence of the Revelations coming from God 1. As to the first of these in respect of the Mystery I am now upon I understand very well the meaning of the Words wherein it is reveal'd and they themselves who oppose this Doctrine understand them as well as I for if they did not know what was meant by the Words they wou'd never set themselves to argue against it for there is no other way of con●uting Nonsence but saying it is such So that thus far if it prove to be true these Propositions wherein the Trinity is reveal'd will hold good against them at the day of Judgment and render them without Excuse 2. As to the second thing I see no Contradiction in it and if there were I would utterly reject it For to say that Three are One is so far from being a contradiction that there is nothing more common in ordinary discourse than for any one to say that Three or any other greater number of things are but one and if every man who spoke such seeming contradictions were catch't up immediately and forc'd to explain himself upon all such occasions it wou'd make conversation very troublesome As if one shou'd say that there are three distinct things in a Man a Body the Animal Spirits and an Immaterial Substance and yet

design'd to signify the plainess of the Gospel as to all matters of obligation upon Mens Consciences in opposition to the obscurity of the Law which was so perplex't with a multitude of Rites and Circumstances of Duty that it was troublesom and tedious to learn and observe them all And therefore it is said in the same Text That they should not then teach every Man his Neighbour saying Know the Lord because all the necessary knowledg of him and his Laws was then to be rendred plain and easy And accordingly this is now the glory of our Religion and its plainess is one great argument of its Excellence and Divinity not but that there are some things reveal'd in the Gospel of which we are not now capable of any clear distinct knowledge So that there is a great deal of difference between these two expressions Christianity not Mysterious and There are no Mysteries in Christianity The first is very true and the last is absolutely false Or a Treatise shewing that there is nothing in the Gospel contrary to Reason Who among us ever said there was but if this had not been added his Book wo'd have been the shorter by Fourteen Pages and were it not for this and many other things in it as little to the purpose it had been only a sticht Pamphlet and cry'd about with Almanacks Nor above reason This likewise is a dubious saying for if it signifies that there are no expressions in the Gospel that it is impossible for us to know the meaning of then it is very true For thô some passages are difficult yet every thing in the Gospel is intelligible and were there any expression in it impossible to be understood so much of it must have been writ to no purpose But if by not being above reason be meant that there is nothing spoke of in it but what we have as compleat and perfect a knowledg of as we have of any object of our Sences it is absolutely false as I hope will sufficiently appear And thus the whole Title Page is nothing else but equivocation and sophism However there is this to be said for it that it suits the-Book very well the main drift of which is to s●t up Natural Religion in opposition to all Revelation and these same Equivocations begun in the Title Page run through every thing he says His Introduction wherein he pretends to state the Question requires no Answer for we grant that the notion of a Mystery is to be taken from the Holy Scriptures and not from the opinion of any private Doctor or Council or any infallible Head So there are Six Pages of Impertinence cut off already I shall only take notice how he sets out with a fling at the Divines the Men he 's all along so angry with who gravely tell us That we must adore what we can't comprehend Yes they tell us we must adore God and yet we cannot comprehend him Let him prove we can if he 's able and without giving himself or us any farther trouble we will put the whole Controversy to a short issue and let it lye upon this one point And if he does not make out that we have as full and comprehensive a knowledg of the Nature and Attributes of God as we have of any Proposition in Euclid then what will this Man deserve for that arrogant expression of his That the Divine Being himself cannot with more reason be accounted Mysterious than the most contemptible of his Creatures His business here was to have stated the Question and let us have known what was the true Notion of a Mystery in Scripture But instead of this he goes a great way about to tell us that the true notion of a Mystery is to be taken no where but from thenc● which no one denies And therefore since he hath not done it I must That both He and I may speak to the purpose and neither of us hereafter trouble the World with impertinence Now the clearest way I can think of for doing of this is to instance in some particular Mystery of the Gospel and in that one for all to let us see what a Christian Mystery is in the sence of Scripture I shall take the first I think of that of the Resurrection of our Bodies Saint Paul speaking of this says Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall all be chang'd in the twinkling of an eye Again St. John speaking of the same matter says It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him From whence we see a Christian Mystery is something which relates to another life which it was impossible for us to know without Divine Revelation and now that it is reveal'd we know it but it in part and cannot fully comprehend it Or shorter It is a Divine Truth reveal'd to us in part As particularly this of our being changed at the last day into the likeness of Christ. It is a truth relating to another life which could never have enter'd into our heads to think of unless it had been reveal'd to us from Heaven And now that it is reveal'd to us that we shall be like him yet we know nothing of the manner of it wherein this likeness will consist So that in a Christian Mystery there is something we do understand and something that we are wholly ignorant of and it is call'd a Mystery in respect of both these 1. It is call'd a Mystery in respect of what we do know of it because it was a thing so hidden from us that it was impossible to discover it by those powers of knowledge which we are now endu'd with As we could never have known from reason that good Christians should be chang'd into the likeness of Christ. Now it is this part of the Mystery which makes it an Article of Faith and obligatory upon our Consciences to believe it Because we understand well what it is for a Body to be rais'd and alter'd for the better and we know perfectly what it is for one thing to be chang'd into the likeness of another 2. It is call'd a Mystery in respect of that part of it which as yet we have no notion of because 't is utterly impossible for us in this life to attain to any knowledg of it by reason assisted with the greatest degree of revelation that is afforded us And thus it is impossible for us in this life to have any notion of the manner of that change into the likeness of Christ for 't is expressly said That it doth not yet appear what we shall be From whence I shall infer only thus much at present that what we do know and what is yet conceal'd from us are in gross call'd the same Mystery And that as we are oblig'd to believe what is reveal'd of it so likewise we are at the same time oblig'd from express words of Scripture to believe that there