Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	death_n	sin_n	wage_n	4,853	5	11.4614	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20736	Lectures on the XV. Psalme read in the cathedrall church of S. Paule, in London. Wherein besides many other very profitable and necessarie matters, the question of vsurie is plainely and fully decided. By George Dovvname, Doctor of Diuinitie. Whereunto are annexed two other treatises of the same authour, the one of fasting, the other of prayer.	Downame, George, d. 1634.	1604 (1604)	STC 7118; ESTC S110203	278,690	369

judgement he getteth his goods vnlawfully as for example by vsurie or briberie Now we are briefly to consider the contrarie affirmatiue namely that euery sound Christian maketh conscience of his gettings hauing a true purpose and vpright endeuour to obtaine and procure the commodities of this life onely by good and lawfull meanes And that we may all of vs in like sort be persuaded to make conscience of this duty let vs haue in our minds these considerations first that riches are fitly compared to thornes which if we be not carefull in the gathering of them will pricke and wound not the hand but the conscience yea and if we be ouer-greedie of them will pierce vs through with many sorrowes and secondly that so oft as they being offered to our desire cannot be compassed by good and lawfull meanes they are the baits of the Diuell And therefore we are not to lay hold vpon euerie commoditie which is propounded vnto vs but we are to looke vnto the lawfulnes of the meanes for if we attaine them by vnlawful means we do with them swallow the hooke of the Diuell And this is a certaine truth that those which will be rich that is which haue set downe with themselues that they will attaine to wealth whether the Lord do giue them lawfull meanes or not they fall into temptation and snares of the Diuell for he cannot lay any bait of commoditie to entrap them which they will not be readie to obtaine by sinne which is the very hooke of the Diuell Thirdly we are to acknowledge that it is the blessing of God which maketh rich Prou. 10. 22 and that the Lord doth not blesse ill gotten goods see Prou. 13. 11. and I●rem chapter 17. 11. Fourthly that better is a little with righteousnesse than great reuenews without equitie Prou. 16. 8. Psal. 37. 16 and that it is better to be in meane estate with a good conscience than with the shipwracke of a good conscience to be rich Fiftly that goods justly gotten are the good gifts of God and pledges of his loue towards thee if also thou hast grace to vse them well but contrariwise that ill gotten goods obtained by sinne in the seruice of the diuell they are the wages which the prince of this world giueth to his seruants and are as Nazianzene sayth the earnest penny of perdition or that I may speake more effectually they are the price of mens soules for which couetous men who haue set their soules to sale doe sell them to the diuell Lastly let vs esteeme that onely to be gained which is gotten lawfully And when any thing which we desire cannot be gotten lawfully let vs remember that as the Apostle sayth Great ga●e is godlinesse with contentednesse Whereas contrariwise in that which is vnjustly gotten thre is exceeding great losse And therfore the heathen man did well aduise vs to chuse losse rather than vnhonest gaine for the one sayth hee will grieue thee but once and the other for euer For indeed what is gained in that which is gotten by sinne an earthly commoditie which to a worldly man is not onely vaine and vnprofitable but also hurtfull But what is lo●t thy soule For the wages of sinne as death and the soule that s●●neth shall die Now if the soule should bee weighed in the ballance of Critol●us against al the commodities of the world it would ouerweigh them all Wherefore let that diuine Oracle of our Sauiour Christ alwaies sound in our eares What will it profit a man if hee shall gaine the whole world and loose his owne soule Mar. 8. 36. should we not sinne to gaine the whole world and shall we be readie to sinne for euery trifle in the world Would not the whole world be a sufficient ransome to redeeme our soules and shall wee ●ell our soules to the diuell for euery nothing in this world Was Esau prophane and foolish who in his hunger sold his birthright for a messe of pottage and are not we much more prophane and foolish if for matters of like value but lesse necessitie wee shall make away an euerlasting inheritance yea an eternall kingdome in heauen And thus much may suffice to haue spoken concerning the description of the sound Christian and citizen of heauen Now followeth the priuiledge of euery sound Christian who is qualified according to that description viz. That he shall neuer bee remooued for so sayth the holy ghost He that doth these things shall neuer bee remooued Where we are to consider two things first who it is to whom this priuiledge belongeth and secondly what this priuiledge is the partie to whom it belongeth is He that doth these things He doth not say he that knoweth these things nor he that can discourse of these matters but he that doth these things For as we judge of the health and soundnesse of the heart not by the words of the mouth or colour of the countenance but by the pulse of the arme so of the soundnesse and vprightnesse of the heart judgement is to be made not so much by the words or countenance as by the fruits of the hands It is a good thing to say well but we are no sound Christians or citizens of heauen vnlesse also we doe well Not euery one that sayth vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he that doth the will of my father which is in heauen It is a good thing to read and heare and by reading and hearing to know the will of God but we shall neuer attaine to happinesse vnlesse we be also carefull to doe it Blessed it ●e which readeth sayth Iohn the Diuine and blessed are they which ●e are the words of this prophecie but he stayeth not there and obserue sayth he the things which are written therein It is a good thing to haue the word of God preached and a miserable thing to be without it as Salomon sayth Prou. 29. 18. but he that so heareth it as that he keepeth it ô happie is he They are blessed sayth our Sauiour Christ that ●eare the word of God and keepe it And againe If you know these things happie are you if you doe them We are therefore from hence to bee exhorted vnto well doing For seeing a sound Christian and citizen of heauen is to be discerned by doing these things as the holy ghost here teacheth it behoueth vs by doing them to make our calling and election sure For if we doe these things we shall neuer fall as Peter also by the same spirit affirmeth The priuiledge it selfe is that he shall neuer be remooued or as some read that he shall not fall for euer not for euer that is neuer as Iohn 13. 8. Thou shalt not wash myfeet for euer And the same priuiledge in the same words is repeated Psal. 112. 6. The good man shall neuer be remooued and Prou. 10. 30. The righteous shall neuer be remoued

Sarah was his sister To this objection Abraham himselfe aunswereth Gen. 20. 12 In very truth she is my sister the daughter of my father though not of my mother and she also is my wife Abraham therfore vttered no vntruth but onely concealed part of the truth He did not say sayth Augustine she is not my wife but he sayd she is my sister he therefore concealed some part of the truth but he deliuered no vntruth when be concealed that she was his wise he professed she was his sister Againe say they the Midwiues are commended which that they might preserue the male-children of the Hebrewes aliue told an vntruth But there is no necessity that we should graunt that they did lie for it is very likely that diuerse of the Hebrew women hauing notice of the kings edict did not send for the Midwiues but were without their helpe being strengthned by God and perhaps holpen by other women deliuered But suppose they had told a lye yet we must distinguish betwixt their lie and their preseruation of the infants For the preseruation of the children was a worke of mercy and of the feare of God but their lye had beene a worke of infirmity and of the feare of men Neither did they tell a lye if they lied to saue the infants but hauing preserued before the infants they told a lye for their owne safety So sayth Gregory Parcendo conatae sunt infantum vitam tegere mentiendo suam By sparing they endeuoured to preserue the life of the infants by lying their owne They are therefore commended for sauing the infants they are not commended for lying Thirdly they obiect the example of Rahab who is commended in the Scriptures because she receiued the spies hid and sent them away and by a lie saued their life Such examples as are doubtfull charitie bindeth vs to interpret into the better part I answere therefore with Tremellius and Iunius that there is no necessitie we should interpret her answere as a lie for it may be that others had lodged with her being an Inne-keeper of whom shee made that answere God so disposing by his prouidence that she might truly giue notice of some of her guests which were gone and might also in faith and charity conceale others But if shee had lied yet her lie is not commended whereinto she fell by infirmitie and no maruell if she so fell being a new conuert from paganisme but that her worke of faith and loue Vnto both these examples Augustine answereth thus Whereas it is written that God dealt well with the midwiues of the Hebrews and with Rahab the harlot of Iericho it was not because they lied but because they were mercifull towards the men of God Wherefore not their lying was rewarded but their good will Benignitas ment is non iniquit as mentientis Now if they shall obiect other examples of the godly I answere with Augustine in the same place When as examples of lying are produced out of the holy scriptures either they are no lies but are so supposed to be whiles they are not vnderstood of which sort are some speeches which were prophetically vttered as that of Iacob to Isaac which Augustine sayth was a my sterie and not a lie or if they be lies they are not to be imitated because they cannot be just And secondly the rule of our cōscience is not to be drawn from the examples of men but from the commaundements of God They were men and therefore they might fall but these slips of theirs were in their godly life as blemishes in a beautifull face which wee are to behold as euidences of humane frailtie that we may be made more warie and circumspect and not to imitate them as examples In the third place they vrge certain cases wherin if we shall hold it vnlawfull to lie they say it is a hard doctrine and which cannot be borne For first say they seeing the most men now adaies are readie for euery petty commoditie to lie it were to great simplicity if not folly if to compasse great matters a man would refuse to lie for this were the high way to beggery But what sayth Salomon Buy the truth but sell it not And our Sauiour Christ What will it profit a man if he shall gaine the whole world and loose his owne soule as the lying tongue casts away the soule But these men are like to prophane Esau who for a messe of pottage sold his birth-right sauing that they for matters of like value and lesse necessity do sell their inheritance in heauen Wherefore as Augustine truly saith No man can euince that it is lawfull at any time to lie vnlesse he be able to shew that an euerlasting good may be obtained by a lye But so much doth euery one depart from eternity as be discordeth from verity 2. But say they what if our owne or our brothers life being endangered might be redeemed by a lie shall it not be lawfull in that case to lie I aunswere with Augustine That death which foolish men do feare who feare not to sinne killeth the body and not the soule But the lying tongue slayeth the soule It is therefore most peruersly said that the one ought spiritually to die that the other may corporally liue Seeing therefore by lying eternall life is lost we may not lie to preserue any mans temporall life no more than we would thinke it our duty if by our witchcraft theft adultery we could saue a mans life to play the witches theeues or adulterers to that end Nay rather according to that counsell of the wise man We are to striue for the truth vnto death 3. But suppose say they that if thou wilt lye thou mayst saue thy chastitie if thou wilt not lye thou shalt be forced to fornication or some other sinne which is more grieuous than lying must we not of two euils chuse the lesse This case of compensatiue sinnes wherby a more grieuous sinne is as they suppose redeemed by a lesse doth trouble many But although of two euils of punishment the lesse is to be chosen yet this holdeth not in sinnes For if I may not sinne that good may come thereof then may I not commit one sinne that another may be auoided Neither as I suppose can they alleadge any case wherein a man shall so be concluded betwixt two sinnes as that he may not haue an issue without committing a new sinne What then will you say ought one rather to cōmit whordome than to make a lye I answer first with Augustine If you aske whether he ought to do I say he ought to do neither For if I shall say he ought to do the one I should allow that one when as indeed I disallow both But if you aske whither he ought to auoid who cannot shunne both but may escape the one I answer he ought to auoid his owne sinne rather than an others and rather

not onely the translation of their goods from them in this world Prou. 28. 8 but also as touching the world to come that they shall not dwell in the mountaine of Gods holinesse as may be gathered out of this Psalme but that they shall die the death meaning thereby the death of the soule and that you may know to whom the cause of the vsurers damnation is to be imputed it is added and his bloud shall be vpon him And that is it which Leo sayth Foenus pecuniae funus est animae The gaine of vsurie is the graue of the soule Wherefore what extreame folly and desperat madnesse is this for the vsurie that is as it were the tenths of thine owne money to cast away thy soule which thou oughtest not to hazard for the gaine of the whole world For as our Sauior sayth What will it profit a man though he should gaine the whole world if he loose his owne soule Mar. 8. 36. To these arguments I might adde if it were needfull the testimonies of all wise and learned men who haue liued vntill our age for first the Philosophers though heathens haue written and spoken against it the fathers of the church haue with one consent condemned it euen to the pit of hell the Christian councels haue seuerely censured it the schoolemen though corrupt in many other things yet herein they retaine the doctrine of the primitiue Church the godly learned diuines of this age and namely of this our Church doe for the most part inueigh against it those few among vs that seeme to defend ●surie doe in substance differ little from the rest erring especially in this that vnder the odious name of vsurie they defend and maintaine a lawfull contract of partnership as I haue shewed before And because the judgements of those learned men who seeme not to condemne all vsurie are of such force with vsurers that they seeme to build their practise vpon their authoritie I will also take this hold from them and out of their writings manifestly demonstrate before their eies that the vsurie which is practised in the world is not allowed of any godly diuine For first though they thinke a man may now and then lend vpon vsurie such cautions obserued as they prescribe yet they hold it to be vtterly vnlawfull for a man to be an vsurer or to make a trade of it Now whereas they doe not denie but that a man may make a trade of gaining by any honest or lawfull contract this euidently sheweth that euen out of their assertions it may be prooued that vsurie is not a lawfull contract Quisquis ex professo foeneratur sayth Caluin ille omnino debet ab hominum consortio reijci Whosoeuer is a professed vsurer he ought to be excluded out of all humane societie And againe an vsurer ought not to be suffered in the Church of God Secondly they absolutly condemne vsurie of vsurie which in it selfe is no more vnlawfull than vsurie of the principall Vsura vsurarum iudicio bonorum omnium etiam apud infideles damnata semper infamis fuit Iun. in Leuit. The conditions whereby they circumscribe vsurie are these and such like As first That it be not required of them who being in want doe borrow for the supply of their necessitie but onely of those who borrow mony to make a gaine thereof And that their lending to such doe not hinder them from free lending to those which would borrow for need 2. That they require not gaine of him which borroweth for gaine vnlesse he be a gainer And therefore they define that vsurie which they allow to be part of the borrowers gaine and but such a part as the borrower may liue of the rest 3. That he which lendeth for gaine must not onely require no gaine but also must be content to beare part of the borrowers losse if without his owne default he prooue a looser 4. That the end of this lending must bee charitie wherby the lender is bound to seeke the borrowers good rather than his owne 5. That in this contract he respect the good not only of the borrower but also of the commonwealth and therefore that he require not so much gaine as the partie cannot raise by lawfull meanes 6. That this lending be agreeable to naturall equity which is to be judged of not by mens practise but by the word of God 7. That it be contained within those limits which the laws of euery countrey concerning vsurie do appoint These cautions men must obserue or else they may not build their practise vpon the authoritie of godly learned men who haue by these and such like conditions so qualified vsurie as that where they be obserued there is no vsurie or at least no actuall vsurie committed And because the authoritie of that excellent instrument of God I. Caluin is much pretended for the defence of vsurie I will therefore shew you briefely how little encouragement vsurers can truly receiue from him He sayth it is more than a rare thing that the same man shold be an vsurer and an honest man Nay he sayth That an vsurer is euer a theefe and a robber and although hee sayth it may happen sometimes that a man may in some case take vsurie and cannot precisely bee condemned therefore yet he setteth downe this assertion But we must alwayes hold it to be a thing scarcely possible that he which taketh vsurie should not wrong his brother And therefore it were to be wished that the very name of vsurie were buried and vtterly blotted out of the memorie of men And in another place It were to be wished sayth he that all vsurie yea and the name of it were banished out of the world Hauing thus by testimonies of scripture and by other arguments and testimonies prooued vsurie to be vnlawfull it now remaineth that for the better satisfying of the reader I should answere such arguments as are made in defence of vsurie But that you may not thinke that the patrons of vsurie doe promiscuously defend all vsurie therefore they circumscribe that vsurie which they allow with these conditions first That it be moderat secondly That it be not required of the poore and needie thirdly That it be not hurtfull to the borrower Where by the way we are to obserue that no man of vnderstanding goeth about to justifie that vsurie which is commonly practised in the world in which being immoderat for the most part though it be but after ten in the hundred there is seldome or neuer any thing else looked after but the lenders securitie without respect whether the borrower be wealthie or needie or whether he shall gaine or loose thereby But let vs examine these three conditions seuerally for as touching the first whereas I haue prooued before that euery ouerplus or gaine required for loane is that vsurie which is condemned in the Scriptures and that it is a thing in it selfe simply euill