Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	holy_a	power_n	9,916	5	5.0704	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91322	Dissertatio de pace, &c. Or, A discourse touching the peace & concord of the Church. Wherein is elegantly and acutely argued, that not so much a bad opinion, as a bad life, excludes a Christian out of the kingdom of heaven; and that the things necessary to be known for the attainment of salvation, are very few and easie: and finally, that those, who pass amongst us under the name of hereticks, are notwithstanding to be tolerated.; Dissertatio de pace. English	Przypkowski, Samuel, 1592-1670.; Biddle, John, 1615-1662,	1653 (1653)	Wing P4133; Thomason E1495_1; ESTC R203302	40,192	82

that the Socinians impiously contradict the manifest words of the sacred Scripture and scornfully reject the clear Truth coming-in upon them To which I answer That whatsoever pains and travel they undertake in this business is employed not against the holy Trinity as they are unjustly defamed nor against the Sacred Scripture but against the Humane Explications of both Hence we may see that they willingly assent and give credit to all the Sacred Oracles touching this matter onely rejecting certain interpretations and forms sprung-up certain ages after They believe that they are according to the command of Christ to be baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matth. 28. They believe those three sacred Witnesses in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Spirit 1 Joh. 5. They acknowledge that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was a God Joh. 1. yet such a one to whom all power in heaven and earth was given as he speaketh of himself Matth. 28. It would be tedious to recko● up all the Scripture-testimonics of this kinde to which they give credence without any exception Those hard and subtil opinions concerning the Essence and Person of God concerning the communication of properties and others of that batch they either understand not or think them repugnant to the simple and plain word of God Give us leave say they to be ignorant of such things as are believed with danger In these so subtil and thorny explications if they after the maner of men chance to erre shall they presently be termed the enemies of God and Christ Shall there be found no pardon for an error in so great difficulty of things no excuse for weakness which notwithstanding we ingeniously seek even for the greatest crimes though we be never so well provided of means to avoid them Are they who out of ignorance and error violate the Edicts of Princes acquitted from the crime of treason and shall he that offendeth about the Divine Oracles in our opinion have no refuge for his weakness in the mercy of the Heavenly Father But you will reply that their Blasphemies are horrid wherein impiety leaveth no place for pity and reproachful against the Son of God and overthrowing the foundation of our faith To which I answer that if there have been any amongst them of a more intemperate tongue or quill they are infamous not onely with us but also with them But what is here meant by the Foundation of Faith I do not sufficiently perceive It hath been abundantly evidenced before that such errors do necessarily take away neither our Faith nor our Salvation For it is not the foundation of Salvation to know his Essence who hath promised the salvation to us so that we have no impious and contumelious opinion of him as the ignorance of the nature of the promiser taketh not away the certainty of the promise unless he hath promised us anything under the condition of such knowledge As for the knowlege of the Father they therein do in a maner agree with us They likewise adore and reverence with Divine worship the Son of God as the author and mediator of their Salvation the heir and Lord of the Universe and the General of our warfare But you will here reply that they deny his eternity I answer that they together with holy Paul care not much to know any thing but Jesus Christ and him crucified and had rather with so great an Apostle rest in the simplicity of this knowledge then either with Arius to ascend to non-enliti●s or with Athanasius to co-essentialities As for the honour which they give to the Holy Spirit the greatness thereof appeareth in that they scarce distinguish him from the Supreme Father Shall they then be said to blaspheme against these if they be somewhat mistaken in the other knowledge of them Indeed many opinions are drawn out of their doctrines that the wretches may be loaded with more envie and that by them who whilst they are so vigilant in other mens errors are fast asleep in their own But if all the chaff were to be sifted out of humane opinions I would wish that a great part of the Reformed Churches would labour to defend their own cause before they undertake to oppose that of others but those above all who have from the age of Chrysippus recalled down to these very times that secret and inevitable law of Fate and who hold also that the sins and destruction of mankinde and finally all and singular motions and impulsions of our will proceed from the Decree of Eternal Destiny to whom this false perswasion also seemeth to be fatal From which opinion if we lay aside prejudice more and more shameful errors will be deduced then out of the books of Socinians For which is more reproachful unto God to hold that he is one as well in Person as Essence or that I may clothe naked injustice with soft words to bring-him-in punishing men for not doing those things which by his own procurement were impossible Is it more absurd to conceive that there is one Essence of the Father another of the Son then that God I shudder to speak it hath one thing open in his tongue and another thing contrary thereunto shut-up in his breast This is reproach enough to the most high God although we do not adde that this dissimulation is joyned with deceit Is the dignity of the Holy Spirit more traduced whilst he is said to be onely the vertue and power of God then the goodness of God whilst he is held the author of sin which consequence doth also flow by a fatal and inevitable flux from that doctrine of Fate For he that decreed men should necessarily sin certainly would have them sin otherwise he would have decreed every thing against his owne desire Now he whose decree and will the event doth immutably follow may certainly be termed the cause of that event whether he effect it by himself or by another Finally is it a greater derogation to the dignity of Christ to deny two natures in him lest we should make him two persons then to the wisdome of God to affirm that he would perswade men to that whereto nevertheless he hath not perswaded them namely that he would give salvation unto all when notwithstanding he hath designed it onely to a few Truly if we look more narrowly into the matter the doctrine of the Socinians touching the Holy Trinity is not to be accounted so much evil and impious in its owne nature as imperfect and maimed For it seemeth to ascribe to the Holy Trinity nothing false or absurd but only to take away something that is true namely the divine nature of Christ and the proper person of the Holy Spirit Whereas this doctrine touching the fatal predestination of particular men laboureth not with any defect but with manifest ptavity For it not onely offereth injury to God by most unworthy calumnies but also

majesty and nobility to have all that taken away from him which he had from all eternity The question is not now whether their opinion be right who think that all power both in heaven and earth was at a certain time given to the Son of God whereas he was formerly nothing but the Word and chief Prophet But if true Love be conversant about the things that are present and not about such as are past for neither doth this affection look backwards to embrace the things that have been heretofore certainly it is more to the purpose to consider what they imagine touching his present then what they conceive touching his past state and condition For as beauty being quite extinct exciteth no love of it self because it flourished heretofore so if the same be at present very happie it causeth never the less love admiration of it self because it was not such formerly What therefore do they attribute to our Saviour at present Even a majesty equal unto God the Father and such excellency as riseth-up above the highest pitch that can be imagined For they serve and worship him as the onely Son of God as a true God and disposing all things with his beck who describeth the laws of the Universe according to his pleasure who layeth tasks and commands upon the blessed Natives of heaven who with the bridle of his invincible power restraineth the spirits banished out of heaven to whom the stars and elements willingly yield obedience and who finally hath the very nature of things tributary to him from whence he levyeth the tax of his Church and the assesment of his people Now what derogation is it to his honour that he is beholding to his Father for the fortune of so great a Dominion which thing even we our selves dare not wholly deny Will the opinion touching the excellencie of our Saviour flag in the judgement of our love when we shall erect the eyes of our minde to his so sublime majestie who is fairer then the stars and all light and more gay then the world it self Why should I now commemorate his immense goodness and wisdom and his other Divine Splendor at the sight whereof the eyes of our minde grow dim Why should I recount his other praises at which the poverty of humane language waxeth dumb All which they without any tergiversation ascribe to Jesus Christ their Saviour although they otherwise erre in their opinion of him Now we must either hold that those things are not sufficient to excite soverain love towards God the Father and his Son or that they cannot possibly be in those men of whom we treat if we suppose them uncapable of being touched with that holy ardour Of which twain since neither seemeth probable there is no question to be made but they also may be ravished with that heavenly love and so delivered from eternal destruction and put in possession of heaven if so be they persevere therein unto the end CHAP. IIII. That though Faith and the Holy Spirit be the Gifts of God yet erring persons have and may have them YEt some body may justly make a doubt if Faith be the gift of God and such a perfit and entire love ought to proceed onely from the impulsion of the Holy Spirit with what warrant we attribute that to the power of the receiver which lieth in the meer pleasure of the donor For if we have Faith no other way then from the liberality of God and that happeneth not to every one certainly the benefit of so great a gift consisteth in the meer good-pleasure of the mu●ificent donor Now shall we little manikins prescribe a law to his most free arbitrement according to the form whereof he must of necessity make good this bounty of his to a certain sort of men Or shall we arrogate that to our power which the sacred Oracles place in his hand But is it credible that he will lavish out so excellent gifts I speak of Faith and the Holy Spirit on men depraved with so many errors and imbued with perverse opinions concerning him Admit they are naturally capable of so great a good yet ought they not presently to promise to themselves this grace of God which no man that was in his wits did ever imagine to be due to the deserts of men much less to the perversness of so many errors To which I answer Had I to do with none but them who exclude all action of our free reception from the donation of Faith or imagine that Eternal Salvation is in good earnest promised to fewer then it is outwardly offered it would be sutable to handle these matters in this place more largely But now forasmuch as not a few of the Reformed abhor those errors it would cross the designe of my discourse to digress and expatiate very far It shall suffice to have touched a few and those not of the best arguments for the truer opinion but such as first occur at present In the first place therefore we must chuse one of these twain either to imagine that Eternal Salvation is upon condition of Faith really promised unto all to whom it is preached and offered or that God offers that to certain men in word and tongue which he hath decreed not to perform in deed and truth Whosoever shall make choice of the latter I intreat them that they would invent a new name for this thing or confess it under the old name to be hypocrisie that is guileful dissimulation and deceit what they imprudently ascribe to the most high God But I have little to do with such as had rather God should be taxed and convinced of evil dissembling then themselves of error and therefore I lay this first ground of my answer that God is faithful and willing seriously to give Eternal Happiness to whomsoever he offereth the same by the preaching of the Gospel unless men themselves be wanting to their duty But he hath excluded none of those to whose ears the voice of so joyful a message cometh desiring to gather even them that are unwilling if so be they leave off their unwillingness Now if God in the preaching of the Gospel hath promised Eternal Salvation promiscuously to all who desire to attain it he hath also promised all means tending to this end which are on his part necessarily required For he would be ridiculous who should promise to a begger that he would presently give him an alms and in the mean time be careless yea unwilling to put his hand to his purse that he may reach-out what he hath promised especially if the begger can receive that alms no other way then by his reaching of it out Nor can he be said truly to promise any thing who reserveth to himself a free power to bestow something without which what he hath promised can by no means be received and acquired Far be it from us to have so impious a thought towards God as that we should suspect any evil