Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	believe_v	contain_v	faith_n	2,221	5	5.7105	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02520	Christian moderation In two books. By Jos: Exon.	Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.	1640 (1640)	STC 12648B; ESTC S103629	96,446	388

shall teach thee that which thou canst not heare from thy masters thinkst thou not thou maist suck hon●e from the rock and oyle out of the hardest stone Marvelous is the improvement both of the meanes and measure of knowledge in these last dayes in comparison of the former Of old saith Erasmus there were no schooles of Divinity and Augustine was held an invincible Logician for that he had read Aristotles Categories At last Divinity came to the height if not beyond it the sacred Scriptures with the ancient authors were layd aside c. The time was when Synodes were faine to enact that none should be promoted to Ecclesiasticall Benefices but those which could competently read and sing Nor to Canon-ships in Cathedrals but those which could read sing and competenly construe Not to holy Ord●rs but those that could Literaliter loqui The world is w●ll mended with us since our King Alured translated Gregories Pastorale out of Latin into Saxon that it might be understood of the Bishops and Priests and in his Preface to it writes thus Knowledge was so utterly lost from among the English Nation that there were very few on this side of Humber that could so much as understand their owne common prayers in the Engl●sh tongue or transl●te any writing out of Latin in●o English surely there were so ●ew that I do not remember one on the South-part of Thames when ●●●gan to raigne Thus Alured Before whose time W●●●redus King of Kent was faine to su●signe his Characters wi●h a Cros●e professing to doe it pro●gror●ntia literarum And the 〈…〉 wa● A ●●shop that is i●●●ran● of his Grammar is to b● d●p●●●● Now blessed be G●d k●●w●●dge abounds every 〈◊〉 The Pr●sse hath help● 〈…〉 it all the world over whi●● whiles it was only tran●m●tted by the labour of a single penne must needs be more sparingly imp●rted and as it uses to b● in other cas●s plenty hath bred wantonnes prodigall expence of w●● wherby we are growne to such excesse ●hat it were happy except men had more rule of their 〈…〉 there vvere lesse 〈…〉 the vvorld and 〈…〉 vve have reason in this regard to envy the safe and quiet simplicity of our fore-fathers vvho contented themselves vvith the honest plaine-song of that vvhereof vve affect to run upon infinit descant It is vvell observed by Gerson that it falls out oftentimes there is more fervour of devotion where there is lesse naturall knowledge whence we finde great praise of sanctity given to some eminent persons who came short even of ordinary skill Bernard saith of his devout brother Gerard that he had no learning at all but that he had a cleare understanding and an illuminated spirit and Sozomen when hee speakes of Antony the Hermite says he neither had any skill in learning neither did greatly esteeme it but cared only to have a pure and holy minde as that which was more ancient and more worthy then any learning in the world And Paul the simple a man famous both for sanctimony and miracles had so little knowledge as that which I have stood amazed to read hee askt whether the Prophets were before Christ and his Apostles or after The truth is religion as the Chancelor of Paris well is not a schoole of Learning but a discipline of living and he is much more acceptable to God that hath so much knowledge as doth inable him to worship and serve that Di●ine Majesty devoutly and to live ●olily then he who with Bere●g●t●u● could dispute of Omne scibt●e 〈◊〉 with Salomon could d●scou●●● of all things from the moss● 〈◊〉 the wall to the highest Cedar Gregory s●id truly nothing can be offered to God more rich and precious then a good will and Phocyons law is magnified for a divine one Let vertue and goodnesse take place and let all other things passe for trifles That therefore which was wont to be said of Pythagoras that h●e reduced the speculative Philosophy to use and that which was said of the Cynicks that without regard of Logicke and naturall Philosophy they were all for Morality I could be apt to wish in our divine Philosophy It were happy for the Church of God if laying aside all curious disquisitions of impertinent truthes wee would apply our selves wholly to the knowledge and maintenance of those only points which are necessary to salvation and to the zealous practise of those things which we assuredly know Leaving the rest to those Schoole-divines who have both faculty and leasure to discusse them §. VII The fourth rule of Moderation to rest in those fundamentall truthes which are revealed clearely in the Scriptures NOw that we be not left upon uncertaineties in this quest of saving truth it will be requisite for us to know and resolve fourthly that all these fundamentall verities necessary to salvation are clearely layd before us in the sacred monuments of divine Scriptures in them is the full and easie direction of a Christians both beleefe and practice It is the question appointed by our Church to be proposed to every Candidate of holy Orders whether he beleeve this truth and his ingagement thereupon punctually followes and if here be enough to make the man of God perfect much more an ordinary Christian There are indeed unfadomable depths in that Ocean wherin we shall vainly hope to pitch our anchor but all necessary truthes need not much line In those things which are clearely layd downe in Scripture saith Saint Austen are found all those points which containe faith and rules of living viz. Hope and Charity And need we care for more then these Let me beleeve well live well let who list take thought for more what a madnesse were it to forsake the living waters and to dig for our selves Cisternes that will hold no water what a disease in our appetite when wee have wholesome provision laid before us to nauseate all good dishes and to long for mushromes whereof some are venemous all unwholesome It was the Iustice of Lacedaemon that when Terpander the Musitian added one string more to his Harpe then ordinary banisht him the Citty The great Doctor of the Gentiles could say If wee or an Angell from heaven preach any other Gospell to you let him be accursed hee doth not say a contrary Gospell but another such as that Evangelium aeternum of the Friers such as that Symbole of the twelve new Articles in Pius his profession It had some colour that Tannerus the Iesuite held in the publique disputation with Hunnius who stoutly defended it to be a matter of faith that Tobye had a Dog because it rested upon the authority of that which hee supposed Canonicall scripture the indubitate truth whereof is the first principle of Christianity how ever some particular clauses in themselves considered may carry no such weight but to obtrude a necessity of new and traditionall truthes besides those

be reckoned amongst the Martyrs There must be then two moderators of our zeale Discretion and charity without either and both of which it is no other then a wilde distemper and with them it is no lesse then the very life blood of a Christian or the spirits of that blood From the common acts of both these joyned together shall result these following maximes as so many usefull rules of our Christian moderation §. IIII. Rules for Moderation in Iudgement THe first is that wee must necessarily distinguish betwixt persons that are guilty of errors for as Saint Austen well it is one thing to bean heretick another thing to be misled by an heretick and I may well adde according to our construction it is one thing to be an hereticke another thing to be an Haeresiarch these three degrees there are even in the most dangerous errors of doctrine There is a broacher and deviser of that wicked opinion There are abettors and maintainers of it once broached There are followers of it so abetted and all these as they are in severall degrees of mischiefe so they must all undergoe an answerable whether aggravation or mitigation of our censure Those who by false teachers are betrayed into that error wherein now either by breeding or by misinformation they are settled are worthy of as much pitty as dislike Those who out of stiffenesse of resolution and stomach of side-taking shall uphold and diffuse a knowne error are worthy of hatred and punishment But those who out of ambition or other sinister respects shall invent and devise pernicious doctrines and thereby pervert others for their owne advantages are worthy of a Maranatha and the lowest hell we doe easily observe it thus in all reall offences of an high nature Absalom contrives the conspiracy against his father the Captaines second and abet it the common-people follow both of them in acting it he should be an ill judge of men and actions who should but equally condemne the author of the treason and those that follow Absalom with an honest and simple heart neither is it otherwise in the practise of all those Princes who would hold up the reputation of mercy and justice whiles the heads of a sedition are hang'd up the multitude is dismissed with a generall pardon And if in all good and commendable things the first inventor of them is held worthy of a statue or record when as the following practisers are forgotten why should there not be the like difference in evill Those poore soules therefore who doe zealously walke in a wrong way wherein they are set by ill guides may not be put into the same rank with their wicked mis-leaders As we have reason to hope God will be mercifull to the well-meant errors of those filly ones so must we enlarge the bowels of our compassion to their miscarriage whiles in the meane time we may well pray with the Psalmist that God would not be mercifull to those that offend of malicious wickednesse §. V. The second Rule for Moderation SEcondly wee must distinguish betweene truthes necessary and truthes additionall or accessory truthes essentiall and accidentall truthes truthes fundamentall and truthes superedified and in them truthes weighty and important and truthes slight and meerely scholasticall for these are worthy of a farre-different consideration Those truthes which are of the foundation and essence of religion are necessarily to be knowne beleeved imbraced of all men and the obstinate opposers of them are worthy of our carefull avoydance and hardest censure Truthes important though not fundamentall are worthy of our serious disquisition and knowledge All other truthes are commendable and may be of good use in their kinds and places but so as that hee who is either ignorant of them or otherwise minded concerning them hath his owne freedome and must not so he trouble not the common peace forfair our charitable opinion We see it is thus in the body there are some vitall parts a wound received in them is no lesse then mortall there are other which though usefull and serviceable and such as make up the integrity of the body yet such as wherein the mayne for t of life doth not consist these cannot be hurt without payne but may be hurt without much perill there are yet besides these certaine appendances to the outward fabrick of the body which serve both for decency and convenience the losse whereof may be with lesse danger but not with lesse smart then of some limme to teare off the hayre or to beat out a tooth is farre from man-slaughter yet an act of violence and a breach of peace it is no otherwise in the body of religion a limme may be maymed or a joynt displaced yet the heart whole some appendance may be violated and yet the body whole It is a true word that of Columbanus of old that necessary truthes are but few Not many stones need to make up the foundation of Christian faith twelve will serve whereas many quarreis perhaps may be laid in the superstructure There are some things saith Gerson which are De necessitate fidei whereof wee may not doubt other things are De pietate vel devotione fidei wherein there is more scope of beleefe that which he speakes of historicall verities is no lesse true in doctrinall I know no booke so necessary for these times as that De paucitate credendorum nor any one Article of our beleefe more needfull then that we need not beleeve more then the Apostles Other points may be the care of Schollers need not be of Christians It was the observation of wise and learned Erasmus which hath runne oftentimes in my thoughts The Doctrine of the Church saith he which at the first was free from quarrels began to depend upon the aydes and defences of Philosophy this was the first degree of the Churches declination to the worse wealth began to come upon her and power grew with it the authority of Emperours taking upon them to intermeddle in the affaires of religion did not much helpe to further the sincerity of the faith At last it came to sophisticall contentions thousands of new Articles brake forth From thence it grew to terrors and threats and since to blowes Lo the miserable degrees of the Churches disturbance we have almost lost religion and peace in the multiplicity of opinions It is worth observing by what degrees it pleased God to communicate to us men his will and our duty At the first we heare of no charge given to our first parents but of refrayning from the tree of knowledge Afterwards as the Iewish Doctors teach there were sixe only precepts imposed on Adam and his seed The first against Idolatry that hee should worship no other Gods The second of his veneration of the only true God The third against blood-shed The fourth against wild and incestuous lusts The fifth against stealth The sixth concerning due administration of Iustice. After these one yet more