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	faith_n	word_n	14,132	5	4.8692	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62643	The unreasonableness and mischief of atheism a sermon preached before the Queen at White-Hall on Friday the 30th of March, 1694 / by W. Talbot ...	Talbot, William, 1658 or 9-1730.	1694 (1694)	Wing T127; ESTC R10300	17,166	33

from what is their Neighbours but what the Law lays upon them no restraint but want of Ability or Opportunity does throw down all the Fences and lay open ever Man's Property to the invasion of as many as hearken to his Suggestions whenever they are out of the view and reach of the Law and have Power and a fair Occasion favours the Attempt There 's no Conspiracy so dangerous to Sovereign Princes as a Combination of Atheists to spread abroad their desperate Opinions and make Proselytes in their Kingdoms and they whom Necessity drives to rob Houses or upon the High-way are but puny Offenders against particular Men's Properties and the Peace of the Community in Comparison of them for they teach Men whenever they can securely be so to be Traitors Thieves and Murderers upon Principle 2. If the Character of a Fool does so justly belong to the Atheist that whoever says a Man is an Atheist says at the same time he is a Fool this Consideration I should think if nothing else should be of force to keep all those whom their Birth and Estate Quality and Circumstances as to this World have raised above the common level from being Atheists at least from owning themselves such and boasting of it These are generally more jealous of their Reputations and sensible of any thing that touches their Honour than other Men and commonly they are not more tender in any thing nor do feel any reflections more quickly than those that are made upon their Understanding To be called a Fool is an affront they cannot bear nor is it to be expiated with less than the Blood of him that gave it and can they be content to do that And is it a thing to be gloried in which will prove them the greatest Fools according to the infallible Oracle pronounced by him who cannot be deceived and with whom 't is to no purpose at least to no good purpose to be angry Which will also render them so in the Opinion of all wise Men who are the only Men capable of Judging And this Atheism effectually does How industrious and zealous then should any that have unhappily laboured under it be to clear themselves from so foul an Imputation And with what Scorn and Indignation should all that value their Reputations reject the Proposals and Persons of such perfidious Wretches who by infusing A theistical Principles into them are robbing them of their Honour and treacherously betraying them into the greatest Scorn and Contempt He does not injure a Man's Reputation half so much that calls him Fool as he that persuades him to be one 3. Lastly If it be Folly for those who are not convinc'd of the Being of a God and Providence and Future Judgment not to believe those things practically How great must their Folly be who being convine'd thereof yet live as if they were not If speculative Atheism be Folly practical Atheism is Phrenzy and Madness Let us not then be wise only in belief and Fools in practice let us not contradict but shew our Faith by our Works We profess to believe that there is a God and we do well let us not give the Lye to our Profession by disbelieving what he has reveal'd by ridiculing his Word abusing his Name profaning his Day despising his Worship and disobeying his Laws but let us evidence the truth of our Faith by paying a religious Reverence to every thing on which his Name is call'd by making it the business of our Lives to promote his Honour and by endeavouring what we can that his Will may be done by us and by all Men. We profess to believe a Providence that sees whatever is done throughout the whole Earth even in the most dark and private Recesses without the appointment or permission whereof nothing falls out and which takes care of all things here below let us not deny it by encouraging our selves in Wickedness and crying none shall see us by being guilty of Deeds of Darkness and saying Peradventure the Darkness shall cover us by misimputing the Good or Evil that happens to us to wrong Causes by forgetting or repining at the Hand from whence they come by desponding anxieties for the future as if there were none that took care of us by using indirect Methods to gain or keep sufficiency our selves But let it appear that we are in earnest persuaded of a Providence by always acting as in the view thereof by doing every thing as in his Presence with whom the Darkness is no Darkness and the Night as clear as Noon day by looking whenever the Rod is upon us up to him as the wise Manager of it humbly submitting to and kissing it by thankfully acknowledging him as the Author whatever is the Instrument of all the good we enjoy by doing our Duty and then faithfully in every Condition depending and casting all our Care upon him who careth for us We profess to believe that we have some nobler Principle than Matter in us even spiritual Substances which cannot die Let us not contradict this belief by making our Bodies the chief Objects of our care and spending our time and labour in looking after carnal and sensual Delights which no more belong to immaterial Souls than Sound● do to the Eye or Colours to the Ear but let u● justifie it by raising our selves above the little satisfactions of Sense to a Contempt of all those Pleasure● which Brutes may share with and excell us in an● by resolving to lose the whole World rather than no● save our own Souls We profess to believe that God has appointed a Da● wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by tha● Man whom he hath ordained who shall come in the Cloud● of Heaven in the Glory of his Father with his Angels● to take an account of and render to every one according to his Works to those who by patient continuance i● well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality● Eternal Life but to those who obey not the Gospel Eternal Tribulation and Anguish and Pain Let us no● betray the Hypocrisie of our Profession by neglecting to provide against the coming of our Judge by acting as though we never expected to be call'd to a● account by saying with the evil Servant Our Lor● delays his Coming and by smiting our Fellow-Servants and eating and drinking with the drunken or by sleeping with the foolish Virgins and slumbring while th● Bridegroom tarries but let us prove the Truth of it by being upon a constant Watch by behaving our selve● like Men that wait for their Lord being continually employ'd in his Work and Service having our account● always stated and our Lamps burning that at wha● Watch soever he comes he may find us ready an● we may enter into his Joy Amen FINIS ADVERTISEMENT TWO Sermons lately Published by the same Author One at th● Cathedrol at Worcester being a Fast-Sermon The other A Len● Sermon at Whitehall

Atheist in his several Capacities and Relations in his House instructing and seasoning his Family with his excellent Principles and we may suppose him discoursing to them to this purpose telling his Servants That he expects only Eye-service from them That there is no Tye upon them to work or be honest longer than he sees or knows what they do and that whenever they can without his Privity do it they may safely loyter away their time abuse his Goods waste his Provisions purloyn and cheat him of his Money Telling his Wife That she 's a Fool to think there 's any Obligation upon her from her Marriage Vow to respect him or be true to his Purse or his Bed but whenever she can with Secresie do it she is at Liberty to abuse either at her Pleasure Telling his Children That there 's no Engagement upon them from a God a Conscience a Heaven or a Hell those Bugbears that their Nurses use to scare them with to reverence or obey him That all the Duty they owe him is grounded meerly upon what they fear or hope for from him and that whenever they are out of his Power if they can expect to get nothing by him they may disobey and despise him as they please or if there be an Estate to descend to them after him if they think he lives too long they may sasely wish for his Death and if they can handsomely and privately do it procure it too Let us consider him making Proselytes of those he trades or converses with and this is the effect of his Discourse to them That they are not so wise as they should be if they do not whenever they can without discovery over-reach him in bargaining put ill Goods and false Weights and Measures upon him circumvent and cheat him in all their Dealings with him That there is nothing he has which he values most but if they have a mind to it and can by open Violence or by the more secret but no less effectual Methods of Perjury or Forgery Corruption and Bribery take from him and carry the matter so that the Law shall not take Cognizance of it they are at liberty to do it and Fools if they think otherwise Let us consider him in his Politick Capacity as a Member of the Community and see how wise a Man he is as to that relation in spreading abroad his Principles by so doing he does what in him lies to make Governors tyrannize and oppress whenever they have Power For if there be no Superior invisible Being to restrain them what should hinder them from exercising that Power to what purposes they please There is not near so much danger of persuading Princes to rule arbitrarily in telling them they are accountable to none but God as in telling them There is no God for them to be accountable to This is likewise to encourage Subjects upon any discontent or dissatisfaction if they are strong enough to rebell for if they can over-power their Prince they have nothing to fear here from him and if there be no God there 's no Damnation to be received hereafter This is to break and dissolve all Bands and Cement of Humane Society that which is in it self a most likely and has generally speaking been an effectual method for the discovering and confirmation of Truth the ending of Strife the obliging Men to the Duties of their respective Offices and creating among them a Confidence and Reliance upon one another is utterly rendred useless by these principles For tho' the Man that believes a God a Being of infinite Knowledge Truth Justice and Power can hardly be supposed in a matter which he knows to be false or never intends to call such a one to attest the Truth of what he asserts or promises and to punish him eternally if he prevaricates in either Yet 't is ridiculous to think this method can be of force to any good purpose among Men persuaded that there is no God or that they can look upon themselves obliged to speak truly or perform what they promise by calling one to be a Witness of their Truth and Revenger of their Falsehood whom they look upon to be what St. Paul says of an Idol nothing in the World What a distracted wild uncomfortable and dangerous place must a Nation be where such Principles should generally prevail What a constant Watch and Guard must Men necessarily be upon What continual Fears and Jealousies and distrusts of each other must they be perplex'd with What Security can a Man have for his Property or Life or any thing he enjoys I mean a Man of these Principles for he that believes a God and lives accordingly has a Security to trust to even among a Society of such Devils for he knows that God that Rules and Commands the infernal Spirits can govern and restrain these and if he does his Duty he can safely trust himself and all his Concerns in his Hands But the Atheist who has no God to hinder him when he has opportunity from invading what is another's has no Providence to secure him from the Reprisals which others like himself may make upon him If then what I have now offered be the genuine interpretation and necessary consequences of these Discourses and Principles as certainly they are then he who makes it his business to propagate such Discourses whereever he comes and instil such Principles into others does very ill consult his Interest in this Life and he that believes there is never another Life and acts so contrary to his Interest in this may very well pass for a Fool. I will only beg leave to make two or three brief Inferences from what has been discoursed and so conclude And 1. From what I have now said of the ill influence of Atheistical Discourses and Principles upon Kingdoms and Societies of Men we may infer the great Obligation that lies upon Princes and all in Authority to use their utmost Endeavours for the suppressing of such Discourses and the rooting out of such Principles among those under their Government And if the Disease be become incurable in any who have long received the Contagion and in whom it is grown inveterate at least to set a Mark upon such and restrain them from infecting others as we shut up persons infected with the Plague and clap a Cross upon their Doors and this not only for the vindication of the Honour of that God whose Vicegerents they are and whom they represent but also for the security of their own Just Authority and of the Properties Peace and Happiness of those committed to their Charge all which are struck at by the direct and immediate tendency of these Principles He that teaches Men to be subject to the higher Powers not for Conscience sake but only for Wrath teaches them to resist and rebell whenever their strength and numbers and secure them from any dread of that Wrath and he that persuades Men That there is no Obligation to abstain