Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	divine_a	faith_n	reveal_v	2,785	5	8.8750	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10839	Oberuations diuine and morall For the furthering of knowledg, and vertue. By Iohn Robbinson.	Robinson, John, 1575?-1625.	1625 (1625)	STC 21112; ESTC S110698	206,536	336

whom they may be deceaved We are therefore to beware that we neither wrong our selvs by credulitie nor others by unjust suspition To receav without examination mens sayings is to make of men God to reject them lightly is to make of men Divels or fools at the best The latter hath pride and uncharitablenesse for the ground the former either argues men to be simple which cannot or idle which will not or presumptuous which think they need not or superstitious which dare not judg or which is worst of all the rest desirous in a kinde of humble hypocrisie to shelter an evill conscience before God under the shadow of great mens Authoritie To presse immoderately mens Authoritie in Divine things is to wrong Gods which alone is authentick and whose will and it alone and all it so far as is fit for us to know it we know more certainly to be contained and preserved without corruption in the Scriptures then any Fathers opinion in the Books which go under his name This also wrongs mens Faith and reason captivating them by prejudice and rather offering a hand to lead the blinde then a light for the help of him that hath eyes to see with I have known some who if they light upon a peremptorie Authour and bold asserter of things were readie to be still of the same opinion with the Book which they last read their weaker judgment being overborn rather by the strength of other mens asseverations then reasons Lastly this ingenders endlesse contentions as is to be seen in some Learned mens writings in which there is more adoe about the meaning of such or such a place in a Father then were enough to determine the whole controversie by the Scriptures and good Reason These things notwithstanding there is both a lawfull and convenient use of humain testimonie even in Divine things as first for the convincing of such thereby as regard it too much and Gods Word too little Thus Paul amongst Heathens even in his verie Sermons alledged Heathenish Poets and Phylosophers and we in our writings rightly alledg Fathers and Councels against Papists and others who more regard the saying of an ancient Father or Canon of a Councell then the written Word of the Ancient of Dayes They are twice overcome who are beaten with their own weapons in which they trust Secondly It induceth a morall probabilitie though no absolute necessitie of truth and though we see not the truth by other mens eyes but by our own yet may we be something held up in the arms of their testimonie to see it the better and so be helped as Zacheus was by the Tree into which he clymbed to see Christ. So the Apostles in penning some parts of Holy Scripture upon occasion of differences in the Churches and opposition to their Apostolicall Authoritie took in for the better passage with men of Gods undoubted truth the concurring testimonie even of ordinarie Christians though both the Decrees Epistles were penned by infallible and immediate direction of the Holy Ghost as well and as much as any other parts of Canonicall Scriptures Thirdly Citation of humain Authoritie helps to wipe away the aspersion of Schism singularitie when we can shew that our assertions and practises have agreement with such as are in account in the Churches Lastly It commends both a mans modesty diligence when he enquires after and withall his cause in the eyes of men when he appears to know the judgments of others in the things he handles as it is on the other side an imputation to him that knows them not and that even where it is otherwise no benefit to know them The Authoritie of him that prescribeth or commandeth within his limits is the same whether the matter be great or small God is God in the smallest things which he requires and man but man in his deepest charges The Prophets and Apostles in their writings are extraordinarie and Pastors and Teachers ordinarie Ministers and neither are either more or lesse in any part of their Ministerie for the instruction of the Churches So likewise all true Reasons are of the same force in themselvs to confirm that for which they are brought neither is any one stronger then other but onely more evident The best but proves of itself the things to be so and the meanest if sound doth as much CAP. X. Of Faith Hope and Love Of Faith Reason and Sense FAith in generall is a firm assent upon knowledg to an affirmation for the credit or authoritie of him that affirmeth a thing whether God or Angel or man To some things we assent by Sense and naturall light to some for certain proof of Reason but the assent of Faith rests upon the fidelitie of the speaker and not upon the Sense or Reason of the thing how agreeable to either soever it be Yet so as the more reasonable the thing related is the more readily we beleev it to be true The thing beleeved Faith apprehends primarily as a matter of truth and therein hath its seat in the understanding Divine Faith assents to the revealed will of God for the authoritie and truth of God which cannot deceav That Faith or act of Faith by which we are justified is a due assent to and application of the promises of the Gospel as made and appertaining to us in particular the generall promise upon condition of application duly and rightly made being as much for certaintie as either extraordinarie revelation or particular nomination of person This application of Gods promises in Christ hath evermore affiance necessarily and immediately ioyned with it For being by the Spirit of God and Word of the Gospel perswaded of Gods love in Christ we cannot but trust unto him rest and repose our selvs upon him and expect accordingly from him all good But as we must lay hold of the stay or prop before we can rest upon it So must Faith go before affiance in order of causes and we lay hold of Gods love before we can repose our selvs upon it Hope is the expectation of the good things promised having Faith for its foundation These two Faith and Hope have many the same objects yet neither all nor any in the same respect We beleev things past present and to come but hope for things to come onely We beleev both promises and threatnings both rewards and punishments in the order set by God but hope onely for things desireable And for the verie same things in themselvs beleeved and hoped for as for example the resurrection of the body and life everlasting we beleev them as present in Gods promises which Faith applyes unto us but hope for them as absent and to come in performance unto which Hope carieth us Faith begets Hope for by beleeving the forgivenesse of our sins and Gods promises for the present we are encouraged to expect and hope for all future good And Hope again as a good Childe helps to

magnifie his mouth above measure and the weight of the matter and draw Hercules his hose upon a childes leg which the wise King counted no matter of commendation And besides affectation in which men strain the strings of their eloquence to make persons or things as good or bad or as great or small not as they are but as the speaker can I have known some by an abused benefit of nature and art so impotently eloquent as that they could hardly speak in prayse or disprayse of person or thing without doubling and trebling upon them superlative synonomies of honour or disg●●●e Such Oratours would make notable market-folk in crying up their own wares which they meant to sell and in making other mens which they would buy double nought Both length and shortnesse of speech may be used commendably in their time as Mariners sometimes sayl with larger-spread and sometimes with narrowergathered Sayls But as some are large in speech out of aboundance of matter and upon due consideration so the most multiply words either from weaknesse or vanitie Wise men suspect and examine their words ere they suffer them to passe from them and so speak the more sparingly But fools pour out theirs by talents without fear or wit Besides wise men speak to purpose and so have but some thing to say The other speak everie thing of everie thing and thereupon take libertie to use long wandrings Lastly they think to make up that in number or repetition of words which is wanting in weight But above all other motives some better some worse too many love to hear themselvs speak and imagining vainly that they please others because they please themselvs make long Orations when a little were too much Some excuse their tediousnesse saying that they cannot speak shorter wherein they both say untruly and shame themselvs also For it is all one as if they said that they have unbrydled tongues inordinate passions setting them a work I have been many times drawn so dry that I could not well speak any longer for want of matter but I ever could speak as short as I would Some have said that hurt never comes by silence but they may as well say that good never comes by speech for where it is good to speak it is ill to be silent Besides he that holds his tongue in a matter that concerns him is accounted as consenting Indeed lesse hurt comes by silence then by speech and so doth lesse good Some are silent in weaknesse and want either of wit to conceav what to speak or of courage to utter what they conceav or of utterance where the other defects are not They of the first sort are not desperately foolish seeing they are sensible of their own want which is half the way to mending it there being more hope of such a fool then of a man wise in his own conceipt that is thinking himself wiser then he is Besides such have the wit to cover their folly and a fool whilst he holds his tongue is accounted wise whereas a bab●ing fool proclaims his foolishnesse For the second though it be a miserie for a man to be compelled to keep silence when he would speak and that the prison be strait where the verie tongue is tyed yet he wants not all wit who can for fear of danger hold his tongue and not make his lips the snare of his Soul Some again are silent in strength of wisdom and others of passion As deep streams are most still so are many of deepest judgment through vehement intention of mind upon weightie or doubtfull matters whereas the shallower are lowder and more forth-putting And here the testimonie which Spintharus gave of Epaminondus hath place that he met with no man in his dayes that knew more and spake lesse Again in some vehemencie of passion and affection dams up the passage of speech The grief is moderate which utters it self that which is extream is silent So Absolom hating his Brother Amnon to the death spake neither good nor evill to him Lastly there are who can bridle their tongue in discretion and know not onely how to take the time to speak but also the time to keep silence which surely is no small commendation in a wise able person And this the Phylosopher knew well who when all the rest of his fellows being ech to present the King with some notable sentence or other were forward to utter everie one his ware desired of the Kings messenger that it might be certified in his name that he had skill to hold his peace when others were forward to speak CAP. XXIII Of Books and Writings WRiting is the speech of the absent and even he that gives a writing into the hand of another to be read by him thereby after a sort sequesters his person from him and desires to speak with him being absent and that to his advantage if his personall presence and speech may endanger either contempt or offence The Lord God in providing that the Books of Holy Scriptures should be written effectually commended the writing and reading of other Books touching all subjects and sciences lawfull and lawfully handled For though the difference be ever to be held between Divine and humain writings so as the former may worthily challeng absolute credence and obedience as breathing out onely truth and godlinesse whereas the other are not onely to be learned but judged also yet even in humain writings the truth in its kind is taught commonly both more fully and more simply and more piously then by speech For howsoever the lively voyce more pierce the heart and be apter to move affection and that to the receaving of truth and goodnesse not onely by love and liking but by Faith also and assent for Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God yet men seldom take either the pains or time to lay down things in speech which they do for publike writings neither can any possibly either have the obportunitie to hear the tythe of that which he may read for information or take the time for the full understanding of things remarkeable spoken which in private reading he may do Besides men are commonly in their writings both freer from passion in themselvs and from partiall respect of others then in their speeches And hence it comes to be said of dead men that they are the best councellors to wit in their Books wherein they are freest from affection one way or other Lastly though the Father found some in his time who because Christ had said Thou shalt not swear thought they might do that in writing which they might not do in speech and confirm Idolatry with their hand so they professed it not with their tongue yet it is usually found otherwise and that men are or would seem to be more religious in writing then in speech Who ever shall finde a black-mouthed blasphemer