Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	doctrine_n	miracle_n	wrought_v	1,703	5	8.8085	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57956	A discourse of the use of reason in matters of religion shewing that Christianity contains nothing repugnant to right reason, against enthusiasts and deists / written in Latin by the Reverend Dr. Rust ; and translated into English, with annotations upon it by Hen. Hallywell.	Rust, George, d. 1670.; Hallywell, Henry, d. 1703?	1683 (1683)	Wing R2361; ESTC R25530	47,282	92

required Holiness of life in the Person that pretends a Divine Mission and a Doctrine worthy of God and every way useful to Mankind Hence our Author adds p. 15. That to make up a right Iudgment concerning a Divine Testimony the matter it self which is attested ought to come into consideration which if it contain any thing contrary to the settled Principles of Nature those Miracles are not to be looked upon as Divine but as Diabolica●… Delusions Therefore for the Writers of the Romish Church to pretend Miracles now and to rank them among the Essential Characters to prove the Truth of a Church by as Bellarmine does when all men whose Eyes are open discover the greatest part of those Miracles to be the Frauds and Impostures of cunning Priests or if they were true it being evident that they are wrought by Apostate Spirits for the Confirmation of such Doctrines as are clearly repugnant to the setled Principles of Right Reason it is 1. To hazard and call in Question the Truth of those Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles for the Confirmation of Christianity And 2. to use the Words of a learned Man of our own If any strange things have been done in that Church they prove nothing but the Truth of Scripture which foretold that God's Providence permitting it and the Wickedness of the World deserving it strange Signs and Wonders should be wrought to confirm false Doctrine that they which love not the Truth should be given over to strong Delusions So that now we have Reason rather to suspect and be afraid of pretended Miracles as signs of false Doctrine then much to regard them as certain Arguments of Truth Neither is it strange that God should permit some true Wonders to be done to delude those who have forged so many Wonders to deceive the World Pag. 15. Here lies the Principal Difference between Mankind and Brutes in their being capable of Religion That the Essential Difference between Mankind and Brutes does not lie solely and purely in Rationality appears from hence in that Brutes are capable of Reason though in a lower Degree And moreover we can frame a very Intelligible Idea of such Creatures as are capable of Reason so as to build Cities and to Form and Institute Common-wealths which yet have no Distinction of moral Good and Evil and consequently are neither capable of rewards nor punishments and perhaps some such Animals may be actually existent in some part or other of the World But that which constitutes the true difference between Men and Brutes is Religion which the Satyrist took notice of Separat hoec nos A grege mutorum atque ideò venerabile soli Sortiti ingenium divinorúmque capaces Pag. 16. If we once forsake the guidance of Reason must not all Religion be owing either to Education Superstition or some Fanatical Impulse To him that forsakes the Conduct of Right Reason all Religions are alike and he may as well be a Mahumetan or Jew as a Christian and indeed that he has any Religion at all is owing chiefly to his Education and the Laws of the Country wherein he lives But Religion being a matter of choice there must be some standing and setled Rule by which to try and judge the Truth or Falshood the Congruity or Incongruity of it And such a Rule as this God has furnished Mankind withal namely Right Reason and he that having means and opportunity to try and examine the Religion that is propounded to him as Matter of his Choice shall yet carelesly content himself with it because he has been educated and trained up in it has his Understanding given him to no purpose and may justly fear as a Punishment of this his careless Oscitancy and slothful Credulity that Providence should permit him to swallow great and dangerous Errors as well as Truth For he that believes without Reason declares himself indifferent to believe any thing right or wrong Socrates gives this Commendation of Cebes that he was careful to inquire into all things and duly weigh them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would not presently believe that which any Body said though otherwise he had sufficient respect unto him I shall subjoin what an excellent Writer speaks to this Purpose We ought not says he to surrender our belief to any thing carelesly nor either out of idleness and sloth or being over-awed by the Confidence which any men assume to themselves content our selves with an Implicit Faith Neglecting to search and try and prove all Things which demand to have no less then our Souls resigned up unto them We ought therefore to suspect those who would have us believe them without putting our selves to the trouble of much search It is a sign they mean to deceive for if God himself does not expect to be believed unless there be Good witness for that to which his Ambassadours demand Assent why should men be so presumptuous as to ask us to believe them blindly Or why should we be such Obedient Fools as to do more for them then God would have us do for himself He has given us Eyes and therefore we ought to look about-us especially when Men bid us wink and take any thing upon trust He has endued us with Reason and therefore we ought to sift and try and examine that which is propounded to us And if any Body say Do not try nor examine you are not able to discern the Differences of things Believe as we teach for we cannot deceive you Mark that Man or Company of Men as the greatest Deceivers who intend to impose something upon you which will not abide the Test. Pag. 17. Religion is a free and ingenuous Thing that forceth none but Captivates the Understanding with its own solitary Beauty and Pulchritude The Soul of Man being the Workmanship of the Eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wisdom of God and coming into the World furnished with the Seeds and Principles of all true Wisdom and Knowledge however its Lapse and Degeneracy have clouded and darkned its Intellectual Faculties yet there still remaining such a Cognation and Harmony between it and Truth she cannot but embrace it whenever duly and advantageously proposed Now Christian Religion being likewise the Genuine Offspring of that Wisdom which has left such visible Characters and Signatures of it self upon the whole Frame of Heaven and Earth the Soul of Man presently discovers all the Beautiful Emanations of it to be Congenerous and Homogeneal to its own Intellectual Light and as all like is attractive of its like is gently and willingly captivated and sweetly drawn as with some hidden strings to a closer and nearer union with it And this is the Reason why Christianity neither needs nor uses Violence or Force to beget Belief and Entertainment in Humane Minds because it is made up only of such Things as intimately Correspond with the Intellectual Frame and Furniture of the Soul Nor indeed supposing Religion to contain any thing

of it self with Corporeity Ibid. We are led by sense either External or Internal not by dry and insipid Reason It is 〈◊〉 Part of the Authors Design to prove that bare and dry Reason is a sufficient Criterion to discern the true and ●…ffecting rellish of Heavenly Things for as there is some Principle in us which has a Vital sense and sapid Gust of Corporeal Joys and Pleasures so there is a Principle likewise in the Soul of Man which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something better then Reason and which a Platonist would call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Flower and Summity of the Mind when by due Purification of its self from all Corporeal Dregs and Pollutions it arises to such a Measure of Participation of the Divine Life as that it perceives a Generous Rellish and G●…ateful and affecting Pleasure in Holiness and Virtue For till this inward Intellectual Sense be in some Good measure awakened Religion it self does but very little and weakly affect the Mind Therefore our Author adds That heavenly Things are not otherwise to be known but by such an inward rellish and affecting light as Divine Grace usually imparts to defecate and humble Minds And a little above he says That to render our selves Obedient to the Will of our heavenly Father is the only plain and easy way to the attaining a true knowledge and vital Sense of Divine Revelations Consonant to what our Saviour himself expresly affirms Joh. 7. 17. If any Man will do the Will of God he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self i. e. The true rellish and vital sense of Religion arises from a Conformity of Mind with the Will of God So that though Reason may furnish a Man with sufficient Arguments to assure him of the Truth of Religion yet the sapid gust and affecting sense of it flows from the Expergefaction of the Intellectual Powers into a Divine life Ibid. To admonish them that are going astray to illuminate the Eyes of the Mind to strengthen the Faith and to fix and impress the Argument of Godliness upon the Soul these and such like Things we owe to the benign Influence of the Holy Spirit It is a very great Indication of a Mal●…ous Mind or weak and crazy Intellectuals when Men shall load and burden their Adversaries with the opprobrious and Invidious Term of Heresie as denying the Aid Assistance of the Spirit of God to be Necessary when they only endeavour to make the Mystery of our Faith the Oeconomy of Christian Religion to appear in all its Parts Rational i. e. worthy and becoming of its Author the Eternal Wisdom of God It has been the ill Fortune of some Eminent and Inge●…ous Persons of late to be traduced for Pelagians Socini●…s and what not for no other cause that I know of but because they speak sense and care not to explicate Religion by unintelligible Words and Phrases quaint Allusions and odd Similitudes but instead of all this jingling noise they appeal to the Common and Rational Faculties of all Mankind And in this they are so far from laying aside or rendring useless the Aid of the Holy Spirit of God under the Gospel that they ●…eely acknowledge all their strength to derive from his ever-blessed Influence that of themselves they are nothing but that it is he who works in them both to will and to do and that he is not only the beginner but Finisher of every good work Although perhaps they may not think the Operation of the Spirit of God to be by an Omnipotent Power at large but Hypothetical and upon certain Terms and Conditions like the great Formative Power in Nature which produces not the Lineaments and Primigenial Rudiments of the Body of a Plant or Animal out of a Flint but requires a pliable Ductility and Sequaciousness in the Matter it works upon Pag. 14. Pythagoras Apollonius Tyanaeus who endeavoured by Magick Art to keep up the Credit of sinking Idolatry was famous for Miracles That Miracles may be wrought by wicked Persons for ill ends and designs is evident not only from the Prediction before cited Deut. 13. as also from the Miracles wrought by the Egyptian Magicians to invalidate those of Moses but likewise from the express Prophesie of our Saviour himself concerning false Prophets that should arise and shew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the Elect. And the Apostles of our Lord Jesus foretelling the coming of Antichrist describe it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the effica●…y of Satan with all Power and Signs and Wonders or Miracles of a Lye And St. Iohn speaking of the same Person says that 〈◊〉 shall do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great Wonders and deceive them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those Miracles which he has Power to do in the sight of the Beast Now ●…rom hence we may collect these things 1. That true Miracles may be wrought by wicked Persons not that God does immediately concur by his Almighty Power in assisting them to do Miracles to countenance Falsehoods and the open Violation of his Laws but that he may permit invisible created Spirits to exert their Energy and Power in producing Supernatural Effects Whence we have no Reason to think that the Miracles foretold to be done by Antichrist and his Followers or by false Prophets to be mere Juggles and Delusions of our Senses but that some of them may be real Miracles but because they are wrought to confirm Idolatry and to establish such Doctrines as are plainly repugnant to the Rational Faculties of Mankind therefore we are not to heed them but to look upon them as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Miracles of Falshood and a Lye And of this sort were the Miracles of Apollonius who though he might dazle the Eyes of some by the Glittering Brightness of his Counterfeit Virtues it being for the Interest of the Divels Kingdom that he should act that part well yet he never transcended the bounds of the Animal life but was an Archi-mago or Grand Magician as Moeragenes who wrote his life testifies 2. That God never permits false Prophets to do Miracles by the Assistance of evil Doemons but only in the Case of such Falshoods as are clearly discoverable by the Light of Nature or common Dictates of Universal and Right Reason because if he should it would be an Invincible Temptation But as our Author speaks a little below it no way comports with Divine Goodness and Veracity to bear witness to a falshood or to expose men in things of the greatest moment to an everlasting and inevitable Delusion 3. That Miracles alone are not a sufficient Confirmation of the Divinity of a Doctrine forasmuch as they have been wrought by Pagans and the same is asserted by Busbequius of some among the Turks therefore besides Miracles to perfect and compleat a Divine Testimony there is