Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	good_a	great_a	see_v	4,003	5	3.1544	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54462	A sermon preached at the anniversary meeting of the Eton-scholars, at St. Mary Le Bow, on Decemb. the 6. 1681 by William Perse ...	Perse, William, 1640 or 41-1707.	1682 (1682)	Wing P1653; ESTC R11012	16,268	40

as they thought which he should deliver to them to convince them by their own Arguments and to turn their own Artillery upon themselves Hence St. Hierome in an Epistle to Magnus a Roman Orator taking notice of that Innocent but cunning Artifice that St. Paul made use of at his coming to Athens when he took occasion from an Inscription which he met with upon one of their Altars To the unknown God tolead them to the knowledge of the true one highly applauds the Skill and readiness of his Argumentation Behold saith he how this Invincible Orator pleading in the behalf of the Christian Doctrine turns the Inscription which he seem'd casually to light upon on the Athenians themselves having learnt from the true David to wrest the Weapon out of the Enemies hand and to cut off Goliath's Head with his own Sword And when this Learned Apostle would prove against the Epicureans that we were not the product of Chance but of Divine Extraction he refers them to their own Authors to their own Poets for whom they had a great Veneration and amongst whom the choicest Treasures of Mysterious Knowledge were reposited citing a place out of Aratus to that purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And though at first he seemed to some of them no better than a Babler yet by his solid Discourses and his rational Inferences he gained so much upon them that at his first Lecture he Converted one of their chief Doctors Dionysius the Areopagite and others there were of less note who at the same time embraced that Doctrine which he then with so much power and strength of Argument delivered unto them His Eloquence was so perswasive and his Reason so convincing that it was hard to resist either the Charms of the one or the Force of the other For though his Personage was mean and almost contemptible yet all acknowledged that his Words were powerful and his Reasonings irrefragable When he writes to his Church at Corinth to which Learned City every one was not fit to be sent an Embassadour how does he bestir and lay about himself What Elegant Tropes and Figures of Speech what easie Transitions what vehemence of Expression what kind and pathetical Insinuations what gentle and yet cogent Admonitions does he make use of suitable to the nature of the Subject of which he treated and the Persons to whom he directed his Discourse So that Beza in his Annotations upon the 11th Chapter of his Second Epistle to the Corinthians tells us That having well weighed the several Ornaments and Elegancies of Speech diffused over that and others of his Epistles he could not meet with the same height and grandeur of Expression with the like smart and grave way of Reprehension or with so attractive and winning a manner of Perswasion either in Plato or Demosthenes in Aristotle or Galen though they were all great Masters and Professors of Eloquence He that reads those Excellent and Eloquent Defences which he made in behalf of himself and his Doctrine before Felix and King Agrippa by the last of which he almost perswaded his chiefest Auditor to become his Convert and Proselyte will easily find what Improvements he made and what benefits he received by virtue of his first Education in good Letters by being brought up as he tells us in my Text in the City of Jerusalem at the feet of the Learned and great Rabbi Gamaliel In regard all the benefits and advantages of a free and ingenuous Education have been most excellently and fully in this place and upon the same Occasion declared unto you and that I may not build my Hay and Stubble upon that Foundation on which so much Gold and Precious Stones have been already laid I shall endeavour in my ensuing Discourse taking the hint from St. Paul's Institution and the manner of it to shew you 1. That Humane Learning a competent skill in Arts and Sciences a Liberal Education in good Literature are very necessary qualifications for all those who are dedicated to the Sacred Ministry and thereby Authoriz'd to Interpret unto the People the Oracles of Divine Truth 2. That a good Foundation in the Rudiments and Principles of Learning does fit and capacitate all Persons whatsoever for the well governing and improving themselves in those several Callings and Stations to which the Divine Providence hath assigned them 3. That Publick Schools and Seminaries are the best Nurseries for the training up of Youth in all those parts of Knowledge which may render them Useful and Serviceable in their several Capacities to the Common-wealth or Society wherein they live And 4. I shall shew you how that Royal Foundation of which we were once Members hath at least equal Advantages with any other of the same kind in order to the obtaining the forementioned great End My first Proposition was that Humane Learning an early Education in good Literature are very useful and necessary Qualifications for all those who are Dedicated to the Sacred Ministry and thereby Commissionated to Interpret the Oracles of Divine Truth to the Congregation They are not improperly stiled the Handmaids of Divinity seeing they do very much facilitate our access to that Divine Mistress the Coelestial Truth which does not Prostitute her Sacred Treasures to Profane and Ignorant Intruders but suffers her self to be gain'd like Heaven it self whose Off-spring she is by the Violence and Importunate sollicitations of those Wise Charmers whose force she is neither able nor willing to withstand They are not indeed the Heaven but they are the bright Stars that illustrate it they are not the Crown but they are the Orient Gems that embellish it they are not the Ground-work but they are the Rich Imbroidery that adorn it They are the sweet Oyl which feeds those golden Lamps those burning and shining Lights which belong unto the Sanctuary of our God They are as the dew of Hermon which makes fruitful and long may it do so the Hill of our Sion That which some object of our Saviours choosing poor simple Fishermen for the propagation of his Doctrine through the World being of no validity in this case For though our Saviour chose out such illiterate Persons to be his first Disciples that those extraordinary endowments wherewith He their great Master and Teacher furnish'd them for the execution of their Apostolical office might appear to be derived to them by the immediate flowing in of his Spirit upon them and not convey'd to them by the ordinary and slow Channel of the Senses thereby to astonish the Learned Rabbies of that Age and to make their Incredulity under so clear a light and so evident a Demonstration the more inexcusable yet after he had left them and in a Miraculous manner conferred the gift of Tongues upon them to qualifie them for the discharge of that Ministry which was committed to them which by the way shews the necessity of such gifts for that purpose now they were not only to guide and govern the Church