Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	spirit_n	true_a	word_n	7,521	5	4.3366	4	true

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 Evident and sound Reason then to ●…ancy that our Reason which is given us of God for a Guide should be deceived in its clearest and most distinct conception of things For if we throw a way Reason there is no other Directive Faculty but External sense and its Inclinations and blind and uncertain Phansie which is obnoxious to innumerable Deceptions Wherefore bidding adieu to Reason do we not evidently expose our selves to the Illusion of every Jugling Spirit who by crafty Tricks shall counterfeit a Divine Power and Assistance If therefore Moses ordain'd his Law as a Touchstone to try the Truth of a Prophet advising his People not to hearken to any who should do Signs and Miracles if he taught a●…y thing contrary to that Law which he himself had delivered to them from God Ought not we in like manner to examine all those that pretend Divine Authority by the Law of Nature and Right Reason as by an in●…allible and unerring Rule By the way it is to be noted that I here speak of incorrupted Reason freed from all evil Affections and inlightned by the Spirit of God For without the help of this Guide our Minds perhaps may be filled with a Great Measure of Confidence and Obstinate Persuasion but can never attain any settled Assurance that they are in the right way Neither is it any thing to the Purpose to say that Reason may indeed judge of Humane but not of Divine Things For though this be true of Reason darkned with evil Passions and indubitable in such things as are rather Objects of Taste and Internal sense than Reason yet it is quite otherwise where the Assent of the Understanding alone is required For whatever is proposed as matter of Explicit Belief there must in the first place be a Conception formed of it but now whatever we can frame a Conception of there Reason either discovers the Harmony of the Terms of which it consists and its Agreement with some common Notion and so pronounces the Thing to be true or e●…se it finds the Terms to be contradictory and Repugnant and that the Thing is Diametrically opposite to some i●…ate Principle and consequently judges it to be false Or else it perceives the Terms to be partly agreeing and partly di●…onant or to have no Relation at all to one another and from hence affirms and allows the Thing to be either Probable or Possible And now if any Part either of the Probability or Po●…bility shall be confirmed by some Illustrious Miracle then Reason adds its Suffrage that it ought to be believed As for Example let us imagine what is already done a certain Person compassing Sea and Land and w●…olly intent upon this very Thing to teach and instruct Mankind in their Duty to God and to one another promising Eternal Blessedness upon Condition of Obedience he himself in the mean time leading a most innocent and inoffensive life and withal declaring himself to be a Law-giver sent from God and to have all Power both in Heaven and Earth committed into his hands and that Prayers and Praises are all to be offered to God through his Mediation Here is nothing in this that implies a Contradic●…on or is repugnant with the Principles of Nature though Reason may be apt to suspect some Pride and Affectation of Divine Glory and Worship to lie underneath But now when that which is barely looked upon as Possible shall be effected and accomplished by Divine Power and the Author of this Doctrine inabled to work such stupendious Miracles as never Man before saw Reason will presently conclude that the Thing it self is very credible Yet not withstanding if this Per●…on should have taught any thing contrary to the Dictates of Right Reason and introduced either a Pro●…ane and im●…ious Doctrine or countenanced a licentious and disorderly way of living and that he might the better persuade us to these things should have gone about to confirm his Divine Mission by Miracles our Reason would immediately have suggested to us that he was an Impostor and Deceiver because nothing can be 〈◊〉 by God or by any Person commissionated by him which is contrary to the Law of Nature or Right Reason And though it may be urged that it is contrary to the Divine Veracity to bear Witness to a lie and therefore whatever is grounded upon the Credit of Miracles since these are the only visible signs of the Divine will must of necessity be supposed to derive from God yet because I cannot be assured whether these things may not be permitted for a Tryal or for some other end unknown to me yet agree●…ble to Divine Wisdom I should rather d●…strust this way of Reasoning then admit any thing from the Authority of this Argument as Divine which contradicted the clear Principles of Nature 2. A Second Argument The Nature of Man is so framed that it cannot yield Assent to any thing without the Conduct of Reason Which that it may more clearly appear we shall borrow some few things hugely suitable to our present Purpose from the Famous Lord Herbert in his Book of Truth According to his Opinion therefore there are four Faculties by which we come to the Knowledge of things Natural Instinct or that Faculty which di●…cerneth Common Notions Internal Sense External Sense and Discourse From whence may be collected this great Truth more valuable then whole Volumes written concerning the Sou●… and its Facul●…es That which 〈◊〉 be known neither by Natural Instinct Internal Sense External Sense nor by Discourse cannot any way be proved properly true Now since these are Faculties and that whatever is propounded to be believed must necessarily correspond and be conformable to some one of these Reason affirms that to each of them being rightly d●…posed cre●…t is to be given viz. to Natural Inst●…t to Inte●…nal and Ex●…nal Sense Moreover Reason it self according to its proper Office making use of the 〈◊〉 of the aforesaid Faculties and relying upon first and self-evident Principles summons Discourse and deduces Conclusions Natural Instinct is always to be believed but sense as well External as Internal may sometimes be deceived and therefore sometimes deserves Credit and at other times not to discriminate and discern the Differences of which is in the Power of Reason alone there being no other Faculty to preside in this Case From whence it follows First That the Mind cannot assent to any thing where Right Reason or at least some shadow of it does not give a preceding light And then That Christian Religion requiring Faith cannot force or compel assent against the Dictates of Right Reason But against these Clear and Natural Sentiments the Enthusiasts importunately urge the Spirit and indeed every man will pretend the Testimony of the Spirit t●…at he may not seem to be less favour'd of God then others If we demand how they know the Testimony of the Spirit they Answer After the same manner as we discern the splendor of the Sun by its own

proper light But we insist further That witness which the Spirit bears to it self is it a strong and obstinate Persuasion or an Ecstatical Joy or a kind of Zeal and Fervor of Mind or Lastly a clear and savoury Persuasion of the Dignity and Excellency of those things that are revealed If this last it is very consentaneous and agreeable to what we have already spoken But as for the other particulars it is very well known what an Innumerable company of Men there have been who upon such like grounds have very pertinaciously affirmed themselves to be compounded o●… Glass or Butter to be Dogs Cats Kings Emperors Popes the Paraclete the Messiah the last and greatest Prophet the Judge of Qu●…ck and Dead nay even God himself And we find most of these to have been actuated with an Excess of Joy and transported with a seemingly Divine Fervor All which Effects are so far from the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit that they are no better then Frenzies and Symptoms of Melancholy and derive their Original from no higher Principle then the undue Fermentation of the Blood and Spirits and chiefly from that Melancholy which above all other disposes the Minds of Men to fancy Divine Influxes and Illuminations For this as Aristotle affirms is wont to produce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore to be too easie and credulous in believing an obstinate Persuasion or strong Imagination whether there be a mixture of exultancy or zeal with it would argue a great want of Caution and Circumspection But we are to note especially where our Internal Sense is so obnoxious to Error That the Suffrages of other Faculties are first to be obtained upon whose refusal it behooves us at least to suspend our Assent But that we may not seem to derogate from the Holy Spirit we may ●…itly here suggest what mere Nothings we are and how little it is we can do without his help so that there is no Man whatever that can come to Christ without the supervenient Assistance of Divine Grace And as this is clearly attested in the Sacred Scripture so it is no less Consentaneous to Reason forasmuch as this is a most certain Truth that 't is a great Vanity to dispute against Sense and Experience And though some one as 't is reported of Zeno should go about to prove there is no such thing as Motion and should endeavour by subtilty of Argumentation to banish Quantity Matter and Time out of the Nature of Things yet he could never induce any sober Person wholly to distrust his Eyes and Hands By the same Reason since every Man finds his Senses highly gratified with that Pleasure flowing from External and Mundane Objects and yet not to be alike affected with things of a higher and nobler Nature how much resistence soever he may make by Virtue of the Counsels of severer Reason and strive to alienate his Mind from those as things less comporting with the Dignity of his Nature yet he will be no more able to reclaim himself then the Arguments of Zeno were able to move Diogenes Moreover so long as that brisk and lively rellish of sensual Pleasures draws away the Mind it will not be at leisure to attend to the so●…t Whispers of that gentle Monitor within Or perhaps it will easily slop its mouth or at least allure it to its own side For we are led by Sense either External or Internal not by dry and insipid Reason which gives much what the same Account of the Delights of a Spiritual life as a blind Man would do of colours And doubtless it would be but lost labour to teach a blind Man how pleasant a thing it is to behold the Sun and to enjoy the benefit of the Light and recreate himself with the Variety of Objects It is only the Eye that is sufficient to make such a Demonstration of these things as may affect the Mind You can never persuade a Man that is a perfect Slave to his Pleasures that there is any greater Delight and Satisfaction in Understanding the Reason of a Mathematical Demonstration then there is in Wine or the Caresses of a Mistress For if they were not bashful in declaring the Sentiments of their own Minds it would soon appear that the Reason of all Mankind is subjugated to the Imperious Dictates of present sense And unless God so affect our Minds as that on the one hand they may find some allay uneasiness in these Terrestrial Pleasures and on the other give them some Prelibations of the sweetness of things Celestial it can hardly be that we should either be weaned from those or very much desirous of these I add moreover that to render our selves obedient to the will of our hea●…enly Father is the only plain and easie way to the attaining a true Knowledge and Vital Sense of Divine Revelations For heavenly things are not otherwise to be known but by such an in ward rellish and affecting light as Divine Grace usually imparts to defecate humble Minds And further to admonish them that are going astray to illuminate the Eyes of the Mind to strengthen the Faith and to fix and impress the Arguments of Godliness upon the Soul which otherwise would be driven away with the least Wind of a Temptation these and such like things we owe to the Be●…ign Influence of the Holy Spirit All which we readily acknowledge to descend from Heaven by that Congruity they retain with that Divine Principle the only remain of God in us But if we discharge this Criterium of Truth and subject our Reason to the Conduct and Guidance of prevailing Phansis we must bid adieu to all Religion but that which under pretence of Divine Insp●…ration is nothing but the Result of 〈◊〉 and the feculent steams of the Blood Thus all Religions will be alike For by what Argument shall the Excellency of Christianity appear above 〈◊〉 or Gentilism when the use of Reason is laid aside But that we may not spend time in Ambiguity of Words we must know T●…at nothing is perceived by us but the Operations 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 and there●…re the Spirit as 't is a Principle of Knowledge in us is either Internal Sense or Reason for these are the only Faculties unless we will add Natural Instinct capable of being inlightned with the Beams of Divine Light To return therefore from whence we have digressed since our Internal Sense is so slippery and fallacious that Man that shall hearken to its Testimony against the Voice of all his other Faculties must be a Person of a very Imprudent and Temerarious Belief But you will say We grant indeed that it appears from this Argument that nothing can be believed without Reason but it does not follow fro●… hence that the thing to be believed is not contrary to Reason because we ought to credit a Divine Attestation though the matter attested be never so much Contrary to Reason For it may happen that Humane Understanding may thenErr when