Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	word_n	world_n	worst_a	61	3	7.7028	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61565	A letter to a deist, in answer to several objections against the truth and authority of the scriptures	Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1677 (1677)	Wing S5600; ESTC R21879	39,694	152

alone for any long time the Jews would have asked them presently if these things were true why did we not hear of them as soon as they were done Therefore we see the Apostles on the very day of Pentecost a little after Christs ascension to Heaven openly and boldly declare the Truth of these things not in private corners among a few Friends but in the most solemn meeting of their Nation from all parts which was the worst time could have been chosen if they had any intention to deceive 3. They testifie it in as plain a manner as is possible on purpose to prevent all mistakes of their meaning This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are Witnesses Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. Men that had a mind to deceive would have used some more general and doubtful words than these were 4. If this had been testified by one single witness the World would have suspected the Truth of his Testimony for according to the Rule in the Civil Law in the case of Testimony Vox unius vox nullius est But this was testified by very many not meerly by the twelve Apostles but by 500 at once among whom some might be supposed to have so much honesty or at least capable of being perswaded to have discovered the Imposture if they had in the least suspected any 5. But that which adds the greatest weight to all this is that there was not one of all the Apostles and scarce any one of the rest but exposed themselves to the utmost hazards and dangers rather than deny or retract the Truth of what they witnessed If the People had been careless and indifferent about Religion it is possible Men might have gone on in a Lye so long till they had gotten interest enough to maintain it but no sooner did the Apostles appear witnessing these things but they met with an early and vigorous opposition and that from the chiefest Men in Power who made it their business to suppress them Now in this case they were put to this choice if they would renounce or conceal the Truth of what they testified they might presently enjoy ease and it may be rewards too but if they went on they must look for nothing but the sharpest persecution and this they met with almost in all places and is it conceivable that Men should be so fond of a lye to forsake all and follow it and at last to take up their cross for it If credit and interest in the hearts of People might carry a Man on a great way in the delusion yet he would be loth to dye for it and yet there was never a one of the Apostles but ventured his life for the Truth of this and all but one they tell us did suffer Martyrdom for it I pray Sir consider where you ever meet with any thing like this that so many Men should so resolutely dye for what themselves at the same time knew to be a lye and that they must certainly do if it were all a contrivance of their own heads 2. But although in these things they went as high as it was possible for humane Testimony to go yet they had something beyond all this which was a concurrence of a Divine Testimony in the miraculous gifts and operations of the Holy Ghost And this we assert to be the highest Testimony can be given in the World of a Truth of any thing because God will not employ his Power to deceive the World And as all other Truth hath a criterion proper to it so this seems to be the proper criterion of a Divine Testimony that it hath the power of Miracles going along with it For if we do suppose God to make known his Mind to the World it is very reasonable to believe there should be some distinguishing note of what is immediately from God and what comes only from the inventions of Men and what can be more proper to distinguish what comes from God and what from Men than to see those things done which none but God can do But against this you object several things which I shall easily and briefly Answer 1. You cannot tell what it is that Miracles do attest not all their Doctrin since Paul said some was not from the Lord. Answ. Miracles do attest the veracity of the Speaker and by consequence the truth of the Doctrin not that you should believe that to be from the Lord which he said was not but that which he said was from the Lord. But when he makes such a distinction himself it is very unreasonable to urge that as an Argument that he had nothing from the Lord it is much rather an argument of his candor and ingenuity that he would not pretend to Divine Revelation when he had it not 2. You would have it signified what Doctrin it is which is attested by Miracles since the Doctrins of Scripture lye in heaps and confusion Answ. To what purpose should any Doctrins be singled out to have the Seal of Miracles set to them since it is their Divine Commission to Teach and declare the Will of God which is sealed by it And what they did so Teach and declare is easily known by their Writings 3. But why do not Miracles still continue Answ. Because there are no Persons employ'd to Teach any new Doctrines and no Promise of Scripture doth imply any more For the signs which were to follow them that believe were such as tended to the first confirmation of the Christian Faith which being effected their use ceased and so to ask why God doth not continue a Gift of Miracles to convince Men that the former were true is to the same purpose as to ask why God doth not make a New Sun to satisfie Athiests that he made the Old 4. But doth not the Scripture say that wonders are not always to be taken as confirmations of the Truth of Doctrin since false Prophets may work Wonders Deuteron 13. 1. Answ. That signifies no more than that Wonders are not to be believed against the Principles of Natural Religion or Revealed Religion already confirmed by greater Miracles And that those who would value such a particular sign above all the series of Miracles their Religion was first established by may be justly left to their own delusions You might as well object the lying Wonders of the Man of Sin against all the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles If God hath once done enough to convince Men he may afterwards justly leave them to the tryal of their Ingenuity as a Father that hath used great care to make his Son understand true Coyn may afterwards suffer false to be laid before him to try whether he will mind his being cheated or no 5. But you may yet farther demand what the Testimony of Miracles doth signisie to the Writings of the New Testament Answ. 1. The

gave the greatest testimonies of their Sincerity that could be expected from them and that no matters of fact were ever better attested than those which are reported by them from whence it will follow That it is not reason but unreasonable Suspicion and Scepticism if not willfulness and obstinacy which makes Men to continue to doubt after so great evidence 1. That we may have such evidence of Matters of Fact done at such a distance of time as may oblige us to believe the Truth of them This we are first to make out because several of your Objections seem to imply That we can have no certainty of such things because we cannot know what tricks may have been plaid in former times when it was far more easie to deceive and that it is confessed there have been several Frauds of this kind which have a long time prevailed in the World But have not the very same Arguments been used against all Religion by Atheists And if the Cheats that have been in Religion have no force against the Being of God why should they have any against the Christian Religion And if the common consent of Mankind signifie any thing as to the acknowledgement of a Deity why should not the Testimony of the Christian Church so circumstantiated as it is be of sufficient strength to receive the Matters of Fact delivered by it which is all I at present desire Do we question any of the Stories delivered by the common consent of Greek or Latin Historians although we have only the bare Testimony of those Historians for them And yet your Objections would lye against every one of them How do we know the great prevalency of the Roman Empire was it not delivered by those who belonged to it and were concerned to make the best of it What know we but thousands of Histories have been lost that confuted all that we now have concerning the greatness of Rome What know we but that Rome was destroyed by Carthage or that Hanniba● quite overthrew the Roman Empire or that Catiline was one o● the best Men in the World because all our present Historie● were written by Men of the other side How can we tell bu● that the Persians destroyed th● Macedonians because all our Accounts of Alexanders Expeditio● are Originally from the Greeks And why might not we suspec● greater partiality in all these Cases when the Writers did not giv● a thousand part of that evidenc● for their fidelity that the Firs● Christians did And yet wha● should we think of such a perso● who should call in question th● best Histories of all Nations because they are written by thos● of the same Countrey By whic● it seems you will never allow any competent Testimony at all for if such things be written by Enemies and Strangers we have reason to suspect both their knowledge and integ●ity if written by Friends then though they might know the Truth yet they would write partially of their own side So that upon this principle no History at all ancient or modern is to be believed for they are all reported either by Friends or Enemies and so not only Divine but all Humane Faith will be destroyed I am by no means a Friend to unreasonable credulity but I am as little to unreasonable distrust and suspicion if the one be Folly the other is Madness No prudent Man believes any thing because it is possible to be true nor rejects any thing meerly because it is possible to be false But it is the prudence of every Man to weigh and consider all circumstances and according to them to assent or dissent We all know it is possible for Men to deceive or to be deceived but we know there is no necessity of either and that there is such a thing as Truth in the World and though Men may deceive yet they do not always so and that Men may know they are not deceived For else there could be no such thing as Society among Mankind no Friendship or Trust or Confidence in the Word of another person because it is possible that the best Friend I have may deceive me and the World is full of dissimulation must I therefore believe no Body This is the just consequence of this way of Arguing That we have reason to suspect the Truth of these Matters of Fact because there have been many Frauds in the World and might have been many more than we can now discover for if this Principle be pursued it will destroy all Society among Men which is built on the supposition of mutual trust and confidence that Men have in each other And although it be possible for all Men to deceive because we cannot know one anothers hearts yet there are such Characters of Honesty and Fidelity in some Persons that others dare venture their Lives and Fortunes upon their Words And is any Man thought a Fool for doing so Nay have not the most prudent and sagacious Men reposed a mighty confidence in the Integrity of others And without this no great affairs can be carried on in the World for since the greatest Persons need the help of others to manage their business they must trust other Men continually and every Man puts his Life into the hands of others to whom he gives any freedome of access and especially his Servants Must a Man therefore live in continual suspicion and jealousie because it is possible he may be deceived But if this be thought unreasonable then we gain thus much that notwithstanding the possibility of deception Men may be trusted in some cases and their Fidelity safely relied upon This being granted we are to enquire what that assurance is which makes us trust any one and whereever we find a concurrence of the same circumstances or equal evidence of fidelity we may repose the same trust or confidence in them And we may soon find that it is not any ones bare Word that makes us trust him but either the reputation of his Integrity among discerning Men or our long experience and observation of him This latter is only confined to our own tryal but the former is more general and reaches beyond our own Age since we may have the Testimony of discerning Persons convey'd down to us in as certain a manner as we can know the mind of a Friend at a 100 Miles distance viz. by Writing And in this case we desire no more than to be satisfied that those things were written by them and that they deserved to be believed in what they writ thus if any one would be satisfied about the passages of the Peloponnesian War and hath heard that Thucydides hath accurately written it he hath no more to do than to enquire whether this Thucydides were capable of giving a good account of it and for that he hears that he was a great and inquisitive Person that lived in that Age and knew all the occurrences of it and when he is satisfied of that his next enquiry is whether