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	write_n	writer_n	79	3	8.4108	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41388	Firmianus and Dubitantius, or, Certain dialogues concerning atheism, infidelity, popery, and other heresies and schisme's that trouble the peace of the church and are destructive of primitive piety written in a plain and easie method for the satisfaction of doubting Christians / by Tho. Good.	Good, Thomas, 1609-1678.	1674 (1674)	Wing G1029; ESTC R23950	83,883	174

Righteous as all the Law which is set before you this day which as to their clearness are highly improved under the Gospel engaging us upon higher and more heavenly motives those under the Law being for the most part Temporal to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present world Tit. 2. 12. There is no virtue which Christian Religion commendeth not no duty which it commandeth not no vice no sin which it does not condemn no Religion doth so much condemn Pride worldly-mindedness sensuality filthy lusts a poore private narrow Spirit selfishness as this no Religion doth so much commend humility meekness selfe-denyal charity peace unity no ●eligion doth so much exalt reason above passion and sence doth so much enoble the Spirit of man making it to look upon the Riches honors pleasures of the world as so many vain shadows deluding dreams transitory nothings the great design of it is not carnal and worldly but high and heavenly as to set forth t●e Glo●y of God to lift up the Soul above the Cre●ture to lead man by the way of holyness to everlasting happiness This Religion gives us the highest motives for the sincere practise of Piety and all manner of virtuous living th●t possible c●n be the pleasures of an holy life here the enjoyment of eve●lasting happiness hereafter it gives the strongest reasons against the power o● temp●ation● te●●hing us to mortifie the lusts of the flesh an● to contemn the vanities of the world putting the joyes of Heaven the torments of Hell the love of God in the ballance against the ple●sures of sin whi●h are no more then a feather to the massy glob of the earth Lastly Christian Religion from holy Scripture on which 't is founded doth reve●l unto us the nature attributes and works of God beyond all the Religions that ever were in the world how doth it magnifie and reconcile the justi●e and mercy of God towards sinful man How do●h it set forth the infinite power and wisdom of ●o● in making the world of nothing in such an excellent form and beauty which has drawn all ●o●sidering men into an admiration of the goodly fabrick of it Yet the must acute Philosophers were at a loss how and when 't was made whether 't was from all eternity or had a beginning in time whether 't was m●de of pr●existen● m●tter o● of the fo●tuitous concourse of Atoms whi●h fond opinions deserve not any serious confutation But the holy Scripture doth ●le●rly solve all these doubts is indeed the best Cōment on the book of Nature and doth give such an account of the original of the world the time and method of its production the peopling of nations the confusion of languages the depravation of nature which the Heathens understanding not fancied two principals one good the other evil from which all the good and evil in the world did proceed Mans recovery by the sacrificing of the Son of God for want of the knowledge and belief thereof all the bloody sacrifices practised by the Hea●hens were meer Impostures and ridiculous nothings these and divers other mysteries far above mans capacity to devise and not within the compass of natural corrupt reason are made plain unto us by Scripture Revelation which does abundantly prove that none but an infinite God could be Authour of this Divine Revelation of which those of the Heathens that of Mahomet were so many apish imitations diabolical cheats Dub. I am fully satisfied by the characters which you have given of the Religion in practise with the people of God especially with the Christians that the rule and measure of it must be from heaven not from men and consequently that all holy Scripture is divinely inspired is the word of the eternal God Firm. I could further acquaint you with many mo●e reasons to confirm you in this great truth which are common in every Authour that treats of it ●s namely the Antiquity of holy Scripture some part of it being before all writings the continu●nce of it by an extraordinary providence notwith●tanding the rage and malice of cruel bloody persecutors the sincerity impartiality candour simplicity of its writers quibus nullum fuit mendac ii praemium they had no earthly motives to perswade them to utter such forgeries as Atheist deem them to be nothing but bonds and imprisonments losses of goods and lives Again it must be acknowledged that the Pen-men of the Scripture were very good men or very bad for men of a cold indifferency they could not be If they were very good men they would never have conspired together to put such a cheat such a grand imposture upon the world as Anti-Scripturists would have the word of God to be If very bad they would never have wrot with so much zeal and earnestness against all manner of wickedness and especially against Lying and Hypocrisie Certainly they would never have exposed themselves to hazard lives and fortunes for no other reward then to be esteemed both Knaves and Fools by all prudent men Add to this that Lyers and Cheats do not usually agree one with the other but there is such a sweet harmony consent betwixt the Pen-men of Holy writ tho they lived at so great a distance from one another that questionless they were acted by one and the same infallible spirit Lastly The aversness the slowness that is in our corrupt hearts to believe all that is written in the Law and the Prophets Luke 24.25 a●ising from that contrariety which is betwixt the holy and spiritual word of God and our carnal and depraved minds is no small proof of the truth of it for 't is otherwise impossible to render any ration●l account why we should doubt or disbelieve this sacred word and never once question the truth of ordinary and common Histories which are conveyed down unto us not with the tenth part of that evidence which we have of the truth of holy Scripture But waving these reasons I shall only mention Two of the best which are urged against Infidelity to bring up the reer of my discourse The First whereof shall be taken from the fulfilling of Prophesies the other from Miracles which are the Seals of this our Magna Charta Dub. Tho I am sufficiently confirmed in the truth of this great principle by what you have already said yet I would most gladly hear your Arguments from Prophesies and Miracles Firm. First for Prophesies I shall acquaint you with some few out of the Old Testament to which your own reading may suggest many more which were exactly fulfilled according as they were foretold Dub. Did not Astrologers and Heathen Oracles foretel many things that came to pass as they were foretold Firm. I grant it but hear what judgment a learned Heathen passes upon them The Gods do foretel some natural things to come for that they observe the order conjunction of their natural causes but of things

that are contingent or such as do depend upon the will of man they have but conjectures and do often times lie and deceive us in both kinds for as natural things are variable so much more the will of man Porphyrius lib. de Resp. ora● cited by Parsons in his Resol pag. 62. Dub. This testimony of Porphyrius being an Heathen and a great enemy to Christianity is very considerable and experi●n●e shews it to be very true for O●acles have de●eived many and we see that Astrologers can give no certain predictions concerning the weather which dep●nds upon natural causes and therefore I desire you to she● me if you can any Prophesies of Scripture that are more certain Firm. I shall begin with that of Abraham concerning his posterities inheriting the Land of promise of their servitude in a strange Land of their mighty deliverance 400 years before it came to pass you may for this compare Cen. 15.13.14 c. with Exod. 12. Second Iacob being in Egypt on his death bed prophe●●ed thus of his ●on Iudah that the Scepter should not depart from him until Shilo came which fell out accordingly at the birth of our Saviour at which time the Scepter was in the h●nd of a stranger Herod by name and then and not till then it finally departed from Iuda Third 'T was Prophesied of Iosias ●00 years before he was born that he should destroy the Altar at Bethel 1. Kings 13. which was exactly fullfilled 2. Kings 23. Fourth You may see how punctual the Prophet Isaiah is in fortelling the nativity the life the passion of our blessed Saviou● in so much that he writeth more like an Historian then a Prophet as also how he foretells the destruction of Hier●salem and the greivous Captivity of the Jews by and under the Babylonians and then the destruction of the Babylonians and the rebuilding of Hierusalem by Cyrus 200 years before he was born the same was foretold by Ieremy about a 100 years after Isaiah and these Prophecies were so famous and so certainly believed amongst the Jews in the time of their captivity that when the time of their expiration drew near Daniel thus writeth of himself In the first year of Darius I Daniel understood in the Scripture the number of the 70 years c. Dan. 9.1 Neither did the Jews only understand and believe this Prophecy but Cyrus himselfe an Heathen which was his great inducement to restore the Jews and rebuild the Temple at his own proper charges Ezra 1. And Heathen Historians confess as much Fifth The Prophecy of Daniel concerning the four great Monarchies is so clear and evident so distinctly described as if he had lived in them all Dan. 2. and Dan. 8. how also he foretold the coming and suffering of the Messias after 70 weeks cap. 9. many more of such Prophecies might be alleaged but these are abundantly sufficient to attest the divine authority of Scripture Dub. T is very true if you could prove there were ever such Prophets or Prophecys in the world Firm. What proof do you expect will you believe nothing but what you see with your own eies Dub. That were irrational if you can prove by a certain tradition that there were ever such Prophecies delivered by such men as you name I shall assent unto them Firm. This I shall perform first from the whole nation of the Jews which have delivered them from Father to Son down along for many generation do you think that a people so carefull and diligent in the keeping and transcribing their records could or would agree together upon no worldly interest at all yea even to the hazard of their lives and fortunes to abuse themselves and their posterity Dub. I confess 't is not very probable but have you any other proof for the certainty of these Prophecyes Firm. Yes From the Testimony of very Heathens 'T is said by Iosephus lib. 1 de Antiq. Iud. cap. 4. that the publick writings of the Syreans Chaldaeans Ph●nicians Graeci●ns are sufficient to testifie the antiquity truth authority and certainity of Holy Scriptures if there were no other proofe in the world beside There is scarce a memorable passage in the Old Testament but 't is mentioned by some Heathen writer as the Creation of the world Noah's Flood the Confusion of Tongues the Children of Israels living in and coming out of the land of Egyp● the writings of Moses the Babylonish Captivity c. as you may see in Euseb. Grotius de verit Christ. Relig. Parsons Resol Cap. 3. lib. 1. part 1. Dub. Indeed a Testimony from an adversary is beyond all exception I rest satisfied with what you have said for the Authority of the Old Testament have you any thing to say for the New more then what you have said in general for them both together Firm. Yes I have the miracles of our Saviour and his blessed Apostles wrought for the confirmation of what they taught acknoledged by Heathens Grotius de ver Chris. Relig. Besides if you assent to the Divine Authority of the Old Testament you must acknowledg the Divinity of the New which is for the most part nothing else but an explication of the Old and the history of those Prophesies now fullfilled which were delivered by the Prophets who lived in the time of the law You may add to this the miraculous preservation of both Testaments not withstanding the malice of persecuting Heathens who used all arts of cruelty to extinguish them the propagation of the Christian Religion into so many parts of the prejudicating world without yea contrary to all carnal force and worldly inte●est by a few simple unlearned men which if t was done without a Miracle was one of the greate●t Miracles that ever we read of To this may be added the opposition of many subtil Hereticks who never durst so much as question the Authority of the Scripture but rather betook themselves to their own false glosses that they might shift of those clear texts which made against them whereas it had been a more Compendious way to have utterly denyed them if their impudence had been so great as to oppose the general belief of those times wherein they lived Dub. Tho I am sufficiently convinced of the divine Authority of the Scripture and of the truth of those Miracles which were wronght by Christ and his Apostles for the confirmation of what they taught yet to remove all scruples that may be made against them I shall desire to be more fully satisfied in two exceptions that are urged by Antiscripturists 1. That they were no true Miracles 2. That we have no certainty that there were ever such persons in the world as Christ and his Apostles or that they ever wrought such mighty works as are recorded of them in the New Testament Firm. That there were such persons in the world as Christ and his Apostles that they wrought those Miracles which are mentioned in the History of them both Jews and Gentiles sworn