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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	faith_n	james_n	justify_v	30,002	5	9.4646	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03264	A short dialogue concerning the plagues infection Published to preserue bloud, through the blessing of God.	Balmford, James, b. 1556.	1603 (1603)	STC 1338; ESTC S100768	34,749	98

amongst the younger sort and such as do not greatly regard cleane and swéete kéeping and where many are pestred together in alleyes or houses is not this an argument of infection Thousandes can directly tell where when and of whom they tooke the Plague Doth not all this make it more then manifest that the Plague is contagious All Magistrates all Diuines all Phisitians all learned men and all wise men in all ages haue held the Plague to be contagious Dare any but blind bayard be so impudent to deny it without such reasons as may sway against so great experience and so great authoritie If you haue any such I pray you let me heare them Profess That I haue any such I cannot say in regard of the weaknes of myiudgment as also of the probabilitie at least of that I haue heard already spoken to the contrary but such as they be if it please you I will bring them out humbly desiring your answers The first is thus vrged with open mouth This opinion of infection doeth vtterly ouerthrow charitie towards the visited by the plague being the cause why they by whose meanes the sick and sound are especially to be prouided for do runne away viz. Magistrates Ministers such I meane as indeed were neuer faithfull for blessed be God many faithful remaine Phisitians and rich men and why so many be thrust out of doores perish in town and field for want of help and are so cruelly vsed by country people so that it is a very countermaund to Christ his iudgement concerning visitation of the sicke But by that which hath bin said and by gathering from the last point we talked of that the precise commaundement touching Lepers to be separated from Church and companie was no hinderance to their visitation but that they were to be ministred vnto according to their need I am for my part induced to lay the blame of all this vncharitable dealing vpon the excessiue feare of people occasioned perhaps but not well grounded vpon the opinion of the Plagues infection for though the Plague be to be feared because of the infection yet as I take it not so excessiuely and inordinatly For of such feare the cause is want of faith rather then the opinion of infection as I may partly gather from that which you deliuered before I will therefore propound an argument so deemed which we haue not yet handled Preach Stay here a while for I can not but thanke God that you iudge so rightly betwéene mine opinion and others feare of infection If Professors would wisely obserue what is taught there would not be so many spiders to suck ranke poison out of sound doctrine Then might we hold the plague in the nature thereof to be contagious and men would not take occasion before it be giuen of excessiue and inordinate feare then might we inuey against excessiue and inordinate feare and men would not take occasion before it be giuen of inordinate and dangerous presumption but foolish men as wise men obserue are euer running into extremities If Paul teach that we are iustified by faith without the works of the law the carnal gospeller taketh occasion before it be giuen to neglect good workes And if Iames teach that faith without workes is dead the arrogant Papist taketh occasion before it be giuen to aduance good workes to merite and supererogation Mine heart bléedeth to heare of the crueltie and inhumanitie you mentioned so that if I were in the cuntrey I would by Gods grace set my selfe against those damnable effects of inordinate feare and make it euident that the Plague is not so contagious as excessiue feare makes it to be But now I follow this course which God blesse because I liue where the contrarie sinne of Presumption is more generall and more dangerous both because of that bloudy errour as also of the absence of Magistrates who should sée good orders put in execution through which default it is come to passe that men women and children with running sores go commonly abroade and thrust themselues into company so that some haue perceiued when they tooke the infection of such How many may be supposed to haue taken the infection from such though they perceiued it not I would be loth to make Magistrates neglecting their charge guiltie of all this bloud but if I were in place I would humbly and earnestly intreate them seriously to consider the nine first verses of the 21. of Deuteronomy where they may learne how fearefull they of all other should be of bloud-guiltines But leauing them to Gods direction I pray you propound your argument so déemed Profess That I will and as neare as I can in such sort as it is inforced If the Plague be contagious why is not one infected as well as another I haue lyen in bed with many that haue had the plague-sores running on them I haue bene still about them when they swet their sores brake and breath went out of their bodies and yet I and a great number besides me who haue done as much had neuer the plague yet and trust neuershal so long as I haue a strong faith in God for is it not written Thou shalt not be afraid of the pestilence for thousands shal fal besides thee yet it shall not come neare thee for thou hast said The Lord is my hope Preacher This aduenturous argument standeth vpō two points viz. first the escaping of some and secondly their strong faith Concerning the former I answer in the name of the opponent Is thine eye euill because God is good Wilt thou by thy bloody errour poison other because God hath glorified his speciall prouidence ouer thée Is this thy thankfulnesse for so great deliuerance to obscure Gods prouidence by attributing thine escape to this that the plague is not infectiue Consider better the very text alleaged for thy strong faith and you may if you will sée clearely that God doth hereby set forth his prouidence in that he preserueth those that trust in him and walke in his wayes by Angels and then when by the pestilence thousands fall about them for the greater the daunger is the greater is Gods prouidence in deliuering his people as may further appeare by their walking vpon Lions Aspes and Dragons mentioned in the same Psalme Therefore take héede how you obscure the prouidence of God and draw many into daunger by denying the plague to be contagious lest as he that feared not the day of the Lord met with a Beare when he had escaped a Lion so you méete with a iudgement heauier to you though you still escape the plague But neighbour I will turne my spéech to you praying you to consider this Psalme wel and you shall sée me proue from the same the Plague to be contagious For if an extraordinary prouidence of God be manifested in preseruing those that beléeue from pestilence then is the pestilence very dangerous as be the Lion Aspe

garments and therefore if it fal out so that they sit together their fearefull conceipt may bréede the Plague Profess O sir are you of that mind that the Plague may be in a garment and the partie not sicke and that one may take the Plague onely with feare and do you beare with such a conceipt Preach No I do not But I déeme them guiltie of their owne bane who take it with such a conceipt And yet I thinke euery charitable Christian will grieue at the heart that he should be the occasion of such a fright and could wish that he had rather béen from the church a moneth especially being in some sort Gods prisoner and the affrighted hauing likelyhoods that either he or his garment might be infected That a garment may be infected and the Plague taken onely by feare experience and reason do make manifest Concerning the former it hath béene proued that clothes of infected persons layed vp and not well ayred being opened though a yéere or more after haue instantly renewed the Plague Againe we perceiue by the smell that garments wil retaine the sent of Wormewood or muske for a long time the cause is not in the sent by it selfe considered but in the ayre which is the subiect of the sent The plague in a garment is a poysoned aire being according to the nature thereof called by the learned the Death of the ayre procéeding from the partie infected and infecting the garment though not perceiued by smell as the open cléere and wholesome ayre of the heauens is healthfull for the body though not perceiued by smell Lastly leprosie infecteth garments and he that sléepeth or eateth in an house shut vp for leprosie must wash his clothes which argueth that infection may be by the ayre sith a man may eate in the house and not touch the walles infected If Leprosie be so contagious much more the Plague which is a stronger poyson because it infecteth and killeth Profess This is more then euer I heard and considered and I think it reasonable but I cannot conceiue how the garment can be infected and yet the person that weareth it escape the Plague Preach I will shew you that in a word Do you not consider that either the infection may be but weake or the party of a strong and healthfull constitution Cinders will not set fuell on fire so soone as burning coles neither will gréene wood be so soone kindled as chips and drie deale-boord Profess I now see and in some sort assent to your opinion proceed therefore I pray you to giue reasons why by onely feare a man may be infected with the Plague Preach The spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmities but a wounded spirit who can beare it saith Salomon By spirit here is meant a comfortable heart which animateth a man in all troubles but if that fayle hée is soone ouerthrowne From the heart procéed as Phisitions say vitall spirits whereby man is made actiue and couragious If they by feare be inforced to retire inward the outward parts be left infirme as may appeare by the palenesse and trembling of one in great feare so that as enemies easily scale the walles of a towne abandoned by souldiers so the Plague especially in a season disposed to infection doth find readie passage into the outward parts of a man destitute by feare of the vitall spirits which should correct the same Againe as faith maketh vs partakers of Gods helping hand so vnbeléefe depriueth vs thereof feare aduersarie to faith pulleth to the wicked the euill which he feareth Profess By this conference I haue learned to feare more then I haue done and yet to take heed of feare to feare because the plague may be caried about in garments and therefore may infect me keeping company with one that is cōuersant with the infected I being peraduenture not of so strong a constitutiō as the party To take heede of feare lest I be guiltie of mine owne bane Preach Your collection is good especially if you remember the distinction of feare in that sence which I haue often taught it to wit Feare is contrary either to Security and so it may be called Héedfulnesse or to Faith and so it is cousin germain to Despaire But hoping that now you see our doctrine against vnruly and vncharitable going abroad of the infécted either in person or garments not to be a checke to Pietie and Charitie I pray you tell me what you can say for vnnecessarie and desperate running to the sicke and buried of the Plague Profess What I tell you be it without offence that many maruell I will not say cry out that Preachers who should be examples of loue and faith in visiting the sick according to their office do yet so flatly speake against the expresse words of Christ For doth not he say That we shall be iudged at the last day according to our workes of charity and amongst the rest our visiting or not visiting the sicke Preach O neighbour you now lay on loade I must therefore ease a litle the shoulders of Preachers whom you charge heauily for not visiting the sick of the Plague before I can nimbly encounter your maine obiection Surely ye Professours who so vrge this pretended dutie are farre from the louing care and kindnesse of the Israelites who would not suffer Dauid to hazard himselfe in battell lest if he being woorth tenne thousand of them were slaine and the light of Israel should be put out Againe ye forget that Christ said to him that desired to burie his father Follow thou me let the dead burie their dead If ye did consider this well you could not but thinke that as Paule said Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach so Preachers may say Christ hath sent vs not to visite the sicke but to preach and thereupon cōclude that the lesse dutie if a dutie especially being daungerous must giue place to the greater and the visiting of a few sicke and lesse capable of instruction must giue place to the teaching of the whole congregation and more capable of doctrine and comfort Now if they visite euery one that is sicke how can they attend vnto reading and follow Christ in the most proper and necessarie worke of the ministerie Lastly I sée not but herein I humbly submit mine opinion to the Church that visiting the sicke is a proper dutie of a Minister as he is a Minister For as none can ordaine officers in the Church but Christ so none as I am perswaded can prescribe duties to those officers but Christ But I cannot find where Christ prescribeth visiting of the sicke as a Ministers dutie If not Christ why should any surcharge Ministers and the rather because they are not no not the best sufficient for duties prescribed Did not the Apostles pronounce it an vnmeet thing to be hindred from giuing themselues continually to prayer and to