Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	church_n	scripture_n	word_n	22,553	5	5.1394	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38026	Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing E210; ESTC R17845	511,766	792

Religion which Christ himself founded and deliver'd to his Apostles and Disciples The Tradition of these things is true and certain and we may safely rely upon it For tho the Authority of divine Truth depends not wholly on the Testimony of the Church for then the Authority of the Scripture would not be Divine but Humane and consequently not the Word of God but of Man yet the Church doth yield its Testimony to the Scripture and that Testimony or Tradition is a good Ground of Belief For Tradition is one way of communicating Matters of Faith and Fact to us By it we have them transmitted to us but this is neither the grand Motive nor the Rule of our Faith yet it is the Medium or Channel to convey the Belief of such things to us and we are to use it and prize it as such and to thank God that we have this among other Means to establish us in the Truth of the Gospel Hitherto I have consider'd the Testimony of Friends I will shew you in the next place that even Strangers and Enemies viz. Iews and Heathens bear witness to the Truth of Christianity First as for the Iews if Christ had not been thought by them to have been some extraordinary Person yea to be of the Holy Ghost miraculously why did they not prosecute Mary for an Adulteress The Sin of Adultery was severely punish'd by their Law and it was a very reproachful Crime You may be sure they would have urged this hard to the disgracing of the Son through the Mother But tho Ioseph denied him to be his Son and consequently she fell under the Law yet you read no where that the Iews made use of this against her which sheweth their tacit approving of Christ and that his Birth was extraordinary and divine Suidas tells us that Christ was chosen one of the Priests of the Temple at Ierusalem upon the death of one of the two and twenty for his singular Piety and excellent Doctrine Iosephus his Testimony of Christ is well known and St. Iohn Baptist his forerunner is made mention of by most of the Hebrew Writers with exceeding Praise and Admiration of his Holiness But I will con●ine my self to those Instances which are recorded by the Evangelists St. Luke observes that when he taught in their Synagogues he was glorified of all Luke 4. 15. And in the following Verses he subjoins a particular Instance of his preaching in one of their Synagogues at Nazareth and then adds all bare him witness and wonder'd at the gracious Words which proceeded out of his Mouth ver 22. Even some of the Jewish People who believ'd not in Christ cried out he is a good Man John 7. 12. Others said of a truth this is the Prophet ver 40. And others this is the Christ ver 41. And the Jewish Officers who were sent by the High Priests to lay hands on him admired his wise Deportment and excellent Discourse and freely declared that never Man spake like this Man ver 46. No one ever spoke Matters of greater moment and concern and with that Simplicity and Plainness that Authority and Efficacy which he did When Herod harangued the People they cried out It is the Voice of God But it was only the flattering Voice of the Multitude which made his such Here it was otherwise it was the real Voice of the true God and his very Enemies attest the unparallel'd Efficacy of it Christ was confessed and owned by the Iews in a most signal manner when he rid into Ierusalem on an Ass and when they strewed the way with Palm-branches and when all the People applauded him and treated him as some great Conqueror or mighty Prince Mat. 21. 8 c. For they were wont to congratulate the coming of such Persons to a place after that manner So the valiant Simon was receiv'd after his Military Success 1 Mac. 13. 51. So the Old Grecians in their Olympick Games after Victory wore wreaths of Palms as a reward of Conquerors And sometimes they bore the Branches of Palm-Trees in their Hands as the Emblem of Victory because the Branches of this Tree grow streight and stately as the Hand extended and tho they be loaded with much weight yet they bear up against it and shoot upwards Hence it was that this Honour of bearing Palm-branches and sometimes Branches of other Trees besides the Palm was given to Princes in Triumphs Thus Heliodorus saith that Hydaspes the King sent before him Harbingers of his Victory shaking Boughs of Palm in token of it Hence he that was generally applauded and received publickly with the Acclamations of the People was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they did not only strow Boughs but Leaves and Flowers in his way which sort of Honour was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor were they contented with this sign of Favour but they used to affix on the Doors of great Men the Boughs of Palm especially which Honour Lucian takes notice of telling us that green Palm-branches were set up at the Doors of the Rhetoricians Many more Testimonies might be alledged to this purpose And I could add also that this bearing of Branches was used in the Worship of the Pagans it being a Testimony of Honour to their Gods How fitly then did it come to pass by the over-ruling Hand of Providence that the Messias who was truly God and King was receiv'd by the People with Palm-branches He came in this triumphant manner into Ierusalem and was saluted with Cries of Hosanna and with that Gratulatory Benediction Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord John 12. 13. to testify that his Kingdom was come that he was to be victorious over Death and Hell and that he was to be a mighty Saviour and Deliverer I will briefly add two or three other Testimonies of the Iews Caiphas the High-priest prophesied of Christ John 11. 50 51. One of the Thieves on the Cross if he were a Iew which some have question'd acknowledg'd Christ and cleared him This Man saith he hath done nothing amiss Luke 23. 41. And even Iudas who betrayed our Saviour confess'd his Innocency I have sinn'd in betraying innocent Blood Mat. 27. 4. Secondly Heathens bear witness to Christ and the Truth of the Christian Religion He was acknowledg'd and ador'd by the wise Men that came from the East Tho he was condemn'd by Pilate yet he was first acquitted by him he declaring that he found no fault in him at all John 18. 38. And his Wife sent to him when he was on the Bench to have nothing to do with that just Man Mat. 27. 19. When a Title was to be set over the Cross Pilate wrote Christ the King of the Iews and would not alter it tho he was told of it Iohn 19. 22. The Centurion who had at that time the Sheriffs place and was to see the Execution perform'd when he saw

of God himself to root up those unprofitable Weeds and other less useful Plants and to apply himself to laborious Agriculture this being now become necessary since his Apostacy and since the denuntiation of the Curse for unto this the word therefore in the beginning of the Verse re●ers as much as if it had been said to Adam Seeing the Earth is deprived of its former fruitfulness seeing it will not for the future bring forth Food for Man without painful ●illage and wearisome culture therefore I send thee ●orth c. Here is a plain Instance of the actual inflicting of the Curse in our first Parents time even long before the Universal Deluge Wherefore I hope I shall prevail with this ingenious Author to aker his System of the Earth as to this particular that he may avoid so considerable an Objection as this is viz. That it is repugnant to the Sacred Writings to which I know he pays a great Reverence And besides so far as I apprehend his general Syst●m can very well be without this particular Hypothesis I take the freedom to suggest this to one who seems to be made for great Discoveries in Natural Philosophy and therefore out of that friendship which I bear to him and which he is pleas'd mutually to honour me with I would not have them tinctured with the least disrespect to the Mosaick Writings for this is enough to blast them in the esteem of those that are wise and sober But tho I cannot yield assent to this Gentleman's Hypothesis as he hath laid It down yet thus far I agree with him that the Sentence before mention'd took not place in the most effectual manner till the time he assigns it was not fully accomplish'd and executed till the Deluge That indeed was the Consummation of the Curse of Barrenness then there was a more general Restraint and Decay of the Fruits of the Earth caused by that destructive Inundation But the Curse commenced before in part as is clear from the express words of the Mosaick History And therefore I take it for an impregnable Truth because it is founded on the Sacred Records that the Earth was immediately curs'd upon Man's Fall and that all the Creatures degenerated when he fell The Earth and Air and other Elements became disorder'd and in some measure unwholesom and sometimes fatal Hence proceeded Dearth Scarcity Pestilences Earthquakes Storms Tempests harmful Thunder and Lightning Conflagrations and all manner of Evils and Calamities Man's Body which was made of the Earth participated of the Curse whence floweth such a variety of Diseases and Distempers that the Masters of Medicks have not yet compleated their Bill of Mortality and given us a perfect Catalogue of the Maladies which infest us Another external Effect of Man's Fall is the labour and trouble of this Life Using Diligence and Labour in a lawful Calling is no Curse for God set Adam to work even in the State of Innocence but afterwards his Labour was attended with faintness and weariness with pain and uneasiness as in that formentioned place In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat Bread Which seems more particularly and especially to have reference to the great labour which accompanies plowing and sowing and gathering in of the Fruits of the Earth For tho it is true part of Adam's employment in Paradise was dressing the Ground yet it cost him not any considerable labour then it was not like the Husbandry which was afterwards and is at present viz. uneasy and toilsome by reason of the barrenness of the Ground But in a larger and more extensive sense these words denote all the fatigue and pains which Men undergo in this World It was the eating of the forbidden Fruit which was the cause of this eating in sorrow and sweat Now innumerable hardships and distresses are the allotment of Man's Life Now Man is born to trouble Job 5. 7. All his days are sorrow and his travel grief Eccles. 2. 23. Now the Earth is truly the Land of Labourers Numberless poor people sweat and turmoil in getting a livelyhood and even their Bodies are bow'd down sometimes with a burden so the erect Figure of Man is partly impair'd Who can recount the various Troubles and Afflictions of this mortal State What a vast number of Calamities and Miseries is a Man liable to daily How strangely is he beset with Crosses and Disasters at home and abroad in his private and relative Capacity in his Body Mind and all his Concerns His Dominion over the Creatures is much diminished Many of them being hard to be tamed and kept in subjection many of them proving hurtful and mortal He may lament the loss of another Dominion which is more considerable I mean that which relates to that Sex over which God and Nature had given him a Command and Authority And on the other side the undue subjection of the Woman to her Husband is the Curse and Punishment of the first Woman's Sin Which I take to be the meaning of those words Gen. 3. 16. Thy d●sire shall be to thy Husband and he shall rule over thee It is true she was under his Rule and Command even in Innocency as was suggested before There was then a Power and Preeminence in Man over the Woman as the Apostle informs us 1 Cor. 11. 7 8 9. but they did not dispute this Superiority they did not contend about it for the Man did not exert his Power imperiously and the Woman's subjection call'd here her desire unto her Husband was free and voluntary But afterwards this Obedience was forced and unwilling and the Man's Dominion too often degenerated into an arbitrary unreasonable sway And that this is the meaning of this place is plain from the like words of God to Cain to pacify his Wrath against his Brother Abel unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him Gen. 4. 7. that is Abel is thy younger Brother and shall be subject unto thee and thou shalt have the superiority over him So then the import of the foresaid words is this that tho indeed Man as being first created had a superiority and preeminence over the Woman and should have yet had if they had stood in their Intergrity yet now since the Fall the latter is oftentimes too indecently treated whilst the former instead of claiming his just Precedency and Power becomes inhuman and tyrannical A farther Curse on Womankind is that which is mention'd in Gen. 3. 16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children Difficulty in Childbearing bringing forth with pain is the effect of the first Woman's transgression Whereas as Aristotle observes other Creatures have not that uneasiness and torment in bringing ●orth their Young Thus both Sexes partake of the Evil which accrued by the first Apostacy And wheresoever you look you may see the cursed Fruits of it All things are out of order and shatter'd by the Fall That

they would have been found out 5. Miracles were done in all parts of the World and not confined to Iudea only The Acts of the Apostles relate what Miracles they exerted in several Countries where they went and afterwards the whole World was visited by one or other of them and yet we never read that they were proved to be Impostors But on the contrary we are credibly informed that their Miracles were owned and approved of not in one place only but in all places where they came 6. These Miracles were wrought these Cures were done and the strange Languages were spoken amongst them for many years together whereas what is counterfeit holds not long 7. These Miracles were not control'd and check'd by any greater as the Wonders of the Egyptian Sorcerers were by Moses You may observe that those Magicians could not plague Men and Cattel with Boils they could not restore the Waters to their former quality tho they could gather the Frogs together yet they were not able to kill them They could not counterfeit the Miracle of Fleas and Lice tho they did those of the Serpents Blood and Frogs Here was some restraint the Devil was overpower'd But that was not all They had not been suffer'd to effect so much as they did but that Moses was there ready to countermand them and to baffle their Delusions They turned the Rods into Serpents but Moses's Rod devoured theirs i. e Moses's true Serpents devour'd the Magicians counterfeit Ones But Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles and there was none to countermand them which shews that they were real Miracles Thus true Miracles may be known by their manner and circumstances Again These may be known to be such from the Ends and Designs which Christ and his Followers propounded to themselves in exerting them First True Miracles are always for the Confirmation of the Truth but seeming and counterfeit Ones are wrought on purpose to maintain some false Doctrine Therefore if a Pretender to Miracles teacheth any thing derogatory to Providence and to the Nature of God and Religion we must look on him as an Impostor for Miracles that are true never contradict the Divine Testimony and the Truth recorded in Holy Writ This then you must know that as Miracles confirm a Doctrine so they are authorized by the Doctrine We must not rest in Miracles alone but to the Word and to the Testimony we must appeal Christ saith the Works I do bear witness of 〈◊〉 John 5. 36. but he adds ver 39. 〈◊〉 th● Scriptures they are they which testify of me By this then we may ascertain our selves of the Authority of those Miracles which our Saviour and his Apostles wrought when they were upon Earth They were done to attest a Doctrine which as it contradicted no part of Moral Religion nor the natural Notions of Reason so it was conformable to the written Word of God and all the Truths in the Old Testament In the second place True Miracles tend to the overthrowing of Satan's Kingdom in the World they never confirm and abet Sin and Prophanation in those that do them or in any one else As we observ'd before from Deut. 13. 1. that God some times permits false Prophets to work Signs and Wonders among his People so the Verses following tell us how we may know them to be lying Wonders viz. if the Prophet makes use of them to entice Persons to g● after other Gods and to serve them If the Signs and Wonders were intended to seduce them to a false Worship to perswade them to Idolatry and forsaking the true God they were not to be credited they were to be look'd upon as no true Miracles but counterfeit ones For it is not a sufficient proof for the truth of Miracles that they are for attesting the Orthodox Faith unless they also uphold a Holy Life In the third place Our Saviour's Miracles were such as were beneficial to others and was for the good of Mankind He procured Food for Multitudes of Persons when they were almost ●amished he cured the Lame and the Blind he ejected troublesom Devils out of Mens Bodies he relieved the most impotent and distressed But the Signs and Wonders which are done by Impostors are rather harmful than advantageous It is not unworthy of our Remark what was partly suggested before that the Egyptian Magicians turn'd the Water into Blood but they could not reduce it to its Nature again they brought up Frog● but they could not clear the Houses of the Egyptians of them They could bring Plagues but they could not remove them And it may be observed also of Impostors that if what they do is not harmful yet it is oftentimes fruitless and unprofitable it is vain and trifling and fit only to entertain fond and scrupulous Minds But here it may be objected that all Christs Miracles were not beneficial for his ●ursing the Fig-●ree Mark ●1 14. and his sending the unclean Spirit into the Gaderens Swine Mat. 8. 30. were not so As to the first viz. Christs cursing the Fig-tree it was a Symbolical Act figuring the Judgment of God against the unfruitful Religion of the Jews and being thus consider'd it was of great use and benefit Some indeed have thought it strange that our Saviour should do thi● when he himself saith the time of Figs was not yet v 13. as if it were unjust to blast the Tree for not bearing Fruit before the time of bearing was come but they mistake the meaning of those words which is no other than this that it was not the time of Figs with that Tree but it was with others The year was not unseasonable for Figs but this Tree bore nothing but Leaves therefore our Saviour dealt thus with it This I take to be the plainest and clearest Interpretation of the Place and then the Objection vanishes for who will be concern'd at the wit●●ring of a Barren Tree I know there are other Solutions of the place but none of them seem to me to be genuine That of Episcopius is not to be allowed of viz. that when Christ cursed the Figtree and said the 〈◊〉 of Figs 〈◊〉 not yet he did not know that it was not time of Figs. A learned Writer of our own hath this peculiar Notion that Christ look'd for Figs and yet saith th● time of Fig● is not yet because he look'd not for any Figs that he thought could be ripe and fit to eat that Spring it being about that time but he look'd for those that grew the last Summer and had hung on the Tree all Winter But tho Iud●● was a very fruitful Country and had in it several things different from other Soils yet it is to be question'd whether there were Fig-trees in the Field of this nature and whether the Jewish Writings which this Author refers to speak of this sort of Fruit. Besides if this Tree bore Figs as the Author supposes it is not material whether they were old or