Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	child_n	great_a	parent_n	1,520	5	8.2359	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A74656	Expository notes, with practical observations; towards the opening of the five first chapters of the first book of Moses called Genesis. Delivered by way of exposition in several lords-dayes exercises. By Benjamin Needler, minister of the gospel at Margaret Moses Friday-Street, London.	Needler, Benjamin, 1620-1682.	1654 (1654)	Wing N412; Thomason E1443_2; ESTC R209640	117,247	301

of age verse 21. of this Chapter now how could this be if he lived but so many moneths 2. Metheuselah lived 969 yeares but if you cast up these by moneths you will find that in our dayes some might be said to live longer then Methuselah 3. Abraham is said to live 175. yeares Gen. 25.7 and in the next verse it is said that Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age an old man and full of yeares How could this also be said if he lived but so many moneths Quest. 6. verse 4. Whether in any sense it may be said that Adam was the longest liver amongst the Patriarchs Affir Vritually though not formally Adam Resp was created in a perfect state of body apt for generation which probably then was not under 60 yeares for none of the Patriarchs begat children under that age Now adde 60 yeares unto the time that Adam lived and you will finde he lived longer then Methuselah Quest 7. vers 4. What account may be given of the long lives of the Patriarchs For the right understanding of this consider Resp 1. That since Moses time who was borne in the yeare of the world 2434. when the world was well peopled and necessary sciences depending upon observation perfected the length of mans age hath little or nothing abated as appeares by that famous testimony of Moses himselfe Psal 90. 10. 2. That in all times since Moses we shall finde some that have exceeded the number of yeares accounted the utmost period of mans life as Joshua Chap. 24.29 3. That reasons both naturall and morall are given by the learned why the Patriarchs lived by many yeares longer then those who succeeded them in after-ages viz. The first reason is the feeding of the infant with the milk of a strange brest Now because this is growne into fashion in these licentious and corrupt dayes and unnaturall curiosity hath taught all women but the beggar to finde out nurses for their children which onely necessity should allow let it not seeme a digression if I propound some Queries concerning this practice 1. Quaere Whether God hath not given brests to women for this very end and purpose that they might feed and nourish their children 2. Quaere Whether this be not clearly demonstrated by the milk flowing into the breasts immediately after the child is borne and a great part of the parents meat being converted into that substance 3. Quaere Whether putting out of children to nurse be not the occasion of unnaturall affection both in the Mother to the child and the child to the Mother 4. Quaere Whether God hath not taught us by his dispensations to other creatures that the Mothers milke is most kindly and naturall to the child we see other things are nourished by the same of which they are bred the earth yields plants and nourishes them the trees bring forth fruit and yield sap unto them and the same also may be said of Brutes 5. Quaere Whether such children as are nursed by the mother do not usually thrive best 6. Quaere Whether parents that might have nursed their owne children and will not be not accessory to the death of those that are cast away by the nurses negligence 7. Quaere Whether this may not be a great cause of bodily distempers in the parents the drawing of the brest if moderation be observed having a rationall tendency toward the preservation of Health 8. Quaere Whether strange milke may not be a cause of distempers in the childe for as Contraria contrariis curantur so similia similibus alunter and whether the blood which was first the fabricator should not be the altor when turned into milk 9. Quaere Whether the milke of the nurse hath not a great influence upon the body of the child The learned tell us that take a kid and let it suck an ewe the hair of it will become like unto wool and take a Lambe and let it suck a goat the wool of it will become like goats haire we our selves finde a difference in the flesh of creatures according to the coursenesse or finenesse of that food with which they are brought up 10. Quaere Whether the soul following in some measure the temper of the body the milke of the nurse may not have some influence upon the manners and disposition of the child Some give us this reason why Tiberius caesar was a drunkard because he sucked a drunken nurse and whether in this the parents may not be the occasion of the drunkennesse and excesses of their children 11. Quaere Whether when God pronounces it as a curse to have dry brests it be not an unworthy piece of ingratitude for parenrs when God gives them nourishment for their child not to account it worthy of their acceptance And whether to turne the back upon any courtesy would not be accounted a piece of incivility among the Heathens themselves in their dealings one with another 12. Quere Whether when God provides proper nourishment for a child to be ministred by the brest of the parent and refused this act doth not interpretatively charge God with folly and whether in such a case the parent doth not set up his or her wisdome above Gods 13. Quaere Whether Sarah might not have pleaded as much and more then the Gallants of our age for putting out her child to nurse being the wife of an honourable person and of a great age 14. Quaere Whether although we read of nurses in the Scripture it can be made out that any good woman put forth her child when she was able to nurse it her self A second reason why our lives are shortened in regard of our ancestours is hasty marriages while nature is yet greene and growing we rent from her and replant her branches while her selfe hath not yet any root sufficient to maintaine her own top The use of much physick and little exercise The pressing of nature with weighty burdens and when we finde her strength defective the help of strong waters hot spices and provoking sawces which ordinarily used impaires our health and shortens our dayes That which may for the present cheare and exhilarate the spirits may be an enemy to long life Hence it is that the Highlanders in Scotland and the wild Irish commonly live longer then those of a softer education and more tender bringing up Seneca Multos morbos multa fercula fecerunt Variety of dainty dishes hath bred variety of diseases A man may die wirh cordials and fire nature out of its place Besides this which hath been said I suppose there may be two main reasons given of the long lives of the Patriarchs 1. Propagation of posterety 2. Promotion of piety for at that time the Church having not the Scriptures but being guided by extraordinary revelations from God lest the worship of God might be brought into contempt by posterity the lives of Holy men were of long continuance which might be an expedient to enforce

Ordinances against us and nailing it to his crosse 2. As he overcomes the plots the assaults the rebellions of this conquered and broken enemy In both senses we may say of the seed of the woman collectively considered it shall break the Serpents head It viz. Christ and his Church head and members In the first sense the Saints break the Serpents head in Christ in the second sense Christ breaks the Serpents head in and with his Saints In the first sense Christ breaks the Serpents head without the actual concurrence of his Saints it is true the Saints do it in him but they do not concurre with him in it as all of us sinned in Adam though we did not actually concurre with him in his sinne and in this sense he is said to tread the Wine-presse alone In the second sense Christ breaks the Serpents head with the actuall concurrence of his Saints not that Christ receives any help from them for to do it but because he is pleased to make use of them in the doing of it and in this sense is that Scripture to be understood The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly Rom. 16. 20. Christ hath throwen Satan down and wounded him and he will enable his people to keep him down and tread upon him As Ioshua caused the Princes of Israel to set their feet on the very necks of the five Kings They urge to break the Serpents head notes a Divine power and therefore it is Arg. 3 to be understood onely of Christ This Argument would be something Resp 1 against those that shut out Christ from this great work but not in the least against those who say the Church breakes the Serpents head but that power whereby it doth it is derived from Christ Since therefore besides what hath been already said according to the judgement of those who hold this first assertion the seed of the woman is to be taken collectively therefore I rather close with others as Learned who say that this particle it is to be expoūded collectively also for it being a pronoune relative and pointing to the seed of the woman which the Adversary saith is to be expounded collectively I conceive we cannot without straining of the Grammar of the Text interpret it otherwise Nor doth this detract from the honour of Christ the victory is Christs principally ours onely relatively and as his members Nor doth this advantage the Jew for according to this construction in this Scripture you have a Prophecy concerning the Messiah It is said here The seed of the woman shall breake the Serpents head now this being a work above the spheare of the activity of any creature it will follow that the Messiah is principally intended in this promise or Prophecy Quest 37. verse 15. Why we may not translate this verse according to the vulgar Latin she viz. the Virgin Mary shall breake the Serpents head Because according to the Hebrew text Resp 1 it is not she but according to our translation it Because this detracts much from the honour of Christ It was a rare saying of Seneca Similiter esse exprehensibilem nimiam laudationem et immoderatam vituperationem I but say the Romanists Christ did it by Object his own power the Virgin Mary by Christs If you say that of the blessed Virgin Resp as we have formerly concerning other Saints of God we have no cause to be offended but they intend more by it then this comes to Doth not the worth and eminency of a Object childe cast a shine of honour upon the Parents If it be said of Abraham In thee shall all Nations be blessed though it was not Abraham that made them blessed but his seed why not of the Virgin Mary In thee shall the Serpents head be broken though she did not do it but Christ It is one thing to say a parent is blessed in a child or to say that in a parent a Nation Resp is blessed because of a child and to attribute the worthy atchievements of the child to the parent as if a woman should beare a sonne who when he came to years ceserved worthily of the Common-wealth a shine of honour would be cast upon this woman because of her son but we could not with any sense nor indeed with honesty ascribe the worthy acts of the sonne to the mother Thus they endeavour to paint over their black and horrid blasphemies with the fairest colours they will take The chimney-piece is commonly the fairest part of the Roome and yet it covereth the foulest and blackest place Quest 38. verse 15. Why is it said I will put enmity between thee and the woman in the Abstract To note unto us the bitter inveterate Resp irreconcileable hatred of the wicked against the godly enemies may be reconciled but enmity cannot c. It is observable that profane persons Hereticks blasphemous Popish superstitious persons are more loving favourable each to other though vastly differing in their judgment then either of them to the people of God Edom and Ishmael Moab the Hagarens Gebal Ammon Amaleck the Philistines the men of Tyre Ashur had each several gods yet all conspired against the true God Ps 83. 5 6 7 8. They have consulted together with one consent they are confederate against thee The Tabernacles of Edom the Ishmaelites of Moab the Hagarens Gebal and Ammon and Amaleck the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre Ashur also is joyned with them they have holpen the children of Lot Darknesse and darknesse agree better together then light and darknesse Quest 39. vers 15. Whether man had any share in this curse pronounced in these two verses Man hath a share in that which was pronounced Resp against the Serpent but all his share is mercy for though it be a curse to the Serpent yet a blessing to man The truth is there seems to be spirituall checker-work in this 15. verse halfe white and half black much of judgement and terrour and much of mercy and consolation resembling Moses who saved the Israelites and slew the Egyptians In this verse you have the Sun in a cloud the Gospel with its masque on the day-break of that glorious mystery which was hid in God from before the foundation of the world the light whereof though it were faint and shadowy in regard of our Noon-day-brightnesse yet at that time through the help of the prospective of faith they might see thereby 1. Mans Redemption from the Tyranny of Satan and by consequence from sin death and hell noted in that expression of breaking the Serpents head 2. That man should be redeemed by a Mediatour viz. by the intervention of the seed of the woman 3. That this Mediator should be true man intimated by the seed of the woman and that he should have a divine power being able to break the Serpents head which is tantum mount to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-man 4. That this Redemption should

and then we must affirme corpore infici posse spiritum which is an absurdity for 1. Though the truth of this axiome be taken for granted that Corpus non potest agere in spiritum yet I conceive we may demurre to it For though it should be assented unto that this could not be done by the power of nature yet it may be done by the efficacy and power of divine ordination Especially if we consider what a strict union there is between the soul and the body and that according to the various disposition and affecton of the body the soul also is variously affected and disposed We finde by experience that children resemble their parents not onely in their countenance and the outward lineaments of their body but in their manners and inward habiliments of their mind We finde that the soul in a great measure followes the temper of the body and that the spirits humors organs of the body being vitiated and disordered there followes upon this frenzy Melancholy passion and the like The Learned say Potentia materiae est duplex 1. Naturalis quae educibilis est in actum vi alicujus agentis naturalis There is a naturall power in that which that materiall or corporeall which is educible into act by vertue of a naturall agent that is to say wood hath a naturall power to receive heat viz. vi naturalis agentis scilicet ignis 2. Obedientialis an obediential power which is educible into act by vertue of a superior agent this wood or stone hath an obediential power to be formed into astatue for this is not effected by a natural agent which doth necessariò agere but by vertue of an Artist such a power also hath the soul to receive spiritual gifts the supernatural gifts of the Spirit as faith hope c. We say the work of conversion is possibile naturae though impossibile naturâ possible to nature though impossible to be wrought by a natural power Obediential power of a subject to receive a new form puts not any causall power in the thing or matter to be changed all such power is without viz. in the efficient there is onely a power of reception in the thing or matter not a power of causality Now we may take into consideration whether vi superioris agentis corpus may not agere in spiritum To this I might adde the consideration of the fire of hell which for ought I can learne may be material and yet can t●rment spirits as calor naturalis hath two properties 1. Calefacere to make warme and this it acts of it selfe 2. Alimentum in debitas partes distribuere To convey nourishment into the severall parts of the body and this it acts as an instrument of the soule so Hel-fire may be considered in its selfe and so it burnes bodies or as an instrument of divine wrath and so it torments spirits 2. Be it granted that the soule is created pure by God and that it cannot be tainted by the body yet it may be polluted ratione suppositi by Gods ordination and appointment as it is the soul of a man son and heir of corrupt Adam If you aske me Supposing this be taken for granted that we are defiled upon the account of divine ordination as a punishment inflicted by God on man for his apostasie by what instrument or second cause this is effected or brought to passe I answer that as there is nothing more secret then the forming of the child in the wombe the union of the soul with the body and the manner how it is united thereunto so this also must needs be a secret by he mediation of what instrument or second cause man comes to be defiled There are also other Objections urged against the doctrine of the creation of the soul It seems not to suit with the justice and Obj. 2 goodnesse of God to shut up a pure and innocent soul into a stincking prison and to thrust it as it were into abridewell that it might be corrupted there The consequence is to be deny'd for he Resp 1 may be said to act unjustly that acts contrary to what he is bound to do according to principles of justice but God is not bound to infuse the soules of the sonnes of Adam who sinned in Adam and merited thereby eternall death into pure bodies But rather the contrary according to the curse In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death We say that God doth infuse a pure soul into an impure body as the phrase may vulgarly be taken for that would imply that our souls before they were united to our bodies were pure which suits not with our principles formerly mentioned Causa causae est etiam causa causat● Obj. 3 The cause of the cause is also the cause of that which is caused by that cause viz. if God be the cause of the union of the soul with the body therefore he is the cause of that sinne that is occasioned by that union This rule is to be understood de causis Resp perse not de causis per accidens viz. God is the cause of his divine Law the Law is the cause of sinne per accidens as the Apostle I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I Rom. 8.9 died Yet no man will from thence conclude that God was the cause of sin How can Originall sin be propagated Obj. 4 and not the soul Non potest accidens traduci sine subjecto Accidents do frequently transire à subjecto Resp 1 in subjectum non transeunte subjecto as for instance heresie is propaged in these dayes and derived from one to another but so is not the soul which is the subject of these errours The same numericall accident cannot transire à subjecto in subjectum but so may the same in kind as appeares in the former instance Quest 5. vers 4. According to what space of time the yeares of the Patriarchs were measured The great age of the Patriarchs hath Resp enclined some to believe that their yeares did not containe the same space of time with those after the flood and with ours to this day Indeed we read of two periods of time especially by the ancients called yeares 1. There was annus solaris or that which they called their solar yeare which was the same with ours and contained 12. moneths Now this yeare was called solaris because it was measured by the Suns passing through the Zodiack 2. There was annus lunaris or that which they call their lunar yeares the same with our moneth or thereabouts now this was called Lunaris because it is measured by the Moons passing through the Zodiack Some think that the yeares of the Patriarchs were Lunar yeares The dayes of Adam were eight hundred yeares that is say Gen. 5.4 they eight hundred moneths c. Now this cannot in any case be allowed for these reasons 1. Enoch begat children at 65. yeares