Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	find_v	great_a	king_n	3,579	5	3.5272	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14095	A discovery of D. Iacksons vanitie. Or A perspective glasse, wherby the admirers of D. Iacksons profound discourses, may see the vanitie and weaknesse of them, in sundry passages, and especially so farre as they tende to the undermining of the doctrine hitherto received. Written by William Twisse, Doctor of Divinitie, as they say, from whom the copie came to the presse	Twisse, William, 1578?-1646.	1631 (1631)	STC 24402; ESTC S118777	563,516	728

that he had cursed them already And equally and indifferently as God is made the Author of blessing to the obedient so is he made the Author of a curse to the disobedient and therefore calls heaven and earth to witnesse that hee hath set before them life and death blessing and cursing So that death and cursing is indifferently attributed to God as the Author of them like as life and blessing and both are in due proportion to the behaviour of man as it is found either in the way of obedience or in the way of disobedience And in this respect perhaps you may say that man is the cause of cursing not God To this I answer 1. By the same reason man is the cause of blessing suitable to this cursing and not God 2. If in this respect cursing be to be derived from sin it is onely in the way of a meritorious cause so doth not fruit proceed from trees but onely in the way of an efficient cause God and none but God can be the Author as of happinesse so of misery as of eternall life so also of everlasting death And as none is truly blessed but whom God blesseth so none is truly accursed but whom God curseth Yet no man I thinke that hath his wits in his head will say that this cursing proceedeth from Gods love but rather from his hatred Gods love towards the creature is essentiall his love to the creature is not so no more then to be a creator is of Gods essence And love is no more of Gods essence as a Creator then hatred is of Gods essence as a revenger And the blessing and cursing attributed unto God in the Scriptures before alledged belong to God onely as a Iudge to execute the one by way of reward and the other by way of punishment Albeit there is another course of Gods blessing and of his cursing though you love not to distinguish but to consound rather as all that maintaine bad causes love darknesse rather then light I come to the second point wherein you insist In that he is the Author of being he is the Author of goodnesse to all things that are And this is very true for God saw all that he had made and lo it was very good And as it is very true so it is nothing at all to the purpose For when we enquire whether Gods love be extended towards all and every one wee presuppose their beings in their severall times and generations And secondly we speake of a love proper to mankinde which consisteth not in giving them their being for God hath given being unto Angels even unto Devils as well as unto men and as to men so to all inferiour creatures be they never so noysome and offensive unto man And it is a strange course of yours to magnifie the love of God to man in giving him being which is found in the basest creature that breathes or breathes not I have heard a story of a great Prince when one of the prime subjects of the land being taken in a foule act of insurrection and yeelding upon condition to bee brought to speake with that Prince presuming of ancient favour whereof hee had tasted in great measure and which upon his presence might haply revive he found nothing answerable but imperious ta●ts rather and dismission in this manner Know therefore that we hate thee as we hate a toad Yet you magnifie the love of God to mankinde in as comfortable manner when you say that hoe hath given us being which wee well know God hath given to lyons rigers and beasts of prey yea to snakes and adders to frogges and toads and fiery serpents Herehence you proceed to the third point and do inferre That because he hath made us therefore hee loveth us for He hateth nothing that he hath made as saith the wise man and to give the greater credit to the authority alledged by you you use an introduction of strange state for you say The wiseman saith this of him that is wisest of all of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived that He hateth nothing that he hath made But to what purpose tends all this pompe Is the sentence any whit of greater authority because it is spoken of him that is wisest of all and can neither deceive nor be deceived May not fooles speake of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived as well as wise men and have their sayings any whit the greater credit and reputation for this If the author of that sentence had beene such a one as neither could deceive nor be dedeceived then indeed the sentence had beene of greatest authority and infinitely beyond the authority of Philo the Iew. Or did you presume that your Reader inconsiderately might swallow such a gull take the author of it for such a one as could neither deceive nor be deceived If you did this were very foule play and no better then a trick of conicatching Yet we except not against the sentence but pray you rather to take notice of an answer to this very objection of yours taken from the same ground above two hundred yeares ago You shall finde it in Aquinas his summes where his first objection is this Videtur quod Deus nullum hominem reprobet Nullus enim reprobat quem diligit sed Deus omnem hominem diligit secundum illud Sap. 11. Diligis omnia quae sunt nihil odisti eorum quae secisti Ergo Deus nullum hominem reprobat It seemes that God reprobates no man For no man reprobates him whom hee loveth But God loves every man according to that Wis. 11. Thou lovest all things that are and hatest nothing that thou hast made Therefore God reprobateth no man And the answer hee makes unto this objection followeth in this manner Adprimum dicendum quod Deus omnes homines diliget etiam omnes creaturas in quantum omnibus vult aliquod bonum non tamen quodcunque bonum vult omnibus In quantum igitur quibusdam non vult hoc bonum quod est vita aeterna dicitur eos habere odio velreprobare To the first is to be answered that God loves all men yea and all creatures for as much as he willeth some good to them all but yet he willeth not every good to all There-fore in as much as unto some he willeth not this good which is life everlasting he is said to hate them or to reprobate them And you might have beene pleased to take notice not onely of that wise man though as wise as Philo who speakes herein of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived but of that wise God who is wiser then men and Angels and can neither deceive nor be deceived and affirmeth openly that He hath loved Iacob and hated Esau as also of the Apostle Saint Paul who by the infallible direction of Gods Spirit applies this to the disposition of God towards them before they were borne

no light unto it but barely suppose the truthe of it Secondly because you limit it in comparison of the like causes before the flood As if there were no Anakims knowne since the flood Of late yeares in the place where I dwell hathe bene taken up the bone of a mans legge broken in the digging of a well the bare bone was measured to be two and twentie inches about in the calfe and the spurre about the heele was founde allso that of a very vast proportion It seemes the whole body lyethe there If King Iames were alive and heard of it it is like enoughe that out of his curious and Scholasticall Spirite wherby he was caryed to the investigation of strange things he woulde give order that the body might be digged up the parts to be kept as monuments of the great proportion and stature of men in former times As touching the stature of men in these dayes what dothe Capteyne Smith write by his owne experience of the Sasque Sahanocts borderers upon Virginia on the Northe He professethe they seemed like Gyants to the Englishe One of their wero●nees that came aboord the Englishe the calfe of his legge was 3. quartars of a yard about and the rest of his limbes answearable to that proportion Sure I am the siege of Troy was since the flood and Homer writinge of the stone that Aeneas tooke up to throwe at his enimies calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And he was litle acquainted with Noahs flood that sayde Terra malos homines nunc educat atque pusillos Thirdly in these dayes some are very lowe some very tall of stature in comparison yet the vigour of causes nutritive and augmentative is the same to each So in all likelihood both before the flood and after such difference was founde The Spyes sent by Iosuah to take a viewe of the land of Canaan having seene the Sonnes of Anak seemed in their owne sight but as grassehoppers in comparison unto them Yet the vigour of foode and nourishment was the same to both Farre better reasons might be alleaged if I mistake not of this difference and withall I see no reason to the contrary but that men might be of a great stature in these dayes as in former times and that by course of nature if it pleased God to have it so But I have no edge to enter upon this discourse it is unseasonable and I desire rather to deale with you in matter of Divinitie and especially to encounter you in your Arminian Tenets The question followinge why vegetables of greatest vigour doe not ingrosse the properties of others lesse vigorous is a senseles question For whether you understande it of vegetables in the same kinde or of a diverse kinde it is ridiculous As for example Woulde any sober man enquire after the cause why that vegetable which is of the greatest heate hathe not the propertie of such a vegetable that is of lesse heate Or why that which is vigourous in heate hathe not the propertie of that which is vigorous in colde or in any other disparate qualitie Nay why shoulde any man expect a reason why different kindes of thinges have different qualities Is it not satisfaction sufficient to consider that they are different kindes of things and therfore no merveyle if they have different properties The cause herof derived from the vigour of that which propagates is very unsound For that which propagates and that which is propagated is of the same kinde and consequently of the same propertie And the question proceedes equally as well of the one as of the other If you shoulde aske how it comes to passe that man is not so intelligent a creature as an Angell it were very absurde to say the reason is because the Father of a man was not so intelligent as an Angell and therfore he coulde not propagate a man as intelligent as an Angell least so he shoulde propagate a more intelligent creature then himselfe I say this manner of answeare woulde give little satisfaction For the question was made of man not of this man in particular but of mankind which comprehendes the Father as wel as the Sonne And agayne the Sonne may be more intelligent then the Father though not after the same manner intelligent as the Angells are The followinge question is as litle worthe the proposinge as the former For what hostilitie is to be feared betweene the ayre and the water But you make choyse to instance in the hostilitie betweene the earthe and the water as a matter of dangerous consequence You demaunde the reason why the restles or raging water swallowes not up the dull earth I had thought the earthe had bene fitter to swallowe up water then water to swallowe up earthe For suppose the Sea shoulde overflowe the Land shoulde it therby be sayde to swallowe it up Then belike the bottome of the Sea is swallowed up by the Sea And by the same reason the Element of the Ayre swalloweth up both Sea and Land because it covereth them and the Element of fire in the same sense swalloweth up the Element of the ayre And the heavens swallowe up all the Elements for as much as they doe encompasse them Every Naturalist conceaves that it is not out of any hostilitie that the Element of water is disposed to cover the earth but out of inclination naturall to be above the earthe beinge not so heavy a body as the massie substance of the earth is And we knowe it is withdrawne into certeyne valleys by his power who jussit subsidere valles as the Poet acknowledgethe who was but a mere naturalist that in commoda● habitationem animatium that the earthe might become a convenient habitation for such creatures in whose nostrills is the breathe of life of whome the cheife is man made after the likenes and image of his maker and made Lord over his visible creatures The last question is worst of all and all nothinge to the purpose but mere extravagants What sober man would demaund a cause why the heavens doe not dispossesse the elements of their place might you not as wel demaunde why the fire dothe not dispossesse the ayre and then why it dothe not dispossesse the water lastly why it dothe not dispossesse the earthe of her seate which is as much as to say why is not the heaven where the eartheis and the earthe where the havens are wheras every man knowes that the more spacious place is fitter for the more spacious bodies and the higher places more agreable to lighter bodies like as the lowest place is most fitt for the body of the earthe To say that the nature of the heavens hathe not so much as libertie of egresse into neighbour elements is as if you shoulde say that light thinges have not so much as libertie of mooving downewards nor have heavy thinges libertie of moovinge upwardes Yet there are cases extraordinary when a

commend your wit in this for I professe of all inartificiall arguments I never heard any answerable unto this Now if you had added an artificiall argument unto this inartificiall which you might have had the hap to have read in Southwell it had beene most compleat and I had not easily devised what could have beene added hereunto And the argument is this Suppose God the Father had written this and that with the pen of his Spirit dipt in the bloud of his Sonne would you not then have believed it I presume you would why then believe it now for the difference is not in substance but onely circumstance It is the onely thing I remember in that booke of Southwell and this argument of yours I may perhaps remember when you have forgotten it But I pray consider what sect is there in the world that might not use the like Perhaps you will say they might use it not so truely as you doe But then I pray consider what evidence have wee for the truth of it on your part but your owne confidence and your bare word expressing it And I hope you will give every sect leave to be as confident of the truth of their owne way as you are of yours and as liberall in proving their bare words for it as your selfe I have read in Chaucer to betray unto you what use I can make of him as well as you of Silius Italicus of somo rime that is called rime dogrell and if there bee any Logick dogrell I thinke this is it But I doe not meane to let your grave discourse passe thus those Oracles God is love and would have all men to be saved you suppose doe naturally afford your doctrines to wit that Gods infinite love extends to all and every one as that hee will that all and every one should bee saved But no such things doe these oracles afford either expresly or by any just consequence And of the first God is love it is apparant that it containeth no such thing expresly and as for the deducing of any such consequence herehence your selfe never yet adventured nor yet doe you may as well deduce herehence that hee will save all Angells as well as all men yea the very devills And as for the second you think that doth expresly signifie as much but that is untrue the Scripture phrase doth use that universall signe frequently in another sense as when it saith of the Pharisees that they did tithe omne olus which cannot be meant of every herbe in particular but of every sort of herbe in speciall as Austine himselfe 1200. years agoe observed So Peter is said to have seen a vessell let down from heaven wherein was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which cannot be meant of every particular but only that of every sort or of most sorts or of many sorts some one So it is said that all Ierusalem and all Iudea went forth to Iohn the meaning whereof can bee no other then that of all parts of Iudea and of Ierusalem some went forth unto him As for the plentifull encrease of Gods glory and the peoples comfort which you promise upon the preaching of your doctrine this is onely upon your word which unlesse you take upon you to be a Prophet and be received also for such a one is of no force But suppose it had beene preached and not received nor believed by the hearers I pray what then Had the peoples comfort beene any whit the more encreased And for you to presume that upon the preaching of it it had beene received is to take upon you too much the Gospell it selfe when first preached the Iewes told S. Paul when hee came to Rome it was every where spoken against Yet I confesse the more erroneous a doctrine is especially if it be plausible to the judgement of flesh and bloud the more apt it is to bee entertained by flesh and bloud But I pray what comfort is this you speake of is it comfort in things spirituall or comfort in Gods blessings temporall I graunt willingly that the truth of God is more apt to breed comfort spirituall then errours in matters of faith Now first you must prove your doctrine to be true and then wee will nothing doubt but it shall be comfortable You take too much upon you to prophesie that it shall be comfortable and therehence inferre that it is true But if you speake of comfort in respect of blessings temporall as I guesse by comparing this with what you delivered in the Epistle dedicatory wee have but your bare word for this also But suppose it would prove so shall we from the temporall comforts wee may enjoy conclude that therefore our religion is the true religion Alas what comfort in outward things had christianity in the first three hundred yeares why may you not as well conclude that the Synagogue of Antichrist is the very Church of Christ and our Churches which wee call reformed are no Churches of Christ seeing for many yeares God hath humbled us under their hands and given us over into the hands of beastly men skilfull to destroy and still sends serpents and cokatrices amongst us that will not be charmed Well this wee see is the comfort you afford us in these heavy times you give us to understand that t is Gods just judgement upon us for preaching so much of Gods absolute decree of electing some and reprobating most And yet the Lutheran Churches preach as little of this as you doe and yet wherein have they fared better then their brethren the Calvinists witnesse the Marquisate of Baden the land of Brunswick the land of Hulst the land of Pomerania and Meckelburgh And the whole kingdome of Bohemia wherein it is well knowne the Calvinists were but few in comparison to the Lutherans In the dayes of King Iames a restraint began of preaching the doctrine of predestination Did the peoples comforts or the comforts of this kingdome encrease any whit hereupon Within these foure yeares space bookes savouring of Arminianisme such as youas have had the presse open unto them with farre greater libertie then their opposites yet how do the comforts of the people and of this kingdome encrease Yet this is an old trick of Satan who is therefore called by one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a circkling Dragon For in Saint Austines dayes when the Empire began to bee invaded by the Gothes the cause of this was by the heathens alledged to be the embracing of Christian religion whereupon it was that Austine was moved to write his two and twenty books of the Citie of God Why may not wee as well say that the cause why we taste so little of the grace of God is because there are so many risen up with might and maine impugning the grace of God And it is well known no reformed Churches prosper so well as the Hollanders though no doubt they have as ranke sinnes to bee found in them as others yet this