Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	child_n	good_a	love_v	6,316	5	6.3785	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00389	Preparation to deathe A booke as deuout as eloquent, compiled by Erasmus Roterodame.; De praeparatione ad mortem. English	Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536.	1538 (1538)	STC 10505; ESTC S116245	47,189	110

PREPARATION TO DEATHE A boke as deuout as eloquent compiled by Erasmus Roterodame Phil. 1. MIHI VIVERE Christus est mori lucrum THE PREFACE DESIDERIVS ERASMVS OF ROTERODAME to the ryght noble lorde Thomas Erle of wylteshyre and of Drmanie sendeth gretynge TO THE VERY PERfyte conclusyon of Christes lore your lordeshyp calleth me mooste noble Erle and yet more noble in the study of godlynes than in the ornamentes of fortune in that ye prouoke me to adde to my former bokes some lytle thynge teachinge howe a man ought to prepare hym to deth For this is of mans lyfe the last part as it were of the playe wherof hangeth eyther euerlastynge blysse of man or euerlastynge damnation This is the laste fyghte with the enemye wherby the souldiour of Christe loketh for eternall triumphe yf he ouercome and euerlastynge shame if he be ouercome As tonchynge my selfe I haue bene hole in this busynesse this great whyle where as youre exhortation was as who sayth a spurre to hym that renneth Howe be it at that tyme I studyed for myne owne priuate comfort But your goodnes coueteth that also this frute throughe vs myght be made commun vnto many Wolde god that the lorde of his goodnes wyll graunt to your most holy requestes and to myne endeuour a prosperous ende at leaste I wyll not wrastle againste his wyll throughe whose instincte I suppose this myne obsequye and seruyce to be demaunded of your lordeshyp ¶ Fare ye well At Friburge the Lalendes of Decembre the yere of oure lorde a thousand fyue hundreth thyrty and thre A BOKE OF ERASMVS OF Aotcrodame how euery man ought for to prepare hym selfe to dye OF ALL DRADFVLL thinges death is moste dradfull sayth a certayn Philosopher of greate fame but which had not herde that heuenly Philosopher whyche hath taught vs not onely with wordes but also with euydente examples that a man perysheth not by death of body but is drawen in sondre and that the soule is ledde forth as it were out of a prison most paynful in to blessed reste and the body also shall lyue agayne to be partaker of the glorye He had not herde this principle of the spirite Blessed be the deade whiche dye in the lorde He had not herde Paule lametynge and syghynge I couet to be dissolued and be with Christ. And Christ to me is lyfe and deathe is lucre But it is nothinge to be merueyled at if they whiche beleue that the hole man perysheth by death nor haue not this hope whyche onely the fayth in Christe worketh in vs eyther bewayle the deathe of other or feare and abhorre their owne This is rather to be merueyled that there be so many such as I am which whā they haue lerned and do professe al Christis philosophie yet so feare death as thoughe eyther they do beleue that nothing of man remayneth after the brethe expired or as thoughe they mystruste the promyses of Christ or els as thoughe they vtterly despayre of them selues The first propretie of these thre is of beastly personnes suche as Sardanapalus was The seconde is of infidelles which haue no truste in Christ and the thirde is of theym that be ignoraunt of goddes mercye In this behalfe they seme lyke to hethen persons that be ignorant of god For he is ignoraunt of god that knoweth not hym to be of infynite mercy This without question that the commun sorte of men do thus feare at the namynge of death cōmeth partly of the vnstedfastnes of faith partely of the loue of worldly thinges He knoweth of no tremblyng which in ful trust sayth with the spostle Whether we lyue we lyue to the lorde or whether we dye we dye to the lorde Wherfore whether we lyue or whether we dye we be the lordes But that the lorde ones hath receyued into his protection can not peryshe Out of this fountayne springeth the voyce of the prophete wytnessynge his vnfearful mynde If I shuld walke in the myddes of the shadowe of deth I wyll not feare euyls bycause thou arte with me For the faith full lorde neuer forsaketh them which yelde them holly to his grace but kepeth them as the moste tender parte of his eye For he is lorde both of lyfe and death to whome nothinge is deade but all thinges lyue which cleaue to hym by faith Of the weakenes of faythe is gendred the loue of temporall commodities For if with our hole herte we beleued the thinges that god hath promysed vs by his sonne Jesus all the delectations of this worlde shoulde sone be lyttell regarded and death whiche setteth vs euer vnto them with a paynefulle but yet a short passage shuld be les feared The wyse man cryeth O death how bitter is thy memorye But what addeth he To a manne hauynge peace in his substaunce He sayth not hauynge ryches For many good men haue possessed rychesse but to him that hath his quietnes in them That that is spo ken of ryches the same is to be vnderstond of honours pleasurs wyfe childern kynsfolke frēdes of beautie youth good helth brefely of all kynde of commodities which death plucketh frome both good and euyll The more ferventely we loue a thynge the more paynefully we be plucked frome it If thou be in loue with anye thynge thou shalte leye it downe agaynste thy wyll sayth certayne wyse pagane Now he is in loue with these temporall thynges who so euer resteth in them as in propre and perpetuall goodes where as these are but borowed transytory to be layde downe not onely paciently but also thankfully so oft as he demaundeth them agayne which gaue them For in these worldly goodes a manne to set his rest this is to enioye theym whiche he ought to vse and that also by the waye and as it were in his passage as the apostle aduertyseth the Corinthes It remayneth bretherne that they that haue wyues shulde be as not hauynge and they that wepe as not wepynge and they that ioye as not ioyenge and they that bye as not possessynge and they that vse this worlde as thoughe they vsed it not For the fashion of this worlde passeth awaye We be wayfarynge men in this worlde not inhabytantes we be as straungers in Innes or to speke it better in bouthes or tentes we lyue not in our countrey This holle lyfe is nothinge elles but a rennynge to deathe and that very shorte but death is the gate of euerlastynge lyfe ¶ Amongest the Iewes bycause contractes and purchases were expyred and ended by a certayn daye by the order of their lawes how moch shorter the space of tyme was so moche was the price of thinges the lyghter Than howe moche more ought al these transitorie thinges be of lytel regard that are in daunger of so manye chaunces whiche though no casualtie plucked away yet death plucketh away all from all men Adde herevnto that they whiche renne at a game se howe moche space they

lyueth welle is not gendred of a mystruste towarde the promyses and cōminations of god or of the not beleuyng in the artycles of the fayth or of doubtynge of the power of the sacramentes which they haue of the deathe of Christe but it ryseth of inwarde knowlege of our wekenes whiche is gretter than may be fully vnderstande of vs. Of singular or particular thinges we be not cōstreyned to be sure howe be it we maye dispaire of no person As for ensaumple it is necessary to beleue that who so euer receiueth with faythe the sacrament of baptime receyueth free remission of all synnes but it is not necessarie to beleue that this mā baptised is free from all synnes For it maye be that in this manne there is a peculyar thyng whiche letteth the general power of the sacramente Likewise it is of the sacramente of penaunce It is a wyckednesse to doubte whether he be assoyled of his synnes whiche hath rightly taken this sacrament Yet it is no poynt of heresie to doute whether this man or that man is assoyled bycause of peculiar impedimentes we haue no knowlege I except a syngular and euydente reuelation or irrefutable authoritie whan there is no expresse authoritie of scriptures or of the agrement of the church to the contrary This doutynge is not an infydelitie but a religious modestie with his hole hart submitting him self to the wyl and iugement of god yea though he wyl damne the man For he shall not therfore be damned but by this very submission he shall deserue absolution if to the religious trēblyng be ioyned a truste that cometh of the mercye of Christe The same is to be thought of the sacrament of the Aultar We be boūd generally to beleue that the prieste duelye doinge his offyce dothe consecrate the bodye and bloud of our lorde but it is no vngodlynes to doubte whether this manne or that man dyd consecrate For this is not to doubte of the sacrament but of the peculiar circumstances lettyng the vertue or reson of the sacrament Lykewise we beleue of necessitie that men by faith and charitie towarde our lorde Iesu obteyn euerlasting helthe yet it is lefull to dout whether this man or that be in the same state Howe be it neyther of other men we ought rasihely to iuge and in our selues hope oughte to encrease togyther with the increase of loue and feyth The same must we thynke of the promyses and manaces of scriptures For the matter of doutynge ryseth not of god which can not ly but of vs. It is not vnknowen to man howe excedyng good thinges god hath promysed but to them that feare and loue hym But who of vs is there whiche hath shewed feare as dewe to suche a lorde and loue due and worthy for suche a parent Wherfore they doubt not whether god be true in his promises but whether we be worthy of his promyses Faythe hope charitiie drede be gyftes of the spirite Who thā knoweth whether the feyth cha ritie whiche he hath be of this sort of giftes which make vs the beloued of god and whether they suffyse to euerlasting helthe Lykewyse god by his sonne hath promised forgiuenes of all synnes but ones by baptyme yf it be duely taken Who is there of vs which hath not by many wayes spotted the whyte garment which was frely gyuen vs in baptyme There is prepared a remedy of penaunce but to theym whiche with their hole hert be conuerted to the lorde Here let euery man examyn hym self whether with his hole hart he be conuerted to the lord whether he hath an hert truly cōtrite and humbled and yf he hath whether it be after a sufficient maner The baptyste cryeth Do ye fruytes worthy repentaunce Who dare take vppon hym that he hath in due forme hatyd and detested his synnes God thretneth wrathe and hell to the breakers of his preceptis and how oft casting awaye the fere of hym breake we theym Whom shalt thou fynde which feareth not more the displesure of a prince or iuge mortall than of the lyuynge god Further how ofte chaunceth it that manne loueth more a man than god suffring for his mortal frend that whiche he wolde refuse to suffre for Christes sake certes I am this opiniō that I thynke the fayth of good men alwaye to be ioyned togither with a deuout and religious tremblynge I excepte a fewe whom god wolde haue to be counted perelesse to be as examples to styre all men but which few can folowe They more certeynly hope for mercy of our lorde which drede his in●● Wherfore who that thus saye beleue that thou shalte be saued and thou shalte be saued do commyt double synne For if they lacke of anye maner saythe the sayenge is ●● and yf they speke of the lyuing fayth it is folyshly sayde beleue as who shoulde saye it were in any mans power to beleue whan he will where as I stande in doubte whether we be certayn yf the gyft of fayth be in vs. Adde herevnto that man not only to other men but also to hym selfe is ofte rymes vnknowen where as nothinge be it neuer so hyd can disceyue the eyes of god The herte of man is vnserchable of vs but no corner of the herte is hydde from hym which fourmed and made the herte To vs oftentymes that appereth holy and good which is wicked in the eyes of god pure which is vnpure So it happeth that man thinketh hym cleane from synne whan vnknowynge he hath a wounded conscience Why shulde not this thinge chance vnto vs. ●● that noble kynge in his Psalme sayth Delicta quis intelligit ab occultis meis mun●● me domine Who vnderstandeth his offences from my hyd synnes make me cleane O lorde Wherfore the moste surest sauegarde and saynctuary is with a religious feare to ●● frome the iustice of god to his mercy with the Psalmografe to saye Ne intres in iudicium cum seruo tuo quia non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis viuens Entre not lorde into iugement with thy seruaunt for no lyuynge creature shal be iustifyed in thy sight No man than can stande vpright in this iugement yf our merites be examyned accordyng to the strayte rule of god onles mercy be present in the iugement And therfore there wente before in the same Psalme In thy trouthe here my petition in thy iustyce Whosoeuer coueteth his petitiō to be hard leueth cōtention and who coueteth his petition to be harde in the trouth of god hath a distrust to his owne trouth knowyng that onely god is true and euery man a lyar and he that requyrethe his petition to be harde in the iustyce of god mystrusteth his owne iustyce The trouthe and the ryghtwysnes of god is Christe the minister of the euangelicall grace For by Moyses was gyuen the law which hath disclosed our vnrightwysnesse but grace is made by Christ Iesu which hath imparted and communicate vnto vs his ryghtwysenes We