Selected quad for the lemma: tradition_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
tradition_n	church_n	good_a	scripture_n	2,095	5	5.9073	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02497	A sermon preached at St Maries in Oxford vpon Tuesday in Easter vveeke, 1617 Concerning the abuses of obscure and difficult places of holy Scripture, and remedies against them. By Iohn Hales, Fellow of Eton Colledge, and Regius Professour of the Greeke tongue in the Vniversitie of Oxford.	Hales, John, 1584-1656.	1617 (1617)	STC 12628; ESTC S103638	21,539	44

to the Church nor to any created power whatsoever This doctrine of the litterall sense was never greivous or prejudiciall to any but onely to those who were inwardly conscious that their positions were not sufficiently grounded When Cardinall Caietan in the daies of our grandfathers had forsaken that vaine of postilling and allegorising on Scripture which for a long time had prevailed in the Church and betaken himselfe vnto the literall sense it was a thing so distastfull vnto the Church of Rome that hee was forc'd to finde out many shifts make many apologies for himselfe The truth is as it will appeare to him that reads his writings this sticking close to the litteral sense was that alone which made him to shake many of those tenents vpon which the Church of Rome and the reformed Churches differ But when the importunitie of the reformers and the great credit of Calvins writings in that kinde had forced the divines of Rome to levell their interpretations by the same line when they saw that no paines no subtletie of wit was strong enough to defeat the literall evidence of Scripture it draue them on those desperate shelfes on which at this daie they sticke to call in question as farre as they durst the credit of the Hebrew text countenance against it a corrupt translation to add traditions vnto Scripture and to make the Churches interpretation so pretended to bee aboue exception As for that restriction which is vsually added to this rule that the literall sense is to be taken if no absurdity follow though I acknowledge it to be sound and good yet my advise is that we entertaine it warily St Basil thought the precept of Christ to the rich man in the Gospell Goe sell all thou hast and giue vnto the poore to be spoken as a command vniversally and eternally binding all Christians without exception And making this obiection how possibly such a life could bee amongst Christians since where all are sellars none could be buyers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Aske not me the sense of my Lords commands He that gaue the law can provide to giue it possibilitie of being kept without any absurditie at all Which speech howsoever we may suppose the occasion of it to be mistaken yet is it of excellent vse to represse our boldnesse whereby many times vnder pretence of some inconvenience we hinder Scripture from that latitude of sense of which it is naturally capable You knowe the story of the Romane captaine in Gellius and what hee told the shipwright that chose rather to interpret then to execute his Lords command Corrumpi atque dissolvi omne imperantis officium si quis ad id quod facere iussus est non obsequio debito sed consilio non desiderato respondeat It will certainely in the end proue safer for vs to entertaine Gods Commandements obsequio debito then to interpret them acumine non desiderato Those other waies of interpretation whether it be by allegorizing or allusion or whatsoever the best that can bee said of them is that which Basil hath pronounced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We account of them as of trimme elegant and wittie speeches but we refuse to accept of them as of vndoubted truthes And though of some part of these that may bee said which one said of his owne worke quod ad vsum lusi quod ad molestiam laboravi in respect of any profit comes by them they are but sport but in respect of the paines taken in making of them they are labour and travaile yet much of them is of excellent vse in private either to raise our affections or to spend our meditations or so it bee with modestie to practise our gifts of wit to the honour of him that gaue them For if wee absolutely condemne these interpretations then must we condemne a great part of antiquitie who are very much conversant in this kinde of interpreting For the most partiall for antiquitie cannot chuse but see and confesse thus much that for the litterall sense the Interpreters of our owne times because of their skill in the originall languages their care of pressing the circumstances and coherence of the text of comparing like places of Scripture with like haue generally surpast the best of the ancients Which I speake not to discountenance antiquitie but that all ages all persons may haue their due And let this suffice for our first rule The Iewish Rabbines in their Comments on Scripture so oft as they met with hard and intricate texts out of which they could not wrest thēselues were wont to shut vp their discourse with this Elias cum venerit solvet dubia Elias shall answer this doubt when he comes Not the Iewes only but the learned Christians of all ages haue found many things in Scripture which yet expect Elias For besides those texts of Scriptures which by reason of the hidden treasures of wisdome and depth of sense mysterie laid vp in them are not yet conceau'd there are in Scripture of things that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seemingly confus'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carrying semblance of contrarietie anachronismes metachronismes and the like which bring infinite obscuritie to the text there are I say in Scripture more of them then in any writing that I knowe secular or divine If wee meane not to settle our selues till all these things are answered let vs take heed least the like be said to vs which St Austine said to some of the Gentiles who refused to beleeue till all obiections were satisfied sunt enim innumerabiles quae non sunt finiendae ante fidem ne vita finiatur sine fide The Areopagites in Athens whē they were troubled in a doubtfull case in which they durst not proceed to sentence were wont causam in diem longissimam differre to put it off till a day of hearing for some hundreth yeares after avoiding by this meanes the further being importun'd with the suit To quiet our selues in these doubts it will be our best way in diem longissimam differre to put them to some day of hearing a farre off even till that great day till Christ our true Elias shall come who at his comming shal answer all our doubts and settle all our waverings Meane while till our Elias come let vs make vse of this second rule In places of ambiguous and doubtfull or darke and intricate meaning it is sufficient if we religiously admire and acknowledge and confesse vsing that moderation of Austine Neutram partem affirmantes siue destruentes sed tantummodo ab audaci affirmandi praesumptione revocantes Qui credit saith one satis est illi quod Christus intelligat To vnderstand belongs to Christ the author of our faith to vs is sufficient the glory of beleeuing Wherefore we are to advise not so much how to attaine vnto the vnderstanding of the mysteries of Scripture as how it best fits vs to carry