Selected quad for the lemma: tradition_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
tradition_n	holy_a	know_v	scripture_n	1,758	5	5.8907	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70747	Origen against Celsus translated from the original into English by James Bellamy ...; Contra Celsum. English	Origen.; Bellamy, James.	1660 (1660)	Wing O427; ESTC R32215	155,813	432

deserves far less Esteem than one who happily accomplishes some accurate Composition or more compleat Translation I say this if it be a solid Argument against bad Translations wo'nt hold against such as are good and so apparently and so highly useful that shou'd any one exclaim against 'em he would but betray his Folly and provoke the Laughter or silent Scorn of those who are not as remarkable Triflers as himself For if no Translator must appear in the World who is not so industrious and so correct that he almost seems to be free from those Faults to which the Frailty of humane Nature renders Mankind unavoidably subject if the Taste of Readers is so nice as to disrellish the the most exact Translations that are extant by Reason of many great Defects which insensibly creep into the best humane Compositions then the same Argument which is us'd against Translations will equally overthrow the most learned and useful Originals that ever were and ev'n the sacred Oracles of the supream and all-wise Being For tho' I think 't is ridiculously objected against us by the Atheists and Deists that some Faults have been found in the best Versions of the Holy Scriptures and that the sacred Original Text it self thro' the long Tract of Time in which the Books of the Old and New Testament were committed to Writing thro' the Ignorance and Carelesness and perhaps Design of some Transcribers is liable to some few Exceptions yet if we must reject and despise all Translations because some are bad and the best imperfect I fear we must immediately throw up our Bibles themselves and grope after Truth by no better Help than that of the dim Light of Nature For all the Versions of the Holy Scriptures are allow'd to be the Works of Men who were not immediately inspir'd by the Spirit of GOD tho' we have Reason to believe he was pleas'd to afford 'em more than ord'nary Direction and Influence in an Affair which had so great a Tendency to the Welfare of the Christian Church and ev'n to the happy and timely Conviction and Conversion of the most hardn'd Infidels into whose Hands the Scriptures may fall from Time to Time and in which they made their serious earnest frequent and more solemn Addresses to Almighty God for all that gracious Assistance which he saw was necessary or convenient for em All the Versions and the Septuagint it Self for correcting which and comparing it with the Alexandrian Manuscript the World is beholden to the Incomparably Learned Indefatigable and Judicious Dr. Grabe all the Versions I say were the Works of uninspir'd Persons who were liable to many gross Defects Nay the Greek and Hebrew Text of Scripture those sacred and refreshing Fountains of living Water have been shamefully polluted by humane Additions and cursed Innovations tho' God in his wise and holy Providence has preserv'd 'em in all the Ages of the Church so far uncorrupted in Spite of all the Wit Malice and unweary'd Industry of Men and Devils that they carry the lively and honourable Stamp of a divine Authority and are still what they always were a perfect Rule both of Faith and Manners If then we pay a more than ord'nary Deference to the sacred Originals of the Holy Scriptures and if the small Errors in a comparative Sence which are found in all the Versions that were ever extant ought by no means to shock our religious and firm Belief of the Divine Inspiration of those sacred and most valuable Records then I think 't is sufficiently evident that Translations in general are of excellent and continual Use and the Badness of some and the Imperfections which unavoidably attend 'em all is no solid Argument against those which are good or even such as are bad if the Original was an Author who deserv'd to be translated and so far as the Translator discovers his Affection and does real Service to the Cause of Piety Sence or Learning Another Objection that may be brought against Translations is this that the injudicious and illiterate shou'd not dare to intrude into those venerable Misteries of the Empire of Reason and Learning which some are apt to imagine 't is their Prerogative to consult and to understand and the entire Reputation and Advantage of which they think is a Debt that ought only to be pay'd to Persons of their Character and Distinction But many who assume to themselves the Title of Persons who are profoundly learned especially such whose Talent lies chiefly in torturing such Words as very seldom occur in Authors whose Heads are living Dictionaries or rather Libraries the faithful but trifling Repositories of senseless Criticisms which how great Satisfaction soever they may perhaps afford to these eager and eternal Hunters of meer Words and Phrases are of little use I say many such Persons have a much smaller Share of solid Reason than they whom these Tyrants in the Empire of Learning would have to lie prostrate at their Feet Besides I can't for my Life conceive why any Persons how learned so ever they may esteem themselves to be how knowing soever they may be accounted by others who have gon in the same tedious if not unprofitable Track of Study and what Skill soever they may really have in reading uncommon and almost obliterated Characters or comparing almost an infinite Number of Worm-eaten and voluminous Manuscripts I say I can't conceive why such Persons shou'd desire and endeavour to engross all the Learning in the World to themselves make it serve like the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks to amaze but not instruct or reform Mankind and prevent the Generality of Men from making Enquiries into Truth which these fond Admirers of themselves represent as a Thing that 's vastly beyond their Reach and the Honour of Knowing which ought by no means to be prostituted to em For my Part I confess I cou'd never justifie nor easily extenuate the common Practice of the Popish Priests who forbid the Laity to read ev'n the Holy Scriptures which if they are not render'd a meer Nose of Wax by their Humane Traditions and wrong Interpretations are able under the Influence of the Holy Spirit to make the injudicious and illiterate so wise as to secure the Salvation of their Souls tho' not fit to dispute or manage an Intriegue with subtil and designing Jesuits and can warm their Hearts with a much deeper Impression of the near Relation in which they stand both to GOD and and to their Neighbour and of those prudent Methods which they ought to take to perform their Duty in the most pleasant and profitable Manner than some of the most learned Doctors of the Sorbon can modestly pretend to have And whether such Persons of Intriegue don't discover as much Ignorance as Antichristian Pride in taking these irregular Measures to gain the Esteem and command the Purses of the People to support the Interest and raise the Reputation of the Church of Rome which stands in Need of many pious Cheats to

the same kind with what is perform'd by a Power that is Truly-Supernatural and Divine And if such wonderful Things ev'n in the Judgment of Celsus are done by the Assistance of Infernal Spirits may we not rationally suppose that Things that are much more unaccountable may be easily done by the immediate Assistance of the Ever-Blessed God Shall every Thing that is evil be found among Men and every Thing that is truly-good be banish'd from the World I think there 's much more Reason to lay down this as a General and most Excellent Maxim that where-ever there is any real Evil under the Disguise of some real Good the opposite Good must at least be equal to it with Respect to its Degree And thus we may strongly argue from Miracles wrought by the Help of Magick to such as are perform'd by the special Assistance of the Great GOD himself We must either deny that any Good or Evil is to be found in the World or on the Supposition of the latter must allow the former and perhaps if we grant the former we must affirm the latter or at least on the Supposition of any real Evil must allow an equal Proportion of that real Good to which the real Evil is directly opposite He that will assert the one without granting the other seems to me to talk at the same mad Rate with one who confessing that there are such Things as Sophisms or false Shews of Reason shou'd deny that there 's any such Thing as true Logick in the World which is widely different from em So that I say if we grant that there is such a Thing as Magick which has so great an Influence upon wicked Daemons as to engage 'em to lend their ready and joint Assistance to those who profess that Art it naturally follows that Almighty God is oblig'd in some Sense to exert his Power in Performing such Miracles as carry with 'em a convincing Evidence of the Truth they were design'd to attest The next Thing I take it that we have to do under this important Head is to examine into the Life and Conversation of those who pretend they have a Power to produce super-natural Effects and to enquire whether the wonderful Operations they perform do any way tend to the Temporal and Eternal Advantage of the Souls of Men and we must carefully distinguish between Magicians who hold a Correspondence with the Devil and those happy Persons who are fill'd with the Holy Spirit of God whose Divine Impressions they experience both on their Souls and Bodies who consult the true and best Interest of Mankind and endeavour to make Men Proselites to the most Excellent Religion that was ever reveal'd by a God Now if an Enquiry of this Kind be necessary to distinguish true Miracles from those which are false to prevent us from making Miracles where there are really none and engage our Assent to the Truth of 'em when the Finger of God may very plainly be discover'd then we shall find that the Miracles which were wrought by Moses and our Blessed Saviour were owing to an Extraordinary Appearance of the Power of God since they were Solemn Seals by which the Truth of the Jewish and Christian Religion was confirm'd each of which we know was embrac'd by a considerable Body of very Wife and Virtuous Men. Besides how cou'd Moses's Law which forbids the Jews to worship Images and teaches 'em to raise their Minds above all created Beings and fix 'em on the Eternal God the Great Creator and Sovereign Disposer of the Universe I say how cou'd such a Law derive its Original from the Horrid Practice of Magicians And since 't is a Jew that Celsus personates I wou'd humbly desire him to resolve the following Question How comes it to pass that you who firmly believe that the Miracles which Moses wrought were perform'd by the Extraordinary Assistance of the Spirit of God and endeavour to defend 'em against those who say that the Wife Men of Egypt did strange Things by the Help of Magick can't be prevail'd with to acknowledge that our Blessed Saviour perform'd his Miracles by an Immediate Assistance from Above but are so strangely fond of Imitating the Egyptians whom you know to be your sworn and irreconcileable Enemies For if we may be allow'd to judge of Miracles by the Event and argue in Favour of YOUR JVSTLY-CELEBRATED MOSES from his being rais'd up by Almighty God to be the HONOURABLE FOUNDER of the Jewish Polity I am sure we may say far more in Commendation of our BLESSED SAVIOVR since the imperfect Moses isn't worthy to be nam'd with the HOLY and SPOTLESS JESUS For as for Moses 't is obvious to remark that he found ready to his Hand such Persons among the Posterity of Abraham as liy'd in a Religious Observance of Circumcision that initiating Rite and many approved Customs which were handed down by Tradition from Father to Son and he knew very well that they were in a great Measure dispos'd to receive his useful Instructions and practise his wholesome Precepts when 't was he under God who brought 'em out of Egypt and the Laws he gave 'em had the Stamp of a Divine Authority as You your self acknowledge But Our Saviour making in some Sence a much greater Attempt introduc'd a Religion that was in a Manner new and caus'd it to gain Ground continually in Spite of all the rooted Prejudices of a different Education And if 't was highly necessary that Moses shou'd convince not only the Sanhedrim but also the Common People among the Jews of the Truth of his Doctrine by confirming it with those Miracles which the Scriptures gives us an Account of there was at least equal Reason why our Blessed Saviour shou'd take the same Method to prove the Divinity of his Mission since the People did naturally eagerly and very justly expect Signs and Wonders in such extraordinary Cases Nay 't was evidently necessary he shou'd work far greater Miracles than Moses to wean the bigotted Jews from their Humane Traditions and prove by Dint of Argument and plain Appeals to Sense and common Observation he was a Person who was TRULY-DIVINE and in a far more noble Sence than any of their Ancient and JUSTLY CELEBRATED Prophets And how was it possible that he shou'd be otherwise when the Manifest Design of the Glorious Prophecies under the Old-Testament-Dispensation was obscurely to reveal him under the Character of the TRUE MESSIAH And what Celsus's Jew objects against the Christians may every Whit as well be urg'd by him to the Prejudice of the Authority of Moses Viz. That Our Blessed Saviour was guilty of the most Notorious and Vile Imposture The Jew breaks out into the following Exclamation O the Force of Truth He himself acquaints us as your own Writings inform us that many shou'd come who wou'd perform the same Miracles that he wrought himself and on that very score O horrid Impudence he has the Face to charge 'em with