A10663:926
A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the…A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the…
A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the several dignities and corruptions thereunto belonging. By Edward Reynolds, late preacher to the honourable society of Lincoln's Inn: and now rector of the Church of Braunston in Northamptonshire.A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the severall dignities and corruptions thereunto belonging. By Edvvard Reynoldes, late preacher to the honorable society of Lincoln's Inne: and now rector of the Church of Braunston in Northamptonshire.
London: printed by R. Hearne and John Norton for Robert Bostock, 1640
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Hereby we recover1 a largeness of Heart, for which Solomon is commended, 1 Reg. 4. 29: Able to dispatch many Businesses, to digest and order Multitudes of Motions, to have minds seasoned with generous and noble resolutions; for that disposition is by the Philosopher called [Greek or Hebrew], Greatness of Mind. Hereby we2 are brought to a Just Contempt of sordid and wormy Affections. It is Darkness which makes Men grope, and pore, and look only on the things before them, as the Apostle intimates, 2 Pet. 1. 9. Enlightened minds see a greater lustre in Knowledge than in the fine Gold, Pro. 3. 14. 15. The Excellency of Evangelical Knowledge made Saint Paul esteem every thing in the World besides as D•ng, Phil. 3. 8. As the light of the Sun swallows up all the petty light of the Stars: so the more noble and spacious the Knowledge of Mens minds is, the more doth it dictate unto them the Contempt of those various and vulgar Delights which bewitch the fancies of ignorant Men. It disposeth Men for mutual Communion, and helpful Society: for without Knowledge every Man is ferae Naturae, like Birds of prey, that fly always alone. Neither is it possible for a man to be sociable, or a member of any public Body, any further than he hath a proportion ⟨p. 460⟩and measure of Knowledge: Since Humane Society standeth in the communicating of mutual notions unto one another. Two men that are Deaf, and Dumb, and Blind, destitute of all the Faculties of gaining or deriving Knowledge, may be together, but they cannot be said to have society one with another. To conclude, hereby we are brought nearer unto God, to admire him for his Wisdom, and Power; to Adore him for his Greatness, and Majesty; to Desire him, and work towards the fruition of him, for his light and Glory; because in the Vision of Him consisteth the Beatitude of Man.
Hereby wee recover