nature. He furnished him also with intellect, or a mental understanding.
By this latter gift he gave to man, what he had not given to other
animated nature, the power of reason, by which he had the superiority
over it, and by means of which he was enabled to guide himself in his
temporal concerns. Thus when he made the natural man, he made him a
rational agent also.
But he gave to man, at the same time, independently of this intellect or
understanding, a spiritual faculty, or a portion of the life of his own
spirit, to reside in him. This gift occasioned man to become more
immediately, as it is expressed, the image of the Almighty. It set him
above the animal and rational part of his nature. It made him know
things not intelligible solely by his reason. It made him spiritually
minded. It enabled him to know his duty to God, and to hold a heavenly
intercourse with his maker.
Adam then, the first man, independently of his rational faculties,
received from the Almighty into his own breast such an emanation from
the life of his own spirit, as was sufficient to have enabled him both
to hold, and to have continued, a spiritual intercourse with his maker,
and to have preserved him in the state of innocence in which he had been
created. As long as he lived in this divine light of the spirit, he
remained in the image of God, and was perfectly happy; but, not
attending faithfully and perseveringly to this his spiritual monitor, he
fell into the snares of Satan, or gave way to the temptations of sin.
From this moment his condition became changed. For in the same manner as
distemper occasions animal life to droop, and to lose its powers, and
finally to cease, so unrighteousness, or his rebellion against the
divine light of the spirit that was within him, occasioned a dissolution
of his spiritual feelings and perceptions; for he became dead as it
were, in consequence, as to any knowledge of God, or enjoyment of his
presence[7].
[Footnote 7: It was said that, in the day in which Adam should eat
forbidden fruit, he should die; but he did not lose his animal life, or
his rational nature. His loss therefore is usually considered by the
Quakers to have been a divine spiritual principle, which had been
originally superadded to the animal and rational faculties.]
It pleased the Almighty, however, not wholly to abandon him in this
wretched state, but he comforted him with the cheering promise that the
seed of the woman should some time or other completely subdue sin, or
to use the scriptural language, "should bruise the serpent's head;" or,
in other words, as sin was of a spiritual nature, so it could only be
overcome by a spiritual conqueror; and therefore that the same holy
spirit, or word, or divine principle of light and life, which had
appeared in creation, should dwell so entirely and without limit or
measure, in the person or body of some one of his descendants, that sin
should by him be entirely subdued.
As God then poured into Adam, the first man, a certain portion of his
own spirit, or gave him a certain portion of the divine light, for the
regulation of his spiritual conduct and the power of heavenly
intercourse with himself, so he did not entirely cease from bestowing
his spirit upon his posterity; or, in other words, he gave them a
portion of that light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the
world. Of the individuals therefore who succeeded Adam, all received a
portion of this light. Some, however, enjoyed larger portions of it than
others, according as they attended to its influences, or according to
the measure given them. Of those who possessed the greatest share of it,
some were the ancient patriarchs, such as Noah and Abraham, and others
were the ancient scriptural writers, such as Moses and the prophets.
The latter again experienced it in different measures or degrees; and in
proportion as they had it, they delivered more or less those prophecies
which are usually considered as inspired truths, from a belief that many
of them have been circumstantially completed.
At length, in the fulness of time, that is, when all things had been
fulfilled which were previously to take place, this divine spirit, which
had appeared in creation, this divine word, or light, took flesh, (for,
as St. John the Evangelist says, "the word was made flesh, and dwelled
among us,") and inhabited "the body which had been prepared for it;" or,
in other words, it inhabited the body of the person Jesus; but with this
difference, that whereas only a portion of this divine light or spirit
had been given to Adam, and afterwards to the prophets, it was given
without limit or measure to the man Jesus[8]. "For he whom God hath
sent, says St. John, speaketh the words of God, _for God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him."_ And St. Paul says, [9] "In him _the fulness
of the Godhead_ dwelled bodily." In him, therefore, the promise given to
Adam was accomplished, "that the seed of the woman should bruise the
serpent's head;" for we see in this case a human body, weak and infirm,
and subject to passions, possessed or occupied, without limit or
measure, by the spirit of God. But if the man Jesus had the full spirit
of God within him, he could not be otherwise than, perfectly holy. And
if so, sin never could have entered, and must therefore, as for as
relates to him, have been entirely repelled. Thus he answered the
prophetic character which had been given of him, independently of his
victory over sin by the sacrifice of himself, or by becoming afterwards
a comforter to those in bondage, who should be willing to receive him.
[Footnote 8: John 3:34]
[Footnote 9: Col. 2:9]
After Jesus Christ came the Evangelists and Apostles. Of the same spirit
which he had possessed _immeasurably_, these had their several portions;
and though these were[10] limited, and differed in degree front one
another, they were sufficient to enable them to do their duty to God and
men, to enjoy the presence of the Almighty, and to promote the purposes
designed by him in the propagation of his gospel.
[Footnote 10: 2 Cor. 10. 18.]
CHAP. II.
_Except a man has a portion of the same spirit, which Jesus and the
prophets and the apostles had, he can have no knowledge of God or
spiritual things--Doctrine of St. Paul on this subject--This confirms
the history of the human and divine spirit in man--These spirits
distinct in their kind--This distinction farther elucidated by a
comparison between the faculties of men and brutes--Sentiments of
Augustin--Luther--Calvin--Smith--Taylor--Cudworth._
The Quakers believe, that there can be no spiritual knowledge of God,
but through the medium of his holy spirit; or, in other words, that if
men have not a portion of the same spirit which the holy men of old, and
which the Evangelists and Apostles, and which Jesus himself had, they
can have no true or vital religion.
In favour of this proposition, they usually quote those remarkable words
of the Apostle Paul;[11] "for what man knoweth the things of a man, save
the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth
no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God." And again--"but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned."
[Footnote 11: 1 Cor. 2.11, &c.]
By these expressions the Quakers conceive that the history of man, as
explained in the last chapter, is confirmed; or that the Almighty not
only gave to man reason, which was to assist him in his temporal, but
also superadded a portion of his own spirit, which was to assist him in
his spiritual concerns. They conceive it also to be still farther
confirmed by other expressions of the same Apostle. In his first letter
to the Corinthians, he says,[12] "Know ye not that your body is the
_temple of the Holy Ghost_, which _is in you_, which ye have of God;"
and in his letter to Timothy he desires him[13] "to hold fast that good
thing which was committed to him by means of the _holy_ Ghost, which
_dwelled in him_" Now these expressions can only be accurate on a
supposition of the truth of the history of man, as explained in the
former chapter. If this history be true, then they are considered as
words of course: for if there be a communication between the supreme
Being and his creature man, or if the Almighty has afforded to man an
emanation of his own spirit, which is to act for a time in his mortal
body, and then to return to him that gave it, we may say, with great
consistency, that the divinity resides in him, or that his body is the
temple of the holy spirit.
[Footnote 12: 1 Cor. 6. 19.]
[Footnote 13: 2 Tim. 1. 14.]
The Quakers conceive again from these expressions of the Apostle, that
these two principles in man are different from each other; they are
mentioned under the distinct names of the spirit of man, and of the
spirit of God. The former they suppose to relate to the understanding:
the latter conjointly to the understanding and to the heart. The former
can be brought into use at all times, if the body of a man be in health.
The latter is not at his own disposal. Man must wait for its
inspirations. Like the wind, it bloweth when it listeth. Man also, when
he feels this divine influence, feels that it is distinct from his
reason. When it is gone, he feels the loss of it, though all his
rational faculties be alive. "Those, says Alexander Arscott, who have
this experience, certainly know that as at times, in their silent
retirements and humble waitings upon God, they receive an understanding
of his will, relating to their present duty, in such a clear light as
leaves no doubt or hesitation, so at other times, when this is withdrawn
from them, they are at a loss again, and see themselves, as they really
are, ignorant and destitute."
The Quakers again understand by these expressions of the Apostle, which
is the point insisted upon in this chapter, that human reason, or the
spirit of man which is within him, and the divine principle of life and
light which is the spirit of God residing in his body or temple, are so
different in their powers, that the former cannot enter into the
province of the latter. As water cannot penetrate the same bodies, which
fire can, so neither can reason the same subjects as the spiritual
faculty.
The Quakers, however, do not deny, that human reason is powerful within
its own province. It may discover in the beautiful structure of the
Universe, and in the harmony and fitness of all its parts, the hand of a
great contriver. It may conclude upon attributes, as belonging to the
same. It may see the fitness of virtue, and deduce from thence a
speculative morality. They only say that it, is incompetent to spiritual
discernment. But though they believe the two spirits to be thus distinct
in their powers, they believe them, I apprehend, to be so far connected
in religion that the spirit of God can only act upon a reasonable being.
Thus light and the power of sight are distinct things. Yet the power of
sight is nothing without light, nor can light operate upon any other
organ than the eye to produce vision.
This proposition may be farther elucidated by making a comparison
between the powers of men, and those of the brute-creation. An animal is
compounded of body and instinct. If we were to endeavour to cultivate
this instinct, we might make the animal tame and obedient. We might
impress his sensitive powers, so that he might stop or go forward at our
voice. We might bring him in some instances, to an imitation of outward
gestures and sounds. Bat all the years of his life, and centuries of
life in his progeny would pass away, and we should never be able so to
improve his instinct into intellect, as to make him comprehend the
affairs of a man. He would never understand the meaning of his goings
in, or of his goings out, or of his pursuits in life, or of his progress
in science. So neither could any education so improve the reason of man
into the divine principle of light within him, as that he should
understand spiritual things; for the things of God are only discernible
by the spirit of God.
This doctrine, that there is no understanding of divine things except
through the medium of the divine principle, which dwells in the temple
of man, was no particular notion of George Fox, or of the succeeding
Quakers, though undoubtedly they have founded more upon it than other
Christians. Those, who had the earliest access to the writings of the
evangelists and apostles, believed the proposition. All the ancient
fathers of the church considered it as the corner stone of the Christian
fabric. The most celebrated of the reformers held it in the same light.
The divines, who followed these, adopted it as their creed also; and by
these it has been handed down to other Christian communities, and is
retained as an essential doctrine by the church of England, at the
present day.
The Quakers adduce many authorities in behalf of this proposition, but
the following may suffice.
"It is the inward master, says St. Augustine, that teacheth. Where this
inspiration is wanting, it is in vain that words from without are beaten
in."
Luther says, "no man can rightly know God, unless he immediately
receives it from his holy spirit, except he finds it by experience in
himself; and in this experience the holy spirit teacheth as in his
proper school, out of which school nothing is taught but mere talk."
Calvin, on Luke 10. 21. says, "Here the natural wisdom of man is so
puzzled, and is at such a loss, that the first step of profiting in the
school of Christ is to give it up or renounce it. For by this natural
wisdom, as by a veil before our eyes, we are hindered from attaining the
mysteries of God, which are not revealed but unto babes and little ones.
For neither do flesh and blood reveal, nor doth the natural man
perceive, the things that are of the spirit. But the doctrine of God is
rather foolishness to him, because it can only be spiritually judged.
The assistance therefore of the holy spirit is in this case necessary,
or rather, his power alone is efficacious."
Dr. Smith observes, in his select discourses, "besides the outward
Revelation of God's will to men, there is also an inward impression of
it in their minds and spirits, which is in a more especial manner
attributed to God. We cannot see divine things but in a divine light.
God only, who is the true light, and in whom there is no darkness at
all, can so shine out of himself upon our glossy understandings, as to
beget in them a picture of himself, his own will and pleasure, and turn
the soul (as the phrase is in Job) like wax or clay to the seal of his
own light and love. He that made our souls in his own image and
likeness, can easily find a way into them. The word that God speaks,
having found a way into the soul, imprints itself there, as with the
point of a diamond, and becomes (to borrow Plato's expression) 'a word
written in the Soul of the learner.' Men may teach the grammar and
rhetoric; but God teaches the divinity. Thus it is God alone that
acquaints the soul with the truths of revelation."
The learned Jeremy Taylor, bishop of Down and Connor, speaks in a
similar manner in his sermon de Viâ Intelligentiae. "Now in this
inquiry, says he, I must take one thing for granted, which is, that
every good man is taught of God. And indeed, unless he teach us, we
shall make but ill scholars ourselves, and worse guides to others. No
man can know God, says Irenaeus, except he be taught of God. If God
teaches us, then all is well; but if we do not learn wisdom at his feet,
from whence should we have it? It can come from no other spring."
Again--"those who perfect holiness in the fear of God, have a degree of
divine knowledge more than we can discourse of, and more certain than
the demonstration of Geometry; brighter than the sun, and indeficient as
the light of heaven--A good man is united to God--As flame touches
flame, and combines into splendour and into glory, so is the spirit of a
man united to Christ by the spirit of God. Our light, on the other hand,
is like a candle; every word of doctrine blows it out, or spends the
wax, and makes the light tremulous. But the lights of heaven are fixed
and bright and shine for ever."
Cudworth, in his intellectual system, is wholly of the same opinion:
"All the books and writings which we converse with, they can but
represent spiritual objects to our understanding, which yet we can never
see in their own true figure, colour, and proportion, until we have a
divine light within to irradiate and shine upon them. Though there be
never such excellent truths concerning Christ and his Gospel, set down
in words and letters, yet they will be but unknown characters to us,
until we have a living spirit within us, that can decypher them, until
the same spirit, by secret whispers in our hearts, do comment upon them,
which did at first indite them. There be many that understand the Greek
and Hebrew of the scripture, the original languages in which the text
was written, that never understood the language of the spirit."
CHAP. III.
_Neither can a man, except he has a portion of the same spirit which
Jesus and the Apostles and the Prophets had, know spiritualty that the
scriptures are of divine authority, or spiritually understand
them--Explanation of these tenets--Objection, that these tenets set
aside human reason--Reply of the Quakers--Observations of
Luther--Calvin--Owen--Archbishop Usher--Archbishop Sandys--Milton
--Bishop Taylor._
As a man cannot know spiritual things but through the medium of the
spirit of God; or except he has a portion of the same spirit, which
Jesus and the Prophets and the Apostles had, so neither can he, except
he has a portion of the same spirit, either spiritually know that the
writings or sayings of these holy persons are of divine authority, or
read or understand them, to the promotion of his spiritual interests.
These two tenets are but deductions from that in the former chapter, and
may be thus explained.
A man, the Quakers say, may examine the holy scriptures, and may deduce
their divine origin from the prophecies they contain, of which many have
been since accomplished; from the superiority of their doctrines beyond
those in any other book which is the work of man; from the miraculous
preservation of them for so many ages; from the harmony of all their
parts, and from many other circumstances which might be mentioned. But
this, after all, will be but an historical, literal, or outward proof of
their origin, resulting from his reason or his judgment. It will be no
spiritual proof, having a spiritual influence on his heart; for this
proof of the divine origin of the scriptures can only be had from the
spirit of God. Thus, when the Apostle Paul preached to several women by
the river side near Philippi, it is said of Lydia only,[14] "the Lord
opened her heart, that she attended to the things that were spoken by
Paul." The other women undoubtedly heard the gospel of Paul with their
outward ears, but it does not appear that their hearts were in such a
spiritual state, that they felt its divine authority; for it is not said
of them, as of Lydia, that their hearts were opened to understand
spiritually that this gospel was of God. Again,[15] when Jesus Christ
preached to the Jews in the temple, many believed on him, but others
believed not, but were so enraged that they took up stones to cast at
him. It appears that they all heard his doctrine with their outward
ears, in which he particularly stated that he was from above; but they
did not receive the truth of his origin in their hearts, because they
were not in a state to receive that faith which cometh from the spirit
of God. In the same manner persons hear sermon after sermon at the
present day, but find no spiritual benefit in their hearts.
[Footnote 14: Acts 16.13]
[Footnote 15: John 8.30.45.59.]
Again--a man, by comparing passages of scripture with other passages,
and by considering the use and acceptation of words in these, may arrive
at a knowledge of their literal meaning. He may obtain also, by perusing
the scriptures, a knowledge of some of the attributes of God. He may
discover a part of the plan of his providence. He may collect purer
moral truths than from any other source. But no literal reading of the
scriptures can give him that spiritual knowledge of divine things, which
leads to eternal life. The scriptures, if literally read, will give him
a literal or corresponding knowledge, but it is only the spiritual
monitor within, who can apply them to his feelings; who can tell him
"thou art the man; this is thy state: this is that which thou oughtest
or oughtest not to have done;" so that he sees spiritually, (the spirit
of God bearing witness with his own spirit) that his own situation has
been described. Indeed, if the scriptures were sufficient of themselves
for this latter purpose, the Quakers say that the knowledge of spiritual
things would consist in the knowledge of words. They, who were to get
most of the divine writings by heart, would know spiritually the most
of divine truths. The man of the best understanding, or of the most
cultivated mind, would be the best proficient in vital religion. But
this is contrary to fact. For men of deep learning know frequently less
of spiritual Christianity, than those of the poor, who are scarcely able
to read the scriptures. They contend also, that if the scriptures were
the most vitally understood by those of the most learning, then the
dispensations of God would be partial, inasmuch as he would have
excluded the poor from the highest enjoyments of which the nature of man
is susceptible, and from the means of their eternal salvation.
These tenets, which are thus adopted by the Quakers, are considered by
many of the moderns as objectionable, inasmuch as they make reason, at
least in theology, a useless gift. The Quakers, however, contend that
they consider reason as one of the inestimable gifts of God. They value
it highly in its proper province. They do not exclude it from religion.
Men, by means of it, may correct literal errors in the scriptures; may
restore texts, may refute doctrines inconsistent with the attributes of
the Almighty. The apology of Robert Barclay, which is a chain of
reasoning of this kind from the begining to the end, is a proof that
they do not undervalue the powers of the mind. But they dare not ascribe
to human reason that power, which they believe to be exclusively vested
in the spirit of God.
They say, moreover, that these tenets are neither new nor peculiar to
themselves as a society. They were the doctrines of the primitive
Fathers. They. were the doctrines also of the protestant reformers. And
though many at the present day consider that scripture, interpreted by
reason, is the religion of protestants, yet it was the general belief of
these reformers, that the teaching of the Holy spirit was necessary to
the spiritual understanding of the scriptures, as well as to the
spiritual establishment of their divine origin.
Luther observes--"It is not human reason, or wisdom, nor the law of God,
but the work of divine grace freely bestowed upon me, that teacheth me
and showeth me the gospel: and this gift of God I receive by faith
alone."
"The scriptures are not to be understood but by the same spirit by which
they were written."
"No man sees one jot or tittle in the scriptures, unless he has the
spirit of God."
"Profane men, says Calvin, desire to have it proved to them by reason,
that Moses and the prophets spoke from God. And to such I answer, that
the testimony of the spirit exceeds all reason. For as God alone is a
sufficient witness of himself in his word, so will his word not find
credit in the hearts of men, until it is sealed by the inward testimony
of his spirit. It is therefore necessary, that the same spirit which
spake by the mouth of the prophets, enter into our hearts to persuade
us, that they faithfully declared what was commanded them by God."
Again--"Unless we have the assurance which is better and more valid than
any judgment of man, it will be in vain to go about to establish the
authority of scripture, either by argument or the consent of the church;
for except the foundation be laid, namely, that the certainty of its
divine authority depends entirely upon the testimony of the spirit, it
remains in perpetual suspense." Again--"The spirit of God, from whom the
doctrine of the Gospel proceeds, is the only true interpreter to open it
to us."
"Divines, says the learned Owen, at the first reformation, did generally
resolve our faith of the divine authority of the scriptures, into the
testimony of the Holy Spirit;" in which belief he joins himself, by
stating that "it is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe
the scripture to be the word of God."
In another place he says, "our Divines have long since laid it down,
that the only public, authentic, and infallible interpreter of the holy
scriptures, is the author of them, from whose inspiration they receive
all their truth, clearness, and authority. This author is the Holy
Spirit."
Archbishop Sandys, in one of his Sermons, preached before Queen
Elizabeth, has the following observations:
"The outward reading of the word, without the inward working of the
spirit, is nothing. The precise Pharisees, and the learned Scribes, read
the scriptures over and over again. They not only read them in books,
but wore them on their garments. They were not only taught, but were
able themselves to teach others. But because this heavenly teacher had
not instructed them, their understanding was darkened, and their
knowledge was but vanity. They were ignorant altogether in that saving
truth, which the prophet David was so desirous to learn. The mysteries
of salvation were so hard to be conceived by the very apostles of Christ
Jesus, that he was forced many times to rebuke them for their dulness,
which unless he had removed by opening the eyes of their minds, they
could never have attained to the knowledge of salvation in Christ Jesus.
The ears of that woman Lydia would have been as close shut against the
preaching of Paul, as any others, if the finger of God had not touched
and opened her heart. As many as learn, they are taught of God."
Archbishop Usher, in his sum and substance of the Christian Religion,
observes, "that it is required that we have the spirit of God, as well
to open our eyes to see the light, as to seal up fully in our hearts
that truth, which we can see with our eyes: for the same Holy Spirit
that inspired the scripture, inclineth the hearts of God's children to
believe what is revealed in them, and inwardly assureth them, above all
reasons and arguments, that these are the scriptures of God." And
farther on in the same work, he says, "the spirit of God alone is the
certain interpreter of his word written by his Spirit; for no man
knoweth the things pertaining to God, but the Spirit of God."
Our great Milton also gives us a similar opinion in the following words,
which are taken from his Paradise Lost:
----"but in their room----
Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves,
Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven
To their own vile advantages shall turn
Of lucre and ambition, and the truth
With superstition's and tradition's taint,
Left only in those written records pure,
Though not but by the spirit understood."
Of the same mind was the learned bishop Taylor, as we collect from his
sermon de Viâ Intelligentiae. "For although the scriptures, says he, are
written by the spirit of God, yet they are written within and without.
And besides the light that shines upon the face of them, unless there be
a light shining within our hearts, unfolding the leaves, and
interpreting the mysterious sense of the spirit, convincing our
consciences, and preaching to our hearts; to look for Christ in the
leaves of the gospel, is to look for the living among the dead. There is
a life in them; but that life is, according to St. Paul's expression,
'hid with Christ in God;' and unless the spirit of God first draw it, we
shall never draw it forth."
"Human learning brings excellent ministeries towards this. It is
admirably useful for the reproof of heresies, for the detection of
fallacies, for the letter of the scripture, for collateral testimonies,
for exterior advantages; but there is something beyond this that human
learning, without the addition of divine, can never reach. Moses was
learned in all the learning of the Egyptians; and the holy men of God
contemplated the glories of God in the admirable order, motion, and
influences of the heaven; but, besides all this, they were taught
something far beyond these prettinesses. Pythagoras read Moses' books,
and so did Plato, and yet they became not proselytes of the religion,
though they were the learned scholars of such a master."
CHAP. IV.
_The spirit of God which has been thus given to man in different
degrees, was given him as a spiritual teacher, or guide, in his
spiritual concerns--It performs this office, the Quakers say, by
internal monitions--Sentiments of Taylor--and of Monro--and, if
encouraged, it teaches even by the external objects of the
creation--William Wordsworth._
The Quakers believe that the spirit of God, which has been thus given to
man in different degrees or measures, and without which it is impossible
to know spiritual things, or even to understand the divine writings
spiritually, or to be assured of their divine origin, was given to him,
among other purposes, as a teacher of good and evil, or to serve him as
a guide in his spiritual concerns. By this the Quakers mean, that if any
man will give himself up to the directions of the spiritual principle
that resides within him, he will attain a knowledge sufficient to enable
him to discover the path of his duty both to God and his fellow-man.
That the spirit of God was given to man as a spiritual instructor, the
Quakers conceive to be plain, from a number of passages, which are to be
found in the sacred writings.
They say, in the first place, that it was the language of the holy men
of old. [16] "I said, says Elihu, days should speak, and multitude of
years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit (or the spirit itself
is) in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him
understanding." The Levites are found also making an acknowledgment to
God; [17] "That he gave also their forefathers his good spirit to
instruct them." The Psalms of David are also full of the same language,
such as of [18] "Shew me thy ways, O Lord; lead me in the truth." [19] "I
know, says Jeremiah, that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps." The martyr Stephen acknowledges
the teachings of the spirit, both in his own time and in that of his
ancestors. [20] "Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye
do always resist the holy spirit. As your fathers did, so do ye." The
Quakers also conceive it to be a doctrine of the gospel. Jesus himself
said, [21] "No man can come to me except the Father, which sent me, draw
him--It is written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God."
[22]St. John says, "That was the true light, (namely, the word or
spirit) which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." St. Paul,
in his first letter to the Corinthians, asserts, [23]that "the
manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal."
And, in his letter to Titus, he asserts the same thing, though in
different words: [24] "For the grace of God, says he, which bringeth
salvation, hath appeared unto all men."
[Footnote 16: Job 32. 7.]
[Footnote 17: Nehemiah 9. 20.]
[Footnote 18: Psalm 25. 4.]
[Footnote 19: Jeremiah 10. 23.]
[Footnote 20: Acts 7. 51.]
[Footnote 21: John 6.44.45]
[Footnote 22: John 1. 9.]
[Footnote 23: i Cor. 12. 7.]
[Footnote 24: Titus 2. 11.]
The spirit of God, which has been thus given to man as a spiritual
guide, is considered by the Quakers as teaching him in various ways. It
inspires him with good thoughts. It prompts him to good offices. It
checks him in his way to evil. It reproves him while in the act of
committing it.
The learned Jeremy Taylor was of the same opinion. "The spirit of grace,
says he, is the spirit of wisdom, and teaches us by secret inspirations,
by proper arguments, by actual persuasions, by personal applications, by
effects and energies."
This office of the spirit is beautifully described by Monro, a divine of
the established church, in his just measures of the pious institutions
of youth, "The holy spirit, says he, speaks inwardly and immediately to
the soul. For God is a spirit. The soul is a spirit; and they converse
with one another in spirit, not by words, but by spiritual notices;
which, however, are more intelligible than the most eloquent strains in
the world. God makes himself to be heard by the soul by inward motions,
which it perceives and comprehends proportionably as it is voided and
emptied of earthly ideas. And the more the faculties of the soul cease
their own operations, so much the more sensible and intelligible are the
motions of God to it. These immediate communications from God with the
souls of men are denied and derided by a great many. But that the father
of spirits should have no converse with our spirits, but by the
intervention only of outward and foreign objects, may justly seem
strange, especially when we are so often told in holy scripture, that we
are the temples of the holy Ghost, and that God dwelleth in all good
men."
But this spirit is considered by the Quakers not only as teaching by
inward breathings, as it were, made immediately and directly upon the
heart without the intervention of outward circumstances, but as making
the material objects of the Universe, and many of the occurrences of
life, if it be properly attended to, subservient to the instruction of
man; and that it enlarges the sphere of his instruction in this manner,
in proportion as it is received and encouraged. Thus the man, who is
attentive to these divine notices, sees the animal, the vegetable, and
the planetary world, with spiritual eyes. He cannot stir abroad, but he
is taught in his own feelings, without any motion of his will, some
lesson for his spiritual advantage; or he perceives so vitally some of
the attributes of the divine being, that he is called upon to offer
some spiritual incense to his maker. If the lamb frolics and gambols in
his presence as he walks along, he may be made spiritually to see the
beauty and happiness of innocence. If he finds the stately oak laid
prostrate by the wind, he may be spiritually taught to discern the
emptiness of human power; while the same spirit may teach him inwardly
the advantage of humility, when he looks at the little hawthorn which
has survived the storm. When he sees the change and the fall of the
autumnal leaf, he may be spiritually admonished of his own change and
dissolution, and of the necessity of a holy life. Thus the spirit of God
may teach men by outward objects and occurrences in the world; but where
this spirit is away, or rather where it is not attended to, no such
lesson can be taught. Natural objects of themselves can excite only
natural ideas: and the natural man, looking at them, can derive only
natural pleasure, or draw natural conclusions from them. In looking at
the Sun, he may be pleased with its warmth, and anticipate its
advantages to the vegetable world. In plucking and examining a flower,
he may be struck with its beauty, its mechanism, and its fragrant smell.
In observing the butterfly, as it wings its way before him, he may smile
at its short journeys from place to place, and admire the splendour
upon its wings. But the beauty of Creation is dead to him, as far as it
depends upon connecting it spiritually with the character of God. For no
spiritual impression can arise from any natural objects, but through the
intervention of the spirit of God.
William Wordsworth, in his instructive poems, has described this
teaching by external objects in consequence of impressions from a higher
power, as differing from any teaching by books or the human
understanding, and as arising without any motion of the will of man, in
so beautiful and simple a manner, that I cannot do otherwise than make
an extract from them in this place. Lively as the poem is, to which I
allude, I conceive it will not lower the dignity of the subject. It is
called Expostulation and Reply, and is as follows:[25]
Why, William, on that old gray stone,
Thus for the length of half a day,
Why, William, sit you thus alone,
And dream your time away?
Where are your books? that light bequeath'd
To beings, else forlorn and blind,
Up! Up! and drink the spirit breath'd
From dead men to their kind.
You look round on your mother earth,
As if she for no purpose bore you,
As if you were her first-born birth,
And none had liv'd before you!
One morning thus by Esthwaite lake,
When life was sweet, I knew not why,
To me my good friend Matthew spake,
And that I made reply:
The eye it cannot choose but see.
We cannot bid the ear be still;
Our bodies feel where'er they be,
Against or with our will.
Nor less I deem that there are powers,
Which of themselves our minds impress,
That we can feed this mind of ours
In a wise passiveness.
Think you,'mid all this mighty sum
Of things for ever speaking,
That nothing of itself will come,
But we must still be seeking?
Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old gray stone,
And dream my time away?
[Footnote 25: See Lyrical Ballads, Vol. 1. p. 1.]
CHAP. V
_This spirit was not only given to man as a teacher, but as a primary
and infallible guide--Hence the Scriptures are a subordinate or
secondary guide--Quakers, however, do not undervalue them on this
account--Their opinion concerning them._
The spirit of God, which we have seen to be thus given to men as a
spiritual teacher, and to act in the ways described, the Quakers usually
distinguish by the epithets of primary and infallible. But they have
made another distinction with respect to the character of this spirit;
for they have pronounced it to be the only infallible guide to men in
their spiritual concerns. From this latter declaration the reader will
naturally conclude, that the scriptures, which are the outward teachers
of men, must be viewed by the Quakers in a secondary light. This
conclusion has indeed been adopted as a proposition in the Quaker
theology; or, in other words, it is a doctrine of the society, that the
spirit of God is the primary and only infallible, and the scriptures but
a subordinate or secondary guide.
This proposition the Quakers usually make out in the following manner:
It is, in the first place, admitted by all Christians, that the
scriptures were given by inspiration, or that those who originally
delivered or wrote the several parts of them, gave them forth by means
of that spirit, which was given to them by God. Now in the same manner
as streams, or rivulets of water, are subordinate to the fountains
which produce them; so those streams or rivulets of light must be
subordinate to the great light from whence they originally sprung. "We
cannot, says Barclay, call the scriptures the principal fountain of all
truth and knowledge, nor yet the first adequate rule of faith and
manners; because the principal fountain of truth must be the truth
itself, that is, whose certainty and authority depend not upon another."
The scriptures are subordinate or secondary, again, in other points of
view. First, because, though they are placed before us, we can only know
or understand them by the testimony of the spirit. Secondly, because
there is no virtue or power in them of themselves, but in the spirit
from whence they came.
They are, again, but a secondary guide; because "that, says Barclay,
cannot be the only and principal guide, which doth not universally reach
every individual that needeth it." But the scriptures do not teach deaf
persons, nor children, nor idiots, nor an immense number of people, more
than half the Globe, who never yet saw or heard of them. These,
therefore, if they are to be saved like others, must have a different or
a more universal rule to guide them, or be taught from another source.
They are only a secondary guide, again, for another reason. It is an
acknowledged axiom among Christians, that the spirit of God is a perfect
spirit, and that it can never err. But the scriptures are neither
perfect of themselves as a collection, nor are they perfect in their
verbal parts. Many of them have been lost. Concerning those which have
survived, there have been great disputes. Certain parts of these, which
one Christian council received in the early times of the church, were
rejected as not canonical by another. Add to this, that none of the
originals are extant. And of the copies, some have suffered by
transcription, others by translation, and others by wilful mutilation,
to support human notions of religion; so that there are various readings
of the same passage, and various views of the same thing. "Now what,
says Barclay, would become of Christians, if they had not received that
spirit and those spiritual senses, by which they know how to discover
the true from the false? It is the privilege of Christ's sheep, indeed,
that they hear his voice, and refuse that of the stranger; which,
privilege being taken away, we are left a prey to all manner of wolves."
The scriptures, therefore, in consequence of the state in which they
have come down to us, cannot, the Quakers say, be considered to be a
guide as entirely perfect as the internal testimony of their great
author, the spirit of God.
But though the Quakers have thought it right, in submitting their
religious creed to the world on this subject, to be so guarded in the
wording of it as to make the distinction described, they are far from
undervaluing the scriptures on that account. They believe, on the other
hand, whatever mutilations they may have suffered, that they contain
sufficient to guide men in belief and practice; and that all internal
emotions, which are contrary to the declaration of these, are wholly
inadmissible. "Moreover, says Barclay, because the scriptures are
commonly acknowledged by all to have been written by the dictates of the
holy spirit, and that the errors, which may be supposed by the injury of
time to have slipt in, are not such but there is a sufficient clear
testimony left to all the essentials of the Christian faith, we do look
upon them as the only fit outward judge of controversies among
Christians, and that whatsoever doctrine is contrary to their testimony,
may therefore justly be rejected as false."
The Quakers believe also, that as God gave a portion of his spirit to
man to assist him inwardly, so he gave the holy scriptures to assist him
outwardly in his spiritual concerns. Hence the latter, coming by
inspiration, are the most precious of all books that ever were written,
and the best outward guide. And hence the things contained in them,
ought to be read, and, as far as possible, fulfilled.
They believe, with the apostle Paul, that the scriptures are highly
useful, "so that, through patience and comfort of them, they may have
hope; and also that they are profitable for reproof, for correction, and
for instruction in righteousness:" that in the same manner as land,
highly prepared and dressed by the husbandman, becomes fit for the
reception and for the promotion of the growth of the seed that is to be
placed in it, so the scriptures turn the attention of man towards God,
and by means of the exhortations, reproofs, promises, and threatenings,
contained in them, prepare the mind for the reception and growth of the
seed of the Holy Spirit.
They believe, again, that the same scriptures show more of the
particulars of God's will with respect to man, and of the scheme of the
Gospel-dispensation, than any ordinary portion of his spirit, as usually
given to man, would have enabled him to discover. They discover that
[26] "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ:" [27] "That Jesus Christ was set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of
God;" [28]that "he tasted death for every man;" that he [29]was
"delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification;"
[30]that "he is set down at the right hand of the throne of God;"
[31] "and ever liveth to make intercession for us; and, that he is the
substance of all the types and figures under the Levitical priesthood,
[32] being the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth."
[Footnote 26: Rom. 6. 23.]
[Footnote 27: Rom. 3. 25.]
[Footnote 28: Heb. 2. 9.]
[Footnote 29: 4. 25.]
[Footnote 30: Heb. 12. 2.]
[Footnote 31: Heb. 7. 25.]
[Footnote 32: Rom. 10. 4.]
They believe, again, that, in consequence of these various revelations,
as contained in the scriptures, they have inestimable advantages over
the Heathen nations, or over those, where the gospel-sun has never yet
shone; and that, as their advantages are greater, so more will be
required of them, or their condemnation will be greater, if they fail to
attend to those things which are clearly revealed.
They maintain, again, that their discipline is founded on the rules of
the gospel; and that in consequence of giving an interpretation
different from that of many others, to some of the expressions of Jesus
Christ, by which they conceive they make his kingdom more pure and
heavenly, they undergo persecution from the world--so that they confirm
their attachment to the scriptures by the best of all credible
testimonies, the seal of their own sufferings.
CHAP. VI.
_This spirit of God, which has been thus given to men as an infallible
guide in their spiritual concerns, has been given them universally--To
the patriarchs and Israelites, from the creation to the time of
Moses--To the Israelites or Jews, from Moses to Jesus Christ--To the
Gentile world from all antiquity to modern times--To all those who have
ever heard the gospel--And it continues its office to the latter even
at the present day._
The Quakers are of opinion that the spirit of God, of which a portion
has been given to men as a primary and infallible guide in their
spiritual concerns, has been given them universally; or has been given
to all of the human race, without any exceptions, for the same purpose.
This proposition of the Quakers I shall divide, in order that the reader
may see it more clearly, into four cases. The first of these will
comprehend the Patriarchs and the Israelites from the creation to the
time of Moses. The second, the Israelites or Jews from the time of Moses
to the coming of Jesus Christ. The third, the Gentiles or Heathens. And
the fourth, all those who have heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ, from
the time of his own ministry to the present day.
The first case includes a portion of time of above two thousand years.
Now the Quakers believe, that during all this time men were generally
enlightened as to their duty by the spirit of God; for there was no
scripture or written law of God during all this period. "It was about
two thousand four hundred years, says Thomas Beaven, an approved writer
among the Quakers, after the creation of the world, before mankind had
any external written law for the rule and conduct of their lives, so far
as appears by either sacred or profane history; in all which time
mankind, generally speaking, had only for their rule of faith and
manners the external creation as a monitor to their outward senses, for
evidence of the reality and certainty of the existence of the Supreme
Being; and the internal impressions God by his divine spirit made upon
the capacities and powers of their souls or inward man, and perhaps some
of them oral traditions delivered from father to son."
To the same point Thomas Beaven quotes the ever memorable John Hales,
who, in his golden remains, writes in the following manner: "The love
and favour, which it pleased God to bear our fathers before the law', so
far prevailed with him, as that without any books and writings, by
familiar and friendly conversing with them, and communicating himself
unto them, he made them receive and understand his laws, their inward
conceits and intellectuals being, after a wonderful manner, figured as
it were and charactered by his spirit, so that they could not but see
and consent unto, and confess the truth of them. Which way of
manifesting his will unto many other gracious privileges it had, above
that which in after ages came in place of it, had this added, that it
brought with it unto the man to whom it was made, a preservation against
all doubt and hesitancy, and a full assurance both who the author was,
and how far his intent and meaning reached. We who are their offspring
ought, as St. Chrysostom tells us, so to have demeaned ourselves, that
it might have been with us as it was with them, that we might have had
no need of writing, no other teacher but the spirit, no other books but
our hearts, no other means to have been taught the things of God."
That the spirit of God, as described by Thomas Beaven and the venerable
John Hales, was the great instructor or enlightener of man during the
period we are speaking of, the Quakers believe, from what they conceive
to be the sense of the holy scriptures on this subject. For in the first
place, they consider it as a position, deducible from the expressions of
Moses[33], that the spirit of God had striven with those of the
antediluvian world. They believe, therefore, that it was this spirit
(and because the means were adequate, and none more satisfactory to them
can be assigned) which informed Cain, before any written law existed,
and this even before the murder of his brother, that[34] "if he did
well, he should be accepted; but if not, sin should lie at his door."
The same spirit they conceive to have illuminated the mind of Seth, but
in a higher degree than ordinarily the mind of Enoch; for he is the
first, of whom it is recorded, that[35] "he walked with God." It is also
considered by the Quakers as having afforded a rule of conduct to those
who lived after the flood. Thus Joseph is described as saying, when
there is no record of any verbal instruction from the Almighty on this
subject, and at a time when there was no scripture or written law of
God, [36] "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against
God?" It illuminated others also, but in a greater or less degree, as
before. Thus Noah became a preacher of righteousness. Thus Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, were favoured with a greater measure of it than others
who lived in their own times.
[Footnote 33: Gen. 6.3]
[Footnote 34: Ib 4.7]
[Footnote 35: Gen. 5.24.]
[Footnote 36: Ib. 39.9.--The traditionary laws of Noah were in force at
this time; but they only specified three offences between man and man.]
From these times to the coming of Jesus Christ, which is the second of
the cases in question, the same spirit, according to the Quakers, still
continued its teachings, and this notwithstanding the introduction of
the Mosaic law; for this, which was engraven on tables of stone, did not
set aside the law that was engraven on the heart. It assisted, first,
outwardly, in turning mens' minds to God; and secondly, in fitting them
as a schoolmaster for attention to the internal impressions by his
spirit. That the spirit of God was still the great teacher, the Quakers
conceive to be plain; for the sacred writings from Moses to Malachi
affirm it for a part of the period now assigned; and for the rest we
have as evidence the reproof of the Martyr Stephen, and the sentences
from the New Testament quoted in the fourth chapter. And in the same
manner as this spirit had been given to some in a greater measure than
to others, both before and after the deluge, so the Quakers believe it
to have been given more abundantly to Moses and the prophets, than to
others of the same nation; for they believe that the law in particular,
and that the general writings of Moses, and those of the prophets also,
were of divine inspiration, or the productions of the spirit of God.
With respect to the Heathens or Gentiles, which is the third case, the
Quakers believe that God's holy spirit became a guide also to them, and
furnished them, as it had done the patriarchs and the Jews, with a rule
of practice. For even these, who had none of the advantages of scripture
or of a written divine law, believed, many of them, in God, such as
Orpheus, Hesiod, Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Cicero, and
others. And of these it may be observed, that it was their general
belief, as well as it was the belief of many others in those days, that
there was a divine light or spirit in man, to enable him to direct
himself aright.
Among the remnants that have been preserved of the sayings, of
Pythagoras, are the following which relate to this subject: "Those
things which are agreeable to God, cannot be known, except a man hear
God himself." Again--"But having overcome these things, thou shalt know
the cohabitation or dwelling together of the immortal God and mortal
man. His work is life--The work of God is immortality, eternal life."
"The most excellent thing, says Timoeus, that the soul is awakened to,
is her guide or good genius; but if she be rebellious to it, it will
prove her daemon, or tormentor."
"It was frequently said of Socrates, he had the guide of his life within
him, which, it was told his father Sophroniscus, would be of more worth
to him than five hundred masters. He called it his good angel, or
spirit; that it suggested to his mind what was good and virtuous, and
inclined and disposed him to a strict and pious life; that it furnished
him with divine knowledge, and impelled him very often to speak publicly
to the people, sometimes in a way of severe reproof, at other times to
information."
Plato says, "the light and spirit of God are as wings to the soul, or as
that which raiseth up the soul into, a sensible communion with God above
the world."
"I have, says Seneca, a more clear and certain light, by which I may
judge the truth from falsehood: that which belongs to the happiness of
the soul, the eternal mind will direct to." Again--"It is a foolish
thing for thee to wish for that which thou canst not obtain. God is near
thee, and he is in thee. The good spirit sits or resides within as, the
observer of our good and evil actions. As he is dealt with by us, he
dealeth with us."
The Quakers produce these, and a multitude of other quotations, which it
is not necessary to repeat, to show that the same spirit, which taught
the patriarchs before the law, and the Jews after it, taught the
Gentiles also. But this revelation, or manifestation of the spirit, was
not confined, in the opinion of the Quakers, to the Roman or Greek
philosophers, or to those who had greater pretensions than common to
human wisdom. They believe that no nation was ever discovered, among
those of antiquity, to have been so wild or ignorant as not to have
acknowledged a divinity, or as not to have known and established a
difference between good and evil.
Cicero says, "there is no country so barbarous, no one of all men so
savage, as that some apprehension of the Gods hath not tinctured his
mind. That many indeed, says he, think corruptly of them, must be
admitted; but this is the effect of vicious custom. For all do believe
that there is a divine power and nature."
Maximus Tyriensis, a platonic philosopher, and a man of considerable
knowledge, observes, that "notwithstanding the great contention and
variety of opinions which have existed concerning the nature and essence
of God, yet the law and reason of every country are harmonious in these
respects, namely, that there is one God, the king and father of all--and
that the many are but servants and co-rulers unto God: that in this the
Greek and the Barbarian, the Islander and the inhabitant of the
continent, the wise and the foolish, speak the same language. Go, says
he, to the utmost bounds of the ocean, and you find God there. But if
there hath been, says he, since the existence of time, two or three
atheistical, vile, senseless individuals, whose eyes and ears deceive
them, and who are maimed in their very soul, an irrational and barren
species, as monstrous as a lion without courage, an ox without horns, or
a bird without wings, yet out of these you will be able to understand
something of God. For they know and confess him whether they will or
not."
Plutarch says again, "that if a man were to travel through the world, he
might possibly find cities without walls, without letters, without
kings, without wealth, without schools, and without theatres. But a city
without a temple, or that useth no worship, or no prayers, no one ever
saw. And he believes a city may more easily be built without a
foundation, or ground to set it on, than a community of men have or keep
a consistency without religion."
Of those nations which were reputed wild and ignorant in ancient times,
the Scythians may be brought, next, to the Greeks and Romans, as an
instance to elucidate the opinion of the Quakers still farther on this
subject. The speech of the Scythian Ambassadors to Alexander the Great,
as handed down to us by Quintus Curtius, has been often cited by
writers, not only on account of its beauty and simplicity, but to show
us the moral sentiments of the Scythians in those times. I shall make a
few extracts from it on this occasion.
"Had the Gods given thee, says one of the Ambassadors to Alexander, a
body proportionable to thy ambition, the whole Universe would have been
too little for thee. With one hand thou wouldest touch the East, and
with the other the West; and not satisfied with this, thou wouldest
follow the Sun, and know where he hides himself."----
"But what have we to do with thee? We never set foot in thy country. May
not those who inhabit woods be allowed to live without knowing who thou
art, and whence thou comest? We will neither command nor submit to any
man."----
"But thou, who boastest thy coming to extirpate robbers, thou thyself
art the greatest robber upon earth."----
"Thou hast possessed thyself of Lydia, invaded Syria, Persia, and
Bactriana. Thou art forming a design to march as far as India, and thou
now contest hither, to seize upon our herds of cattle. The great
possessions which thou hast, only make thee covet more eagerly what thou
hast not."----
"We are informed that the Greeks speak jestingly of our Scythian
deserts, and that they are even become a proverb; but we are fonder of
our solitudes, than of thy great cities."----
"If thou art a god, thou oughtest to do good to mortals, and not to
deprive them of their possessions. If thou art a mere man, reflect on
what thou art."----
"Do not fancy that the Scythians will take an oath in their concluding
of an alliance with thee. The only oath among them is to keep their word
without swearing. Such cautions as these do indeed become Greeks, who
sign their treaties, and call upon the Gods to witness them. But, with
regard to us, our religion consists in being sincere, and in keeping the
promises we have made. That man, who is not ashamed to break his word
with men, is not ashamed of deceiving the Gods."
To the account contained in these extracts, it may be added, that the
Scythians are described by Herodotus, Justin, Horace, and others, as a
moral people. They had the character of maintaining justice. Theft or
robbery was severely punished among them. They believed infidelity after
the marriage-engagement to be deserving of death. They coveted neither
silver nor gold. They refused to give the name of goods or riches to any
but estimable things, such as health, courage, liberty, strength,
sincerity, innocence, and the like. They received friends as relations,
or considered friendship as so sacred an alliance, that it differed but
little from alliance by blood.
These principles of the Scythians, as far as they are well founded, the
Quakers believe to have originated in their more than ordinary attention
to that divine principle which was given to them, equally with the rest
of mankind, for their instruction in moral good; to that same principle,
which Socrates describes as having suggested to his mind that which was
good and virtuous, or which Seneca describes to reside in men as an
observer of good and evil. For the Scythians, living in solitary and
desert places, had but little communication for many ages with the rest
of mankind, and did not obtain their system of morality from other
quarters. From the Greeks and Romans, who were the most enlightened,
they derived no moral benefit. For Strabo informs us, that their morals
had been wholly corrupted in his time, and that this wretched change had
taken place in consequence of their intercourse with these nations. That
they had no scripture or written law of God is equally evident. Neither
did they collect their morality from the perusal or observance of any
particular laws that had been left them by their ancestors; for the same
author, who gives them the high character just mentioned, says that they
were found in the practice of justice,[37] not on account of any laws,
but on account of their own _natural genius or disposition_. Neither
were they found in this practice, because they had exerted their reason
in discovering that virtue was so much more desirable than vice; for the
same author declares, that nature, and not reason, had made them a moral
people: for[38] "it seems surprising, says he, that nature should have
given to them what the Greeks have never been able to attain either in
consequence of the long succession of doctrines of their wise men, or of
the precepts of their philosophers; and that the manners of a barbarous,
should be preferable to those of a refined people."
[Footnote 37: Justitia gentis Ingeniis culta, non Legibus.]
[Footnote 38: Prorsus ut admirabile videatur, hoc illis naturam dare,
quod Graeci longá sapientium doctriná praeceptisque philosophorum
consequi nequeunt, cultosque mores incultae barbariae collatione
soperari.]
This opinion, that the spirit of God was afforded as a light to lighten
the Gentiles of the ancient world, the Quakers derive from the
authorities which I have now mentioned; that is, from the evidence which
history has afforded, and from the sentiments which the Gentiles have
discovered themselves upon this subject. But they conceive that the
question is put out of all doubt by these remarkable words of the
Apostle Paul. "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
_nature_ the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are
a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law _written on their
hearts_, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the
mean while accusing, or else excusing one another." And here it may be
observed, that the Quakers believe also, that in the same manner as the
spirit of God enlightened the different Gentile nations previously to
the time of the apostle, so it continues to enlighten those, which have
been discovered since; for no nation has been found so ignorant, as not
to make an acknowledgment of superior spirit, and to know the difference
between good and evil. Hence it may be considered as illuminating those
nations, where the scriptures have never reached, even at the present
day.
With respect to the last case, which includes those who have heard with
their outward ears the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Quakers believe, that
the spirit of God has continued its office of a spiritual instructor as
well to these as to any of the persons who have been described. For the
Gospel is no where said to supersede, any more than the law of Moses
did, the assistance of this spirit. On the other hand, this spirit was
deemed necessary, and this by the apostles themselves, even after
churches had been established, or men had become Christians. St. Paul
declares,[39] that whatever spiritual gifts some of his followers might
then have, and however these gifts might then differ from one another,
the spirit of God was given universally to man, and this to profit
withal. He declares again that [40] "as many as were led by this spirit,
these, and these only, possessed the knowledge that was requisite to
enable them to become the sons of God." And in his letter to the
Thessalonians, who had become a Christian church, he gave them many
particular injunctions, among which one was, that [41] they would not
quench or extinguish the spirit.
[Footnote 39: Cor. 12. 7.]
[Footnote 40: Rom. 8, 14.]
[Footnote 41: 1 Thess. 5. 19.]
And in the same manner as this spirit was deemed necessary in the days
of the apostles, and this to every man individually, and even after he
had become a Christian, so the Quakers consider it to have been
necessary since, and to continue so, wherever Christianity is professed.
For many persons may read the holy scriptures, and hear them read in
churches, and yet not feel the necessary conviction for sin. Here then
the Quakers conceive the spirit of God to be still necessary. It comes
in with its inward monitions and reproofs, where the scripture has been
neglected or forgotten. It attempts to stay the arm of him who is going
to offend, and frequently averts the blow.
Neither is this spirit unnecessary, even where men profess an attention
to the literal precepts of the Gospel. For in proportion as men are in
the way of attending to the outward scriptures, they are in the way of
being inwardly taught of God. But without this inward teaching no
outward teaching can be effectual; for though persons may read the
scriptures, yet they cannot spiritually understand them; and though they
may admire the Christian religion, yet they cannot enjoy it, according
to the opinion of the Quakers, but through the medium of the spirit of
God.
CHAP. VII.
SECT. I.
_This spirit, as it has been given universally, so it has been given
sufficiently--Hence God is exonerated Of injustice, and men are left
without excuse--Those who resist this spirit, are said to quench it, and
may become so hardened in time, as to be insensible of its
impressions--Those who attend to it, may be said to be in the way of
redemption--Similar sentiments of Monro--This visitation, treatment,
and influence of the spirit, usually explained by the Quakers by the
Parable of the sower._
As the spirit of God has been thus afforded to every man, since the
foundation of the world, to profit withal, so the Quakers say, that it
has been given to him in a sufficient measure for this purpose. By the
word "sufficient" we are not to understand that this divine monitor
calls upon men every day or hour, but that it is within every man, and
that it awakens him seasonably, and so often during the term of his
natural life, as to exonerate God from the charge of condemning him
unjustly, if he fails in his duty, and as to leave himself without
excuse. And in proportion as a greater or less measure of this spirit
has been afforded him, so he is more or less guilty in the sight of his
Maker.
If any should resist these salutary operations of the Holy Spirit, they
resist it to their own condemnation.
Of such it may he observed, that they are said to quench or grieve the
spirit, and, not unfrequently, to resist God, and to crucify Christ
afresh; for God and Christ and the Spirit are considered to be
inseparably united in the scriptures.
Of such also it may be again observed, that if they continue to resist
God's holy Spirit, their feelings may become so callous or hardened in
time, that they may never be able to perceive its notices again, and
thus the day of their visitation may be over: for [42] "my people, saith
God, would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me; so I
gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own
counsels." To the same import was the saying of Jesus Christ, when he
wept over Jerusalem. [43] "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are
hid from thine eyes." As if he had said, there was a day, in which ye,
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, might have known those things which
belonged to your peace. I was then willing to gather you, as a hen
gathereth her chickens, but as ye would not suffer me, the things
belonging to your peace are now hid from your eyes. Ye would not attend
to the impressions by God's Holy Spirit, when your feelings were tender
and penetrable, and therefore now, the day having passed over, ye have
lost the power of discerning them.
[Footnote 42: Psalm 81. 11,12]
[Footnote 43: Luke 19, 42.]
Those, on the other hand, who, during this visitation of the Holy
Spirit, attend to its suggestions or warnings, are said to be in the
way of their redemption or salvation.
These sentiments of the Quakers on this subject are beautifully
described by Monro, in his just measures of the pious institutions of
youth. "The Holy Spirit," says he, "solicits and importunes those who are
in a state of sin, to return, by inward motions and impressions, by
suggesting good thoughts and prompting to pious resolutions, by checks
and controls, by conviction of sin and duty; sometimes by frights and
terrors, and other whiles by love and endearments: But if men,
notwithstanding all his loving solicitations, do still cherish and
cleave to their lusts, and persevere in a state of sin, they are then
said to resist the Holy Ghost, whereby their condition becomes very
deplorable, and their conversion very difficult; for the more men resist
the importunities, and stifle the motions of the Holy Spirit, the
stronger do the chains of their corruption and servitude become. Every
new act of sin gives these a degree of strength, and consequently puts a
new obstacle in the way of conversion; and when sin is turned into an
inveterate and rooted habit, (which by reiterated commissions and long
continuance it is) then it becomes a nature, and is with as much
difficulty altered as nature is. Can the Ethiopian change his colour,
or the Leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed
to do evil."
"The Holy Spirit again," says he, "inspires the prayers of those who, in
consequence of his powerful operations, have crucified the flesh with
the affections and lusts, with devout and filial affections, and makes
intercession for them with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered. He
guides and manages them. The sons of God are led by the spirit of god.
He makes, his blessed fruits, righteousness, peace, joy, and divine
love, more and more to abound in them; he confirms them in goodness,
persuades them to perseverance, and seals them to the day of
redemption."
The Quakers usually elucidate this visitation, treatment, and influence
of the Holy Spirit, by the parable of the sower, as recorded by three of
the Evangelists. "Now the seed is the word of God." But as the word of
God and the spirit, according to St. John the Evangelist, are the same,
the parable is considered by the Quakers as relating to that divine
light or spirit which is given to man for his spiritual instruction and
salvation. As the seed was sown in all sorts of ground, good, bad, and
indifferent, so this light or spirit is afforded, without exception, to
all. As thorns choked this seed, and hindered it from coming to
perfection, so bad customs, or the pleasures and cares of the world,
hinder men from attending to this divine principle within them, and
render it unfruitful in their hearts. And as the seed in the good ground
was not interrupted, and therefore produced fruit in abundance, so this
spiritual principle, where it is not checked, but received and
cherished, produces also abundance of spiritual fruit in the inward man,
by putting him into the way of redemption from sin, or of holiness of
life.
SECT. II.
_The spirit of God, therefore, besides its office of a teacher, performs
that of a Redeemer of men--Redemption outward and inward--Outward is by
the sufferings of Jesus Christ--These produce forgiveness of past sins,
and put men into a capacity of salvation--inward, or the office now
alluded to, is by the operation of the spirit--This converts men, and
preserves them from sins to come--outward and inward connected with each
other._
The spirit of God, which we have seen to be given to men, and to be
given them universally, to enable them to distinguish between 'good and
evil, was given them also, the Quakers believe, for another purpose,
namely, to redeem or save them. Redemption and salvation, in this
sense,' are the same, in the language of the Quakers, and mean a
purification from the sins or pollutions of the world, so that a new
birth may be produced, and maintained in the inward man.
As the doctrine of the Quakers, with respect to redemption, differs from
that which generally obtains, I shall allot this chapter to an
explanation of the distinctions, which the Quakers usually make upon
this subject.
The Quakers never make use of the words "original sin," because these
are never to be found in the sacred writings. They consider man,
however, as in a fallen or degraded state, and as inclined and liable to
sin. They consider him, in short, as having the seed of sin within him,
which he inherited from his parent Adam. But though they acknowledge
this, they dare not say, that sin is imputed to him on account of Adam's
transgression, or that he is chargeable with sin, until he actually
commits it.
As every descendant, however, of Adam, has this seed within him, which,
amidst the numerous temptations that beset him, he allows sometime or
other to germinate, so he stands in need of a Redeemer; that is, of some
power that shall be able to procure pardon for past offences, and of
some power that shall be able to preserve him in the way of holiness for
the future. To expiate himself, in a manner satisfactory to the
Almighty, for so foot a stain upon his nature as that of sin, is utterly
beyond his abilities; for no good action, that he can do, can do away
that which has been once done. And to preserve himself in a state of
virtue for the future, is equally out of his own power, because this
cannot be done by any effort of his reason, but only by the conversion
of his heart. It has therefore pleased the Almighty to find a remedy for
him in each of these cases. Jesus Christ, by the sacrifice of his own
body, expiates for sins that are past, and the spirit of God, which has
been afforded to him, as a spiritual teacher, has the power of cleansing
and purifying the heart so thoroughly, that he may be preserved from
sins to come.
That forgiveness of past sins is procured by the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, is obvious from various passages in the holy scriptures. Thus
the apostle Paul says, that Jesus Christ [44] "was set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God."
And in his epistle to the Colossians he says, [45] "In whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." This
redemption may be called outward, because it has been effected by
outward means, or by the outward sufferings of Jesus Christ; and it is
considered as putting men, in consequence of this forgiveness, into the
capacity of salvation. The Quakers, however, attribute this redemption
wholly to the love of God, and not to the impossibility of his
forgiveness without a plenary satisfaction, or to the motive of heaping
all his vengeance on the head of Jesus Christ, that he might appease his
own wrath.
[Footnote 44: Rom. 3.25.]
[Footnote 45: Coloss. 1.14.]
The other redemption, on the other hand, is called inward, because it is
considered by the Quakers to be an inward redemption from the power of
sin, or a cleansing the heart from the pollutions of the world. This
inward redemption is produced by the spirit of God, as before stated,
operating on the hearts of men, and so cleansing and purifying them, as
to produce a new birth in the inward man; so that the same spirit of
God, which has been given to men in various degrees since the
foundation of the world, as a teacher in their spiritual concerns, which
hath visited every man in his day, and which hath exhorted and reproved
him for his spiritual welfare[46], has the power of preserving him from
future sin, and of leading him to salvation.
[Footnote 46: The Quakers believe, however, that this spirit was more
plentifully diffused, and that greater gifts were given to man, after
Jews was glorified, than before. Ephes. 4.8.]
That this inward redemption is performed by the spirit of God, the
Quakers show from various passages in the sacred writings. Thus St. Paul
says, [47] "According to his mercy he hath saved us by the washing of
regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." The same apostle
says, again, [48] "It is the law of the Spirit that maketh free from the
law of sin and death." And again--[49] "As many as are led by the spirit
of God, they are the sons of God."
[Footnote 47: Titus 3.5.]
[Footnote 48: Rom. 8.2.]
[Footnote 49: Rom. 8.14.]
The Quakers say, that this inward redemption or salvation as effected by
the spirit, is obvious also from the experience of all good men, or from
the manner in which many have experienced a total conversion or change
of heart. For though there are undoubtedly some who have gone on so
gradually in their reformation from vice to virtue, that it may have
been considered to be the effect of reason, which has previously
determined on the necessity of a holy life, yet the change from vice to
holiness has often been so rapid and decisive, as to leave no doubt
whatever, that it could not have been produced by any effort of reason,
but only by some divine operation, which could only have been that of
the spirit of God.
Of these two kinds of redemption, the outward and the inward, of which
the latter will be the subject of our consideration, it may be observed,
that they go hand in hand together[50]. St. Paul has coupled them in
these words: "for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life;" that is, by the life of his spirit working inwardly in
us.--And as they go together in the mind of the apostle, so they go
together as to the benefit of their effects. For, in the first place,
the outward redemption takes place, when the inward has begun. And,
secondly, the outward redemption, or the sufferings of Jesus Christ,
which redeem from past sins, cannot have any efficacy till the inward
has begun, or while men remain in their sins; or, in other words, no man
can be entitled to the forgiveness of sins that have been committed,
till there has been a change in the inward man; for St. John intimates,
that [51]the blood of Christ does not cleanse from sin, except men walk
in the light, or, to use an expression synonymous with the Quakers,
except men walk in the spirit.
[Footnote 50: Rom, 5. 10.]
[Footnote 51: John I. 6.7.]
SECT. III.
_Inward redemption, which thus goes on by the operation of the Holy
Spirit, has the power of producing a new birth in men--This office of
the spirit acknowledged by other Christians--Monro--Hammond--Locke--It
has the power also of leading to perfection--Sentiments of the Quakers
as to perfection--and of the ever memorable John Hales--Gell--Monro
--This power of inward redemption bestowed upon all._
The sufferings then of Jesus Christ, having by means of the forgiveness
of past sins, put men into a capacity for salvation, the remaining part
of salvation, or the inward redemption of man, is performed by the
operation of the Holy Spirit; of which, however, it must be remembered,
that a more plentiful diffusion is considered by the Quakers to have
been given to men after the ascension of Jesus Christ, than at any
former period.
The nature of this inward redemption, or the nature of this new office,
which it performs in addition to that of a religious teacher, may be
seen in the following account.
It has the power, the Quakers believe, of checking and preventing bad
inclinations and passions; of cleansing and purifying the heart; of
destroying the carnal mind; of making all old things pass away; of
introducing new; of raising our spiritual senses, so as to make us
delight in the things of God, and to put us above the enjoyment of
earthly pleasures. Redeeming thus from the pollutions of the world, and
leading to spiritual purity, it forms a new creature. It produces the
new man in the heart. It occasions a man by its quickening power to be
born again, and thus puts him into the way of salvation. [52] "For verily
I say unto thee, says Jesus Christ to Nicodemus, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
[Footnote 52: John 3.3.]
This office and power of the spirit of God is acknowledged by other
Christians. Monro, who has been before quoted, observes, "that the soul,
being thus raised from the death of sin and born again, is divinely
animated, and discovers that it is alive by the vital operations which
it performs."
"Again, says he, this blissful presence, the regenerate who are
delivered from the dominion, and cleansed from the impurities of sin,
have recovered, and it is on the account of it, that they are said to be
an habitation of God through the spirit and the temples of the Holy
Ghost. For that good spirit takes possession of them, resides in their
hearts, becomes the mover, enlightener, and director of all their
faculties and powers, gives a new and heavenly tincture and tendency to
all their inclinations and desires, and, in one word, is the great
spring of all they think, or do, or say; and hence it is that they are
said to walk no more after the flesh, but after the spirit, and to be
led by the spirit of God."
Dr. Hammond, in his paraphrase and annotations on the New Testament,
observes, that "he who hath been born of God, is literally he who hath
had such a blessed change wrought in him by the operation of God's
spirit in his heart, as to be translated from the power of darkness into
the kingdom of his dear Son."
"As Christ in the flesh, says the great and venerable Locke, was wholly
exempt from all taint and sin, so we, by that spirit which was in him,
shall be exempt from the dominion of carnal lusts, if we make it our
choice, and endeavour to live after the spirit."
"Here the apostle, says Locke, shows that Christians are delivered from
the dominion of their carnal lusts by the spirit of God that is given to
them, and dwells in them, as a new quickening principle and power, by
which they are put into the state of a spiritual life, wherein their
members are made capable of becoming the instruments of righteousness."
And this spirit of God, which thus redeems from the pollutions of the
world, and puts a new heart as it were into man, is considered by the
Quakers as so powerful in its operations, as to be able to lead him to
perfection. By this the Quakers do not mean to say, that the perfection
of man is at all like the perfection of God; because the perfection of
the former is capable of growth. They believe, however, that, in his
renewed state, he may be brought to be so perfect, as to be able to keep
those commandments of God which are enjoined him. In this sense they
believe it is, that Noah is called by Moses [53]a just and perfect man
in his generation; and that Job is described [54]as a perfect and an
upright man; and that the evangelist Luke speaks of Zacharias and
Elizabeth in these words--[55] "They were both righteous before God, and
walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
[Footnote 53: Gen. 6. 9.]
[Footnote 54: Job 1. 3.]
[Footnote 55: Luke 1. 6.]
That man, who is renewed in heart, can attain this degree of perfection,
the Quakers think it but reasonable to suppose. For to think that God
has given man any law to keep, which it is impossible for him, when
aided by his Holy Spirit, to keep, or to think that the power of Satan
can be stronger in man than the power of Christ, is to think very
inadequately of the Almighty, and to cast a dishonourable reflection on
his goodness, his justice, and his power. Add to which, that there would
not have been such expressions in the New Testament, as those of Jesus
Christ--"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
Heaven is perfect"--Nor would there have been other expressions of the
Apostles of a similar meaning, if the renewed man had not possessed the
power of doing the will of God.
This doctrine of perfection brought the Quakers into disputes with
persons of other religions denominations, at the time of their
establishment. But, however it might be disapproved of, it was not new
in these times; nor was it originally introduced by them. Some of the
fathers of the church, and many estimable divines of different
countries, had adopted it. And here it may be noticed, that the doctrine
had been received also by several of the religious in our own.
In the golden remains of the ever memorable John Hales, we find, that
"through the grace of Him that doth enable as, we are stronger than
Satan, and the policy of Christian warfare hath as many means to keep
back and defend, as the deepest reach of Satan hath to give the onset."
"St. Augustine, says this amiable writer, was of opinion, that it was
possible for us even in this natural life, seconded by the grace of God,
perfectly to accomplish what the law requires at our hands." In the
Golden Remains, many sentiments are to be found of the same tenour.
Bacon, who collected and published Dr. Robert Gell's remains, says in
his preface, that Dr. Gell preached before King Charles the first on
Ephesians 4. 10. at New-Market, in the year 1631, a bold discourse, yet
becoming him, testifying before the King that doctrine he taught to his
life's end, "the possibility, through grace, of keeping the law of God
in this life." Whoever reads these venerable Remains, will find this
doctrine inculcated in them.
Monro, who lived some time after Dr. Gell, continued the same doctrine:
So great, says he, in his just measures, is the goodness and benignity
of God, and so perfect is the justice of his nature, that he will not,
cannot command impossibilities. Whatever he requires of mankind by way
of duty, he enables them to perform it--His grace goes before and
assists their endeavours; so that when they do not comply with his
injunctions, it is because they will not employ the power that he has
given them, and which he is ready to increase and heighten, upon their
dutiful improvement of what they have already received, and their
serious application to him for more.
Again--"Though of ourselves, and without Christ, we can do nothing; yet
with him we can do all things: and then, he adds a little lower, why
should any duties frighten us, or seem impossible to us?"
Having now stated it to be the belief of the Quakers, that the spirit of
God acts as an inward redeemer to man, and that its powers are such that
it may lead him to perfection in the way explained, it remains for me to
observe, that it is their belief also, that this spirit has been given
for these purposes, without any exception, to all of the human race: or
in the same manner as it was given as an universal teacher, so it has
been given as an universal redeemer to man, and that it acts in this
capacity, and fulfils its office to all those who attend to its inward
strivings, and encourage its influence on their hearts.
That it was given to all for this purpose, they believe to be manifest
from the Apostle Paul:[56] "for the grace of God, says he, which bringeth
salvation, hath appeared unto all men." He says again,[57] that "the
Gospel was preached unto every creature which is under Heaven." He
defines the Gospel to be[58] "the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth." He means therefore that this power of inward
redemption was afforded to all. For the outward Gospel had not been
preached to all in the time of the apostle; nor has it been preached to
all even at the present day. But these passages are of universal import.
They imply no exception. They comprehend every individual of the human
race.
[Footnote 56: Titus 2.11.]
[Footnote 57: Coloss. 1.23.]
[Footnote 58: Rom. 1.16.]
That this spirit was also given to all for these purposes, the Quakers
believe, when they consider other passages in the scriptures, which
appear to them to belong to this subject. For they consider this spirit
to have begun its office as an inward redeemer[59] with the fall of the
first man, and to have continued it through the patriarchal ages to the
time of the outward Gospel, when there was to be no other inward
redemption but by the same means. Thus by the promise which was given to
Adam, there was to be perpetual enmity between the seed of the serpent
and the seed of the woman, though the latter was to vanquish, or as, the
Quakers interpret it, between the spirit of sin and the spirit of God,
that was placed in man. This promise was fully accomplished by Jesus,
(who came from the woman) after he had received immeasurably the spirit
of God, or after he had become the Christ. But the Quakers consider it
to have bean partially accomplished by many from the time of Adam; for
they believe that many, who have attended to the seed of God, or, which
is the same thing,[60] to the portion of the spirit of God within them,
have witnessed the enmity alluded to, and have bruised, in a great
degree, the power of sin within their own hearts, or have experienced in
these early times the redeeming power of the spirit of God. And except
this be the case, the Quakers conceive some of the passages, which they
suppose to relate to this subject, not to be so satisfactorily
explicable as they might be rendered. For it is said of Abraham, that he
saw Christ's day. But as Abraham died long before the visible appearance
of Christ in the flesh, he could neither have seen Christ outwardly, nor
his day. It is still affirmed that he saw Christ's day. And the Quakers
say they believe he saw him inwardly, for he witnessed in his own
spirit, which is the same thing, the redeeming power of the spirit of
God. For as the world was made by the spirit, or by the word, which is
frequently interpreted to be Christ, so these terms are synonimous, and
often used the one for the other. The Quakers therefore believe Abraham
to have experienced in a very high degree the power[61] of this inward
redemption. They believe also that Job experienced it in an
extraordinary manner. For he asserted that he knew "that his redeemer
lived." But Job could never have said this, except be had alluded to the
powerful influence within him, which had purified his heart from the
pollutions of sin. For being as early as the time of Moses, he could
never have seen any of the sacred writings which mentioned Jesus Christ
as a redeemer, or the person of Jesus Christ.
[Footnote 59: In the same manner Jesus Christ having tasted death for
every man, the sacrifice, or outward redemption, looks backwards and
forwards, as well to Adam as to those who lived after the Gospel times.]
[Footnote 60: 1 John. 3. 9. Whosoever is born of God does not commit
sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God.]
[Footnote 61: The Quakers do not deny, that Abraham might have seen
Christ prophetically, but they believe he saw him particularly in the
way described.]
The Quakers also consider David, from the numerous expressions to be
found in the Psalms, as having experienced this inward redemption also,
and in the same manner as they conceive this spirit to have striven with
Abraham, and Job, and David, so they conceive it to have striven with
others of the same nation for their inward redemption to the time of
Jesus Christ. They believe again, that it has striven with all the
Heathen nations, from the foundation of the world to the same period.
And they believe also, that it has continued its office of a redeemer to
all people, whether Jews, Heathens, or Christians, from the time of
Jesus Christ to the present day.
SECT. IV.
_Proposition of the new birth and perfection, as hitherto explained in
the ordinary way--New view of the subject from a more particular detail
of the views and expressions of the Quakers concerning it--A new
spiritual birth as real from the spiritual seed of the kingdom, as that
of plants or vegetables from their seeds in the natural world--And the
new birth proceeds really in the same progressive manner, to maturity or
perfection--Result of this new view the same as that in the former
section._
I stated in the last section that the spirit of God is considered by
the Quakers as an inward redeemer to men, and that, in this office, it
has the power of producing a new birth in them, and of leading them to
perfection in the way described. This proposition, however, I explained
only in the ordinary way. But as the Quakers have a particular way of
viewing and expressing it, and as they deem it one of the most
important of their religious propositions, I trust I shall, be excused
by the reader, if I allot one other section to this subject.
Jesus Christ states, as was said before, in the most clear and positive
terms, that [62] "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of heaven."
[Footnote 62: John 3. 3.]
Now the great work of religion is salvation or redemption. Without this
no man can see God; and therefore the meaning of the words of Jesus
Christ will be this, that, except a man be born again, he cannot
experience that inward redemption which shall enable him to see the
kingdom of heaven.
Redemption then is necessary to qualify for a participation of the
heavenly joys, and it is stated to take place by means of the new birth.
The particular ideas then, which the Quakers have relative to the new
birth and perfection, are the following. In the same manner as the
Divine Being has scattered the seeds of plants and vegetables in the
body of the earth, so he has implanted a portion of his own
incorruptible seed, or of that which, in scripture language, is called
the "Seed of the Kingdom," in the soul of every individual of the human
race. As the sun by its genial influence quickens the vegetable seed, so
it is the office of the Holy Spirit, in whom is life, and who resides in
the temple of man, to quicken that which is heavenly. And in the same
manner as the vegetable seed conceives and brings forth a plant, or a
tree with stem and branches; so if the soul, in which the seed of the
kingdom is placed, be willing to receive the influence of the Holy
Spirit upon it, this seed is quickened and a spiritual offspring is
produced. Now this offspring is as real a birth from the seed in the
soul by means of the spirit, as the plant from its own seed by means of
the influence of the sun. "The seed of the kingdom, says Isaac
Pennington, consists not in words or notions of mind, but is an inward
thing, an inward spiritual substance in the heart, as real inwardly in
its kind, as other seeds are outwardly in their kind. And being received
by faith, and taking root in man, (his heart, his earth, being ploughed
up and prepared for it,) it groweth up inwardly, as truly and really, as
any outward seed doth outwardly."
With respect to the offspring thus produced in the soul of man, it maybe
variously named. As it comes from the incorruptible seed of God, it may
be called a birth of the divine nature or life. As it comes by the
agency of the spirit, it may be called the life of the spirit. As it is
new, it may be called the new man or creature: or it may have the
appellation of a child of God: or it is that spiritual life and light,
or that spiritual, principle and power within us, which may be called
the Anointed, or Christ within.
"As this seed, says Barclay, is received in the heart and suffered to
bring forth its natural and proper effect, Christ comes to be formed and
raised, called in scripture the new man, Christ within us, the hope of
glory. Yet herein they (the Quakers) do not equal themselves with the
holy man, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom the fulness of the Godhead
dwelt bodily, neither destroy his present existence. For though they
affirm Christ dwells in them, yet not immediately, but mediately, as he
is in that seed which is in them."
Of the same opinion was the learned Cudworth. "We all, says he, receive
of his fulness grace for grace, as all the stars in heaven are said to
light their candles at the sun's flame. For though his body be withdrawn
from us, yet by the lively and virtual contact of his spirit, he is
always kindling, cheering, quickening, warming, and enlivening hearts.
Nay, this divine life begun and kindled in any heart, wheresoever it be,
is something of God in flesh, and in a sober and qualified sense,
divinity incarnate; and all particular Christians, that are really
possessed of it, are so many mystical Christs."
Again--"Never was any tender infant so dear to those bowels that begat
it, as an infant newborn Christ, formed in the heart of any true
believer, to God the Father of it."
This account relative to the new birth the Quakers conceive to be
strictly deducible from the Holy Scriptures. It is true, they conceive,
as far as the new birth relates to God and to the seed, and to the
spirit, from the following passages: [63] "Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him." [64] "Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God."
[65] "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth." It is
considered to be true again, as far as the new birth relates to the
creature born and to the name which it may bear, from these different
expressions: [66] "Of whom I travail in birth again, till Christ be
formed in you." [68] "Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me." [69] "But ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry
Abba, Father." [70] "But as many as received him, that is, the spirit or
word, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." [71] "For as many
as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." And as
parents and children resemble one another, so believers are made [72]
"conformable to the image of his son," "who is the image of the invisible
God."
[Footnote 63: 1 John 3. 9.]
[Footnote 64: 1 Peter 1. 23.]
[Footnote 65: James 1. 18.]
[Footnote 66: Gal. 4. 19.]
[Footnote 67: Gal. 2.20.]
[Footnote 68: Rom. 8.15.]
[Footnote 69: John 1. 12.]
[Footnote 70: Rom. 3. 14.]
[Footnote 71: Rom. 8. 29.]
[Footnote 72: Coloss. 1. 15.]
Having explained in what the new birth consists, or having shown,
according to Barclay, [73] "that the seed is a real spiritual
substance, which the soul of man is capable of feeling and apprehending,
from which that real spiritual inward birth arises, called the new
creature or the new man in the heart," it remains to show how believers,
or those in whose souls Christ is thus produced, may be said to grow up
to perfection; for by this real birth or geniture in them they come to
have those spiritual senses raised, by which they are made capable of
tasting, smelling, seeing, and handling, the things of God.
[Footnote 73: P. 139. Ed. 8.]
It may be observed then, that in the new birth a progress is
experienced from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood. As it is
only by submission to the operation of the spirit that this birth can
take place, so it is only by a like submission, that any progress or
growth from one stature to another will be experienced in it; neither
can the regenerated become instrumental in the redemption of others, any
farther or otherwise than as Christ or the anointing dwells and operates
in them, teaching them all truths necessary to be known, and
strengthening them to perform every act necessary to be done for this
purpose. He must be their only means and [74] "hope of glory." It will
then be that the [75] "creature which waiteth in earnest expectation for
the manifestation of the sons of God, will be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." For
[76] "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new, and all things of God."
[Footnote 74: Coloss. 1. 27.]
[Footnote 75: Rom. 8. 19, 21.]
[Footnote 76: Cor. 5. 17, 18.]
They who are the babes of the regeneration begin to see spiritual
things. The natural man, the mere creature, never saw God. But the
babes, who cry Abba, Father, begin to see and to know him. Though as yet
unskilful in the word of righteousness, [77] "they desire the sincere
milk of the word, that they may grow thereby." And [78] "their sins are
forgiven them."
[Footnote 77: 1 Pet 2. 2.]
[Footnote 78: 1 John 2. 12.]
They, who are considered as the young men in this state, are said to be
[79] "spiritually strong, and the word of God abiding in them, to have
overcome the wicked one."
[Footnote 79: 1 John 2. 14.]
They, who have attained a state of manhood, are called fathers, or are
said to be of full age, and to be capable of taking strong meat.
[80] "They come, in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto perfect men, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ. They arrive at such a state of stability, that they are no
more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine; but speaking the truth in love, grow up unto him in all
things, which is the head, even Christ." [81] "The old man with his deeds
being put off, they have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him." [82] "They are
washed, they are sanctified, they are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and in the spirit of our God." The new creation is thus
completed, and the sabbath wherein man ceases from his own works,
commences; so that every believer can then say with the apostle, [83] "I
am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
[Footnote 80: Eph. 4. 13.14.15.]
[Footnote 81: Col. 3.9.10.]
[Footnote 82: 1 Cor. 6.11.]
[Footnote 83: Gal. 2.20.]
But this state of manhood, [84] "by which the man of God may be made
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, does not take place,
until Christ be fully formed in the souls of believers, or till they are
brought wholly under his rule and government. He must be substantially
formed in them. He must actually be their life, and their hope of glory.
He must be their head and governor. As the head, and the body, and the
members are one, according to the apostle, but the head directs; so
Christ, and, believers in whom Christ is born and formed, are one
spiritual body, which he himself must direct also. Thus Christ, where he
is fully formed in man, or where believers are grown up to the measure
of the stature and fulness of sonship, is the head of every man, and God
is the head of Christ. Thus Christ the begotten entirely governs the
whole man, as the head directs and governs all the members of the body;
and God the Father, as the head of Christ, entirely guides and governs
the begotten. Hence, believers [85] 'are Christ's, and Christ is God's;'
so that ultimately God is all in all."
[Footnote 84: 2 Tim. 9.17.]
[Footnote 85: Cor. 9.23.]
Having given this new view of the subject, I shall only observe farther
upon it, that the substance of this chapter turns out to be the same as
that of the preceding, or according to the notions of the Quakers, that
inward redemption cannot be effected but through the medium of the
spirit of God. For Christ, according to the ideas now held out, must be
formed in man, and he must rule them before they can experience full
inward redemption; or, in other words, they cannot experience this
inward redemption, except they can truly say that he governs them, or
except they can truly call him Governor, or Lord. But no person can say
that Christ rules in him, except he undergoes the spiritual process of
regeneration which has been described, or to use the words of the
Apostle, [86] "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Spirit.[87]"
[Footnote 86: 1 Cor. 12.6]
[Footnote 87: The reader will easily discern from this new view of the
new birth, how men, according to the Quakers, become partakers of the
divine nature, and how the Quakers make it out, that Abraham and others
saw Christ's day, as I mentioned in a former chapter.]
CHAP. VIII.
SECT. I.
_Quakers believe from the foregoing accounts, that redemption is
possible to all--Hence they deny the doctrine of election and
reprobation--do not deny the texts on which it is founded, but the
interpretation of them--as contrary to the doctrines of Jesus Christ and
the Apostles--as making his mission unnecessary--as rendering many
precepts useless--and as casting a stain on the character and attributes
of God._
It will appear from the foregoing observations, that it Is the belief of
the Quakers, that every man has the power of inward redemption within
himself, who attends to the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and that as
outward redemption by the sufferings of Jesus Christ extends to all,
where the inward has taken place, so redemption or salvation, in its
full extent, is possible to every individual of the human race.
This position, however, is denied by those Christians, who have
pronounced in favour of the doctrine of election and reprobation;
because, if they believe some predestined from all eternity to eternal
happiness, and the rest to eternal misery, they must then believe that
salvation is not possible to all, and that it was not intended to be
universal.
The Quakers have attempted to answer the objections, which have been
thus made to their theory of redemption; and as the reader will probably
expect that I should notice what they have said upon this subject, I
have reserved the answers they have given for the present place.
The Quakers do not deny the genuineness of any of those texts, which are
usually advanced against them. Of all people, they fly the least to the
cover of interpolation or mutilation of scripture to shield themselves
from the strokes of their opponents. They believe, however, that there
are passages in the sacred writings, which will admit of an
interpretation different from that which has been assigned them by many,
and upon this they principally rely in the present case. If there are
passages, to which two meanings may be annexed, and if for one there is
equal authority as for the other, yet if one meaning should destroy all
the most glorious attributes of the supreme being, and the other should
preserve them as recognized in the other parts of the scripture, they
think they are bound to receive that which favours the justice, mercy,
and wisdom of God, rather than that which makes him appear both unjust
and cruel.
The Quakers believe, that some Christians have misunderstood the texts
which they quote in favour of the doctrine of election and reprobation,
for the following reasons:--
First, because if God had from all eternity predestinated some to
eternal happiness, and the rest to eternal misery, the mission of Jesus
Christ upon earth became unnecessary, and his mediation ineffectual.
If this again had been a fundamental doctrine of Christianity, it never
could have been overlooked, (considering that it is of more importance
to men than any other) by the founder of that religion. But he never
delivered any words in the course of his ministry, from whence any
reasonable conclusion could be drawn, that such a doctrine formed any
part of the creed which he intended to establish among men. His doctrine
was that of mercy, tenderness, and love; in which he inculcated the
power and efficacy of repentance, and declared there was more joy in
Heaven over one sinner that repented, than over ninety-nine just persons
who needed no repentance.
By the parable of the sower, which the Quakers consider to relate wholly
to the word or spirit of God, it appears that persons of all description
were visited equally for their salvation; and that their salvation
depended much upon themselves; and that where obstacles arose, they
arose from themselves also, by allowing temptations, persecutions, and
the cares of the world, to overcome them. In short, the Quakers believe,
that the doctrine of election and reprobation is contrary to the whole
tenour of the doctrines promulgated by Jesus Christ.