,transcriber's note3 ,page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces1 e4g4 #ii4 ,they have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book4 ,,spiritual ,,reformers ,,in ,,the #af,,th #ag,,th ,,centuries by ,,rufus ,m4 ,,jones1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,litt4 ,professor ,of ,philosophy1 ,haverford ,college1 ,u4,s4,a4 ,mac,millan and ,co41 ,limited ,st4 ,martin's ,street1 ,london #aiad ,copyright ,,other ,,volumes ,,in ,,this ,,series ,,edited ,by ,,rufus ,m4 ,,jones ,,studies ,,in ,,mystical ,,religion4 7#aijh47 ,by ,rufus ,m4 ,jones4 ,,the ,,quakers ,,in ,,the ,,american ,,colonies4 7#aiaa74 ,by ,rufus ,m4 ,jones1 assisted by ,isaac ,sharpless and ,amelia ,m4 ,gummere4 ,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,quakerism4 7#aiab47 ,by ,william ,charles ,braithwaite4 ,,the ,,second ,,period ,,of ,,quakerism4 7,in preparation47 ,by ,william ,charles ,braithwaite4 ,,the ,,later ,,periods ,,of ,,quakerism4 7,in preparation47 ,by ,rufus ,m4 ,jones4 v ,,preface ,in my ,quakers in the ,american ,colonies ,i announced the preparation of a volume to be devoted mainly to ,jacob ,boehme and his influence4 ,i soon found1 however1 as my work of research proceeded1 that ,boehme was no isolated prophet who discovered in solitude a fresh way of approach to the supreme problems of the soul4 ,i came upon very clear evidence that he was an organic part of a far-reaching and significant historical movement--a movement which consciously aimed1 throughout its long period of travail1 to carry the ,reformation to its legitimate terminus1 the restoration of apostolic ,christianity4 ,the men who originated the movement1 so far as anything historical can be said to be originated1 were often scornfully called ,spirituals by their opponents1 while they thought of themselves as divinely commissioned and ,spirit-guided ,reformers1 so that ,i have with good right named them ,spiritual ,reformers4 ,i have had two purposes in view in these studies4 ,one purpose was the tracing of a religious movement1 profoundly interesting in itself1 as a great side current of the ,reformation4 ,the other purpose was the discovery of the background and environment of seventeenth century ,quakerism4 ,there can be little doubt1 ,i think1 that ,i have here found at least one of the great historical sources of the ,quaker movement4 ,this volume1 together with my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion1 will at any rate vi furnish convincing evidence that the ideas1 aims1 experiences1 practices1 and aspirations of the early ,quakers were the fruit of long spiritual preparation4 ,this movement1 as a whole1 has never been studied before1 and my work has been beset with difficulties4 ,i have been aided by helpful monographs on individual ,reformers1 written mainly by ,german and ,french scholars1 who have been duly credited at the proper places1 but for the most part my material has been drawn from original sources4 ,i am under much obligation to my friend1 ,theodor ,sippell of ,schweinsberg1 ,germany4 ,i am glad to announce that he is preparing a critical historical study on ,john ,everard and the ,ranters1 which will throw important light on the religious ideas of the ,english ,commonwealth4 ,he has read my proofs1 and has1 throughout my period of research1 given me the benefit of his extensive knowledge of this historical field4 ,i wish to express my appreciation of the courtesy and kindness which ,i have received from the officials of the ,university ,library at ,marburg4 ,william ,charles ,braithwaite of ,banbury1 ,england1 has given me valuable help4 ,my wife has assisted me in all my work of research4 ,she has read and re-read the proofs1 made the ,index1 and given me an immense amount of patient help4 ,i cannot close this ,preface without again referring to the inspiration of my invisible friend1 ,john ,wilhelm ,rowntree1 in whose memory this series was undertaken4 ,,haverford1 ,,pennsylvania1 ,january #aiad4 vii ,,contents ,,page ,,introduction ,,what ,,is ,,spiritual ,,religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 xi ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,main ,,current ,,of ,,the ,,reformation 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #a ,,chapter ,,ii ,,hans ,,denck ,,and ,,the ,,inward ,,word 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ag ,,chapter ,,iii ,,two ,,prophets ,,of ,,the ,,inward ,,word3 ,b,ue,n,d,e,r,l,i,n ,,and ,,entfelder #ca ,,chapter ,,iv ,,sebastian ,,franck3 ,,an ,,apostle ,,of ,,inward ,,religion 4 4 4 4 4 #df ,,chapter ,v ,,caspar ,,schwenckfeld ,,and ,,the ,,reformation ,,of ,,the ,,middle ,,way #fd ,,chapter ,,vi ,,sebastian ,,castellio3 ,a ,,forgotten ,,prophet 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #hh viii ,,chapter ,,vii ,,coornhert ,,and ,,the ,,collegiants--,a ,,movement ,,for ,,spiritual ,,religion ,,in ,,holland 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ajd ,,chapter ,,viii ,,valentine ,,weigel ,,and ,,nature ,,mysticism 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #acc ,,chapter ,,ix ,,jacob ,,boehme3 ,,his ,,life ,,and ,,spirit 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #aea ,,chapter ,x ,,boehme',s ,,universe 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #agb ,,chapter ,,xi ,,jacob ,,boehme',s ,,way ,,of ,,salvation 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #aij ,,chapter ,,xii ,,jacob ,,boehme',s ,,influence ,,in ,,england 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bjh ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,early ,,english ,,interpreters ,,of ,,spiritual ,,religion3 ,,john ,,everard1 ,,giles ,,randall1 ,,and ,,others 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bce ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,spiritual ,,religion ,,in ,,high ,,places--,,rous1 ,,vane1 ,,and ,,sterry #bff ix ,,chapter ,,xv ,,benjamin ,,whichcote1 ,,the ,,first ,,of ,,the ,,latitude-,,men 4 4 4 #bhh ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,john ,,smith1 ,,platonist--,,an ,,interpreter ,,of ,,the ,,spirit 4 4 #cje ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,thomas ,,traherne ,,and ,,the ,,spiritual ,,poets ,,of ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cbj ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,conclusion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ccf ,,index 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #cea x ,within thy sheltering darkness spin the spheres2 ,within the shaded hollow of thy wings4 ,the life of things1 ,the changeless pivot of the passing years-- ,these in thy bosom lie4 ,restless we seek thy being2 to and fro ,upon our little twisting earth we go3 ,we cry1 ,lo1 there6 ,when some new avatar thy glory does declare1 ,when some new prophet of thy friendship sings1 ,and in his tracks we run ,like an enchanted child1 that hastes to catch the sun4 ,and shall the soul thereby ,unto the ,all draw nigh8 ,shall it avail to plumb the mystic deeps ,of flowery beauty1 scale the icy steeps ,of perilous thought1 thy hidden ,face to find1 ,or tread the starry paths to the utmost verge of the sky8 ,nay1 groping dull and blind ,within the sheltering dimness of thy wings-- ,shade that their splendour flings ,athwart ,eternity-- ,we1 out of age-long wandering1 but come ,back to our ,father's heart1 where now we are at home4 ,,evelyn ,,underhill in ,immanence1 p4 #hb4 xi ,,introduction ,,what ,,is ,,spiritual ,,religion ,i ,there is no magic in words1 though1 it must be confessed1 they often exercise a psychological influence so profound and far-reaching that they seem to possess a miracle-working efficacy4 ,some persons live all their lives under the suggestive spell of certain words1 and it sometimes happens that an entire epoch is more or less dominated by the mysterious fascination of a sacred word1 which needs only to be spoken on the house-top to set hearts beating and legs marching4 ,spiritual has always been one of these wonder-working words4 ,st4 ,paul1 in ,christian circles1 was the first to give the word its unique value4 ,for him it named a new order of life and a new level of being4 ,in his thought1 a deep cleavage runs through the human race and divides it into two sharply-sundered classes1 psychical men and pneumatical men--men who live according to nature1 and men who live by the life of the ,spirit4 ,the former class1 that is psychical men1 are of the earth earthy2 they are1 as we should say to-day1 empirical1 parts of a vast nature-system1 doomed1 as is the entire system1 to constant flux and mutability and eventually to irretrievable wreck and ruin2 the natural1 psychical1 corruptible man cannot inherit incorruption4#a ,on the other hand1 the pneumatical or spiritual man xii puts on incorruption and immortality4 ,he is a member of a new order2 he is heavenly1 a creation not made with hands1 but wrought out of the substance of the spiritual world1 and furnished with the inherent capacity of eternal duration1 so that mortality is swallowed up of life4#b ,this word1 thus made sacred by ,st4 ,paul's great use of it to designate the new race of the saved1 was made the bearer in the ,johannine writings of a no less exalted message1 which has become a living and indissoluble part of the religious consciousness of the ,christian world4 ,eternal life--or1 what in these writings is the same thing1 life--comes through the reception of the ,spirit1 in a birth from above4 ,that which is born of the flesh is flesh1 and that which is born of the ,spirit is ,spirit4#c ,when the ,spirit comes as the initiator of this abundant life1 then we know that we abide in ,him and ,he in us1 because ,he hath given us of ,his ,spirit1 and it becomes possible for the ,spirit-led person to be guided into all the truth1 to love even as ,he loved1 and to overcome the world4#d ,here1 again1 the human race is divided into those who have received of the ,spirit1 and those who have not so received2 those who are born from above and those who have had only a natural birth2 the twice-born and the once-born2 those who are of the ,spirit1 i4e4 spiritual1 and those who are of this world1 i4e4 empirical4 ,the ,gnostic ,sects of the second century had one common link and badge2 they all proposed a way1 often bizarre and strange-sounding to modern ears1 by which the soul1 astray1 lost1 encumbered1 or imprisoned in matter1 might attain its freedom and become spiritual4 ,most of the ,gnostic teachers1 who in their flourishing time were as thick as thistle-downs in summer1 conceived of man as consisting of two halves which corresponded with two totally different world-orders4 ,there was in man1 or there belonged to man 7#a7 a visible body1 which xiii was again dichotomized1 and believed to be composed1 according to many of the ,gnostics1 of a subtle element like that of which they supposed ,adam in his unfallen state was made1 which they named the hylic body1 and a sheath of gross earthly matter which they called the choical body4#e ,there was also 7#b7 another1 invisible1 half1 generally divided into lower and higher stories4 ,the lower story1 the psychical1 was created or furnished by the ,demiurge1 or sub-divine creator of the natural system1 while the top-story1 or pneumatical self1 was a spiritual seed derived from the supreme spiritual ,origin1 the ,divine ,pleroma1 the ,fulness of the ,godhead4 ,those who possessed this spiritual seed were the elect1 the saved1 who eventually1 stripped of their sheath of matter and their psychical dwelling1 would be able to pass all the keepers of the way1 and rise to the pure spiritual life4 ,the ,montanists launched in the second century a movement1 borne along on a mountain-wave of enthusiasm1 for a spiritual ,church composed only of spiritual persons4 ,they called themselves the ,spirituals1 and they insisted that the age or dispensation of the ,spirit had now come4 ,the ,church1 rigidly organized with its ordained officials1 its external machinery1 and its accumulated traditions1 was to them part of an old and outworn system to be left behind4 ,in the place of it was to come a new order of spiritual people of whom the ,montanist prophets were the first fruits1--a new and peculiar people1 born from above1 recipients of a divine energizing power1 partakers in the life of the ,spirit and capable of being guided on by progressive revelations into all the truth4 ,to be spiritual in their vocabulary meant to be a participator in the ,life of ,god1 and to be a living member of a group that was led and guided by a continuously self-revealing ,spirit4 ,this ,spirit was conceived1 however1 not as immanent and resident1 not as the xiv indwelling and permeative ,life of the human spirit1 but as foreign and remote1 and ,he was thought of as coming in sporadic visitations to whom ,he would1 ,his coming being indicated in extraordinary and charismatic manifestations4 ,this type of spiritual religion1 though eventually stamped out in the particular form of ,montanism1 reappeared again and again1 with peculiar local and temporal variations1 in the history of ,christianity4#f ,to the bearers of it1 the historic ,church1 with its crystallized system and its vast machinery1 always seemed unspiritual and traditional4 ,they believed1 each time the movement appeared1 that they had found the way to more abundant life1 that the ,spirit had come upon them in a special manner1 and was through them inaugurating a higher order of ,christianity1 and they always felt that their religion of direct experience1 of invading energy1 of inspirational insights1 of charismatic bestowals1 and of profound emotional fervour was distinctly spiritual1 as contrasted with the historic ,church which claimed indeed a divine origin and divine deposits1 but which1 as they believed1 lacked the continuous and progressive leadership of the ,spirit4 ,they were always very certain that their religion was characteristically spiritual1 and all other forms seemed to them cold1 formal1 or dead4 ,in their estimates1 men were still divided into spiritual persons and psychical persons--those who lived by the heart and those who lived by the head4 ,parallel with the main current of the ,protestant ,reformation1 a new type of spiritual religion appeared and continued to manifest itself with mutations and developments1 throughout the entire ,reformation era1 with a wealth of results which are still operative in the life of the modern world4 ,the period of this new birth was a time of profound transition and ferment1 and a bewildering variety of roads was tried to spiritual ,canaans and new ,jerusalems1 then fondly believed to xv be near at hand4 ,it is a long-standing tragedy of history that the right wing of a revolutionary or transforming movement must always suffer for the unwisdom and lack of balance of those who constitute the left1 or extreme radical1 wing of the movement4 ,so it happened here4 ,the nobler leaders and the saner spirits were taken in the mass with those of an opposite character1 and were grouped under comprehensive labels of reproach and scorn1 such as ,antinomians1 ,enthusiasts1 or ,anabaptists1 and in consequence still remain largely neglected and forgotten4 ,the men who initiated and guided this significant undertaking--the exhibition in the world of what they persistently called spiritual religion--were influenced by three great historic tendencies1 all three of which were harmoniously united in their type of ,christianity4 ,they were the ,mystical tendency1 the ,humanistic or ,rational tendency1 and the distinctive ,faith-tendency of the ,reformation4 ,these three strands are indissolubly woven together in this type of so-called spiritual ,religion4 ,it was an impressive attempt1 whether completely successful or not1 to widen the sphere and scope of religion1 to carry it into the whole of life1 to ground it in the very nature of the human spirit1 and to demonstrate that to be a man1 possessed of full life and complete health1 is to be religious1 to be spiritual4 ,i propose1 as a preliminary preparation for differentiating this special type of spiritual religion1 to undertake a study1 as brief as possible1 of these three underlying and fundamental strands or tendencies in religion which will1 of course1 involve some consideration of the inherent nature of religion itself4 ,for my present purpose it is not necessary to study the twilight history of religion in primitive races nor to trace its origins in the cradle-stage of human life4 ,anthropologists are rendering a valuable service in their attempts to explore the baffling region of primitive man's mind1 and they have hit upon some very suggestive clues1 though so far only tentative ones1 to the psychological experiences and attitudes which set man's feet on the xvi momentous religious trail4 ,at every stage of its long and devious history1 religion has been some sort of life-adjustment to realities which were felt to be of supreme importance either to the individual or to the race1 and it becomes thus possible for the scientific observer to note a developmental process and to discover a principle which links it in with a universal scheme of evolution4 ,but religion can never be adequately treated either in terms of racial origins or of biological history1 though there can be no doubt whatever that there are genetic and biological factors to be considered4 ,nor1 again1 can religion be adequately and exhaustively dealt with by the psychological method of investigation4 ,the psychological studies of religion in recent years have greatly enriched our knowledge of the range and scope and power of man's psychic nature and functions1 of his instincts1 desires1 valuations1 needs1 yearnings1 beliefs1 and modes of activity and behaviour1 and particularly of the important influence which the social group has exercised and still exercises in the furtherance of religious attitudes and ideals4 ,but the psychological method has obvious and inherent limitations4 ,like any other natural science1 psychology is limited to description and causal explanation of the phenomena of its special field1 which in this case is states of consciousness4 ,it does not pretend1 or even aspire1 to pronounce upon the ultimate nature of consciousness1 nor upon the moral significance of personality4 ,psychology is as empirical as any other science4 ,it modestly confines its scope of research to what appears in finite and describable forms4 ,it possesses no ladder by which it can transcend the empirical order1 the fact-level4 ,the religion which the psychologist reports upon is necessarily stripped of all transcendental and objective reference4 ,its wings are severely clipped4 ,it is only one of man's multitudinous reactions in the presence of the facts of his time and space world4 ,it is nakedly subjective and works1 not because there is ,something or ,some ,one beyond1 which answers it1 and corresponds with its up-reach1 but only xvii because undivided faith-attitudes always liberate within the field of consciousness energy for life-activity4 ,we need not blame the psychologist for this radical reduction of the age-long pretensions of religion4 ,if he is to bring religion over into the purview of the scientific field1 he can do nothing else but reduce it4 ,science can admit into its world nothing that successfully defies descriptive treatment4 ,the poet may know of flowers which can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears1 but science discovers no such flowers in its field4 ,its flowers are amazingly complex1 but they call for no handkerchief4 ,they are merely aggregations of describable parts1 each of which has well-defined functions4 ,the man whom science studies is complicated almost beyond belief4 ,he is an aggregation of trillions of cells4 ,he is such a centre of vibrations that a cyclone is almost a calm compared to the constant cyclic storms within the area of man's corporeal system4 ,his mental states have their entries and exits before the foot-lights of consciousness and exhibit a drama more intricate than any which human genius has conceived4 ,but each state is a definite1 more or less describable1 fact or phenomenon4 ,for science1 man's inner life1 as well as his corporeal bulk1 is an aggregate of empirical items4 ,no loophole is left for freedom--that is for any novel undetermined event4 ,no shekinah remains within for a mysterious conscience to inject into this fact-world insights drawn from a higher world of noumenal1 or absolute1 reality4 ,man is merely a part of the naturalistic order1 and has no way of getting out of the vast net in which science catches and holds all that is4 ,there is1 ,i repeat1 no ground for blaming the psychologist for making these reductions4 ,his science can deal only with an order of facts which will conform to the scientific method1 for wherever science invades a field1 it ignores or eliminates every aspect of novelty or mystery or wonder1 every aspect of reality which cannot be brought under scientific categories1 i4e4 every aspect which cannot be treated quantitatively and causally and xviii arranged in a congeries of interrelated facts occurring according to natural laws4 ,the only cogent criticism is that any psychologist should suppose that his scientific account is the last word to be spoken1 that his reports contain all the returns that can be expected1 or that this method is the only way of approach to truth and reality4 ,such claims to the rights of eminent domain and such dogmatic assertions of exclusive finality always reveal the blind spot in the scientist's vision4 ,he sees steadily but he does not see wholes4 ,he is of necessity dealing with a reduced and simplified nature which he constantly tends to substitute for the vastly richer whole of reality that boils over and inundates the fragment which submits to his categories4 ,we do well to gather in every available fact which biology or anthropology or psychology can give us that throws light on human behaviour1 or on primitive cults1 or on the richer subjective and social religious functions of full-grown men4 ,but the interior insight got from religion itself1 the rich wholeness of religious experience1 the discovery within us of an inner nature which defies description and baffles all plumb-lines1 and which can draw out of itself more than it contains1 indicate that we here have dealings with a type of reality which demands for adequate treatment other methods of comprehension than those available to science4 ,in the old ,norse stories1 ,thor tried to empty the famous drinking-horn in the games of ,utgard1 but to his surprise he found that1 though the horn looked small1 he could not empty it1 for it turned out that the horn was immersed in the limitless and bottomless ocean4 ,again he tried to lift a small and insignificant-looking animal1 but1 labour as he might1 he could not lift it1 for it was grown into1 and was organic with1 the whole world1 and could not be raised without raising the very ground on which the lifter stood6 ,somewhat so1 the reality of religion is so completely bound up with the whole personal life of man and with his conjunct life in the social group and in the world of nature2 it is1 in short1 so much an xix affair of man's whole of experience1 of his spirit in its undivided and synthetic aspects1 that it can never be adequately dealt with by the analytic and descriptive method of this wonderful new god of science1 however big with results that method may be4 ,the interior insight1 the appreciation of religion1 the rich and concrete whole of religious consciousness1 is1 and will always remain1 the primary way to the secret of religion--religion in its first intention--as the experience of time-duration is the only possible way to the elemental meaning of time4 ,it has in recent years in many quarters become the fashion to call this interior insight1 this appreciation of religion from within1 mysticism2 and to assume that here in mysticism we come upon the very essence of religion4 ,this conclusion1 however1 is as narrow and as unwarranted as is the truncation of religion at the hands of science4 ,the mystical element in religion is only one element in a vastly richer complex1 and it must not be given undue emphasis and imperial sway in the appreciation of the complete whole of spiritual religion4 ,we must1 too1 carefully discriminate mystical experience from the elaborate body of doctrines and theories1 historically known as mysticism1 which is as much an ism as are the other typical1 partial1 and more or less abstract formulations of religion4 ,mysticism for the mystic himself is characterized by a personal experience through which the ordinary limitations of life and the passionate pursuits of the soul are transcended1 and a self-evident conviction is attained that he is in communion1 or even in union1 with some self-transcending ,reality that absolutely satisfies and is what he has always sought4 ,this is ,he1 this is ,he1 the mystic exclaims3 ,there is no other3 ,this is ,he whom ,i have waited for and sought after from my childhood6#g ,the experience is further characterized by the inrush xx of new energies as though a mysterious door had been pushed open--either out or in--admitting the human spirit to wider sources of life4 ,fresh bubblings from the eternal streams of ,life flowing into the soul is the way the recipient often describes it4 ,all the deep-lying powers of the inward self1 usually so divergent and conflicting--the foreground purposes defeated by background inhibitions1 and by doubts on the border1--become liberated and unified into one conscious life which is not merely intellectual1 nor merely volitional1 nor solely emotional1 but an undivided whole of experience1 intensely joyous1 enriched with insight and pregnant with deeds of action4 ,as in lofty experiences of appreciation of beauty1 or of music1 or when the chords of life are swept by a great love1 or by a momentous moral issue1 the spirit rises in mystical experience to a form of consciousness which no longer marks clock-time and succession of events1 whether outward or inward4 ,it may afterwards take hours or days or weeks or even years to spread out and review and apprehend and adjust to the experience--the opening1 to use ,george ,fox's impressive word--but while it is there it is held in one unbroken synthetic time-span4 ,it is1 to revive a scholastic phrase1 a totum simul1 an all-at-once experience1 in which parts1 however many1 make one integral whole1 as in a melody or in a work of art2 so that the mystic has a real experience of what we try to express by the word ,eternity4 ,it feels as though the usual insulations of our own narrow personal life were suddenly broken through and we were in actual contact with an enfolding presence1 life-giving1 joy-bringing1 and light-supplying4 ,in instances where the intensity is great1 unusual psychological phenomena appear4 ,sometimes voices are heard1 or sounds like a mighty rushing wind2 sometimes there are automatic visions of light1 or of forms or figures1 as1 for instance1 of ,christ1 or of a cross2 sometimes automatic writing or speaking attends the experience2 sometimes there are profound body-changes of a temporary1 or even permanent character2 sometimes there xxi is a state of swoon or ecstacy1 lasting from a few seconds to entire days4 ,these physical phenomena1 however1 are as spiritually unimportant and as devoid of religious significance as are the normal bodily resonances and reverberations which accompany1 in milder degrees1 all our psychic processes4 ,they indicate no high rank of sainthood and they prove no miracle-working power4 ,the significant features of the experience are the consciousness of fresh springs of life1 the release of new energies1 the inner integration and unification of personality1 the inauguration of a sense of mission1 the flooding of the life with hope and gladness1 and the conviction1 amounting in the mind of the recipient to certainty1 that ,god is found as an environing and vitalizing presence--as the recipient already quoted reports his conviction3 ,i have met with my ,god2 ,i have met with my ,saviour4 ,i have felt the healings drop upon my soul from under ,his wings4#h ,if everybody had experiences of that sort there would be no more doubt of the existence of an actual spiritual environment in vitalizing contact with the human spirit than there now is of an external world with which we correspond4 ,there is a priori no reason against the reality of such an inner spiritual universe4 ,it is precisely as conceivable that constructive and illuminating influences should stream into our inner selves from that central ,light with which our inmost self is allied1 as that objects in space and time should bombard us with messages adapted to our senses4 ,the difference is that we all experience the outer environment and only a few of us experience the inner4 ,the mystic himself has no doubt--he sees1 but he cannot give quite his certainty of vision to any one else4 ,he cannot1 like the weird sisters of ,greek story1 lend out his eye for others to see with4 ,he can only talk about1 or write about1 what he has seen1 and his words are often words of little meaning to those who lack the vision4 xxii ,,ii ,but the very characteristics of mystical religion which give it its self-evidence and power at the same time mark limits to its scope and range4 ,it is and must be primarily and essentially first-hand experience1 and yet it is an experience that is by no means universal4 ,it is not1 so far as we can see from the facts at hand1 an experience which attaches to the very nature of consciousness as such1 or indeed one which is bound to occur even when the human subject strains forward all the energies of his will for the adventure1 or when by strict obedience to the highest laws of life known to him he waits for the high visitation4 ,some aspect is involved over which the will has no control4 ,some other factor is implied besides the passion and the purity of the seeking soul4 ,the experience comes1 as an inrush1 as an emergence from the deeper levels of the inner life1 but the glad recipient does not know how he secured the prize or how to repeat the experience1 or how to tell his friend the way to these master moments of blessedness4 ,there are numerous persons who are as serious and earnest and passionate as the loftiest mystical saint1 and who1 in spite of all their listening for the inner flow of things1 discover no inrushes1 feel no invasions1 are aware of no environing ,companion1 do not even feel a ,more of ,consciousness conterminous and continuous with their own4 ,their inner life appears impervious to divine bubblings4 ,the only visitants that pass over the threshold of their consciousness are their own mental states1 now bright and clear1 now dim and strange1 but all bearing the brand and mark of temporal origin4 ,this type of experience must not1 therefore1 be insisted on as the only way to ,god or to the soul's homeland4 ,spiritual religion must not be put to the hazard of conditions that limit its universality and restrict it to a chosen few4 ,to insist on mystical experience as the only path to religion would involve an election no less inscrutable and xxiii pitiless than that of the ,calvinistic system--an election settled for each person by the peculiar psychic structure of his inner self4#i ,there is another limitation which must always attach to religion of the purely mystical type4 ,in so far as it is an experience of the inward type1 it is indescribable and incommunicable4 ,that does not mean or imply any lessened value in the experience itself1 it only means that it is very difficult to mint it into the universal coinage of the world4 ,the recovery of faith1 after some catastrophic bankruptcy of spiritual values1 as with ,job or ,dante or ,faust1 cannot be described in analytic steps4 ,the loss of faith in the rationality of the universe1 the collapse of the beautiful world within1 can be told step by step2 the process of integration and reconstruction1 on the other hand1 always remains somewhat of a mystery1 though it is plain enough that a new and richer inner world has been found4 ,so1 too1 with ,mysticism4 ,the experience itself may1 and often does1 bring to the recipient an indubitable certainty of spiritual realities1 revealing themselves within his own spirit1 and1 furthermore1 it is often productive of permanent life-results1 such as augmented conviction1 heightened tone of joy1 increased unification of personality1 intense moral passion and larger conquering power1 but he1 nevertheless1 finds it a baffling matter to draw from his mystical experience concrete information about the nature and character of ,god1 or to supply1 from the experience alone1 definite contributions that can become part of the common spiritual inheritance of the race4 ,the soul ,remembering how she felt1 but what she felt ,remembering not1 retains an obscure sense ,of possible sublimity4#aj xxiv ,there can be1 ,i think1 no doubt that the persons whom we call mystics have enormously added to the richness of our conception of ,god1 or that they have made impressive contributions to the capital stock of our religious knowledge4 ,but ,i question whether these increments of knowledge can be fairly traced to information which has entered the world through the secret door of mystical openings4 ,the conception of ,god by which we live1 and our knowledge of eternal life1 are in the main not formed of the material which has mysteriously dropped into the world by means of sudden incursions1 or oracular communications through persons of extraordinary psychical disposition4 ,what we get from the mystic1 or from the prophet1 is not his experience but his interpretation1 and as soon as he begins to interpret1 he does so by means of the group-material which the race has gathered in its corporate experience through the ages4 ,the valuable content of his message1 so far as he succeeds in delivering one1 the ideas with which his words are freighted1 bear the marks of the slow accumulations of spiritual experience1 and they reveal the rich and penetrative influence of the social group in which the mystic's inner life formed and ripened4 ,they have a history as all ideas do4 ,the real fact of the matter is1 that the great mystics are religious geniuses4 ,they make their contribution to religion in ways similar to those in which the geniuses in other fields raise the level of human attainments and achievements4 ,they swiftly seize upon and appreciate the specific achievements of the race behind them2 they are profoundly sensitive to the aspirations of their time and to the deep-lying currents of their age2 they are suggestible in an acute degree1 through heightened interest1 to certain ideas or truths or principles which they synthesise by such leaps of insight that slow-footed logic seems to be transcended4 ,then these unifying and intensifying experiences to which they are subject give them irresistible conviction1 a surge of certainty1 a faith of the mountain-moving order1 and an increasing xxv dynamic of life which1 in the best cases1 is manifest in thoughts and words and deeds4 ,their mystical experience seldom supplies them with a new intellectual content which they communicate1 but their experience enables them rather to see what they know1 to get possession of themselves1 and to fuse their truth with the heat of conviction4 ,the mystical experience is thus a way of heightening life and of increasing its dynamic quality rather than a way to new knowledge4 ,the negative way1 which has been such a prominent and prevailing characteristic of historical mysticism that many writers have made it the distinct and sufficient differentia of mysticism1 has often produced intensity and depth1 but it is1 nevertheless1 a mark of the limitation of this type of religion4 ,the indescribable and undifferentiated character of mystical experience is no doubt partly responsible for the emphatic place which negation has held in mysticism4 ,the experience itself1 which seems like a flight of the alone to the ,alone1 can be told in no words except those of negation4 ,the mortal limit of the self seems loosed1 and the soul seems merged into that which it forever seeks but which having found it cannot utter4 ,but the type of metaphysics through which most of the great mystics of history have done their thinking and have made their formulations is still further responsible for the excessive negativity of their systems4 ,there is1 of course1 a negative element or aspect in all genuine religion4 ,no person can grow rich in spiritual experience or can gain an intimate acquaintance with a ,god of purity and truth without negating the easy ways of instinct1 the low pursuits of life which end in self1 the habits of thought and action which limit and hamper the realization of the diviner possibilities of the whole nature4 ,sometimes the eye that hinders must be plucked out or the right hand cut off and thrust away for the sake of a freer pursuit of the soul's kingdom4 ,there is1 too1 a still deeper principle of negativity involved in the very fibre of personal life itself4 ,no one can advance without xxvi surrender1 no one can have gains without losses1 no one can reach great goals without giving up many things in themselves desirable4 ,there is a rivalry of me's which no person can ever escape1 for in order to choose and achieve one typical self another possible self must be sternly sacrificed4 ,in a very real sense it remains forever true that we must die to live1 we must die to the narrow self in order to be raised to the wider and richer self4 ,but the negative way of mysticism is more rigorous and more thorough in its negation than that4 ,its negations wind up the hill all the way to the very top4 ,even the self must be absolutely negated4 ,the self1 the ,i1 the me and the like1 all belong to the evil spirit4 ,the whole matter can be set forth in these words3 ,be simply and wholly bereft of self4 ,the ,i1 the me1 and the mine1 nature1 selfhood1 the ,devil1 sin1 are all one and the same thing4#aa ,not only so1 but all desire for any particular thing1 or any particular experience must be utterly extirpated4 ,whatever ,good the creature as creature can conceive of and understand is something this or that1 and therefore not the ,one ,real ,good4#ab ,so long as thy soul has an image1 it is without simplicity1 and so long as it is without simplicity it doth not rightly love ,god4#ac ,divine love can brook no rival4 ,he who seeks ,god must rid himself of all that pertains to the creature4 ,he that would find the absolute ,good must withdraw not only beyond all his senses1 but beyond all desires1 into an inner solitude where no word is spoken1 where is neither creature nor image nor fancy4 ,everything depends1 ,tauler counsels us1 upon a fathomless sinking into a fathomless nothingness4 4 4 4 ,god has really no place to work in but the ground where all has been annihilated4 4 4 4 ,then when all forms have ceased1 in the twinkling of an eye1 the man is transformed4 4 4 4 ,thou must sink into the unknown and unnamed abyss1 and above all ways1 images1 forms1 and above all powers1 xxvii lose thyself1 deny thyself1 and even unform thyself4#ad ,the moment the will focusses upon any concrete aim as its goal1 it must thereby miss that ,good which is above and beyond all particular things that can be conceived or named4 ,but the negative way winds up farther still4 ,it ends in the absolutely negative ,silent ,desert of ,godhead where no one is at home4 ,its way up is the way of abstraction and withdrawal from everything finite4 ,he whom the soul seeks cannot be found in anything here or now2 ,he must be yonder4 ,it is by no means permitted1 says one of the great experts in negation1 to speak or even to think anything concerning the super-essential and hidden ,deity4 4 4 4 ,it is a ,unity above mind1 a ,one above conception and inconceivable to all conceptions1 a ,good unutterable by word4#ae ,thou must love ,god1 ,eckhart says1 as not-,god1 not-,spirit1 not-person1 not-image1 but as ,he is1 a sheer1 pure1 absolute ,one1 sundered from all two-ness and in whom we must eternally sink from nothingness to nothingness4#af ,god1 the ,godhead1 is thus the absolute ,dark1 the nameless ,nothing1 an empty ,god1 a characterless ,infinite4 ,why dost thou prate of ,god1 ,eckhart says1 whatever thou sayest of ,him is untrue6 ,the rapt soul at the end of his road1 at the top of the hill1 only knows that every finite account is false and that the only adequate word is an everlasting ,nay4 ,whatever idea your mind comes at1 ,i tell you flat ,god is not that4#ag ,the great mystics have always saved themselves by neglecting to be consistent with this rigorous negation and abstraction4 ,in their practice they have cut through their theory and gone on living the rich concrete life4 xxviii ,but the theory itself is a false theory of life1 and it leads only to a ,god of abstraction1 not to the ,god of spiritual religion4 ,the false trail1 however1 is to be charged1 as ,i have said1 not so much to mystical experience as to the metaphysics through which the mystics1 not only of ,christian communions1 but of other faiths1 were compelled to do their thinking4 ,there was no other way of thinking known to them except this way of negation4 ,the ,infinite was the not-finite2 the ,absolute was precisely what the contingent was not4 ,the perfect was free of every mark of imperfection4 ,behind all manifestations was the essential ,substance which made the manifestations4 ,the completely ,real was above all mutation and process4 ,for one to assign1 therefore1 to ,god any human attributes1 as ,spinoza1 the supreme apostle of this negative way has said1 is to reveal that he has no true idea of ,god4 ,it has taken all the philosophical and spiritual travail of the centuries to discover that there may be a concrete ,infinite1 an organic ,absolute1 an immanent ,reality1 and that the way to share in this comprehending ,life is at least as much a way of affirmation as of negation1 a way that leads not into the ,dark but into the ,light1 and not into a fathomless nothing1 but into an abundant and radiant life4 ,mysticism1 as a type of religion1 has further staked its precious realities too exclusively upon the functions of what to-day we call the sub-conscious4 ,impressed with the divine significance of inward bubblings1 the mystic has made too slight an account of the testimony of ,reason and the contribution of history4 ,the subconscious functions are very real and very important aspects of personal life1 and can never again be ignored in any full account of personality4 ,they influence every thought1 feeling1 attitude1 volition1 opinion1 mood1 and insight1 and are thus operative in all the higher as well as in all the lower phases of human life and character4 ,metaphorically1 but only metaphorically1 we speak of the sub-conscious as a vast zone1 an indefinable margin1 surrounding the narrow focus of attention1 and we may xxix figuratively1 but only figuratively1 call it the subliminal region where all our life-gains1 and often the gains of the race1 are garnered4 ,the contributions from this mental underworld are inestimable--we could not be men without them--but this subconscious zone is a source of things bad as well as good1 things silly as well as things wise1 of rubbish as well as of treasures1 and it is diabolical as well as divine4 ,it seems in rare moments to connect1 as though it were a hidden inland stream1 with the immortal sea which brought us hither1 and we feel at times1 through its incomes1 as though we were aware of tides from beyond our own margin4 ,and1 in fact1 ,i believe we are4 ,but obviously we cannot assume that whatever comes spontaneously out of the subconscious is divinely given4 ,it mothers strange offspring--,esaus as well as ,jacobs2 its openings1 its inrushes1 its bubblings must be severely tested4 ,impulses of many sorts feel categorically imperative1 but some call to deeds of light and some to deeds of darkness4 ,they cannot be taken at their face value2 they must be judged in some ,court which is less capricious and which is guided by a more universal principle--something semper et ubique4 ,a spiritual religion of the full and complete type will1 ,i believe1 have inward1 mystical depth1 it will keep vitalized and intensified with its experiences of divine supplies1 and of union and unification with an environing ,spirit1 but it must at the same time soundly supplement its more or less capricious and subjective1 and always fragmentary1 mystical insights with the steady and unwavering testimony of ,reason1 and no less with the immense objective illumination of ,history4 ,,iii ,the men whom ,i am here calling ,spiritual ,reformers are examples of this wider synthesis4 ,they all read and loved the mystics and they themselves enjoyed times of direct refreshment from an inward ,source of ,life1 but xxx they were1 most of them1 at the same time1 devoted ,humanists4 ,they shared with enthusiasm the rediscovery of those treasures which human ,reason had produced1 and they rose to a more virile confidence in the sphere and capacity of ,reason than had prevailed in ,christian circles since the days of the early ,greek ,fathers4 ,they took a variety of roads to their conclusion1 but in one way or another they all proclaimed that deep in the central nature of man--an inalienable part of ,reason--there was a ,light1 a ,word1 an ,image of ,god1 something permanent1 reliable1 universal1 and unsundered from ,god himself4 ,they all knew that man is vastly more than mere man4 ,hans ,denck1 one of the earliest of this group of ,spiritual ,reformers1 declared that there is a witness to ,god in the soul of every man1 and that without this inward ,word it would be as impossible to bring men to ,god by outward means as it would be to show sunlight to eyeless men4 ,he anticipated the great saying of ,pascal in these words1 ,apart from ,god no one can either seek or find ,god1 for he who seeks ,god already in truth has ,him4#ah ,we are1 says ,jacob ,boehme1 who belongs in this line of ,spiritual ,reformers1 of ,god's substance3 we have heaven and hell in ourselves4#ai ,there is in us1 ,peter ,sterry says1 a unity of spirit which holds all things together in an at-once experience1 a spire-top of spirit where all things meet and sit recollected and concentred in an unfathomed ,depth of ,life4#bj ,most of these men were in revolt against scholasticism and all its works4 ,they speak often very slightingly of ,reasoning1 the attempt to find a way to ultimate ,realities by logical syllogisms1 but they1 nevertheless1 believed great things of man's rational and moral nature4 ,they are often confused and cloudy in their explicit accounts of this ultimate moral and rational nature4 ,they everywhere indicate the conceptual limitations xxxi under which even those who were the most emancipated from tradition were compelled to do their thinking in that age4 ,they could not break the age-long spell and mighty fascination with which the ,adam story and the ,garden of ,eden picture had held the ,christian world4 ,they were convinced1 however1 that the ,augustinian interpretation of the fall1 with its entail of an indelible taint upon the race forever1 was an inadequate1 if not an untrue account1 though they could not quite arrive at an insight which enabled them to speak with authority on the fundamental nature of man4 ,but with an instinct that pointed right1 they took ,adam as a type of the unspoiled man1 and they saw writ large in him the possibilities and potentialities of man4 ,what had been originally possible in ,adam became1 according to their thought1 actual realization in ,jesus ,christ--the form and type of man1 the true ,head of the race--and in spite of the havoc and spoiling1 which sin had wrought1 that original possibility1 that divine potentiality1 still reappears in every child1 who comes now1 as ,adam did1 made in the image of ,god1 with the breath of ,god in him1 and with creative freedom of will to settle his own destiny4 ,some of the ,reformers whom ,i am here studying centre this image of ,god1 this immense divine potentiality1 in the ideal man1 in man as ,god conceives him in his perfect state1 or as ,god by ,his ,grace intends him to be1 and they do not go the whole bold way of asserting that this man we know1 this man who lives in time and space1 who loves and sins and suffers1 has and always has1 in the very structure of his inmost moral and rational being1 a divine1 unlost1 inalienable1 soul-centre which is unsundered from ,god1 and bears eternal witness to our origin from ,him1 our potential likeness to ,him1 and our capacity to receive illumination from ,him4#ba ,but this latter xxxii bolder view of the inherent greatness of man's essential nature is the prevailing tendency of these men4 ,they are thus the forerunners of the ,quaker faith that there is something of ,god in man1 and they continue the direct line1 which goes back for ancestry to the ,socratic movement in philosophy of those who find ,god involved and implicated in the nature of normal self-consciousness and in the idea of the ,good toward which we live4#bb ,mystics and prophets1 as ,seely well says in ,ecce ,homo1 seem to themselves to discover truth not so much by a process of reasoning as by an intense gaze1 and they announce their conclusions with the voice of a herald1 using the name of ,god and giving no reasons4 ,the rational way of approach is different4 ,it seeks to draw out by a process of rational argument what is involved in the outer or inner facts that are present to consciousness4 ,it does not claim the power to make bricks without clay1 to construct its conclusions out of nothing4 ,its only legitimate field is that of interpreting experience4 ,there have always been men who were religious because they could not help being religious1 because a ,universe without ,god seemed to them utterly irrational and unthinkable4 ,schleiermacher is only one witness in a long and impressive succession of thinkers that have insisted that consciousness of ,god and self-consciousness are inseparable4#bc ,it is obvious even to the unmetaphysical person that self-consciousness always presupposes and involves something prior to one's own existence and some reality transcending the reality of one's own self4 ,the finite is intelligible only through the infinite1 the temporal only through the eternal4 ,we cannot think at all without appealing to some permanent more of reality than is just now given in our particular finite experience1 and no matter how far one travels on the road of knowledge one always finds it still necessary to make reference to a transcending more4 ,all consciousness is1 as ,hegel xxxiii showed in #ahjg1 in his philosophical ,pilgrim's ,progress1 the ,phenomenology of ,spirit1 an appeal to more consciousness1 and there is no rational halting-place short of a self-consistent and self-explanatory spiritual ,reality1 which explains the origin and furnishes the goal of all that is real4 ,on the other hand1 there have always been men who have not granted any such compelling implications to self-consciousness4 ,they have maintained that finites are forever finites1 and that there are no bridges that carry us from our finite nows and heres to an infinite ,reality4 ,the infinite ,reality1 they all admit1 is conceivable2 it is an idea to which any mind can rise by normal processes of thought1 but1 so they say1 an idea of an infinite ,reality1 an ,infinite merely conceived in the mind1 is different1 by the whole width of the sky1 from an actual objective infinite ,reality that is there1 and that contains inherently all that our hearts seek in ,god4 ,it is quite true1 of course1 that the presence of an idea in our mind does not of itself prove the existence of a corresponding objective reality out there in a world independent of our mind4 ,there is most assuredly no way of bridging the chasm between mind and an objective world beyond and outside of mind1 when once the chasm is assumed4 ,but the fundamental error lies in the assumption of any such chasm4 ,the chasm which yawns between the inner and outer world is of our own making4 ,whenever we know anything1 wherever there is knowledge at all1 there is a synthetic indivisible whole of experience in which a subject knows an object4 ,subject and object cannot be really sundered without putting an instant end to knowledge--leaving a bare grin without a face6 ,the only way we know anything is that we know we know it in experience4 ,we do not ever succeed in proving that objects exist out there in the world beyond us exactly correspondent to these ideas in our minds4 ,that is a feat of mental gymnastics quite parallel to that of finding xxxiv the self with which we do the seeking4 ,the crucial problem of knowledge is not to discover a bridge to leap the chasm between the mind within and the world beyond4 ,it is rather the problem of finding a basis of verifying and testing what we know1 and of making knowledge a consistent rational whole4 ,the method of testing and verifying any fact of truth which we have on our hands1 is always to organize it and link it into a larger whole of knowledge which we ourselves1 or the wider group of persons in which we are organic members1 have verified1 and to see that it fits in consistently into this larger whole1 and in this rational process we always assume1 and are bound to assume1 some sort of ,reality that transcends the fleeting and temporal1 the caprice of the moment1 the will of the subject1 the here and the now4 ,the mind that knows and knows that it knows must1 as ,plato centuries ago declared1 rise from the welter and flux of momentary seemings to true ,being1 to the eternally ,real1#bd and the knowledge process of binding fragments of experience into larger wholes and of getting articulate insight into the significance of many facts grasped in synthetic unity--in the spire-top of spirit1 as ,sterry puts it--carries the mind steadily and irresistibly on to an infinitely-inclusive and self-explanatory spiritual ,whole1 which is always implied in knowledge4 ,some reference to the permanent is necessary in judging even the fleetingness of the now1 some confidence in the eternally true is essential for any pronouncement upon the false1 some assurance of the infinite is presupposed in the endless dissatisfaction with the finite1 some appeal to a total whole of ,reality is implicated in any assertion that this fact here and now is known as real4 ,any one who feels the full significance of what is involved in knowing the truth has a coercive feeling that ,eternity has been set within us1 that our finite life is deeply rooted in the all-pervading ,infinite4 ,the great thinkers of the first rank who have undertaken to sound the significance of rational knowledge1 xxxv and who have appreciated the meaning of the synthetic unity of the knowing mind and the world of objects that submit to its forms of thought1 have recognized that there must be some deep-lying fundamental relation between the mind that knows and the world that is known1 some ,reality common to both outer and inner realms4 ,they have1 almost without exception1 found themselves carried along irresistibly to an ultimate ,reality that is the ground and explanation of all the fragmentary facts of experience1 and without which nothing can be held to be permanent or rational-- ,something far more deeply interfused1 ,whose dwelling is the light of setting suns1 ,and the round ocean and the living air1 ,and the blue sky1 and in the mind of man2 ,a motion and a ,spirit1 that impels ,all thinking things1 all objects of all thought1 ,and rolls through all things4#be ,the technical logical formulation of arguments to prove the existence of ,god as objectively real--arguments from causality1 ontological arguments1 and arguments from design--all of which assume a chasm between the knower and the object known1 seem to us perhaps on critical analysis thin and insufficient4 ,the bridge of formal logic seems too weak to carry us safely over from a finite here to an infinite yonder1 from a contingent fact to an ,absolute ,reality1 from something given in consciousness to ,something existent outside and beyond it2 but it is an impressive and significant fact that all finite experience1 both of inner and outer events1 involves a ,more yet1 that we cannot think finite and contingent things without rational appeal to ,something infinite and necessary1 that human experience cannot be rationally conceived except as a fragment of a vastly more inclusive ,experience1 always recognized within the finite spirit1 that unifies and binds together into one self-explanatory whole all that is absolutely ,real and ,true1 and this is ,reason's conviction of ,god4 xxxvi ,when once the conviction is felt and the rational postulate of ,god is made1 it immediately verifies its practical value in the solution of our deepest problems4 ,a happy illustration of the practical value and verifying evidence of the rational postulate of ,god has been given by ,james ,ward3 ,suppose1 he says1 that the earth were wrapt in clouds all day while the sky was clear at night1 so that we were able to see the planets and observe their movements as we do now1 though the sun itself was invisible4 ,the best account we could give of the planetary motions would still be to refer them to what for us1 in accordance with our supposition1 would only be an imaginary focus or centre of physical energy1 but one to which was assigned a position identical with the sun's present position4#bf ,this assumption would at once unlock the mystery and account for the varying movements of these visible bodies and the more rigorously the hypothesis were applied1 the more exactly it would verify itself4 ,so1 too1 with ,reason's sublime venture of faith4 ,the nature of self-consciousness demands the postulate1 and once it is made it works4 ,the same result follows any attempt adequately to account for the moral imperative--the will to live the truly good life4 ,the moral will turns out always to be imbedded in a deeper1 richer1 more inclusive ,life than that of the fragmentary finite individual4 ,there is a creative and autonomous central self in us which puts before us ideals of truth and beauty and goodness that are nowhere to be found in this world of sense-facts1 and that yet are more real and august than any things our eyes see or our hands handle4 ,our main moral problem is not to adjust our inner ideals to our environment1 but rather to compel the environment to level up to our ideals4 ,the world that ought to be makes us forever dissatisfied with the world that is1 and sets us with a fixity of purpose at the task of realizing the ,kingdom which might possibly be1 which we know ought to be1 and which1 therefore1 has our loyal endeavour that it xxxvii shall be1 regardless of the cost in pain and sacrifice4 ,man1 as ,william ,wallace has put it1 projects his own self-to-be into the nature he seeks to conquer4 ,like an assailant who should succeed in throwing his standard into the strong central keep of the enemy's fortress1 and fight his way thereto with assured victory in his eyes of hope1 so man with the vision of his soul prognosticates his final triumph4#bg ,but if the life of moral endeavour is to be essentially consistent and reasonable there must be a world of ,reality that transcends this realm of empirical1 causal1 and utilitarian happenings4 ,struggle for ends of goodness must be at least as significant in function as struggle for existence2 our passion for what ought to be must have had birth in an inner eternal environment at least as real as that which produced our instincts and appetite for the things by which we live in time4 ,if the universe is through and through rational1 there must be some personal ,heart that cares2 some moral ,will that guarantees and backs our painful strivings--our groaning and travailing--to make what ought to be come into play here in the world which is4 ,this postulate is ,reason's faith in ,god1 and again it works4 ,the evolution of life--if it is evolving as we believe it is1 and if it is to be viewed with rational insight as an upward process--irresistibly involves and implies some sort of fundamental intelligence and conscious purpose1 some ,logos steering the mighty movement4 ,we have outgrown crude arguments from design1 and we cannot think of ,god as a foreign and external ,creator1 working as a ,potter on his clay2 but it is irrational to explain a steadily unfolding movement1 an ever-heightening procession of life1 by fortuitous variations1 by accidental shifts of level1 or even by a blind elan vital4 ,if there is an increasing purpose and a clearly culminating drama unfolding in this moving flood of life1 then there is some ,mind that sees the way1 and some ,will that directs the march of ,life4 ,and this confidence of ours in some divine ,event to which the whole creation moves1 xxxviii this insight that there must be a significant and adequate explanation for the immanent teleology and beauty with which our universe is crammed1 is1 once more1 ,reason's postulate of ,god4 ,there is something in us1 indissoluble from ,reason itself--a ,light1 a ,word1 a ,witness as these ,spiritual ,reformers insisted--which links us in all the deeper processes of self-consciousness with ,that ,which ,is and without which knowledge would be a mere flux of seemings1 a flight of seriatim items4 ,,iv ,when this world's pleasures for my soul sufficed1 ,ere my heart's plummet sounded depths of pain1 ,i called on reason to control my brain1 ,and scoffed at that old story of the ,christ4 ,but when o'er burning wastes my feet had trod1 ,and all my life was desolate with loss1 ,with bleeding hands ,i clung about the cross1 ,and cried aloud1 ,man needs a suffering ,god4#bh ,there can be no doubt that the compulsions and implications of rational insight have brought multitudes of men to ,god1 have given them an unescapable conviction of ,his reality1 and have swayed their wills to live in conformity to ,his perfect ,goodness2 and it is also true that when for any cause this clue of rationality is missed or lost1 men flounder about in the fog and pass through periods of inward tragedy amounting often to despair4 ,but the approach of ,reason still leaves much to be desired4 ,it points to something deeper than the transitory flux of things1 it raises our minds to some sort of ultimate and self-explanatory ,reality1 it compels the conviction that there is an all-inclusive ,logos--,mind or ,spirit--that explains what is and what ought to be1 and what in the unfolding course of things is to be2 but it does not bring us to a personal ,god who is our loving ,friend and the xxxix intimate ,companion of our souls1 it does not help us solve the mystery of human suffering that lies heavily upon our lives1 and it does not bring to our spirits the saving reinforcement of personal ,love that must be a central feature of a spiritual and adequate religion4 ,there is still another way of approach to a ,religion for mature minds which has been no less universally operative and no less dynamic in its transforming effects upon human lives than either of the two tendencies so far considered--,i refer to the way of ,faith4 ,by ,faith ,i mean the soul's moral or appreciative apprehension of ,god as historically revealed1 particularly as revealed in the personal life of ,jesus ,christ4 ,this ,faith-way to ,god cannot be wholly separated--except by an artificial abstraction--from the inward way of mysticism1 or from the implications of ,reason4 ,it is no blind acceptance of traditional opinions1 no uncritical reliance on authority1 or on some mysterious infallible oracle4 ,it is the spiritual response--or assent1 as ,clement of ,alexandria called it--the moral swing of our inmost self1 as we catch insights of a loving ,heart and holy ,will revealed through the words and lives and sufferings of saints and prophets1 who have lived by their vision of ,god1 and supremely revealed in the ,life and ,love1 the ,passion and the ,triumphs of that ,person whose experience and character and incarnation of life's possibilities seem at last adequate for all the needs--the heights and the depths--of this complex life of ours4 ,it was ,luther's living word which first brought the momentous significance of ,faith to clear consciousness in the sixteenth century4 ,but the new way of ,faith meant many and discordant things1 according to the preparation of the ears of those who heard4 ,it spoke1 as all ,pentecosts do1 to each man in his own tongue4 ,to those who came to the ,lutheran insight with a deep hunger of spirit for reality and with minds liberated by ,humanistic studies1 the ,faith-message meant new heavens and a new earth4 ,it was a new discovery of ,god1 and a new estimate of man4 ,they suddenly caught xl a vision of life as it was capable of becoming1 and they committed their fortunes to the task of making that possible world real4 ,by a shift of view1 as revolutionary as that from ,ptolemaic astronomy to the verifiable insight of ,copernicus1 they passed over from the dogma of a ,christ who came to appease an angry ,god1 and to found a ,church as an ark of safety in a doomed world1 to the living apprehension of a ,christ--verifiable in experience--who revealed to them1 in terms of ,his own nature1 an eternally tender1 loving1 suffering1 self-giving ,god1 and who made them see1 with the enlightened eyes of their heart1 the divine possibilities of human life4 ,through this insight1 they were the beginners of a new type of ,christianity1 which has become wide-spread and impressive in the modern world1 a type that finds the supreme significance of ,christ's ,life in ,his double revelation of the inherent nature of ,god1 and the immense value and potentiality of man1 and that changes the emphasis from schemes of salvation to interpretations of life1 from the magic significance of doctrine to the incalculable worth of the moral will4 ,these men were weak in historical sense1 and1 like everybody else in their generation1 they used ,scripture without much critical insight4 ,but they hit upon a principle which saved them from slavery to texts1 and which gave them a working faith in the steady moral and spiritual development of man4 ,i mean the principle that this ,christ whom they had discovered anew was an eternal manifestation of ,god1 an immanent ,word of ,god1 a ,spirit brooding over the world of men1 as in the beginning over the face of the waters1 present in the unfolding events of history as well as in the far-away dispensations of ,grace4 ,as a result1 they grew less interested in the problem that had fascinated so many mystics1 the problem of the super-empirical evolution of the divine ,consciousness2 the super-temporal differentiation of the unity of the ,godhead into a ,father and ,son and self-revealing ,holy ,ghost2 and they tried rather to appreciate and to declare the concrete revelation through ,christ1 and xli the import of ,his visible and invisible presence in the world4#bi ,this approach of ,faith1 this appreciation of the nature of ,god as ,he has been unveiled in the ethical processes of history1 especially in the ,person of ,christ1 and in ,his expanding conquest of the world1 must always be one of the great factors of spiritual religion4 ,the profound results of higher criticism1 with its stern winnowings1 have brought us face to face with problems unknown to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries4 ,so much of what seemed the solid continent of historical truth has weathered and crumbled away that some have wondered whether any irreducible nucleus would remain firm and permanent above the flood of the years1 and whether the religion of the future must not dispense with the historical element1 and the ,faith-aspect that goes with it1 and rest wholly upon present inward experience4 ,there are1 however1 ,i believe1 no indications worth considering1 of the disappearance of ,jesus ,christ from human history4 ,on the contrary1 ,he holds1 as never before1 the commanding place in history4 ,he still dominates conscience1 by the moral sway of ,his ,life of ,goodness1 as does no other ,person who has ever lived2 and by the attractive power of ,his life and love ,he still sets men to living counter to the strong thrust of instinct and impulse as does no one else who has ever touched the springs of conduct4 ,the ,faith-aspect is still a very live element in religion1 and it is1 as it has been so often before1 precisely the aspect which supplies concrete body and filling and objective ethical direction to our deep sub-conscious yearnings and strivings and experiences4 ,once at least there shone through the thin veil of matter a personal ,life which brought another kind of world than this world of natural law and utilitarian aims full into light4 ,there broke through here in the face of ,jesus xlii ,christ a revelation of ,purpose in the universe so far beyond the vague trend of purpose dimly felt in slowly evolving life that it is possible here to catch an illuminating vision of what the goal of the long drama may be--the unveiling of sons of ,god4 ,here the discovery can be made that the deepest ,reality toward which ,reason points1 and which the mystical experience feels1 is no vague ,something ,beyond1 but a living1 loving ,some ,one1 dealing with us as ,person with person4 ,in ,him there comes to focus in a ,life that we can love and appreciate a personal character which impresses us as being absolutely good1 and as being in its inexhaustible depth of ,love and ,grace worthy to be taken as the revelation of the true nature of the ,god whom all human hearts long for4 ,and finally through this personal revelation of ,god in ,christ there has come to us a clear insight that pain and suffering and tragedy can be taken up into a self-chosen ,life and absorbed without spoiling its immense joy1 and that precisely through suffering-love1 joyously accepted1 a ,person expressing in the world the heart of ,god may become the moral and spiritual ,saviour of others4 ,as von ,hugel has finely said3 ,a ,person came and lived and loved1 and did and taught1 and died and rose again1 and lives on by ,his power and ,his ,spirit forever within us and amongst us1 so unspeakably rich and yet so simple1 so sublime and yet so homely1 so divinely above us precisely in being so divinely near that ,his character and teaching require1 for an ever fuller yet never complete understanding1 the varying study1 and different experiments and applications1 embodiments and unrollings of all the races and civilizations1 of all the individual and corporate1 the simultaneous and successive experiences of the human race to the end of time4#cj ,the only salvation worth talking about is that which consists of an inner process of moral transformation1 through which one passes over the great divide from a life that is self-centred and dominated by impulse and sin to a life that is assured of divine forgiveness1 that has xliii conceived a passion for a redeemed inward nature1 that is conscious of help from beyond its own resources1 and that is dedicated to the task of making moral goodness triumph over the evil of the world4 ,any experience which brings to the soul a clear vision of the moral significance of human life1 and that engenders in us a practical certainty that ,god is working with us in all our deepest undertakings1 tends to have saving efficacy and to bring about this inward transformation4 ,but nowhere else in the universe--above us or within us--has the moral significance of life come so full into sight1 or the reality of actual divine fellowship1 whether in our aspirations or in our failures1 been raised to such a pitch of practical certainty as in the personal life and death and resurrection and steady historical triumph of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he exhibits in living fulness1 with transforming power1 a ,life which consciously felt itself one with the heart and will of ,god4 ,he reveals the inherent blessedness of ,love--even though it may involve suffering and pain and death4 ,he shows the moral supremacy1 even in this imperfect empirical world1 of the perfectly good will1 and ,he impresses those who see ,him--see ,him1 ,i mean1 with eyes that can penetrate through the temporal to the eternal and find ,his real nature--as being the supreme personal unveiling of ,god1 as worthy to be our ,leader1 our ,ideal ,life1 our typical personal ,character1 and strong enough in ,his infinite ,grace and divine self-giving to convince us of the eternal co-operation of ,god with our struggling humanity1 and to settle our ,faith in the essential ,saviourhood of ,god4 ,he who sees that in ,christ has found a real way to ,god and has discovered a genuine way of salvation4 ,it is the way of ,faith1 but ,faith is no airy and unsubstantial road1 no capricious leap4 ,there is no kind of aimful living conceivable that does not involve faith in something trans-subjective--faith in something not given in present empirical experience4 ,even in our most elementary life-adjustments there is something operative in us which far underlies our conscious perceiving and xliv the logic of our conclusions4 ,we are moved1 not alone by what we clearly picture and coldly analyse1 but by deep-lying instincts which defy analysis1 by background and foreground fringes of consciousness1 by immanent and penetrative intelligence which cannot be brought to definite focus1 by the vast reservoirs of accumulated wisdom through which we feel the way to go1 though we can pictorially envisage no spotted trees that mark the trail4 ,this religious and saving ,faith1 through which the soul discovers ,god and makes the supreme life-adjustment to ,him1 is profoundly moral and1 in the best sense of the word1 rational4 ,it does not begin with an assumption1 blind or otherwise1 as to ,christ's metaphysical nature1 it does not depend upon the adoption of systematically formulated doctrines2 it becomes operative through the discovery of a personal ,life1 historically lived--and continued through the centuries as a transforming ,spirit--rich enough in its experience to exhibit the infinite significance of life1 inwardly deep enough in its spiritual resources to reveal the character of ,god1 and strong enough in sympathy1 in tenderness1 in patience1 and in self-giving love to beget forever trust and confidence and love on the part of all who thus find ,him4 ,the ,god whom we learn to know in ,christ--the ,god historically revealed--is no vague first ,cause1 no abstract ,reality1 no all-negating ,absolute4 ,he is a concrete ,person1 whose traits of character are intensely moral and spiritual4 ,his will is no fateful swing of mechanical law2 it is a morally good will which works patiently and forever toward a harmonized world1 a ,kingdom of ,god4 ,the central trait of ,his character is ,love4 ,he does not become ,father1 ,he is not reconciled to us by persuasive offerings and sacrifices4 ,he is inherently and by essential disposition ,father and the ,god of all ,grace4 ,he is not remote and absentee--making a world in the beginning1 and leaving it to run by law1 or only occasionally interrupting its normal processes--,he is immanent ,spirit1 working always1 the ,god of beauty and organizing purpose4 ,he xlv is ,life and ,light and ,truth1 an ,immanuel ,god who can and does show ,himself in a personal ,incarnation1 and so exhibits the course and goal of the race4 ,the way of ,faith is a way to ,god1 and the religion of this type is as properly a first-hand religion as that of any other type4 ,i have1 of course1 by no means exhausted the types of mature religion4 ,there are other ways of approach to ,god1 other roads by which the soul finds the way home--,on the ,east three gates2 on the ,north three gates2 on the ,south three gates2 and on the ,west three gates--and they will continue to be sacred ways--viae sacrae--for those who travel them and thus find their heart's desire4 ,what we should learn from this brief study is that religion is too rich and complex an experience to be squeezed down to some one isolated aspect of life or of consciousness4 ,there are many ways to ,god and any way that actually brings the soul to ,him is a good way1 but the best way is that one which produces upon the imperfect personal life the profoundest saving effects1 the most dynamic moral reinforcement1 and which brings into sway over the will the goal of life most adequate for men like us in a social world like ours4 ,for most of us no one way of approach--no single type of religion--is quite sufficient for all the needs of our life4 ,most of us are fortunate enough to have at least moments when we feel in warm and intimate contact with a divine1 enwrapping environment more real to us than things of sense and of arithmetic1 and when the infinite and eternal is no less1 but immeasurably more1 sure than the finite and temporal4 ,most of us1 again1 succeed1 at least on happy occasions of mental health1 in finding rational clues which carry us through the maze of contingency and clock-time happenings1 through the imperfections of our slow successive events1 to the ,one ,great ,now of perfect ,reality which explains the process1 and we attain to an intellectual love of ,god4 ,and in spite of the literary difficulties of primitive narratives and of false trails which the historical ,church has again and again taken1 almost any serious1 earnest soul to-day xlvi may find that divine ,face1 that infinitely deep and luminous ,personality who spoke as no man ever spake1 who loved as none other ever loved1 who saw more in humanity than anybody else has ever seen1 and who felt as no other person ever has that ,he was one in heart and mind and will with ,god2 and having found ,him1 by a morally responsive ,faith which dominates and transforms the inward self1 one has found ,god as ,companion1 ,friend1 and ,saviour4 ,where all these ways converge1 and a soul enjoys the privilege of mystical contact1 the compulsion of rational insight1 and the moral reinforcement of personal ,faith in ,christ1 religion comes to its consummate flower1 and may with some right be called spiritual ,religion4 ,v ,the most radical step which these spiritual ,reformers took--the step which put them most strikingly out of line with the main course of the ,reformation--was their break with ,protestant ,theology4 ,they were not satisfied with a programme which limited itself to a correction of abuses1 an abolition of mediaeval superstitions1 and a shift of external authority4 ,they were determined to go the whole way to a ,religion of inward life and power1 to a ,christianity whose only authority should be its dynamic and spiritual authority4 ,they placed as low an estimate on the saving value of orthodox systems of theological formulation as the ,protestant ,reformers did on the saving value of works4 ,to the former1 salvation was an affair neither of works nor of what they called notions1 i4e4 views1 beliefs1 or creeds4 ,they are never weary of insisting that a person may go on endless pilgrimages to holy places1 he may repeat unnumbered paternosters1 he may mortify his body to the verge of self-destruction1 and still be unsaved and unspiritual2 so1 too1 he may believe all the dogma of the most orthodox system of faith1 he may take on his lips the most sacred words of sound doctrine1 and yet be utterly alien xlvii to the kingdom of ,god1 a stranger and a foreigner to the spirit of ,christ4 ,they were determined1 therefore1 to go through to a deeper centre and to make only those things pivotal which are absolutely essential to life and salvation4 ,they began their reconstruction of the meaning of salvation with 7#a7 a new and fresh interpretation of ,god1 and 7#b7 with a transformed eschatology4 ,as ,i have already said1 they re-discovered ,god through ,christ1 and in terms of ,his revelation2 and coming to ,god this way1 they saw at once that the prevailing interpretations of the atonement were inadequate and unworthy4 ,god1 they declared1 is not a ,suzerain1 treating men as his vassals1 reckoning their sins up against them as infinite debts to be paid off at last in a vast commercial transaction only by the immeasurable price of a divine ,life1 given to pay the debt which had involved the entire race in hopeless bankruptcy4 ,nor1 again1 in their thought is ,he a mighty ,sovereign1 meting out to the world strict justice and holding all sin as flagrant disloyalty and appalling violation of law1 never to be forgiven until the full requirements of sovereign justice are met and balanced and satisfied4 ,all this seemed to them artificial and false4 ,salvation1 as they understand it1 cannot be conceived as escape from debt nor as the satisfaction of justice1 since it is a personal life-relationship with a personal ,god who is and always was eternal ,love4 ,god's universe1 both outer and inner1 is loaded with moral significance1 is meant for discipline1 and therefore it has its stern aspects and drives its lessons home with the unswerving hammer of consequences4 ,but in the personal ,heart of the universe1 ,love and ,tenderness and ,sympathy and ,forgiveness are supreme1 and every process and every instrument of salvation1 in the divine purpose1 is vital1 ethical1 spiritual4 ,god has shown ,himself as ,father4 ,he has revealed the immeasurable suffering which sin inflicts on love4 ,to find the ,father-,heart2 to cry ,abba in filial joy2 to die to sin and to be born to love1 is to be saved4 ,jacob ,boehme gave this new conception of ,god1 and its bearing xlviii on the way of salvation1 the most adequate expression that was given by any of this group1 but all these so-called spiritual ,reformers herein studied had reached the same insight at different levels of adequacy4 ,their return to a more vital conception of salvation1 with its emphasis on the value of personality1 brought with it1 too1 a new humanitarian spirit and a truer estimate of the worth of man4 ,as they re-discovered the love of ,god1 they also found again the gospel of love and brotherhood which is woven into the very tissue of the original gospel of divine ,fatherhood4 ,their revised eschatology was due1 at least partly1 to this altered account of the character of ,god1 but it was also partly due to their profound tendency to deal with all matters of the soul in terms of life and vital processes4 ,heaven and ,hell were no longer thought of as terminal places1 where the saved were everlastingly rewarded and the lost forever punished4 ,heaven and ,hell were for them inward conditions1 states of the soul1 the normal gravitation of the ,spirit toward its chosen centre4 ,heaven and ,hell cease1 therefore1 to be eschatological in the true sense of the word2 they become present realities1 tendencies of life1 ways of reacting toward the things of deepest import4 ,heaven1 whether here or in any other world1 is the condition of complete adjustment to the holy will of ,god2 it is joy in the prevalence of ,his goodness2 peace through harmonious correspondence with ,his purposes2 the formation of a spirit of love1 the creation of an inward nature that loves what ,god loves and enjoys what ,he enjoys4 ,hell1 here or elsewhere1 is a disordered life1 out of adjustment with the universal will of ,god2 it is concentration upon self and self-ends2 the contraction of love2 the shrinking of inward resources2 the formation of a spirit of hate1 the creation of an inward nature that hates what ,god loves4 ,hell is the inner condition inherently attaching to the kind of life that displays and exhibits the spirit and attitude which must be overcome before ,god with ,his purposes of goodness can be xlix ultimately triumphant and all in all4 ,salvation1 therefore1 cannot be thought of in terms of escape from a place that is dreaded to a place that is desired as a haven4 ,it is through and through a spiritual process--escape from a wrongly fashioned will to a will rightly fashioned4 ,it is complete spiritual health and wholeness of life1 brought into operation and function by the soul's recovery of ,god and by joyous correspondence with ,him4 ,here is the genuine beginning in modern times of what has come to be the deepest note of present-day ,christianity1 the appreciation of personality as the highest thing in earth or heaven1 and the initiation of a movement to find the vital sources and resources for the inner kindling of the spirit1 and for raising the whole personal life to higher functions and to higher powers4 ,putting the emphasis1 as they did1 on personal religion1 i4e4 on experience1 instead of on theology1 they naturally became exponents of free-will1 and that1 too1 in a period when fore-ordination was a central dogma of theology4 ,this problem of freedom1 which is as deep as personality itself1 always has its answer determined by the point of approach4 ,for those who begin with an absolute and omnipotent ,god1 and work down from above1 the necessarian position is determined4 ,their answer is3 ,all events are infallibly connected with ,god's disposal4 ,for those who start1 however1 from actual experience and from the testimony of consciousness1 freedom feels as certain as life itself4 ,their answer is3 ,human will is a real factor in the direction of events and man shapes his own destiny toward good or evil4 ,calvin's logic is irresistible if his assumptions are once granted4 ,these spiritual ,reformers1 however1 were untouched by it1 because they began from the interior life1 with its dramatic movements1 as their basal fact1 and man as they knew him was free4 ,this spiritual movement involved1 as a natural development1 an entire shift from the historical idea of the ,church as an authoritative and supernatural instrument of salvation1 to a ,church whose authority was entirely vital1 l ethical1 spiritual1 dynamic4 ,the ,church of these spiritual ,reformers was a ,fellowship1 a ,society1 a ,family1 rather than a mysterious and supernatural entity4 ,they felt once again1 as powerfully perhaps as it was possible in their centuries to feel it1 the immense significance of the ,pauline conception of the ,church as the continued embodiment and revelation of ,christ1 the communion of saints past and present who live or have lived by the ,spirit4 ,through this spiritual group1 part of whom are visible and part invisible1 they held that the divine revelation is continued and the eternal ,word of ,god is being uttered to the race4 ,the true religion of ,christ1 as one of these spiritual teachers well puts it1 is written in the soul and spirit of man by the ,spirit of ,god2 and the believer is the only book in which ,god now writes ,his ,new ,testament4#ca ,this ,church of the ,spirit is always being built4 ,its power is proportional to the spiritual vitality of the membership1 to the measure of apprehension of divine resources1 to the depth of insight and grasp of truth1 to the prevalence of love and brotherhood1 to the character of service1 which the members exhibit4 ,it possesses no other kind of power or authority than the power and authority of personal lives formed into a community by living correspondence with ,god1 and acting as human channels and organs of ,his ,life and ,spirit4 ,such a ,church can meet new formulations of science and history and social ideals with no authoritative and conclusive word of ,god which automatically settles the issue4 ,its only weapons are truth and light1 and these have to be continually re-discovered and re-fashioned to fit the facts which the age has found and verified4 ,its mission is prophetic4 ,it does not dogmatically decide what facts must be believed1 but it sees and announces the spiritual significance of the facts that are discovered and verified4 ,it was1 thus1 in their thought a growing1 changing1 ever-adjusting body--the living body of ,christ in the world4 ,to the ,protestant ,reformers this spiritual ideal presented a ,church so shorn and emasculated as to be li absolutely worthless4 ,it seemed to them a propaganda which threatened and endangered the mighty work of reformation to which they felt themselves called1 and they used all the forces available to suppress and annihilate those of this other way4 ,nearly four hundred wonderful years have passed since the issue was first drawn1 since the first of these spiritual prophets uttered his modest challenge4 ,there can be no question that the current of ,christian thought has been strongly setting in the direction which these brave and sincere innovators took4 ,i feel confident that many persons to-day will be interested in these lonely men and will follow with sympathy their valiant struggles to discover the road to a genuine spiritual religion1 and their efforts to live by the eternal ,word of ,god as it was freely revealed as the ,day ,star to their souls4 #a #a ,cor4 xv4 #ej4 #b #b ,cor4 v4 #a-d4 #c ,john iii4 #f4 #d #a ,john iv4 #ac2 ,john xiii4 #cd and xvi4 #ac2 #a ,john iv4 #d4 #e ,they found their authority for this outer sheath of body in the text which says3 ,the ,lord ,god made for ,adam and for his wife coats of skins1 and clothed them4--,gen4 iii4 #ba4 #f ,many of these historical reappearances are considered in my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion4 #g ,isaac ,penington1 ,a ,true and ,faithful ,relation of my ,spiritual ,travails1 ,works 7edition of #agfa71 i4 pp4 xxxvii4-xxxviii4 #h ,isaac ,penington's ,works1 i4 pp4 xxxvii4-xxxviii4 #i ,the exact and sharply-defined ladders of mystic ascent which form a large part of the descriptive material in books on ,mystical ,religion are far from being universal ladders4 ,like creeds1 or like religious institutions1 they powerfully assist certain minds to find the way home1 but they seem unreal and artificial to many other persons1 and they must be considered only as symbolisms which speak to the condition of a limited number of spiritual pilgrims4 #aj ,wordsworth's ,prelude1 ,bk4 ii4 #aa ,theologia ,germanica1 chaps4 xxii4 and xliii4 #ab ,ibid4 chap4 liii4 #ac ,meister ,eckhart1 ,pfeiffer1 p4 #cbj4 #bj4 #ad ,tauler's ,sermons4 ,see especially ,sermons ,,iv4 and ,,xxiii4 in ,hutton's ,inner ,way4 #ae ,the ,divine ,names of ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 chap4 i4 sec4 i4 #af ,meister ,eckhart1 ,pfeiffer1 p4 #cbj4 #be-cj4 #ag ,quoted in ,w4 ,h4 ,j4 ,gairdner's ,the ,reproach of ,islam1 p4 #aea4 #ai ,denck's ,was geredet sey1 dass die ,schrift1 ,b4 #b4 ,pascal's saying is3 ,comfort thyself2 thou wouldst not be seeking ,me hadst thou not already found ,me4--,le ,mystere de ,jesus1 sec4 #b4 #ai ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man1 xiv4 #gb4 #bj ,sterry's ,rise1 ,race1 and ,royalty of the ,kingdom of ,god in the ,soul of ,man1 p4 #bd4 #ba ,the finite individual soul seems naturally to present a double aspect4 ,it looks like1 on the one hand1 a climax or concentration of the nature beneath it and the community around it1 and1 on the other hand1 a spark or fragment from what is above and beyond it4 ,it is crystallized out of the collective soul of nature or society1 or it falls down from the transcendental soul of heaven or what is above humanity4 ,in both cases alike it has its share of divinity4--,bernard ,bosanquet1 ,the ,value and ,destiny of the ,individual 7,london1 #aiac71 p4 #a4 #bb ,the way to the world of ,perfect ,reality1 ,socrates says in the ,theaetetus1 consists in likeness to ,god1 nor is there1 he adds1 anything more like ,god than is a good man4--,theaetetus #agf ,a and ,b4 #bc ,schleiermacher's ,glaubenslehre4 #bd ,republic vii4 #eah ,b4 #be ,wordsworth's ,tintern ,abbey4 #bf ,realm of ,ends1 p4 #bcj4 #bg ,lectures and ,addresses1 p4 #aic4 #bh ,ella ,wheeler ,wilcox1 ,poems of ,life and ,moments4 #bi ,jacob ,boehme1 however1 shows this fascination for the super-empirical at its height and culmination4 ,it was an attempt1 though a bungling attempt1 to pass from an abstract ,god to a ,god of character1 and it was a circuitous way of getting round the problem of evil4 #cj ,mystical ,elements of ,religion1 i4 p4 #bf4 #ca ,william ,dell's sermon on ,the ,trial of ,spirits1 ,works1 p4 #dch4 #a ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,main ,,current ,,of ,,the ,,reformation ,i ,one of the greatest tragedies in ,christian history is the division of forces which occurred in the ,reformation movements of the sixteenth century4 ,division of forces in the supreme spiritual undertakings of the race is of course confined to no one century and to no one movement2 it is a very ancient tragedy4 ,but the tragedy of division is often relieved by the fact that through the differentiation of opposing parties a vigorous emphasis is placed upon aspects of truth which might otherwise have been allowed to drop out of focus4 ,this sixteenth-century division is peculiarly tragic1 because through the split in the lines the very aspects of truth which were most needed to give the movement a steady increment of insight and power were lost in the din and confusion of party warfare4 ,there was a short but glorious period--the years from #aeag to #aebc--;during which it seemed as though the spiritual and intellectual travail of the three preceding centuries was to consummate in the birth of a movement that would draw together and unify all the liberating forces which had slowly become available4 ,the ,humanists of the ,renaissance1 no less than ,columbus1 were finding a new world4#a ,they had boldly travelled out beyond the #b boundaries which the medieval mind had set to human interests1 and had discovered that man was more than the abstract being whose soul had alone concerned ecclesiastics and schoolmen4 ,man1 the ,humanists saw1 is possessed in his own right of great powers of reason4 ,he is a creative and autonomous being1 he has vast capacities for life and enjoyment to which the ,church had failed to minister4 ,they stood amazed at the artistic and literary culture1 the political and intellectual freedom and the great richness of life which the newly discovered classical literature revealed as having existed in the pre-,christian world1 and at the wonderful comprehension of life revealed in the ,gospels4 ,with commendable passion they proposed to refresh and reshape the world through the new models1 the new ideals1 and the new spirit which they had discovered4 ,first of all they would wipe out the old ,augustinian cleavage which had carried its sharp dualism wherever it ran4 ,they would no longer recognize the double world scheme--a divine realm set over against an undivine realm1 the sacred set over against the secular1 the spiritual set over against the natural1 the ,church set against the world1 faith set in contrast to reason1 the spirit pitted against the flesh1 the other world put in such light that this world by contrast lay dull in the shadow4 ,those who were broadened and liberated by the new learning found not only a new world in classical literature1 but they also found a new gospel in the ,gospel4 ,as they studied the ,new ,testament documents themselves and became freed from the bondage of tradition they discovered that the primitive message dealt with life and action rather than with theology4 ,they found the key to the ,gospel in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and in the ,parables of ,jesus1 and they shifted the emphasis from doctrine to ethics4 ,this change of emphasis quite naturally involved another change4 ,it brought man into greater prominence1 and the ,church as an ecclesiastical system into less prominence2 for life1 they discovered1 was settled in the teaching of ,christ by the #c attitude of the will and by the formation of character1 rather than by the mediation of a priesthood external to man4 ,i wish1 ,erasmus wrote to ,capito in #aeah1 that there could be an end of scholastic subtleties1 or1 if not an end1 that they could be thrust into a second place and ,christ be taught plainly and simply4 ,the reading of the ,bible and the early ,fathers will have this effect4 ,doctrines are taught now which have no affinity with ,christ1 and only darken our eyes4#b ,again in #aeba he wrote to a friend1 words which appear again and again in his letters3 ,it would be well for us if we thought less about our dogmas and more about the gospel1#c or1 as he often puts it1 if we made less of dogmatic subtleties and more of ,scripture4 ,so far as ,humanism was a religious force it was pushing toward a religion of the lay-type1 with man himself--man with his momentous will--as the centre of interest4 ,another important influence was slowly but pervasively filtering down into the life of the people and preparing the way for a religion of greater personal vitality and spiritual inwardness2 ,i mean the testimony of the great mystics4 ,one has only to study the life and writings of such a scholar as ,nicolaus ,chrypffs--generally called ,cusanus1 or ,nicholas of ,cusa--who died shortly before ,luther was born1#d to see what a live force the mystical teaching was even in this period of ,renaissance4 ,god is for him1 as for his great masters1 ,plotinus1 ,erigena1 ,eckhart1 and ,tauler1 the infinite and indescribable subsoil of the universe1 in whose ,reality all the roots of life and all the reality of things are grounded4 ,the soul1 by nature spiritual and immortal1 at its apex rises above the contradictions which lower knowledge everywhere meets and comes into possession1 by a learned ignorance1 of ,truth itself and into an unspeakable union with ,god4 ,but it was not merely among scholars like ,nicholas that mysticism formed the elemental basis of life and thought2 it had1 through the circles of the #d ,brothers of the ,common ,life1#e and through such masterpieces as the ,imitation of ,christ1 the ,theologia ,germanica1 and the ,sermons of ,eckhart and of ,john ,tauler1 become a part of the spiritual atmosphere which serious-minded men breathed4 ,every one of the men who belong in my list of ,spiritual ,reformers read and loved the golden book of ,german ,theology1 and most of them knew the other writings of the great fourteenth-century mystics4 ,there are unmistakable evidences of a subtle formative influence from these rich sources1 which explains the simultaneous sporadic outbreak of similar views in widely sundered places4 ,there was1 thus1 abroad at the opening of the ,reformation a deep yearning among serious people for a religion of inward experience1 a religion based not on proof-texts nor on external authority of any kind1 but on the native capacity of the soul to seek1 to find and to enjoy the living ,god who is the ,root and ,sap of every twig and branch of the great tree of life4 ,the general trend of this mystical tendency1 as also of the ,humanistic movement1 was in the direction of lay-religion1 and both movements alike emphasized the inherent and native capacity of man1 whose destiny by his free choice is in his own hands4 ,there were1 too1 at work many other deep-lying tendencies away from the bondage and traditions of the past2 aspiration for economic and social reforms to liberate the common people and give them some real chance to be persons--tendencies which all the ,reformers treated in this book deeply felt and shared4 ,all these movements toward intellectual1 spiritual1 and social freedom seemed at first to find their champion in the dynamic hero1 whose ninety-five theses on the door at ,wittenberg shook the world awake in #aeag4 ,he was by birth and spirit a child of the people--ein ,kind des ,volkes--and he seemed to be a prophet1 divinely called to voice their dumb aspirations4 ,he possessed1 #e like all great prophets1 a straightforward moral honesty and sincerity1 an absolute fearlessness1 a magnetic and commanding personality1 an unusual mastery of the vernacular speech1 and an abundant power of pathos1 humour1 and satire4 ,all the world loves a hero who can say in the face of real danger1 ,i would go forward to ,worms if there were as many devils there as there are tiles on the roof6 or again1 ,i would go to ,leipzig if it rained ,duke ,georges for nine days running6#f ,he had1 too1 unusual religious depth and power which sprang1 as in the case of the great mystics1 from a profound inward experience4 ,luther1 like ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,augustine1 and many another spiritual guide of the race1 came upon his supreme insights in sudden epoch-making revelations or illuminations by which he found himself on a new level1 with the line of march shifted and all values altered4 ,his conversion and dedication to religion was an instance of this type4 ,so1 too1 was his discovery of the way of ,faith4 ,legend has very likely coloured our accounts of this experience1 but for purposes of valuation it is of little moment to us whether the dynamic flash came to him in his cell at ,wittenberg as he was studying the ,epistle to the ,romans1 or whether it came while he was climbing the penitential stairway in ,rome4#g ,when all legendary coverings are stripped away we have left an inner event of the first importance1 a live idea bursting into consciousness like a new star on the field of vision4 ,by processes much deeper and richer than those of logical argument1 his mind leaped to the certainty of infinite grace and forgiving love in ,god as revealed in ,christ4 ,in a word1 this baffled and despairing monk1 striving in vain to heap up merits enough to win #f divine favour1 suddenly discovered a new ,god who filled his whole world with a new light and freedom and joy4 ,his name for this discovery was ,faith ,glaube1 but ,faith in its first intention for ,luther meant a personal experience or discovery of ,god1 brought into full view and clear apprehension in ,christ4 ,no one can understand ,god or ,god's ,word1 ,luther once wrote1 unless he has it revealed immediately on ,mittel by the ,holy ,ghost1 but nobody can receive anything from the ,holy ,ghost unless he experiences it4 ,in experience the ,holy ,ghost teaches as in ,his own school1 outside of which nothing of value can be learned4#h ,not only was ,faith for ,luther thus possessed of a mystical character as an inward discovery and as a personal experience which laid hold on ,god immediately1 but it also owed its illuminating birth in his consciousness largely to the influence of the writings and the lives of the mystics4 ,however suddenly the revelation seemed to burst into his mind1 there had nevertheless been a long period of psychological gestation and preparation for it before the epoch-making moment finally came4 ,he had already in his early convent days come under the spell of ,st4 ,augustine1 ,st4 ,bernard1 ,gerson1 and many another guide into the deep regions of inward personal religion1 and his intimate friend1 the ,vicar-general ,staupitz1 had been to him in some sense a personal embodiment of this type of religion4 ,but the ,german mystics of the fourteenth century1 with their mighty experience and their extraordinary depth1 carried him still farther in this direction4 ,he was so enthusiastic over that beautiful anonymous classic of mystical religion1 the ,theologia ,germanica1 that he twice edited and published it1 declaring in his ,preface that he had learned from it more of what ,god and ,christ and man and all things are than from any other book except the ,bible and ,st4 ,augustine4 ,john ,tauler1 the great ,dominican preacher of ,strasbourg1 impressed him no less profoundly4 ,neither in the ,latin nor the ,german language1 he #g wrote to ,spalatin in #aeaf1 have ,i ever found purer or more wholesome teaching1 nor any that so agrees with the ,gospel4 ,both these great teachers of spiritual religion helped him to see that complete confidence in and surrender to the will of ,god is salvation--,put off thy own will and there will be no hell4 ,in ,luther's earlier writings we come frequently upon passages which reveal the way in which experience still saturates ,faith for him1 and which exhibit the mystical depth of his ,christianity at this period4 ,commenting on the phrase1 ,christ liveth in me 7,gal4 ii4 #bj71 in his ,commentary on ,galatians#i he says1 ,he ,christ is my form1 my furniture1 and perfection1 adorning and beautifying my faith as the colour1 the clear light1 the whiteness1 do garnish and beautify the wall4 ,thus are we constrained grossly to set forth this matter4 ,for we cannot conceive that ,christ is so nearly joined and united unto us as the colour or whiteness is unto the wall4 ,but ,christ thus joined and united unto me and abiding in me1 liveth this life in me which now ,i live2 yea1 ,christ ,himself is this life which now ,i live4 ,wherefore ,christ and ,i in this behalf are both one4#aj ,and in a famous passage in the tract ,on ,christian ,liberty1 he declares that ,faith has the incomparable grace of uniting the soul to ,christ as bride to husband1 so that the soul possesses whatever ,christ ,himself possesses4 ,not only was this ,luther of the early period the hero of the people and the prophet of a deep and inward religion1 he seemed also to have found1 even more emphatically than had the ,humanists1 a far-reaching principle of individualism which took the key from the ,church and put it into the hands of the ,christian man himself4 ,salvation in its essence1 he sees1 is conferred upon no one from without4 ,the soul is dependent for it upon no organization1 no traditions1 no dogma1 no sacred performances4 ,it is a transaction between the #h individual soul and ,god1 and the person who lays hold on ,god in living faith thereby has salvation1 assurance1 and joy4 ,with this principle of individualism there came naturally to ,luther a new conception of the ,church altogether4#aa ,it was for him1 in ideal at least1 a community or congregation ,gemeinde of believers1 each member a spiritual priest1 ministering to the spiritual and social life of all3 ,i believe that there is on earth1 wide as the world is1 not more than one holy universal ,christian ,church1 which is nothing else than the community or assembly of the saints4 4 4 4 ,i believe that in this community or ,christendom1 all things are common1 and each one shares the goods of the others and none calls anything his own4 ,therefore all the prayers and good works of the entire community help me and every believer1 and support and strengthen us at every time in life and in death4#ab ,this ideal of a priesthood of believers1 ministering to each other in mutual service and practising neighbourly love in daily life1 would1 if it had been actually carried into effect1 have marked a great step in the direction in which the ,humanists were going1 namely1 the transfer of the emphasis from dogma to life1 from doctrine to ethics1 from ecclesiasticism to personality4 ,luther's great discovery that personal faith is the only thing which counts toward ,god1 and that love and service are the only things in the human sphere which have religious significance would have introduced1 if it had been put full into play1 a new era of personal freedom and a new stage in the progress of the ,kingdom of ,god as a world-wide brotherhood of men engaged in mutual service4 #i ,,ii ,but the young ,luther of these glowing ideals is not the actual ,luther of the ,protestant ,reformation1 any more than the ,augustine of the mighty spiritual experiences portrayed in the ,confessions is the ,st4 ,augustine of history4 ,the historical ,luther had the hero-spirit in him in high degree2 he had mystical depth and inward experience as we have seen1 and he possessed the prophetic power of vision and forereach which makes him often seem far in advance of his time2 but these dynamic traits were more than overbalanced by his fundamentally conservative disposition and by his determination not to go faster or farther than he could carry ,germany1 especially the nobility1 with him4 ,he was1 in a very real sense1 a child of his time1 a product of medieval ,europe1 and he never succeeded in liberating himself from the tight swaddling-bands in which his youth was wrapped4 ,he could not comprehend1 as we shall see1 the bold spirits who were dedicated to the task of reinterpreting ,christianity in terms of the new age2 he loved the old1 in so far as it seemed to him unspoiled by apostacy and corruption1 and he naturally kept reverting to the ancient dogma and the accepted theology of the old ,church instead of leading the way into a fresh1 vital1 spiritual form of ,christianity adapted to the social aspiration of the time4 ,in spite of the fact that ,luther knew and loved the ,german mystics and had himself received a powerful inward experience of ,christ as the bridegroom of his soul--an experience which quickened all the forces of his will and raised him to the rank of a world-hero--nevertheless his normal tendency was toward a non-mystical type of ,christianity1 toward a ,christianity thoroughly based on ,scripture1 logically constructed out of concepts of the nature of ,god and ,man1 so ancient1 sacred1 and orthodox1 that they seemed to him axioms of theology and capable of being formulated into a saving #aj system of truth1 as universal and as unalterable as the multiplication table4 ,however unconscious ,luther himself may have been of the shift of emphasis that was taking place in him as the movement progressed1 the historical observer has no difficulty in noting the change from the ,luther who is endeavouring to sound the deeps of life itself1 and whose religion is the creation of the inward stream of life within him2 and the ,luther who wanders far afield from experience1 draws curious conclusions from unverified concepts1 piles text on text as though heaven could be scaled by another ,pelion on ,ossa1 and once more turns religion back to the cooled lava-beds of theology4 ,he never could succeed in getting the ,god of his heart's glowing faith into the theologies which he laboriously builded4 ,as soon as he started constructing he invariably fell back upon the building-material which had already been quarried1 and which lay at hand4 ,his experimental ,faith discovered a ,god of all ,grace1 but his inherited concept of ,god1 the ,god of the ,old ,testament and of theology1 was vastly different1 and remained to the end unrevolutionized by his heart's insight4 ,this background conception of ,god comes to extreme expression in his ,de servo arbitrio ,the ,unfree ,will of #aebe3 ,this is the acme of faith1 to believe that ,god who saves so few and condemns so many is merciful2 that ,he is just who at ,his own pleasure has made us necessarily doomed to damnation1 so that 4 4 4 ,he seems to delight in the tortures of the wretched and to be more deserving of hatred than of love4 ,if by any effort of reason ,i could conceive how ,god1 who shows so much anger and harshness1 could be merciful and just1 there would be no need of faith4 ,there could1 in his thought1 be no salvation for man1 no hope1 and no joy1 until some way of escape was found from the stern judgments of this angry and wrathful ,god4 ,this way of escape is found in what ,luther calls the ,word of ,god1 by which he means the ,gospel of ,god concerning ,his ,son1 incarnate1 suffering1 risen1 and glorified4#ac #aa ,this ,word of ,god is for him the sum total of the promises that ,god is for us3 the pure ,gospel of a pardoning1 forgiving ,god2 the revelation in the ,cross of ,christ that no self-merit counts or is needed1 but that on ,christ's account ,god forgives the sinner and bestows ,his ,grace upon him4 ,speaking theologically1 ,faith consists in believing in the ,god whom ,christ has historically revealed--believing without any doubt that ,he will be and will do to us according to the things which are said of ,him in the ,word of ,god4 ,it must be said that for ,luther himself1 ,faith was an active1 powerful thing1 a deliberate confidence in the grace of ,god1 which made him joyous and intrepid and for which he could die a thousand deaths2#ad but there was always an irresistible tendency in the ,lutheran teaching for faith to drop to the lower level of doctrine1 and to consist in the acceptance of a scheme of justification4 ,this tendency was1 ,i say1 easy and irresistible just because ,luther did not normally and naturally think of ,god as being inherently and essentially loving1 gracious1 tender1 and forgiving1 that is to say1 fundamentally a ,father and in his deepest nature like the self-giving ,christ4 ,for him1 as for so many other theologians1 ,god becomes forgiving and gracious on account of ,christ's merit and righteousness and thus no longer imputes sin to us4 ,because of what ,christ did1 ,god now beholds us with an attitude of mercy1 grace1 and forgiveness1 and1 on condition of our faith1 imputes to us the righteousness of ,christ4 ,salvation is1 thus1 a plan by which we escape from the ,god of justice and wrath and have our dealings with a ,god who has become merciful because our sin has been balanced off by somebody else's merit and righteousness4 ,not only did ,luther continue this medieval fiction of ,god's nature and character1 he had also always in mind a fictitious and constructed man4 ,man for him is a being devoid of merit1 a creature whose personal #ab goodness in and of itself is of no value4 ,even ,faith itself1 by which salvation is received1 is not an attitude or function of man's own will or reason4 ,it is1 like everything else connected with salvation1 something divinely given1 supernaturally initiated1 a work of ,god1 an opus operatum--,mit unserer ,macht ist nichts gethan--and therefore faith and reason belong in totally different compartments of the human being4 ,nor1 furthermore1 when he is absorbed with his system1 is salvation ever synonymous for him with an inwardly-transformed and spiritually-renewed self4 ,salvation means for him certainty of divine favour4 ,it does not inherently carry with it and involve in its intrinsic meaning a new life1 a joyous adjustment of will to the ,will of ,god4 ,if man is to attain to a moral transformation of life1 he must receive an added gift of supernatural grace1 that is1 the power of sanctification through the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this conception made it impossible for him to look for the coming of a divine kingdom by slow processes now at work in the world4 ,luther did not intend to make the ,word of ,god synonymous with the ,scriptures1 and in his great ,prefaces to ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles he does not identify the two4 ,the ,word of ,god is1 as we have seen1 the revelation1 the message1 the gospel1 of ,grace through ,christ ,jesus1 wherever expressed1 enunciated1 or preached4 ,but the pledged ,word of ,god found in the ,scriptures seemed to him the main miracle of the ages1 and as1 in his contests with ,zwickau ,prophets1 ,anabaptists1 and ,spiritualists1 he found himself forced to produce a fixed touchstone of faith and a solid authority to take the place left vacant by the ,old ,church1 he swung naturally toward the dogma of the absolute authority of ,scripture1 and he laid1 without wishing to do so1 the foundation for the view of the second generation of ,protestantism1 that the infallible ,scripture is ,god's final communication to helpless man1 and is the ultimate and only basis of authority in religion4 ,his conception of the sacraments in like manner1 #ac because of his crude supernaturalism and his inadequate intellectual and spiritual penetration1 drifted to a semi-medieval view4 ,he intended to transform these ceremonies and to have them fit the pure ,word of ,god4 ,in his primary intention they were to be no longer objective works of grace1 but were to have a subjective value only1 a faith-significance4 ,they were to be conceived as pictorial1 symbolic ways of learning the one important truth of salvation--,god's grace and forgiveness2 for ,god deigns1 he said1 to speak to his immature creatures by signs and pictures4 ,but the imperial sway of the past powerfully moved him2 his own conservative disposition carried him along paths which an enlightened reason would not have taken1 and the heat of the controversy often blinded him to some of the precious truths that had seemed clear to him in the creative period of ,faith4 ,in the bitter controversy with the spiritual prophets on the question of sacraments1 he wrote words which seem strangely out of harmony with his earlier views and with his own experience3 ,external things in religion must precede internal experiences which come through i4e4 are mediated by external things1 for ,god has resolved to give nobody the internal gifts except through the external things4 ,he will give nobody the ,spirit and ,faith without the use of external word and sign4#ae ,without meaning to surrender the precious jewel of a religion spiritually grounded1 he once more introduced the awful mystery of the sacraments1 and opened the door for the conception of the rite as an opus operatum--a grace of ,god objectively real4 ,he retained infant baptism as an efficacious act1 and1 obsessed as he was by the literal words1 ,hoc est corpus--this is my body--he went back into the abandoned path of scholasticism1#af and restored the mysterious and miraculous real presence of ,christ in the ,eucharist4#ag ,it is true1 as ,loofs has said1 that #ad ,luther re-discovered ,christianity as religion1 but it is also unfortunately true as well that he lacked the insight1 faith1 and boldness of spirit to trust the people of his age and of the future with ,christianity as religion1 and instead gave them a ,christianity theologically constructed1 deeply marred with residual superstitions and mysteries1 and heavily laden with the inheritances of dark and medieval ages4 ,,iii ,there are two types of religious genius1 both of which play great roles in history4 ,there is first the genius who1 inspired by the ideal of some earlier prophet1 or made wise because he has himself discovered the trend of celestial currents1 sees through the complex and tangle of his time1 and forecasts a truth which all men in a happier coming age will recognize4 ,when he has once seen it1 this vision transforms all his ideas and aims1 and spoils forever for him all meaner gains1 all half truths1 all goods which must be won through surrender of a possible better4 ,he will be obedient to that vision regardless of all cost4 ,he will bear witness to the full light which he has seen even though he can compel nobody else in the heedless world of his generation to see it4 ,he may only cry in the wilderness1 but at all events he will cry1 and he will cry of that highest thing his heart knows4 ,there is1 on the other hand1 the genius who understands his own age like an open book4 ,he is almost hypersensitive to the movings of his time4 ,he feels the silent yearnings and strivings of the dumb multitudes about him2 he anticipates in his thought what the rest are incipiently thinking--he is the clear voice and oracle of the spirit of his age4 ,he knows to a nicety how far his contemporaries will allow themselves to be carried4 #ae ,he will not over-hurry1 he will not outrun their possible speed1 and he will sacrifice everything to carry his epoch with him toward the goal which he sees4 ,he is contented to keep his roots deep in the past1 and he tempers all his creative insights with a judicious mixture of the experience of the past and the ideas which time has made sacred4 ,he will not satisfy the idealist who wants leaps1 and he will not please the radical in any period2 but if he is brave1 wise1 and sincere1 and1 withal1 possessed of rare gifts of interpretation and unusual powers of leadership1 he may be able to shape the course of history no less effectively1 perhaps more surely1 than the genius who insists upon an immediate march straight across country to ,canaan the moment he glimpses it from his ,pisgah4 ,luther was a reformer of this second type4 ,he was beset by very real limitations4 ,dr4 ,mc,giffert does not overstate the facts when he says3 ,he cared little for clearness and consistency of thought4 ,a satisfactory and adequate world-view was not of his concern4 ,of intellectual curiosity he had scarcely any2 of interest in truth for truth's sake none at all4 4 4 4 ,he remained entirely without intellectual difficulties1 finding no trouble with the most extreme supernaturalism4#ah ,in many respects1 as ,harnack has insisted1 his ,christianity was a medieval phenomenon4#ai ,only in one thing was he supremely the master of his age and the hero of a new time--in his discovery of a way of ,faith which makes a man intrepid even in the wreck of worlds and in a thousand deaths4 ,on the lower levels of life1 where most of his work was done1 he was strangely under the sway of the past1 a distruster of reason1 a restorer of ancient doctrine1 a conservative in thought and action1 a friend of rulers1 a guardian1 as far as he could be1 of the status quo--a leader who anathematized radicals and enthusiasts and who staved off and postponed for nearly four hundred years the truly liberating and thoroughly #af adequate reformation4 ,he was determined to be the repairer of the ,old ,church1 not the builder of a ,new ,church1 and he was resolved not to travel farther nor faster than the substantial men of his time considered safe and wise4 ,but less was perhaps more4 ,there will at least always be those who think that the sinuous way of progress is the most certain way of advance4 ,the slow incline1 the gradual spiral1 each wind of the curve ever not quite the old level--that is the most approved method of leaving an outworn past and of moving forward into a new stage of history4 ,it may be so4 ,it certainly is true that through ,luther's insight new reliance upon ,god came to men1 new energy of faith was won1 and by his work of repair1 conservative and cautious though it was1 in the long sweep of time a liberated ,christianity has come1 a vital social gospel has become effective1 and great vistas of progress are opening out before the ,church of ,christ4 ,but it is impossible to forget that other group--those men of the other type--who even in ,luther's day saw the way straight across into ,canaan1 the men who saw their vision fade away unrealized1 and who failed to behold the fruit of their spiritual travail largely because ,luther misunderstood them1 refused to give them aid and comfort1 and finally helped to marshal the forces which submerged them and postponed their victory4 ,we may not blame him1 but it is not fair to these heroic souls that they should longer lie submerged in the oblivion of their defeat4 ,i shall try in these pages to bring up into the light the principles and ideas which they proclaimed to ,europe1 perhaps ahead of their time4 #a ,in the ,south the movement showed a tendency to drift back into a refined paganism4 ,in the ,north1 however1 it was deeply ,christian in interest1 in feeling1 and in its moral aspirations4 ,erasmus was by far the greatest figure and the most influential person in the group of ,humanists of this latter type4 #b ,epistle ,,ccvii4 #c ,epistle ,,dlxxxvii4 #d #adja-adfd4 #e ,nicholas belonged to one of these circles4 ,the ,brethren of the ,common ,life are treated in my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion1 chap4 xiv4 #f ,letter to the ,elector ,frederick1 ,march #e1 #aebb4 #g ,the story that ,luther1 climbing the ,scala ,santa in #aeaj1 suddenly was impressed by the words1 ,the just shall live by faith1 is based on a reminiscence of ,luther's son ,paul4 ,luther's own reference to the ascent of the ,scala ,santa makes no allusion to any such experience4 ,he merely says that when he reached the top of the stairs1 which he climbed in the hope of getting the soul of an ancestor out of ,purgatory1 he thought to himself1 ,who knows whether this prayer will avail8 ,luther began his lectures on ,romans in #aeae1 and his dynamic experience probably belongs near this date4 #h ,preface to the ,magnificat written in #aeba4 #i ,first given as ,lectures in #aeaf-ag1 and published in #aeai4 #aj ,a ,commentary on ,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,galatians4 #aa ,dilthey says in ,archiv fuer ,geschichte der ,philosophie1 ,bd4 v4 ,heft #c1 p4 #ceh3 ,the ,justification of which the medieval man had inward experience was the descending stream of objective forces upon the believer from the transcendental world1 through the ,incarnation1 in the channels of the ecclesiastical institutions1 priestly consecration1 sacraments1 confession1 and works4 ,it was something which took place in connection with a super-sensible regime4 ,the ,justification by faith of which ,luther was inwardly aware was the personal experience of the believer standing in the continuous line of ,christian fellowship1 by whom assurance of the ,grace of ,god is experienced in response to personal faith1 an experience derived from the appropriation of the work of ,christ4 #ab ,saemmtliche ,werke 7,erlangen edition71 xxii4 p4 #bj4 #ac ,on ,christian ,liberty1 ,primary ,works1 p4 #ajf4 #ad ,see his ,preface to ,the ,epistle to the ,romans4 #ae ,wider die himlichen ,propheten vom ,sacrament1 ii4 ,anno #aebe4 #af ,see ,p4 ,loofs1 ,dogmengeschichte 7,vierte ,auflage1 #aijf71 pp4 #geb-gee4 #ag ,in his instructions to ,melanchthon for the ,cassel ,conference with ,butzer in #aecd1 ,luther said1 ,in and with the bread1 the body of ,christ is truly partaken of1 accordingly all that takes place actively and passively in the bread takes place actively and passively in the body of ,christ and the latter is distributed1 eaten and masticated with the teeth4 #ah ,mc,giffert1 ,protestant ,thought before ,kant 7#aiaa71 p4 #bj4 ,see also the same view in ,troeltsch1 ,protestantisches ,christentum und ,kirche in der ,neuzeit 7#bnd ,auflage71 p4 #dha4 #ai ,history of ,dogma1 vii4 p4 #afi4 #ag ,,chapter ,,ii ,,hans ,,denck ,,and ,,the ,,inward ,,word#a ,hans ,denck has generally been enrolled among the ,anabaptists1 and it is possible to use that name of scorn with such a latitude and looseness that it includes not only ,denck but all the sixteenth-century exponents of a free1 inward religion4 ,anabaptism has often been treated as a sort of broad banyan-tree which flourished exuberantly and shot out far-reaching branches of very varied characters1 but which held in one organic unity all the branches that found soil and took root4 ,a name of such looseness and covering capacity is1 however1 of little worth1 and it would promote historical accuracy if we should confine the term to those who opposed infant baptism and who insisted instead upon adult baptism1 not as a means of ,grace1 but as a visible sign of the covenant of man with ,god4 ,the further characteristic marks which may be selected to differentiate ,anabaptism from other movements of the period are3 #a4 ,the treatment of the ,gospel as a new law to be literally followed and obeyed by all who are to have the right to be called saints4 #b4 ,the true ,church is a visible ,church1 the community of the saints1 founded by covenant1 with adult baptism as its sign1 formed exactly on the pattern of the apostolic #ah ,church and preserved in strict purity by rigorous church discipline2 and #c4 ,the denial to magistrates of all power to persecute men for their faith and doctrine on the ground that the ,gospel gives them no such authority--its great commandment being love4#b ,hans ,denck1 though in his early period of activity closely identified with this movement and regarded as one of its chief leaders in ,germany1 does not properly belong1 however1 to the banyan-tree of ,anabaptism4 ,his writings reveal ideas and tendencies of such enlarged scope that it appears clear that he had discovered and was teaching another type of ,christianity altogether4#c ,he is the earliest exponent in the sixteenth century of a fresh and unique type of religion1 deeply influenced by the mystics of a former time1 but even more profoundly moulded by the new humanistic conceptions of man's real nature4 ,there are few biographical details of ,denck's life available4 ,he was1 most probably1 a native of ,bavaria1#d and he was born about the year #adie4 ,he studied in the ,university of ,ingolstadt1 where he was admitted among the baccalaureates in #aeag4e ,in the year #aebj we catch a glimpse of him in close association with the ,humanists of ,augsburg4#f ,in #aebb he was at work in ,basle as proof-reader for the famous publisher1 ,valentin ,curio1 and was living in intimate fellowship with the great scholar ,o,ecolampadius1 whose lectures on the ,prophet ,isaiah he heard4#g ,in the autumn of the same year1 on the recommendation of ,o,ecolampadius1 he was appointed ,director of ,st4 ,sebald's ,school in ,nuremberg1 which was then the foremost seat of learning in that city1 #ai a great centre of classical humanistic studies4 ,during the first period of his life in ,nuremberg he was closely identified with the ,lutheran movement1 but he soon shifted his sympathies1 and aligned himself with the radical tendencies which at this period were championed in ,nuremberg by ,thomas ,muenzer1 who1 in spite of his misguided leadership and fanatical traits1 had discovered a genuine religious principle that was destined to become significant in safer hands4#h ,muenzer read ,tauler's sermons from his youth up2 in his own copy of these sermons1 preserved in the library at ,gera1 a marginal note says that he read them almost continually1 and that here he learned of a divine interior ,teaching4 ,it was ,muenzer's teaching of the living ,voice of ,god in the soul1 his testimony to the reality of the inner heavenly ,word1 which ,god ,himself speaks in the deeps of man's heart1 that won the ,humanist and teacher of ,st4 ,sebald's ,school to the new and perilous cause4 ,he also formed a close friendship with ,ludwig ,hetzer1 who1 like ,muenzer1 taught that the saving ,word of ,god must be inward1 and that the ,scriptures can be understood only by those who belong to the ,school of ,christ4 ,having once caught the idea from these impassioned leaders1 ,denck proceeded directly to work it out and to develop its implications in his own fashion4 ,he was himself sane1 clear-minded1 modest1 sincere1 far-removed from fanaticism1 and eager only to find a form of religion which would fit the eternal nature of things on the one hand1 and the true nature of man on the other--man1 ,i mean1 as the ,humanist conceived him4#i ,already in this ,nuremberg period1 ,denck became fully convinced that ,luther's doctrine of sin and justification was an artificial construction--,einbildung--and that his conception of ,scripture and the ,sacraments was destined to clamp the new-found faith in iron bonds1 tie it to outworn tradition1 and make it incapable of a progressive #bj and vital unfolding4 ,he declared in his testimony or confession to the city council of ,nuremberg in #aebd1 that although he had not yet a full experience of the inward1 powerful ,word of ,god1 he distinctly felt its life as an inner witness which ,god had planted within him1 a spark of the ,divine ,light breaking into his own soul1 and in the strength of this direct experience he denied the value of external ceremonies1 and declared that even the ,bible itself cannot bring men to ,god without the assistance of this inner ,light and ,spirit4#aj ,as a result of this change of attitude1 the schoolmaster of ,st4 ,sebald's was banished from the city of ,nuremberg1 ,january #ba1 #aebe1 and from this time until his early death he was homeless and a wanderer4 ,he spent some months--between ,september #aebe and ,october #aebf--;in ,augsburg endeavouring to organize and direct the rapidly expanding forces of the liberal movement4 ,he was during these months1 and especially during the period of the great ,anabaptist synod which was held at this time in ,augsburg1 endeavouring to give the chaotic movement of ,anabaptism a definite direction1 with the main emphasis on the mystical aspect of religion4 ,he hoped to call a halt to the vague socialistic dreams and the fanatical tendencies that put the movement in constant jeopardy and peril1 and he was striving to call his brotherhood to an inner religion1 grounded on the inherent nature of the soul1 and guided by the inner ,word rather than on a new law set forth in the written word4 ,there were1 however1 too many eddies and currents to be mastered by one mind1 too many varieties of faith to be unified under one principle1 and ,denck's own view was too intangible1 inward1 and spiritual1 to satisfy the enthusiasm either of the seething masses or of #ba the leaders who saw a new ,jerusalem just ready to come down out of heaven from ,god4#aa ,after the ,augsburg period1 ,denck spent some time in ,strasbourg1 where he gained many followers4 ,capito bears testimony at this time to the purity of ,denck's life1 to his moderation and goodwill1 and to the impressive effect of his preaching and teaching upon the people of the city4#ab ,vadian1 the ,humanist and reformer of ,st4 ,gall1 too1 in spite of his disapproval of some of ,denck's ideas1 speaking of him in retrospect after his death1 called him a most gifted youth1 possessed of all excellencies4 ,but his teaching was too strange and unusual to be allowed currency even in free ,strasbourg4 ,after being granted a public discussion he was ordered to leave the city forthwith4 ,during a short stay in ,worms1 following the ,strasbourg period1 in collaboration with ,ludwig ,hetzer1 they brought to a successful conclusion a ,german translation of the ,prophets from the ,hebrew1 a work which ,hetzer had begun4 ,this important piece of scholarly work was published under the title1 ,alle ,propheten nach hebraeischer ,sprache verteutscht1 in ,worms1 ,april #c1 #aebg1 and had a wide circulation and use1 its main demerit being that it had been done by ,anabaptists4 ,pursued on every hand1 hunted from place to place1 he finally sought peace and shelter with his old friend1 the teacher who had first inspired him in his youth1 ,o,ecolampadius1 and here in ,basle in a quiet retreat1 he died of the plague in ,november #aebg1 hardly more than thirty-two years of age4#ac ,we must now turn to the little books of this persecuted and homeless ,humanist to see what his religious teaching really was1 and to discover the foundation principle which lay at the root of all the endeavours of this period to launch a ,christianity grounded primarily on the #bb fundamental nature of man4#ad ,denck writes like a man with a message--straight to the mark1 lucid1 vivid1 and intense4 ,he believes what he says and he wants others to see it and believe it4 ,his writings are entirely free from the controversial temper1 and they breathe throughout the spirit of tolerance and charity4 ,he knows when to stop1 and brings his books to an end as soon as he has made his points clear4 ,the fundamental fact of man's nature for ,denck is personal freedom4 ,starting with no theological presuppositions he is under no obligation to make the primary assumption common to all ,augustinian systems that man is devoid of any native capacities which have to do with spiritual salvation4 ,he begins instead with man as he knows him--a sadly marred and hampered being1 but still possessed of a potentially ,divine nature1 and capable of co-operating1 by inward choices and decisions1 with the ceaseless effort of ,god to win him completely to ,himself4 ,his little book1 ,what does it mean when the ,scripture says ,god does and works ,good and ,evil1 is throughout a protest against the idea of election1 which1 he says1 involves a limitation of the ,love of ,god1 and it is a penetrating account of the way in which man by his free choices makes his eternal destiny4#ae ,god compels nobody1 for ,he will have no one saved by compulsion4#af ,god has given freewill to men that they may choose for themselves1 either the good or the bad4 ,christ said to ,his disciples1 ',will ye #bc go away8' as though ,he would say1 ',you are under no compulsion4'#ag ,god1 he says again in the ,widerruf1 forces no one1 for love cannot compel1 and ,god's service is1 therefore1 a thing of complete freedom4#ah ,it is freedom1 too1 which explains the fact of sin4 ,god is in no way the author of sin2 ,he is wholly good2 ,he can do nothing but what is good2 ,he ordains no one to sin2 ,he is the instigator of no evil at all4 ,all the sin and moral evil of the world have come from our own evil choices and purposes4 ,the thing which hinders and has always hindered is that our wills are different from ,god's will4 ,god never seeks ,himself in ,his willing--we do4 ,there is no other way to blessedness than to lose one's self-will4#ai ,he who surrenders his selfishness1 he says in another treatise1 and uses the freedom which ,god has given him1 and fights the spiritual battle as ,god wills that such battles are to be fought and as ,christ fought ,his1 can in his measure be like ,christ4#bj ,the whole problem of salvation for him is1 as we shall see1 to bring about such a transformation in man that sin ceases1 and the least thing thought1 said1 or done out of harmony with the will of ,god becomes bitter and painful to the soul4#ba ,to be a ,christian1 he once wrote1 is to be in measure like ,christ1 and to be ready to be offered as ,he gave ,himself to be offered4 ,i do not say that we are perfect as ,christ was1 but ,i say rather that we are to seek the perfection which ,christ never lost4 ,christ calls ,himself the ,light of the world1 but ,he also tells ,his disciples that they too are the light of the world4 ,all ,christians in whom the ,holy ,ghost lives--that is all real ,christians--are one with ,christ in ,god and are like ,christ4 ,they will therefore have similar experiences1 and what ,christ did they will also do4#bb ,not only is there a power of free choice in the soul2 there is as well an elemental hunger in man which pushes him ,godward4 ,god1 he often says1 can give only #bd to those who hunger4 ,in a very great passage which reminds one of ,pascal he says3 ,the kingdom of ,god is in you and he who searches for it outside himself will never find it1 for apart from ,god no one can either seek or find ,god1 for he who seeks ,god1 already in truth has ,him4#bc ,he says nearly the same thing again in the little book1 ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes3 ,he who does not know ,god from ,god ,himself does not ever know ,him4 ,this central insight of ,denck's religious faith that ,god and man are not completely sundered1 but meet1 as he says1#bd in the deeps of ourselves1 is grounded upon the fact of experience that there is within us a supra-individual ,reality which becomes revealed to us sometimes as a ,light1 sometimes as a ,word1 sometimes as a ,presence or environing ,spirit4 ,this testimony is ,denck's main contribution1 and we must next see how he sets it forth4 ,there is1 he says1 a witness in every man4 ,he who does not listen to it blinds himself1 although ,god has given him originally a good inward eyesight4 ,if a man will keep still and listen he will hear what the ,spirit witnesses within him4 ,not only in us but in the heathen and in ,jews this witness is given1 and men might be preached to outwardly forever without perceiving1 if they did not have this witness in their own hearts4#be ,the ,light shines1 the invisible ,word of ,god is uttered in the hearts of all men who come into the world1 and this ,light gives all men freedom and power to become children of ,god4#bf ,there is both an inward principle of revelation which he calls das innere ,wort1 and a principle of active power which he calls die ,kraft des ,allerhoechsten 7the power of the ,highest71 not two things1 but one reality under two aspects and two names1 and he insists that he who turns to this ,divine1 spiritual reality1 which is one with ,god1 and obeys it and loves its leading has already found ,god and has come to himself4 ,oh1 who will give me a voice1 he writes1 that ,i may cry aloud to the whole world that ,god1 the all highest1 is in the deepest abyss #be within us and is waiting for us to return to ,him4 ,oh1 my ,god1 how does it happen in this poor old world1 that ,thou art so great and yet nobody finds ,thee1 that ,thou callest so loudly and nobody hears ,thee1 that ,thou art so near and nobody feels ,thee1 that ,thou givest ,thyself to everybody and nobody knows ,thy name6 ,men flee from ,thee and say they cannot find ,thee2 they turn their backs and say they cannot see ,thee2 they stop their ears and say they cannot hear ,thee6#bg ,this self-giving nature of ,god is everywhere taken for granted--it is just that which he feels that ,christ has once for all made sun-clear1 and it is because ,he is essentially self-giving that ,god pours out ,his life and love upon us as ,he does ,his sunshine upon the grass and flowers4 ,the ,word of ,god is with thee before thou seekest2 ,he gives before thou hast asked2 ,he opens to thee before thou hast knocked4 ,god like a ,father deals with ,his wayward children4 ,oh1 blessed is the man1 he writes1 who in his need finds the love of ,god and comes to ,him for forgiveness6#bh ,no one of us who has been washed from his sins1 he beautifully says1 ought to eat a piece of bread without considering how ,god loves him and how he ought to love ,god1 who in ,jesus ,christ ,his ,son laid aside ,his right to ,divinity that ,his love might appear complete4#bi ,it has pleased the eternal ,love1 he writes1 that that ,person in whom ,love was shown in the highest degree should be called the ,saviour of ,his people4 ,not that it would be possible for human nature to make anybody saved1 but ,god was so completely identified in ,love with ,him that all the ,will of ,god was the will of this ,person1 and the sufferings of this ,person were and counted as the sufferings of ,god ,himself4#cj ,christ is for him the complete manifestation of life and the perfect exhibition or unveiling of ,god's love1 and he who appreciates this love1 feels its attraction1 and lives a life which corresponds to his soul's insight1 becomes #bf himself ,christlike1 forsakes sin and self1 and enters upon a life of salvation4 ,all who are saved1 he says1 are of one spirit with ,god1 and he who is the foremost in love is the foremost of those who are saved4#ca ,he who gets weary of ,god has never found ,him1 while the person who has found ,him in this love-way will be ready and willing to give up even his own salvation and accept damnation for the love of ,god1 since he knows in his heart that ,god is so wholly good that ,he can give to such a man only what is highest and best1 and that is ,himself6#cb ,that is to say1 he who is willing to be damned for the love of ,god never will be damned6 ,but salvation must never be conceived as something which is the result of a transaction4 ,it is from beginning to end a life-process and can in no way be separated from character and personal attitude of will4 ,he who depends on the merit of ,christ1 he says1 and yet continues in a fleshly1 wicked life1 regards ,christ precisely as in former times the heathen held their gods4 ,he who really believes that ,christ has saved him can no longer be a servant of sin1 for no one believes rightly until he leaves his old life4#cc ,it is not enough1 he elsewhere writes1 that ,god is in thee2 thou must also be in ,god1 that is1 partake of the life of ,god4 ,it does not help to have ,god if thou dost not honour ,him4 ,it is no avail to call thyself ,his child if thou dost not behave thyself like a child6#cd ,he insists that no one can be called righteous or be counted righteous until he actually is righteous4 ,nothing can be imputed to a man which is not ethically and morally present as a living feature of his character and conduct4 ,no one1 he truly says1 can know ,christ as a means of salvation unless he follows ,him in his life4 ,he who does not witness to ,christ in his daily walk grows into a different person from the one he is called to be4#ce ,the person who lives on in sin does not really know ,god1 and1 #bg to use his fine figure2 is like a man who has lost his home and gone astray1 and does not even know that he is at home1 when his ,father has found him and has welcomed him back1 but still goes on hunting for home and for ,father1 since he does not recognize his home or his ,father when he has found them6#cf ,salvation1 then1 for ,hans ,denck is wholly an inward process1 initiated from above through the ,divine ,word1 the ,christ1 whom we know outwardly as the historical ,person of the ,gospel1 and whom we know inwardly as the ,revealer of ,light and ,love1 the ,witness in us against sin1 the ,voice of the ,father to our hearts1 calling us home1 the ,goal of our spiritual quest1 the ,alpha and the ,omega of all religious truth and all spiritual experience4 ,the ,way to ,god1 he says1 is ,christ inwardly and spiritually known4#cg ,but however audible the inner ,word may be2 however vivid the illumination2 however drawing the ,love1 there is never compulsion4 ,the soul itself must hear and see and feel2 must say yes to the appeal of ,love1 and must co-operate by a continuous adjustment of the personal will to the ,will of ,god and learn to behave as a child of ,god4 ,having reached the insight that salvation is entirely an affair of the spirit1 an inward matter1 ,denck loosened his hold upon the external things which had through long centuries of history come to be considered essential to ,christianity4 ,sacraments and ceremonies dropped to a lower level for him as things of no importance4 ,with his characteristic breadth and sweetness1 he does not smite them as an iconoclast would have done2 he does not cry out against those who continue to use them4 ,he merely considered them of no spiritual significance4 ,ceremonies1 he writes in his dying confession1 in themselves are not sin1 but whoever supposes that he can attain to life either by baptism or by partaking of bread1 is still in superstition4#ch ,if all ceremonies1 he adds1 were lost1 little harm would come of it4#ci #bh ,he appeals to ,christians to stop quarrelling over these outward and secondary matters1 and to make religion consist in love to neighbour rather than in zeal for outward ceremonies4 ,he laid down this great principle3 ,all externals must yield to love1 for they are for the sake of love1 and not love for their sake4#dj ,he was1 consistently with his fundamental ideas1 profoundly opposed to every tendency to make ,christianity a legal religion4 ,his friends1 the ,anabaptists1 were inclined to turn the ,gospel of ,christ into a new law1 and to make religion consist largely in scrupulous obedience to this perfect law of life4 ,to all this he was radically alien1 for it was1 he thought1 only another road back to a religion of the letter1 while ,christ came to call us to a religion of the spirit4 ,he who has not the ,spirit1 he wrote1 and who fails to find ,him in the ,scriptures1 seeks life and finds death2 seeks light and finds darkness1 whether it be in the ,old or in the ,new ,testament4#da ,he who thinks that he can be made truly righteous by means of a ,book is ascribing to the dead letter what belongs to the ,spirit4#db ,he does not belittle or undervalue the ,scriptures--he knew them almost by heart and took the precious time out of his brief life to help to translate the ,prophets into ,german--but he wants to make the fact forever plain that men are saved or lost as they say yes or no to a ,light and ,word within themselves4 ,the ,holy ,scriptures1 he writes in his dying testimony1 ,i consider above every human treasure1 but not so high as the ,word of ,god which is living1 powerful1 and eternal1 for it is ,god ,himself1 ,spirit and no letter1 written without pen or paper so that it can never be destroyed4 ,for that reason1 salvation is not bound up with the ,scriptures1 however necessary and good they may be for their purpose1 because it is impossible for the ,scriptures to make good a bad heart1 even though it may be a learned one4 ,a good heart1 however1 with a ,divine ,spark in it is improved by everything1 and to such the ,scriptures will bring blessedness #bi and goodness4#dc ,the ,scriptures--the external ,word--as he many times1 in fact somewhat tediously1 declares1 are witnesses and pointers to the real and momentous thing1 the ,word which is very near to all souls and is written in the heart1 and which increases in clearness and power as the will swings into parallelism with the will of ,god1 and as the life grows in likeness to the ,divine image revealed in ,christ4 ,this inward life and spiritual appreciation do not give any ground for relaxing the moral obligations of life4 ,no fulfilling of the law by ,christ1 no vanishing of the outward and temporal1 furnish any excuse to us for slacking a jot or tittle of anything which belongs to the inherent nature of moral goodness4 ,christ1 he says1 fulfilled the law1 not to relieve us of it1 but to show us how to keep it in truth4 ,the member must partake of what the ,head partakes4#dd ,to love ,god alone and to hate everything that hinders love is a principle which1 ,denck believes1 will fulfil all law1 ancient or modern4#de ,such were the ideas which this young radical reformer1 dreamer perhaps1 tried to teach his age4 ,the time was not ripe for him1 and there was no environment ready for his message4 ,he spoke to minds busy with theological systems1 and to men whose battles were over the meaning of inherited medieval dogma4 ,he thought and spoke as a child of another world1 and he talked in a language which he had learned from his heart and not from books or from the schools4 ,it is the key of ,david1 he says1 that is1 an inward experience1 which unlocks all the solid doors of truth1 but there were so few about him who really had this key6 ,his task1 which was destined to be hard and painful1 which was in his lifetime doomed to failure1 was not self-chosen4 ,i opened my mouth1 he says1 against my will and ,i am speaking to the world because ,god impels me so that ,i cannot keep silent4 ,god has called me out and stationed me at my post1 and ,he knows whether good will come of it or not4#df #cj ,it is not often that a man living in the atmosphere of seething enthusiasm1 pitilessly pricked and goaded by brutal and unfeeling persecutors1 compelled to hear his precious truth persistently called error and pestilent heresy1 keeps so calm and sane and sure that all will be well with him and with his truth as does ,denck4 ,i am heartily well content1 is his dying testimony1 that all shame and disgrace should fall on my face1 if it is for the truth4 ,it was when ,i began to love ,god that ,i got the disfavour of men4#dg ,he confesses that he has found it difficult to keep a gentle and a humble heart through all his work among men1 to temper his zeal with understanding1 and to make his lips say always what his heart meant1#dh but he did1 at least1 succeed in loving ,god and in hating everything that hindered love4 ,in an epoch in which the doctrine was new and revolutionary1 he succeeded in presenting the principle of the ,inward ,word as the basis of religion without giving any encouragement to libertinism or moral laxity1 for he found the way of freedom to be a life of growing likeness to ,christ1 he held the fulfilling of the law to be possible only for those who accept the burdens and sacrifices of love1 and he insisted that the privileges of blessedness belong only to those who behave like sons4 #a ,the best studies on ,denck are ,heberle's articles in ,theol4 ,studien und ,kritiken 7#ahea71 ,erstes ,heft1 and 7#ahee7 ,viertes ,heft4 ,gustave ,roehrich's ,essai sur la vie1 les ecrits et la doctrine de ,jean ,denk 7,strasbourg1 #ahec74 ,ludwig ,keller's ,ein ,apostel der ,wiedertaeufer 7,leipzig1 #ahhb74 ,the last two books must1 however1 be followed with much caution4 #b ,one branch of the ,anabaptists held that the saints may1 however1 rightly use the sword to execute the purposes of ,god upon the godless1 and to hasten the coming of the ,thousand ,years' ,reign of the ,kingdom4 #c ,i have included him1 in my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion 7#aijh71 among the ,anabaptists1 but he can be called one only by such a loose use of the word that it ceases to have any definite significance4 #d ,see ,j4 ,kessler's ,sabbata 7#aijb71 p4 #aej4 #e ,l4 ,keller1 ,johann von ,staupitz1 p4 #bjg4 #f ,ibid4 p4 #bjh4 #g ,o,ecolampadius' ,letter to ,pirkheimer1 ,april #be1 #aebe4 #h ,georg ,theodor ,strobel1 ,leben1 ,schriften und ,lehren ,muenzers 7,nuernberg1 #agie72 ,j4 ,r4 ,seidemann1 ,thomas ,muenzer 7,dresden1 #ahdb74 #i ,a contemporary chronicle calls ,denck a scholar1 eloquent1 modest and1 withal1 learned in ,hebrew4--,kessler's ,sabbata1 p4 #aej4 #aj ,this ,confession is in the archives of ,nuremberg1 and has been extensively used in ,keller's ,ein ,apostel der ,wiedertaeufer1 see especially pp4 #di-fb4 ,see also ,th4 ,kolde1 ,kirchengeschichtliche ,studien 7#ahhh71 p4 #bca f4 ,in this connection much interest attaches to a passage in a letter which ,luther wrote to ,johann ,brismann1 ,february #d1 #aebe4 ,he says3 ,satan has carried it so far that in ,nuremberg some persons are denying that ,christ is anything1 that the ,word of ,god is anything1 that the ,eucharist is anything1 that ,magistracy is anything4 ,they say that only ,god is4 #aa ,see ,nicoladoni's ,johannes ,buenderlin von ,linz 7,berlin1 #ahic71 p4 #aad4 #ab ,letter of ,capita to ,zwingli1 ,december #bf1 #aebf4 #ac ,kessler says that ,o,ecolampadius in a ,christian spirit was with him at his death4 ,op4 cit4 p4 #aea4 #ad ,the little books of ,denck from which ,i shall extract his teaching are3 7#a7 ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes 7,on the ,law of ,god71 printed without place or date1 but probably published in #aebf4 ,i have used the copy in the ,koenigliche ,bibliothek in ,berlin1 sig4 ,co4 #baeb4 7#b7 ,was geredet sey doss die ,schrift sagt ,gott thue und mache guts und boeses 7,what does it mean when the ,scripture says ,god does and works ,good and ,evil71 #aebf4 ,copies of this are to be found in the ,university ,library of ,marburg1 also in the ,koenigliche ,bibliothek of ,dresden4 7#c7 ,widerruf 7,confession 71 #aebg4 ,i have used the copy in the ,koenigliche ,bibliothek in ,dresden sig4 ,theol4 ,cathol4 #hag 7#d7 ,ordnung ,gottes und der ,creaturen ,werck 7,the ,divine ,plan and the ,work of the ,creature71 #aebg1 in the above library in ,dresden4 7#e7 ,wer die ,warheif warlich lieb hat1 etc41 no date 7,whoever really loves the ,truth1 etc471 and 7#f7 ,von der wahren ,liebe 7,on the ,true ,love71 #aebg4 ,this last tract has been republished in ,america by the ,mennonitische ,verlagshandlung1 ,elkhart1 ,indiana1 #ahhh4 #ae ,to hear the ,word of ,god1 he elsewhere says1 means life2 to hear it not means death4--,ordnung ,gottes1 p4 #ag4 #af ,was geredet sey1 p4 ,c4 7,the paging is by letters47 #ag ,was geredet sey1 ,b4 #c4 #ah ,widerruf1 sec4 iv4 #ai ,was geredet sey1 ,b4 #bj ,ibid4 ,b4 #e4 #ba ,venn ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #ae4 #bb ,was geredet sey1 ,b4 #f4 #bc ,was geredet sey1 ,b4 #b4 #bd ,ibid4 ,b4 #e4 #be ,ibid4 ,b4 #a and #b4 #bf ,ordnung ,gottes1 p4 #g4 #bg ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #bg4 #bh ,was geredet sey1 ,d4 #a and #b4 #bi ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #cc4 #cj ,van der wahren ,liebe 7,elkhart reprint71 p4 #g4 #ca ,van der wahren ,liebe 7,elkhart reprint71 p4 #h4 #cb ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #ai4 #cc ,widerruf1 ii4 #cd ,was geredet sey1 ,b4 #a4 #ce ,ibid4 ,d4 #cf ,was geredet sey1 ,a4 #d and #e4 #cg ,ibid4 ,b4 #c4 #ch ,widerruf1 vii4 #ci ,ibid4 vii4 #dj ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #cc4 #da ,ibid4 p4 #bb4 #db ,ibid4 p4 #ba4 #dc ,widerruf1 i4 #dd ,vom ,gesetz ,gottes1 p4 #i4 #de ,ibid4 p4 #ab4 #df ,was geredet sey1 ,preface4 #dg ,widerruf1 ,preface4 #dh ,ibid41 ,preface4 #ca ,,chapter ,,iii ,,two ,,prophets ,,of ,,the ,,inward ,,word3 ,,bunderlin ,,and ,,entfelder ,i ,the study of ,denck in the previous chapter has furnished the main outlines of the type of ,christianity which a little group of men1 sometimes called ,enthusiasts1 and sometimes called ,spirituals1 but in reality sixteenth-century ,quakers1 proclaimed and faithfully practised in the opening period of the ,reformation4 ,they differed fundamentally from ,luther in their conception of salvation and in their basis of authority1 although they owed their first awakening to him2 and they were not truly ,anabaptists1 though they allied themselves at first with this movement1 and earnestly laboured to check the ominous signs of ,ranterism and ,fanaticism1 and the misguided return to millennial hopes and expectations1 to which many of the ,anabaptist leaders were prone4 ,the inner circle of ,spirituals which we are now engaged in investigating was never numerically large or impressive1 nor was it in the public mind well differentiated within the larger circle of seething ideas and revolutionary propaganda4 ,the men themselves1 however1 who composed it had a very sure grasp of a few definite1 central truths to which they were dedicated1 and they never lost sight1 in the hurly-burly of contention and in the storm of persecution1 of the goal toward which they were bending their steps4 ,they did not endeavour #cb to found a ,church1 to organize a sect1 or to gain a personal following1 because it was a deeply settled idea with them all that the true ,church is invisible4 ,it is a communion of saints1 including those of all centuries1 past and present1 who have heard and obeyed the divine inner ,word1 and through co-operation with ,god's inward revelation and transforming ,presence have risen to a mystical union of heart and life with ,him4 ,their apostolic mission--for they fully believed that they were called and sent--was to bear witness to this eternal ,word within the soul1 to extend the fellowship of this invisible ,zion1 and to gather out of all lands and peoples and visible folds of the ,church those who were ready for membership in the one family and brotherhood of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,they made the mistake1 which has been very often made before and since1 of undervaluing external helps and of failing to appreciate how important is the visible fellowship1 the social group1 working at common tasks and problems1 the temporal ,church witnessing to its tested faith and proclaiming its message to the ears of the world2 but they did nevertheless perform a very great service in their generation1 and they are the unrecognized forerunners of much which we highly prize in the spiritual heritage of the modern world4 ,the two men whose spiritual views we are about to study are1 ,i am afraid1 hardly even names to the world of to-day4 ,they were not on the popular and winning side and they have fallen into oblivion1 and the busy world has gone on and left them and their little books to lie buried in a forgotten past4 ,they are surely worthy of a resurrection1 and those who take the pains will discover that the ideas which they promulgated never really died1 but were quick and powerful in the formation of the inner life of the religious societies of the ,english ,commonwealth1 and so of many things which have touched our inner world to-day4 ,johann ,buenderlin1 like his inspirer ,denck1 was a scholar of no mean rank4 ,he understood ,hebrew2 he knew the ,church ,fathers both in ,greek and ,latin2 he #cc makes frequent reference to ,greek literature for illustration1 and he was well versed in the dialectic of the schools1 though he disapproved of it as a religious method4#a ,he was enrolled as a student in the ,university of ,vienna in #aeae1 under the name of ,johann ,wunderl aus ,linz1 ,linz being a town of ,upper ,austria4 ,after four years of study he left the ,university in #aeai1 being compelled to forgo his ,bachelor's degree because he was too poor to pay the required fee4#b ,the next five years of his life are submerged beyond recovery1 but we hear of him in #aebf as a preacher in the service of ,bartholomaeus von ,starhemberg1 a prominent nobleman of ,upper ,austria1 and he was at this time a devout adherent of the ,lutheran faith4 ,he was in ,augsburg this same year1 #aebf1 at the time of the great gathering of ,anabaptists1 and here he probably met ,hans ,denck1 at any rate he testified in #aebi before the investigating ,judge in ,strasbourg that he received adult baptism in ,augsburg three years before4 ,he seems to have gone from ,augsburg to ,nikolsburg1 where he was present at a public ,discussion in which a definite differentiation appeared between the moderate and the radical1 the right and left1 wings of the ,anabaptists4 ,buenderlin took part in this ,discussion on the moderate side4 ,he remained for some time--perhaps two years--in ,nikolsburg and faced the persecution which prevailed in that city during the winter of #aebg-aebh4 ,the next year he comes to notice in ,strasbourg where1 for a long time1 a much larger freedom of thought was allowed than in any other ,german city of the period4 ,the great tragedy which he had to experience was the frustration of the work of his life by the growth and spread of the ,ranter influence in the ,anabaptist circles1 through the leadership of ,melchior ,hoffman and others of a similar spirit4 ,he loved freedom1 and here he saw it degenerating into license4 ,he was devoted to a religion of experience and of inner authority1 and now #cd he saw the wild extremes to which such a religion was exposed4 ,he was dedicated to a spiritual ,christianity1 and now he was compelled to learn the bitter lesson that there are many types and varieties of spiritual religion1 and that the masses are inclined to go with those who supply them with a variety which is spectacular and which produces emotional thrills4 ,our last definite information concerning ,buenderlin shows him to have been in ,constance in #aecj1 from which city he was expelled as a result of information against the soundness of his doctrine1 furnished in a letter from ,o,ecolampadius4 ,from this time he drops completely out of notice1 and we are left only with conjectures4 ,one possible reference to him occurs in a letter from ,julius ,pflug1 the ,humanist1 to ,erasmus in #aecc4 ,pflug says that a person has newly arrived in ,litium 7probably ,luetzen7 who teaches that there are no words of ,christ as a warrant for the celebration of the ,sacrament of the ,supper1 and that it is to be partaken of only in a spiritual way4 ,he adds that ,god had intervened to protect the people from such heresy and that the heretic had been imprisoned4 ,the usual penalty for such heresy was probably imposed4 ,this description would well fit ,johann ,buenderlin1 but we can only guess that he was the opponent of the visible ,sacrament mentioned in the letter which ,erasmus received in #aecc4c ,buenderlin's religious contribution is preserved in three little books which are now extremely rare1 the central ideas of which ,i shall give in condensed form and largely in my own words1 though ,i have faithfully endeavoured to render him fairly4#d ,his style is difficult1 #ce mainly because he abounds in repetition and has not learned to write in an orderly way4 ,i am inclined to believe that he sometimes wrote1 as he would no doubt preach1 in a prophetic1 rapturous1 spontaneous fashion1 hardly steering his train of thought by his intellect1 but letting it go along lines of least resistance and in a rhythmic flood of words2 his central ideas of course all the time holding the predominant place in his utterance4 ,he is essentially a mystic both in experience and in the ground and basis of his conception of ,god and man4 ,this mystical feature is especially prominent in his second book on why ,god became incarnate in ,christ1 and ,i shall begin my exposition with that aspect of his thought4 ,god1 he says1 who is the eternal and only goodness1 has always been going out of ,himself into forms of self-expression4 ,his highest expression is made in a heavenly and purely spiritual order of angelic beings4 ,through these spiritual beings ,he objectifies ,himself1 mirrors ,himself1 knows ,himself1 and becomes revealed4#e ,he has also poured ,himself out in a lower order of manifestation in the visible creation where spirit often finds itself in opposition and contrast to that which is not spirit4 ,the highest being in this second order is man1 who in inward essence is made in the image and likeness of ,god1 but binds together in one personal life both sensuous elements and divine and spiritual elements which are always in collision and warfare with each other4 ,man has full freedom of choice and can swing his will over to either side--he can live upward toward the divine goodness1 or he can live downward toward the poor1 thin1 limiting isolation of individual selfhood4 ,but #cf through the shifting drama of our human destiny ,god never leaves us4 ,he is always within us1 as near to the heart of our being as the ,light is to the eye4 ,conscience is the witness of ,his continued ,presence2 the drawing which we feel toward higher things is born in the unlost image of ,god which is planted in our nature like the tree of ,life in ,eden4 ,he pleads in our hearts by ,his inner ,word2 ,he reveals the goodness of ,himself in ,his vocal opposition to all that would harm and spoil us1 and ,he labours unceasingly to be born in us and to bring forth ,his love and ,his spiritual kingdom in the domain of our own spirits4 ,the way of life is to die to the flesh and to the narrow will of the self1 and to become alive to the ,spirit and ,word of ,god in the soul1 to enter into and participate in that eternal love with which ,god loves us4 ,this central idea of the double nature of man--an upper self indissolubly linked with ,god and a lower self rooted in fleshly and selfish desires--runs through all his writings1 and in his view all the processes of revelation are to further the liberation and development of the higher and to weaken the gravitation of the lower self4 ,his first book deals with ,god's twofold revelation of ,himself--primarily as a living ,word in the soul of man1 and secondarily through external signs and events1 in an historical word1 and in a temporal incarnation4 ,with a wealth and variety of expression and illustration he insists and reiterates that only through the citadel--or better the sanctuary--of his inner self can man be spiritually reached1 and won1 and saved4 ,nobody can be saved until he knows himself at one with ,god2 until he finds his will at peace and in harmony with ,god's will2 until his inward spirit is conscious of unity with the eternal ,spirit2 in short1 until love sets him free with the freedom and joy of sons of ,god4 ,priests may absolve men if they will1 and ministers may pronounce them saved1 but all that counts for nothing until the inward transformation is a fact and the will has found its goal in the will of ,god3 ,love must bloom and the spirit #cg of the man must follow the will of ,god written in his heart4#f ,all external means in religion have one purpose and one function2 they are to awaken the mind and to direct it to the inward ,word4 ,the most startling miracle1 the most momentous event in the sphere of temporal sequences1 the most appealing account of historical occurrences can do nothing more than give in parable-fashion hints and suggestions of the real nature of that ,god who is eternally present within human spirits1 and who is working endlessly to conform all lives to ,his perfect type and pattern4 ,in the infant period of the race1 both among the ,hebrews and the ,gentile peoples1 ,god has used1 like a wise ,teacher1 the symbol and picture-book method4 ,he has disciplined them with external laws and with ceremonies which would move their child-minded imaginations2 but all this method was used only because they were not ripe and ready for the true and higher form of goodness4 ,they used the face of ,moses until they could come to the full ,light of the truth and righteousness of ,god1 for which all the time their spirits really hungered and thirsted4#g ,the supreme instance of the divine pictorial method was the sending of ,christ to reveal ,god visibly4 ,before seeing ,god in ,christ men falsely thought of ,him as hostile1 stern1 and wrathful2 now they may see ,him in this unveiling of ,himself as ,he actually is1 eternally loving1 patiently forgiving1 and seeking only to draw the world into ,his love and peace3 ,when the ,abba-crying spirit of ,christ awakens in our hearts we commune with ,god in peace and love4#h ,but no one must content himself with ,christ after the flesh1 ,christ historically known4 ,that is to make an idol of ,him4 ,we can be saved through ,him only when by ,his help we discover the essential nature of ,god and when ,he moves us to go to living in the spirit and power as ,christ ,himself lived4 ,his death as an outward1 historical fact does not save us2 it is the supreme expression of ,his limitless love and the complete dedication #ch of ,his spirit in self-giving1 and it is effective for our salvation only when it draws us into a similar way of living1 unites us in spirit with ,him and makes us in reality partakers of ,his blood spiritually apprehended4 ,christ is our ,mediator in that ,he reveals the love of ,god towards us and moves our will to appreciate it4#i ,every step of human progress and of spiritual advance is marked by a passage from the dominion of the external to the sway and power of inward experience4 ,god is training us for a time when images1 figures1 and picture-book methods will be no longer needed1 but all men will live by the inward ,word and have the witness--the ,abba-crying voice--in their own hearts4 ,but this process from outward to inward1 from virtue impelled by fear and mediated by law to goodness generated by love1 gives no place for license4 ,buenderlin has no fellowship with antinomianism1 and is opposed to any tendency which gives rein to the flesh4 ,the outward law1 the external restraint1 the discipline of fear and punishment are to be used so long as they are needed1 and the written word and the pictorial image will always serve as a norm and standard1 but the true spiritual goal of life is the formation of a rightly fashioned will1 the creation of a controlling personal love1 the experience of a guiding inward ,spirit1 which keep the awakened soul steadily approximating the perfect ,life which ,christ has revealed4 ,the true ,church is for ,buenderlin as for ,denck1 the communion and fellowship of spiritual persons--an invisible congregation2 ever-enlarging with the process of the ages and with the expanding light of the ,spirit4 ,he blames ,luther for having stopped short of a real reformation1 of having mixed with the ,midianites instead of going on into the promised ,canaan1 and of having failed to dig down to the fundamental basis of spiritual religion4#aj ,in his final treatise#aa he goes to the full length of the implication of his principle4 ,he recounts with luminous #ci simplicity the mystical unity of the spiritual ,universe and tells of the divine purpose to draw all our finite and divided wills into moral harmony with the ,central ,will4 ,once more religion is presented as wholly a matter of the inward spirit1 a thing of insight1 of obedience to a living ,word1 of love for an infinite ,lover1 the bubbling of living streams of water in the heart of man4 ,he declares that the period of signs and symbols and of the scholastic way of truth is passing away1 and the religion of the ,new ,testament1 the religion of life and spirit1 is coming in place of the old4 ,as fast as the new comes ceremonies and sacraments vanish and fall away4 ,they do not belong to a religion of the ,spirit2 they are for the infant race and for those who have not outgrown the picture-book4 ,christ's baptism is with power from above1 and ,he cleanses from sin not with water but with the ,holy ,ghost and the burning fire of love4 ,as soon as the spiritual man possesses the key of ,david1 and has entered upon the true ,sabbath of his soul1 he holds lightly all forms and ceremonies which are outward and which can be gone through with in a mechanical fashion without creating the essential attitude of worship and of inner harmony of will with ,god3 ,when the ,kingdom of ,god with its joy and love has come in us we do not much care for those things which can only happen outside us4#ab ,,ii ,christian ,entfelder held almost precisely the same views as those which we have found in the teaching of ,buenderlin4 ,he has become even more submerged than has ,buenderlin1 and one hunts almost in vain for the events of his life4 ,hagen does not mention him4 ,gruetzmacher in his ,wort und ,geist never refers to him4 ,the great ,realencyklopaedie fur protestantische ,theologie und ,kirche has no article on him4 ,gottfried ,arnold in his #dj ,kirchenund ,ketzer-,historien merely mentions him in his list of ,witnesses to the ,truth4 ,the only article ,i have ever found on him is one by ,professor ,veesenmeyer in ,gabler's ,n4 theol4 ,journal 7#ahjj71 iv4 #d1 pp4 #cji-ccd4 ,he first appears in the group of ,balthasar ,huebmaier's followers and at this period he had evidently allied himself with the ,anabaptist movement1 which gathered into itself many young men of the time who were eager for a new and more spiritual type of ,christianity4 ,huebmaier mentions ,entfelder in #aebg as pastor at ,ewanzig1 a small town in ,moravia1 where1 as he himself later says1 he diligently taught his little flock the things which concerned their inner life4 ,in the eventful years of #aebj-aecj he was in ,strasbourg in company with ,buenderlin1#ac and in this latter year he published his first book1 with the title3 ,von den manigfaltigen in ,glauben ,zerspaltungen dise jar erstanden4 7,on the many ,separations which have this year arisen in ,belief47 ,a second book1 which is also dated #aecj1 bears the title3 ,von waren ,gotseligkayt1 etc4 7,on true ,salvation47 ,he wrote also a third book1 which appeared in #aecc under the title3 ,von ,gottes und ,christi ,jesu unseres ,herren ,erkandtnuss1 etc4 7,on the ,knowledge of ,god and ,jesus ,christ our ,lord47 ,his style is simpler than that of ,buenderlin4 ,he appears more as a man of the people2 he is fond of vigorous1 graphic figures of speech taken from the life of the common people1 much in the manner of ,luther1 and he breathes forth in all three books a spirit of deep and saintly life4 ,his fundamental idea of the ,universe is like that of ,buenderlin4 ,the visible and invisible creation1 in all its degrees and stages1 is the outgoing and unfolding of ,god1 who in ,his ,essence and ,godhead is one1 indivisible and incomprehensible4 ,but as ,he is essentially and eternally ,good1 ,he expresses ,himself in revelation1 and goes out of ,unity into differentiation and multiplicity2 but the entire spiritual movement of the universe is back again toward the fundamental ,unity1 for ,divine ,unity is both the ,alpha and the ,omega of the #da deeper inner world4 ,his main interest is1 however1 not philosophical and speculative2 his mind focuses always on the practical matters of a true and saintly life4 ,like his teacher1 ,buenderlin1 his whole view of life and salvation is mystical2 everything which concerns religion occurs in the realm of the soul and is the outcome of direct relations between the human spirit and the ,divine ,spirit4 ,in every age1 and in every land1 the inner ,word of ,god1 the ,voice of the ,spirit speaking within1 clarifying the mind and training the spiritual perceptions by a progressive experience1 has made for itself a chosen people and has gathered out of the world a little inner circle of those who know the ,truth because it was formed within themselves4 ,this inner circle of those who know is the true ,church3 ,the ,church is a chosen1 saved1 purified1 sanctified group in whom ,god dwells1 upon whom the ,holy ,ghost was poured out ,his gifts and with whom ,christ the ,lord shares ,his offices and ,his mission4#ad ,there is however1 through the ages a steady ripening of the ,divine ,harvest1 a gradual and progressive onward movement of the spiritual process1 ever within the lives of men3 ,time brings roses4 ,he who thinks that he has all the fruit when strawberries are ripe forgets that grapes are still to come4 ,we should always be eagerly looking for something better4#ae ,there are1 he says1 three well-marked stages of revelation3 7#a7 ,the stage of the law1 when ,god1 the ,father1 was making ,himself known through ,his external creation and by outward forms of training and discipline2 7#b7 the stage of self-revelation through the ,son1 that men might see in ,him and ,his personal activity the actual character and heart of ,god2 and 7#c7 the stage of the ,holy ,spirit which fills all deeps and heights1 flows into all lives1 and is the ,one ,god revealed in ,his essential nature of active ,goodness--,goodness at work in the world4 ,externals of every type--law1 ceremonies1 rewards and punishments1 #db historical happenings1 written ,scriptures1 even the historical doings and sufferings of ,christ--are only pointers and suggestion-material to bring the soul to the living ,word within1 to the ,lord ,himself who is never absent1 and who will be spiritually born within man4 ,god1 he says1 has once become flesh in ,christ and has revealed thus the hidden ,god and1 as happened in a fleshly way in ,mary1 even so ,christ must be spiritually born in us4 ,so1 too1 everything which ,christ experienced and endured in ,his earthly mission must be re-lived and reproduced in the life of ,his true disciples4 ,there is no salvation possible without the new birth of ,christ in us1 without self-surrender and the losing of oneself1 without being buried with ,christ in a death to self-will and without rising with ,him in joy and peace and victory4#af ,he who rightly loves his ,christ will speak no word1 will eat no bit of bread1 nor taste of water1 nor put a stitch of clothes upon his body without thinking of the ,beloved of his soul4 4 4 4 ,in this state he can rid himself of all pictures and symbols1 renounce everything which he possesses1 take up his cross with ,christ1 join ,him in an inward1 dying life1 allow himself1 like grain1 to be threshed1 winnowed1 ground1 bolted1 and baked that he may become spiritual food as ,christ has done for us4 ,then there comes a state in which poverty and riches1 pain and joy1 life and death are alike1 when the soul has found its sabbath-peace in the ,origin and ,fount of all ,love4#ag ,his first book closes with a beautiful account of the return of the prodigal to ,his ,father and to ,his ,father's love1 and then he breaks into a joyous cry1 as if it all came out of his own experience3 ,who then can separate us from the ,love of ,god8 ,those who rightly understand religion and have had this birth and this ,sabbath-peace within themselves will stop contending over outward1 external things1 which make separations but do not minister to the spirit2 they will give up the ,babel-habit of constructing theological #dc systems1#ah they will pass upward from elements to the essence1 they will stop building the city-walls of the ,church out of baptism and the supper1 which furnish only clay-plastered walls at best1 and they will found the ,church instead upon the true sacramental power of the inward ,spirit of ,god4#ai ,the true goal of the spiritual life is such a oneness with ,god that ,he is in us and we in ,him1 so that the inner joy and power take our outer life captive and draw us away from the world and its pictures1 and make it a heartfelt delight to do all ,his commandments and to suffer anything for ,him4#bj ,here1 then1 in the third decade of the sixteenth century1 when the leaders of the ,reformation were using all their powers of dialectic to formulate in new scholastic phrase the sound creed for ,protestant ,christendom1 and while the fierce and decisive battle was being waged over the new form in which the ,eucharist must be celebrated1 there appeared a little group of men who proposed that ,christianity should be conceived and practised as a way of living--nothing more nor less4 ,they rejected theological language and terminology root and branch4 ,they are as innocent of scholastic subtlety and forensic conceptions as though they had been born in this generation4 ,they seem to have wiped their slate clean of the long line of ,augustinian contributions1 and to have begun afresh with the life and message of ,jesus ,christ1 coloured1 if at all1 by local and temporal backgrounds1 by the experience of the earlier ,german mystics who helped them to interpret their own simple and sincere experiences4 ,they are as naive and artless as little children1 and they expect1 as all enthusiasts do in their youth1 that they have only to announce their wonderful truths and to proclaim their openings in order to bring the world to the light6 ,they go to the full length of the implications of their #dd fresh insight without ever dreaming that all the theological world will unite1 across the yawning chasms of difference1 to stamp out their pestilent heresy1 and to rid the earth of persons who dare to question the traditions and the practices of the centuries4 ,instead of beginning with the presupposition of original sin1 they quietly assert that the soul of man is inherently bound up in the ,life and ,nature of ,god1 and that goodness is at least as original as badness4 ,they fly in the face of the age-long view that the doctrine of ,grace makes freewill impossible and reduces salvation wholly to a work of ,god1 and they assert as the ineradicable testimony of their own consciousness that human choices between ,light and ,darkness1 the personal response to the character of ,god as ,he reveals ,himself1 the co-operation of the will of man with the processes of a living and spiritual ,god are the things which save a man--and this salvation is possible in a pagan1 in a ,jew1 in a ,turk even1 as well as in a man who ranges himself under ,christian rubrics and who says paternosters4 ,they reject all the scholastic accounts of ,christ's metaphysical nature1 they will not use the term ,trinity1 nor will they admit that it is right to employ any words which imply that ,god is divided into multiform personalities2 but nevertheless they hold1 with all the fervour of their earnest spirits1 that ,christ is ,god historically and humanly revealed1 and that to see ,christ is to see the true and only ,god1 and to love ,christ is to love the ,eternal ,love4 ,in an age which settled back upon the ,scriptures as the only basis of authority in religious faith and practice1 they boldly challenged that course as a dangerous return to a lower form of religion than that to which ,christ had called men and as only legalism and scribism in a new dress4 ,they insisted that the ,eternal ,spirit1 who had been educating the race from its birth1 bringing all things up to better1 and who had used now one symbol and now another to fit the growing spiritual perception of men1 is a real ,presence in the deeps of men's #de consciousness1 and is ceaselessly voicing ,himself there as a living ,word whom it is life to obey and death to disregard and slight4 ,having found this present1 immanent ,spirit and being deeply convinced that all that really matters happens in the dread region of the human heart1 they turned away from all ceremonies and sacraments and tried to form a ,church which should be purely and simply a ,communion of saints--a brotherhood of believers living in the joy of an inward experience of ,god1 and bound together in common love to ,christ and in common service to all who are potential sons of ,god4 #a ,see ,veesenmeyer's article on ,buenderlin in ,n4 lit4 ,anzeiger for ,august #ahjg1 ,p4 #ece4 #b ,the details of his life here given have been gathered mainly from the excellent monograph on ,johannes ,buenderlin by ,dr4 ,alexander ,nicoladoni4 7,berlin1 #ahic47 #c ,this incident is given in ,dr4 ,carl ,hagen's ,deutschlands literarischt und religioese ,verhaeltnisse im ,reformalionszeitalter1 #ahfh1 iii4 p4 #caj4 #d ,the books are3-- 7#a7 ,ein gemayne ,berechnung ueber der ,heiligen ,schrift ,inhalt1 etc4 7,a ,general ,consideration of the ,contents of ,holy ,scripture47 ,printed in ,strasbourg in #aebi4 7#b7 ,aus was ,ursach sich ,gott in die nyder gelassen und in ,christo vermenschet ist1 etc41 #aebi4 7,for what cause ,god has descended here below and has become incarnate in ,christ47 7#c7 ,erklaerung durch ,vergleichung der biblischen ,geschrift1 doss der ,wassertauf sammt andern aeusserlichen ,gebraeuchen in der apostolischen ,kirchen geubet1 on ,gottes ,befelch und ,zeugniss der ,geschrift1 von etlichen dieser ,zeit wider efert wird1 etc41 #aecj4 7,declaration by comparison of the ,biblical ,writings that ,baptism with ,water1 together with other ,external ,customs practised in the ,apostolic ,church1 have been reinstated by some at this time without the ,command of ,god or the ,witness of the ,scriptures47 ,these three books can be found bound in one volume1 with writings of ,denck and others1 in the ,koenigliche ,bibliothek in ,dresden4 ,there is also a copy of his third book in ,utrecht4 ,besides using the books themselves ,i have also used the monograph by ,nicoladoni and the study of ,buenderlin in ,hagen1 op4 cit4 iii4 pp4 #bie-caj4 #e ,this idea is reproduced and greatly expanded in the writings of the famous ,silesian ,mystic1 ,jacob ,boehme4 #f ,ein gemayne ,berechnung1 p4 #eg4 #g ,ibid4 p4 #ad4 #h ,ibid4 p4 #bba4 #i ,ein gemayne ,berechnung1 pp4 #bah-bba1 freely rendered4 #aj ,ibid4 pp4 #cj-cd4 #aa ,erklaerung durch ,vergleichung4 #ab ,aus was ,ursach1 p4 #cc4 ,these phrases1 ,key of ,david and ,sabbath ,rest for the ,soul1 occur in the writings of all the spiritual reformers4 #ac ,see ,n4 lit4 ,anzeiger 7#ahjg71 p4 #eae4 #ad ,entfelder to his brethren at the end of his first book3 ,von ,zerspaltungen4 #ae ,vorrede to ,von ,zerspaltungen4 #af ,von waren ,gotseligkayt1 pp4 #ah-ba4 #ag ,see especially ,von ,zerspaltungen1 pp4 #f-h4 #ah ,this ,babel-habit of constructing theological systems is constantly referred to by ,jacob ,boehme1 as we shall see4 ,i believe that ,boehme had read both ,buenderlin and ,entfelder4 #ai ,see ,von ,zerspaltungen1 passim1 especially p4 #ag4 #bj ,von waren ,gotseligkayt1 p4 #ac4 #df ,,chapter ,,iv ,,sebastian ,,franck3 ,,an ,,apostle ,,of ,,inward ,,religion ,sebastian ,franck is one of the most interesting figures in the group of ,german ,reformers1 a man of heroic spirit and a path-breaking genius1 though for many reasons his influence upon his epoch was in no degree comparable with that of many of his great contemporaries4 ,no person1 however great a genius he may be1 can get wholly free from the intellectual climate and the social ideals of his period1 but occasionally a man appears who has the skill and vision to hit upon nascent aspirations and tendencies which are big with futurity1 and who thereby seems to be far ahead of his age and not explicable by any lineage or pedigree4 ,sebastian ,franck was a man of this sort4 ,he was extraordinarily unfettered by medieval inheritance1 and he would be able to adjust himself with perfect ease to the spirit and ideas of the modern world if he could be dropped forward into it4 ,he is especially interesting and important as an exponent and interpreter of a religion based on inward authority because he unites1 in an unusual manner1 the intellectual ideals of the ,humanist with the experience and attitude of the ,mystic4 ,in him we have a ,christian thinker who is able to detach himself from the theological formulations of his own and of earlier times1 and who could draw1 with breadth of mind and depth of insight1 from the wells of the great original thinkers of all ages1 and who1 besides1 in his own deep and serious soul could feel the inner flow of central realities4 ,he was no doubt #dg too much detached to be a successful ,reformer of the historical ,church1 and he was too little interested in external organisations to be the leader of a new sect2 but he was1 what he aspired to be1 a sincere and unselfish contributor to the spread of the ,kingdom of ,god1 and a significant apostle of the invisible ,church4#a ,sebastian ,franck was born in #adii at ,donauwuerth in ,schwabia4 ,he began his higher education in the ,university of ,ingolstadt1 which he entered ,march #bf1 #aeae4 ,he went from ,ingolstadt to ,heidelberg1 where he continued his studies in the ,dominican ,college which was incorporated with the ,university4 ,here he was associated in the friendly fellowship of student life with two of his later opponents1 ,martin ,frecht and ,martin ,bucer1 and here he came under the influence of ,humanism which in the scholarly circles in ,heidelberg was beginning to take a place along with the current ,scholasticism of the period4 ,while a student in ,heidelberg he first heard ,martin ,luther speak on the insufficiency of works and on faith as the way of salvation1 and though he must have felt the power of this great personality and the freshness of the message1 he was not yet ripe for a radical change of front4#b ,he seems to have felt through these student years that a new age was in process of birth1 but though he was following the great events he remained to the end of his ,university period an adherent of the ancient ,church and was ordained a priest about the year #aebd2 but very soon after he went over to the party of ,reform1 and was settled as a reforming preacher in the little church at ,gustenfelden near ,nuremberg4 ,during this period he came into close and intimate relation with the powerful humanistic spirit of that important city4 ,hans ,sachs was already a person of fame and influence in ,nuremberg1 and here he became acquainted with the writings of the most famous humanists of the day--,erasmus1 ,hutten1 ,reuchlin1 ,pirkheimer1 #dh ,althamer and others4 ,in #aebh he married ,ottilie ,behaim1 a woman of rare gifts1 whose brothers were pupils of ,albrecht ,duerer1 and who were themselves in sympathy with the freer tendencies of the time as expressed by the ,anabaptists4 ,franck1 however1 though sympathizing with the aspirations of the ,anabaptists for a new age1 did not feel confidence in their views or their methods4 ,his first literary work was a translation into ,german of ,althamer's ,diallage1 which contained an attack from the ,lutheran point of view upon the various ,enthusiasts of the period1 especially the ,anabaptists4 ,in his original preface to this work ,franck1 though still in most respects a ,lutheran1 already reveals unmistakable signs of variation from the ,wittenberg type1 and he is plainly moving in the direction of a religion of the spiritual and mystical type freed from the limitations of sect and party4 ,even in this formative stage he insists that the ,spirit1 and not commentaries1 is the true guide for the interpretation of ,scripture2 he already contrasts ,spirit and letter1 outer man and inner man1 and he here lays down the radical principle1 which he himself soon put into practice1 that a minister of the ,gospel should resign his charge as soon as he discovers that his preaching is not bearing spiritual fruit in the transformation of the lives of his congregation4#c ,sometime before #aecj ,franck had come into intimate connection with ,denck1 ,buenderlin1 ,schwenckfeld1 and other contemporary leaders of the ,spiritual movement1 and their influence upon him was profound and lasting1 because their message fitted the aspirations which1 though not yet well defined1 were surging subconsciously in him4#d ,there are throughout his writings very clear marks of ,schwenckfeld's influence upon him1 but ,buenderlin especially spoke to his condition and helped him discover the road which his feet were seeking4 ,in an important letter which ,franck wrote to ,johann ,campanus in #aeca1 he calls ,buenderlin a scholar1 a #di wonderfully reverent man1 dead to the world1 powerful in the ,scriptures1 and mightily gifted with an enlightened reason2 and this letter shows that he himself has been moving rapidly in the direction in which ,buenderlin and ,denck were travelling1 though neither now nor at any time was ,franck a mere copier of other men's ideas4#e ,we must unlearn1 he writes1 all that we have learned from our youth up from the papists1 and we must change everything we have got from the ,pope or from ,luther and ,zwingli4 ,he predicts that the external ,church will never be set up again1 for the inward enlightenment by the ,spirit of ,god is sufficient4 ,in his ,tuerkenchronik1 or ,chronicle and ,description of ,turkey1 published in #aecj1 he had already declared his dissatisfaction with ceremonies and outward forms of any sort1 his refusal to be identified with any existing1 empirical ,church1 his solemn dedication to the invisible ,church1 and his determination to be an apostle of the ,spirit4 ,there already are in our times1 he writes1 three distinct ,faiths1 which have a large following1 the ,lutheran1 ,zwinglian and ,anabaptist2 and a fourth is well on the way to birth1 which will dispense with external preaching1 ceremonies1 sacraments1 bann and office as unnecessary1 and which seeks solely to gather among all peoples an invisible1 spiritual ,church in the unity of the ,spirit and of faith1 to be governed wholly by the eternal1 invisible ,word of ,god1 without external means1 as the apostolic ,church was governed before its apostasy1 which occurred after the death of the apostles4#f ,the year that dates his autobiographical letter to ,campanus saw the publication in ,strasbourg of ,franck's best-known literary work3 ,chronica1 ,zeitbuch und ,geschichtsbibel 7,a ,universal ,chronicle of the ,world's ,history from the ,earliest ,times to the ,present74#g ,it has #ej often been pointed out that much of the material of this great ,chronicle is taken over from earlier ,chroniclers1 especially from the ,nuremberger ,schedel1 and it is furthermore true that ,franck's ,book of the ,ages contains large tracts of unhistorical narrative1 set forth after the manner of ,chroniclers without much critical insight1 but the book1 nevertheless1 has a unique value4 ,it abounds in ,franck's peculiar irony and paradox1 and it unfolds his conception of the spiritual history of the race1 under the tuition of the ,divine ,word4 ,at the beginning are patriarchs living in the dawn of the world under the guidance of inward vision1 and at the end are saints and heretics1 whom ,franck finds among all races1 bravely following the same inward ,light1 now after the ages grown clearer and more luminous1 and sufficient for those who will patiently and faithfully heed it1 while the real heretics for him are heretics of the letter4 ,we ought to act carefully before ,god--this is ,franck's constant testimony--hold to ,god alone and look upon ,him as the cause of all things1 and we ought always in all matters to notice what ,god says in us1 to pay attention to the witness of our hearts1 and never to think1 or act1 against our conscience4 ,for everything does not hang upon the bare letter of ,scripture2 everything hangs1 rather1 on the spirit of ,scripture and on a spiritual understanding of the inner meaning of what ,god has said4 ,if we weigh every matter carefully we shall find its true meaning in the depth of our spiritual understanding and by the mind of ,christ4 ,otherwise1 the dead letter of ,scripture would make us all heretics and fools1 for everything can be bedecked and defended with texts1 therefore let nobody confound himself and confuse himself with ,scripture1 but let every one weigh and test ,scripture to see how it fits his own heart4 ,if it is against his conscience and the ,word within his own soul1 then be sure he has not reached the right meaning1 according to the mind of the ,spirit1 for the ,scriptures must give witness to the ,spirit1 never against it4#h #ea ,the ,chronica naturally aroused a storm of opposition against this bold advocate of the inner ,way4 ,even ,erasmus1 who had been canonized in ,franck's list of heretics1 joined in the outcry against the chronicler of the world's spiritual development4 ,his book was confiscated1 he was temporarily imprisoned1 and for the years immediately following he was never secure in any city where he endeavoured to pursue his labours4 ,he supported himself and his family1 now by the humble occupation of a soap-boiler1 now by working in a printing-house1 sometimes in ,strasbourg1 sometimes in ,esslingen1 and sometimes in ,ulm1 only asking that he might not be forced to bury the talent which ,god had given him1 but might be allowed to use it for the good of the people of ,god4 ,in #aecd his ,weltbuch appeared from a press in ,tuebingen1 and the same year he published his famous ,paradoxa1 which contains the most clear and consistent exposition of his mystical and spiritual religion4 ,other significant books from his pen are his translation of ,erasmus' ,moriae ,encomion 7,praise of ,folly71 with very important additions2 ,von der ,eitelkeit aller menschlichen ,kunst und ,weisheit 7,the ,vanity of ,arts and ,sciences71 following the treatise by ,agrippa von ,nettesheim2 ,von dem ,baum des ,wissens ,gutes und ,boeses 7,of the ,tree of the ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil72#i the ,germaniae ,chronicon 7,chronicle of ,germany71 #aech2 ,die guldin ,arch 7,golden ,arch71 #aech2 and ,das verbuetschiert mit #g ,siegeln verschlossene ,buch 7,the ,seven-sealed ,book71 #aeci4 ,the closing years of his life were passed in ,basle1 where he peacefully worked at his books and at type-setting1 while the theologians fired their paper guns against him1 and here in ,basle he went forth with ,god on his last journey to find a safe and quiet city with foundations1 probably about the end of the year #aedb4 ,three years before his #eb death he had written in his ,seven-sealed ,book of the soul's journey toward ,god in these words3 ,the longer one travels toward the city he seeks the nearer and nearer he comes to the goal of his journey2 exactly so is it with the soul that is seeking ,god4 ,if he will travel away from himself and away from the world and seek only ,god as the precious pearl of his soul1 he will come steadily nearer to ,god1 until he becomes one spirit with ,god the ,spirit2 but let him not be afraid of mountains and valleys on the way1 and let him not give up because he is tired and weary1 for he who seeks finds4#aj ,the ,sealed ,book contains an apology by ,franck which is one of the most touching and one of the most noble documents from any opponent of the course which the ,german ,reformation was taking4 ,i want my writings accepted1 he declares1 only in so far as they fit the spirit of ,scripture1 the teaching of the prophets1 and only so far as the anointing of the ,word of ,god1 ,christ the inward ,life and ,light of men1 gives witness to them4 4 4 4 ,nobody is the master of my faith1 and ,i desire to be the master of the faith of no one4 ,i love any man whom ,i can help1 and ,i call him brother whether he be ,jew or ,samaritan4 4 4 4 ,i cannot belong to any separate sect1 but ,i believe in a holy1 ,christlike ,church1 a fellowship of saints1 and ,i hold as my brother1 my neighbour1 my flesh and blood1 all men who belong to ,christ among all sects1 faiths1 and peoples scattered throughout the whole world--only ,i allow nobody to have dominion over the one place which ,i am pledged to the ,lord to keep as pure virgin1 namely my heart and my conscience4 ,if you try to bind my conscience1 to rule over my faith1 or to be master of my heart1 then ,i must leave you4 ,except that1 everything ,i am or have is thine1 whoever thou art or whatever thou mayest believe4#aa ,it was ,franck's primary idea--the principle to which he was dedicated and for which he was content to suffer1 #ec in the faith that men in future times would come to see as he did#ab--that man's soul possesses a native capacity to hear the inward ,word of ,god4 ,he often calls ,plato and ,plotinus and ,hermes ,trismegistus his teachers1 who had spoken to him more clearly than ,moses did#ac and1 like these ,greek teachers of the nature of the soul's furnishings1 he insisted that we come not in entire forgetfulness and not in utter nakedness1 but that there is a divine element1 an innermost essence in us1 in the very structure of the soul1 which is the starting-point of all spiritual progress1 the mark of man's dignity1 the real source of all religious experience1 and the eternal basis of the soul's salvation and joy4 ,he names this inward endowment by many names4 ,it is the ,word of ,god 7,wort ,gottes71 the ,power of ,god 7,kraft ,gottes71 ,spirit 7,geist71 ,mind of ,christ 7,sinn ,christi71 ,divine ,activity 7goettliche ,wirkung71 ,divine ,origin 7goettlicher ,ursprung71 the inward ,light 7das innere ,licht71 the true ,light 7das wahre ,licht71 the ,lamp of the soul 7das innere ,ampellicht74 ,the inward ,light1 ,franck says in the ,paradoxa1 is nothing else than the ,word of ,god1 ,god ,himself1 by whom all things were made and by whom all men are enlightened4 ,it is1 in ,franck's thought1 not a capricious1 subjective impulse or vision1 and it is not to be discovered in sudden ecstatic experiences2 nor1 on the other hand1 is the divine ,word1 for ,franck1 something purely objective and transcendent4 ,it is rather a common ground and essence for ,god and man4 ,it is ,god in ,his self-revealing activity2 ,god in ,his self-giving grace2 ,god as the immanent ground of all that is permanently real1 and at the same time this divine endowment forms the fundamental nature of man's soul--,gottes ,wort ist in der menschlichen ,natur angelegt#ad--;and is the original substance of our being4 ,consciousness of ,god and consciousness of self have one fundamental source in this deep where ,god and man are unsundered4 ,no man can see or know himself unless he sees and knows1 by the ,light and ,life that is #ed in him4 ,god the eternally true ,light and ,life2 wherefore nobody can ever know ,god outside of himself1 outside that region where he knows himself in the ground of himself4 4 4 4 ,man must seek1 find1 and know ,god through an interrelation--he must find ,god in himself and himself in ,god4#ae ,this deep ground of inner reality is in every person1 so far as he is a person2 it shines forth as a steady illumination in the soul1 and1 while everything else is transitory1 this ,word is eternal and has been the moral and spiritual guide of all peoples in all ages4 ,franck thus differs in a vital point from ,schwenckfeld4 ,the latter starts with man as utterly lost and devoid of any inherent goodness4 ,by a sudden1 supernatural event1 at a temporal moment1 divine forces break into the soul from without and supply it with a revitalizing energy4 ,man--lost1 fallen1 sin-blasted and utterly helpless--is by a divine and heavenly creative movement made a new ,adam4 ,for ,franck1 the soul has never lost the divine ,image1 the pearl of supreme price1 the original element which is ,god ,himself in the soul4 ,we are all1 in the deepest centre of our being1 like ,adam1 possessed of a substantial essence1 not of earth1 not of time and space1 not of the shadow but of the eternal1 spiritual1 and heavenly type4 ,it may become overlaid with the rubbish of earth1 it may long lie buried in the field of the human heart1 it may remain concealed1 like the grain of radium in a mass of dark pitchblende1 and be forgotten1 but we have only to return home within ourselves to find the ,god who has never been sundered from us and who could not leave us without leaving ,himself4 ,we do not need to cross the sea to find ,him1 we do not need to climb the heavens to reach ,him--the ,word is nigh thee1 the ,image is in thy heart1 turn home and thou shalt find ,him4#af ,the bottomless and abysmal nature of the human soul comes first into clear revelation in the ,person of ,christ1 who is1 ,franck declares1 truly and essentially both ,god and ,man4 ,in ,christ the invisible1 eternal1 #ee self-existent ,god has clothed ,himself with flesh and become ,man1 has made ,himself visible and vocal to our spiritual eyes and ears1 and in ,christ ,god has given us an adequate goal and norm of life1 a perfect pattern 7,muster7 to walk by and to live by4 ,here we can see both the character of ,god and the measure of ,his expectation for us4 ,but we must not stop with the ,christ after the flesh1 the ,christ without4 ,he first becomes our life and salvation when ,he is born within us and is revealed in our hearts1 and has become the ,life of our lives4 ,we must eat ,his body1 drink ,his blood until our nature is one with ,his nature and our spirit one in will and purpose with ,his spirit4#ag ,franck belongs in many respects among the mystics1 but with peculiar variations of his own from the prevailing historical type of mysticism4 ,he is without question saturated with the spirit of the great mystics2 he approves their inner way to ,god and he has learned from them to view this world of time and space as shadow and not as reality4 ,no mystic1 further1 could say harsher things than he does of ,reason4#ah ,human reason--or more properly reasoning--has for him1 as for them1 a very limited area for its demesne4 ,it is a good guide in the realm of earthly affairs4 ,it can deal wisely with matters that affect our bodily comfort and our social welfare1 but it is barren in the sphere of eternal issues4 ,it has no eye for realities beyond the world of three dimensions4 ,it goes blind as soon as it tries to speculate about ,god4 ,he looks for no final results in spiritual matters from intellectual dialectics1 whether they be of the old scholastic type1 or of the new type of speculations1 formulations and subtleties of the ,protestant theologians4 ,franck always comes back to experience as his basis of religion1 as his way to truth and to divine things4 ,many1 he says1 know and teach only what they have picked up and gathered in1 without having experienced it #ef in the deeps of themselves4#ai ,he who wishes to know what is in the ,temple must not stand outside1 merely hearing people read and talk about ,god4 ,that is all a dead thing4 ,he must go inside and have the experience for himself 7selbst erfahren74 ,then first everything springs into life4#bj ,but experience with him does not mean enthusiastic visions and raptures4 ,he puts as little value on ecstasies and emotional vapourings as he does on dialectic4 ,ecstasies lead men as often on false trails as on right tracks4 ,they supply no criterion of certitude2 they furnish no concrete ideas or ideals to live by2 but still further1 they do not bring all the deep-lying powers of the soul into play as any true source of religion must do4 ,he is striving to find a foundation-principle for the spiritual life which shall not be capricious or sporadic1 and which shall not be confined to one aspect of the inner self1 but which shall burn on as a steady illumination in the soul and be the basis of all moral activity and all spiritual development4 ,he finds this principle1 as we have seen1 in the ,word of ,god1 which is a divine reality1 an eternal and self-existent activity1 opening upward into all the resources of ,god1 and at the same time forming the fundamental nature and ground-structure of the soul4 ,a person may live--many persons do--in the outer region of the self1 using the natural instincts with which he is supplied1 pursuing the goals of life which appeal to common sense and steering the earthly course by custom and by reason1 but it is always possible to have a wider range of experience1 to live in deeper currents1 and to draw upon a profounder source of insight4 ,this deeper experience--which is the basis of ,franck's mysticism and1 for him1 the very heart of any genuine religion--consists of a personal discovery of this eternal ,word of ,god within and an irradiation of the whole being through the co-operation of the will with it4 ,the will is king in man1#ba and can open or shut the gate which leads to life4 ,it can make its world good or it #eg can make it evil2 just as out of one and the same flower the bee gets honey and the spider poison4#bb ,it can swing over its allegiance to ,god the ,spirit of truth1 or to the god of the world who is anti-,christ4 ,this experience of the ,word of ,god which is thus brought about by the will of man--by an innermost personal choice--affects1 ,franck insists1 all the faculties of the inner life4 ,reason now becomes illumined with a ,light which it never had until the gate into its deeper region was opened4 ,now1 through co-operation with the ,spirit of ,god1 reason becomes capable of higher processes1 and can deal with divine things because it has actual data to work upon4 ,the emotions1 too1 are no longer blind and instinctive1 they no longer carry the will whither it would not4 ,they are now the overflow of an inner experience which is too rich and full for expression1#bc which transcends the intellectual apprehension of it1 but they are spiritualized and controlled from within4 ,the moral life is especially heightened1 and this is for ,franck one of the main evidences that a divine source has been tapped4 ,the discovery of the ,word of ,god creates and constructs an autonomous kingdom of the conscience 7,reich des ,gewissens71 gives us a thousand-fold witness of ,god1 and becomes to us the tree of life and the tree of knowledge4#bd ,in his little book on the ,tree of the ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil--a book which was destined to have a far-reaching influence--he declares that the ,garden-of-,eden story is a mighty parable of the human soul4 ,all that is told in the ,genesis account is told of what goes on in the mysterious realm within us4 ,it is told as though it were an external happening1 it is in reality an internal affair4 ,the ,paradise and the ,fall1 the ,voice of ,god and the tempting voice of the serpent1 the ,tree of ,life and the ,tree of the knowledge of ,good and ,evil1 are all in our own hearts as they were in the heart of ,adam4 ,heaven and ,hell are there4 ,the one stands fully revealed in the triumphant ,adam1 who is ,christ2 the other is #eh exhibited in its awfulness in the disobedient ,adam of the ,fall4 ,as fast as the life comes under the sway of the kingdom of conscience and a solid moral character is formed1 the inner guidance of the ,word of ,god becomes more certain and more reliable4 ,only the good person has a sure and unerring perception of the truth1 just as only the scientist sees the laws of the world1 and as only the musician perceives the harmony of sounds4 ,not only must all spiritual experience be subject to the moral test1 it must further be tested by the ,light of ,god in other men and in history1 and by the spirit of ,scripture1 which is the noblest permanent fruit of the ,eternal ,word4 ,every person must prove the authority of his religion4 ,he must have his heart conquered and his mind taken captive and his will directed by his truth so that he would be ready to face a thousand deaths for it1#be and he must1 through his truth and insight1 come into spiritual unity and co-operation with all who form the invisible ,church4 ,the invisible ,church forms the central loyalty of ,franck's fervent soul4 ,the true ,church1 he writes1 is not a separate mass of people1 not a particular sect to be pointed out with the finger1 not confined to one time or one place2 it is rather a spiritual and invisible body of all the members of ,christ1 born of ,god1 of one mind1 spirit1 and faith1 but not gathered in any one external city or place4 ,it is a ,fellowship1 seen with the spiritual eye and by the inner man4 ,it is the assembly and communion of all truly ,god-fearing1 good-hearted1 new-born persons in all the world1 bound together by the ,holy ,spirit in the peace of ,god and the bonds of love--a ,communion outside of which there is no salvation1 no ,christ1 no ,god1 no comprehension of ,scripture1 no ,holy ,spirit1 and no ,gospel4 ,i belong to this ,fellowship4 ,i believe in the ,communion of saints1 and ,i am in this ,church1 let me be where ,i may2 and therefore ,i no #ei longer look for ,christ in lo heres or lo theres4#bf ,this ,church1 which the ,spirit is building through the ages and in all lands1 is1 once more1 like the experience of the individual ,christian1 entirely an inward affair4 ,love is the one mark and badge of ,fellowship in it4#bg ,no outward forms of any sort seem to him necessary for membership in this true ,church4 ,external gifts and offices make no ,christian1 and just as little does the standing of the person1 or locality1 or time1 or dress1 or food1 or anything external4 ,the kingdom of ,god is neither prince nor peasant1 food nor drink1 hat nor coat1 here nor there1 yesterday nor to-morrow1 baptism nor circumcision1 nor anything whatever that is external1 but peace and joy in the ,holy ,spirit1 unalloyed love out of a pure heart and good conscience1 and an unfeigned faith4#bh ,in his ,apology he says that he has withdrawn from all theological disputations1 from all sectarian statements of creed1 from baptism and all ceremonies1 and ,i stand now1 he adds1 only for what is fundamental and essential for salvation--that is1 vital participation in the ,life of ,god revealed in the soul4#bi ,i am looking1 he writes in the opening of the ,paradoxa1 for no new and separate ,church1 no new commission1 no new baptism1 no new dispensation4 ,the ,church has already been founded on ,christ the ,rock1 and since the outward keys and sacraments have been misused and have gone by1 ,he now administers the sacraments inwardly in spirit and in truth4 ,he baptizes ,his own1 even in the midst of ,babylon1 and feeds them with ,his own body1 and will do so unto the end of the world4#cj ,in a letter to ,campanus he says1 ,i am fully convinced by a study of the early ,church ,fathers that1 after the death of the apostles1 the external ,church of ,christ1 with its gifts and sacraments1 vanished from the earth and withdrew into heaven1 and is now hidden in spirit and in truth1 and for these past fourteen hundred years #fj there has existed no true external ,church and no efficacious sacraments4#ca ,his valuation of ,scripture fits perfectly into this religion of the inward life and the invisible ,church4 ,the true and essential ,word of ,god is the divine revelation in the soul of man4 ,it is the prius of all ,scripture and it is the key to the spiritual meaning of all ,scripture4 ,to substitute ,scripture for the self-revealing ,spirit is to put the dead letter in the place of the living ,word1 the outer ,ark in place of the inner sanctuary1 the sheath in place of the sword1 the horn-pane ,lantern in place of the ,light4#cb ,this letter killed ,christ in ,judea2 it is killing ,him now4 ,it has split the ,church into fragments and sects and is splitting it now4#cc ,it always makes a ,babel instead of a ,church4 ,it kept the ,pharisees from seeing ,moses face to face2 it keeps men now from seeing the ,lord face to face4#cd ,franck insists that1 from its inherent nature1 a written ,scripture cannot be the final authority in religion3 7a7 ,it is outward1 external1 while the seat of religion is in the soul of man4 7b7 ,it is transitory and shifting1 for language is always in process of change1 and written words have different meanings to different ages and in different countries1 while for a permanent religion there must be a living1 eternal ,word that fits all ages1 lands1 and conditions4 7c7 ,scripture is full of mystery1 contradiction1 and paradox which only ,the key of ,david--the inner experience of the heart--can unlock4 ,scripture is the ,manger1 but1 unless the ,holy ,spirit comes as the day star in the heart1 the ,wise man will not find the ,christ4#ce 7d7 ,scripture at best brings only knowledge4 ,it lacks the power to deliver from the sin which it describes4 ,it cannot create the faith1 the desire1 the love1 the will purpose which are necessary to win that which the ,scriptures portray4 ,no book--no amount of ink1 paper1 and letters--can make a man good1 since religion is not knowledge1 but a way of living1 a #fa transformed life1 and that involves an inward life-process1 a resident creative power4 ,in ,pentecost all books are transcended4#cf ,as ,franck pushes back through the ink1 paper1 and letters of ,scripture to the ,spirit and ,truth which these great writings reveal1 when they are read and apprehended in the light of an inward spiritual experience1 so1 too1 he is always seeking1 through the historical ,christ1 to find the ,eternal ,christ--the ever-living1 ever-present1 personal ,self-,revelation of ,god4 ,he says1 in his ,seven-,sealed ,book1 ,i esteem ,christ the ,word of ,god above all else1 for without ,him there is no salvation1 and without ,him no one can enjoy ,god4#cg ,christ1 he says in the ,paradoxa1 has been called the ,image1 the ,character1 the ,expression of ,god1 yes1 the ,glory and ,effulgence of ,his ,splendour1 the very ,impression of ,his ,substance1 so that in ,him ,god ,himself is seen and heard and known4 ,for it is ,god ,himself whom we see and hear and perceive in ,christ4 ,in ,him ,god becomes visible and ,his nature is revealed4 ,everything that ,god is1 or knows1 or wills1 or possesses1 or can do1 is incarnated in ,christ and put before our eyes4 ,everything that can be said of ,god can as truly be said of ,christ4#ch ,but this ,christ1 who is the very ,nature and ,character of ,god made visible and vocal1 is1 as we have seen1 not limited to the historical ,person who lived in ,galilee and ,judea4 ,he is an eternal ,logos1 a living ,word1 coming to expression1 in some degree1 in all times and lands1 revealing ,his ,light through the dim lantern of many human lives--a ,christ reborn in many souls1 raised again in many victorious lives1 and endlessly spreading ,his ,kingdom through the ever-widening membership of the invisible ,church4#ci ,without this eternal revelation of ,himself in a spiritual ,fellowship of many members1 ,god would not be ,god1 as a ,vine would not be a ,vine without branches2 and contrariwise there could be no spiritual humanity without the inward immanent #fb presence of this ,self-,revealing ,god in ,christ4#dj ,as in ,palestine1 so everywhere1 ,christ--not only ,christ after the flesh1 but after the ,spirit--is a crucified ,christ4 ,only those can open the ,sealed ,book--can penetrate the divine ,revelation--who bear the mark of the ,cross on their forehead1 who have eaten the flesh and drunk the blood of the suffering and crucified ,christ1 who have discovered that the ,word of ,god is eternally a ,word of the ,cross4#da ,god is nearest to us when ,he seems farthest away4 ,he was nearest to ,christ when ,he was crying3 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken me8 ,so1 too1 now he who is nearest to the cross is nearest to ,god1 and where the flesh is being crucified and the end of all outward things is reached1 there ,god is found4#db ,sin means1 for ,franck as for all mystics of his type1 the free choice of something for one's private and particular self in place of life-aims that fulfil the good of the whole and realize the universal ,will of ,god4 ,to live for the flesh instead of for the spirit1 to pursue the aims of a narrow private self where they conflict with the spirit of universal love1 to turn from the ,word of ,god in the soul to follow the idle voices of the moment--that is the very essence of sin4 ,it is not inherited1 it is self-chosen1 and yet there is something in our disposition which sets itself in array against the divine revelation within us4 ,the ,adam-story is a genuine life-picture4 ,it is a chapter out of the book of the ages1 the life of humanity4 ,we do not sin and fall because he did2 we sin and fall because we are human and finite1 as he was1 and choose the darkness instead of the ,light1 prefer ,satan to ,god1 pursue the way of death instead of the way of ,life1 as he did4#dc ,this will be sufficient to show the essential character of the religion of this lonely man and to present the main tendencies of his bold and independent thought4 ,he had no desire to be the head of a party2 he was too remote #fc from the currents of evangelical ,christianity to impress the common people whom he loved1 and he was too radical a thinker to lead even the scholars who had become liberated from tradition by their humanistic studies and by historical insight4 ,he was a kind of sixteenth-century ,heraclitus1 seeing the flow and flux of all things temporal1 finding paradox and contradiction everywhere1 discovering life to be a clash of opposites1 with its way up and its way down1 on the surface a pessimist1 but at the heart of himself an optimist2 and finally1 beneath all the folly of history and all the sin and stupidity of human life1 seeing with the eye of his spirit ,one ,eternal ,logos who steers all things toward purpose1 who suffers as a ,lamb slain for the flock1 who reveals ,his ,truth and ,life in the sanctuary of the soul1 and who through the ages is building an invisible ,church1 a divine ,kingdom of many members1 in whom ,he lives as the ,life of their lives4 #a ,troeltsch calls him a literarischer ,prophet der alleinigen ,erloesungskraft des ,geistes und des inneren ,wortes1 ,die ,soziallehren1 p4 #hhf4 #b ,see article by ,m4 ,cunitz in ,nouvelle ,revue de ,theologie1 vol4 v4 p4 #cfa4 #c ,see ,alfred ,hegler's ,geist und ,schrift bei ,sebastian ,franck 7,freiburg71 #ahib1 pp4 #bh-dh4 #d ,see next chapter for an account of ,caspar ,schwenckfeld4 #e ,this ,letter to ,campanus1 written originally in ,latin1 is extant in a ,dutch translation1 ,eyn ,brieff van ,sebastiaen ,franck van ,weirdt1 geschreven over etlicken jaren in ,latijn1 tho synen vriendt ,johan ,campaen4 ,see ,hegler1 op4 cit4 pp4 #ej-ec4 #f ,chronica und ,beschreibung der ,tuerkey 7,nurnberg1 #aecj71 ,k4 #c b4 #g ,my copy is the first edition1 printed in ,strasbourg by ,balthasser ,beck1 #aeca4 #h ,chronica1 p4 #deb b4 #i ,these three books were included in a volume entitled ,die vier kronbuechlein 7#aecd74 #aj ,das verbuetschterte ,buch1 p4 #e4 #aa ,pp4 #e-h of the ,apologia to ,das verbuetschierte ,buch4 #ab ,see ,apologia1 p4 #b4 #ac ,ibid4 p4 #c4 #ad ,hegler1 op4 cit4 p4 #ih4 #ae ,die guldin ,arch1 ,preface #c;b-#d;a4 #af ,paradoxa1 sec4 #aja4 #ag ,paradoxa1 sec4 #ii and #ach4 #ah ,franck translated both ,erasmus' ,praise of ,folly and ,agrippa's ,vanity of ,arts and ,sciences4 #ai ,moriae ,encomion1 p4 #adi4 #bj ,paradoxa1 ,vorrede1 sec4 #ac4 #ba ,moriae ,enc4 p4 #ig;b4 #bb ,paradoxa1 sec4 #bi4 #bc ,moriae ,enc4 p4 #ic;a4 #bd ,paradoxa1 sec4 #fc4 #be ,moriae ,enc4 p4 #aaj4 ,for the testing of the ,word1 see ,hegler1 op4 cit4 pp4 #aag-aai4 #bf ,paradoxa1 ,vorrede1 sec4 #h4 #bg ,paradoxa1 sec4 #i4 #bh ,ibid4 sec4 #de4 #bi ,das verbuetschierte ,buch1 ,apology1 p4 #aa4 #cj ,paradoxa1 ,vorrede1 sec4 #h4 #ca ,this ,letter is preserved in ,j4 ,g4 ,schellhorn's ,amoenitates literariae 7#agbi71 xi4 pp4 #ei-fa4 #cb ,paradoxa1 ,vorrede1 sec4 #d4 #cc ,ibid4 sec4 #f4 #cd ,ibid4 sec4 #b4 #ce ,see ,das verbuetschierte ,buch1 passim4 #cf ,quoted from ,hegler1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajd4 #cg ,das verbuetschierte ,buch1 p4 #c4 #ch ,paradoxa1 sec4 #aja4 #ci ,ibid4 sec4 #aja4 #dj ,paradoxa1 sec4 #h4 #da ,das verbuetschierte ,buch1 pp4 #f-i1 and ,paradoxa1 sec4 #da4 #db ,paradoxa1 sec4 #da and #db4 #dc ,moriae ,enc4 p4 #aaa4 ,paradoxa1 passim1 especially sec4 #bh-cb4 ,see also ,hegler op4 cit4 pp4 #abg-acf4 #fd ,,chapter ,v ,,caspar ,,schwenckfeld ,,and ,,the ,,reformation ,,of ,,the ,,middle ,,way#a ,among all the ,reformers of the sixteenth century who worked at the immense task of recovering1 purifying1 and restating the ,christian ,faith1 no one was nobler in life and personality1 and no one was more uncompromisingly dedicated to the mission of bringing into the life of the people a type of ,christianity winnowed clean from the husks of superstition and tradition and grounded in ethical and spiritual reality1 than was ,caspar ,schwenckfeld1 the ,silesian noble4 ,no one1 to a greater degree than he1 succeeded in going behind1 not only ,scholastic formulations but even behind ,pauline interpretations of ,christ1 to ,christ ,himself4 ,the aspects of the ,christ-life which powerfully moved him were very different from #fe those which moved ,francis of ,assisi three centuries earlier1 but the two men had this much in common--they both went to ,jesus ,christ for the source and inspiration of their religion1 they both lived under the spell of that dominating ,personality of the ,gospels1 they both felt the power of the ,cross and saw with their inner spirits that the real healing of the human soul and the eternal destiny of man were indissolubly bound up with the ,person of ,christ4#b ,here again1 as in the early years of the thirteenth century1 there came a gentle ,reformer of religion1 who would use no compulsion but love1 who knew how to suffer patiently with his ,lord1 and whose entire programme was the restoration of primitive ,christianity1 though of necessity it would be restored1 if at all1 in terms of the spiritual ideals of the sixteenth century1 as the ,christianity of ,st4 ,francis had been in terms of thirteenth-century ideals4 ,caspar ,schwenckfeld was born of a noble family in the duchy of ,liegnitz1 in ,lower ,silesia1 in #adhi4 ,he studied in ,cologne1 in ,frankfurt-on-the-,oder1 and probably also in the ,university of ,erfurt1 though he attained no ,university degree4 ,his period of systematic study being over1 about #aeaa he threw himself into the life of a courtier1 with the prospect of a successful worldly career before him4 ,luther's heroic contest against the evils and corruptions of the ,church and his proclamation of a ,reforming faith shook the prosperous courtier wide awake and turned the currents of his life powerfully toward religion4 ,he deeply felt at this time1 what he expressed a few years later1 that a new world was coming to birth and the old one dying away4 ,to the end of his days1 and in spite of the harsh treatment which he later received from the ,wittenberg ,reformer1 ,schwenckfeld always remembered that it was the prophetic trumpet-call of ,luther which had summoned him to a new life1 and he always carried about with him in his long exile--an exile for which ,luther was largely responsible--a beautiful respect and #ff appreciation for the man who had first turned him to a knowledge of the truth4#c ,from the very beginning of his awakening he shows the moral earnestness of a prophet1 and even in his earliest writings he emphasizes the inwardness of true religion and the importance of a personal experience of the living1 creative ,divine ,word4#d ,as a result of this passion of his for the formation of moral and spiritual character in the lives of the people1 he was very acute and sensitive to note the condition which actually existed around him1 and he was not long in detecting1 much to his sorrow1 aspects of weakness in the new type of ,christianity which was spreading over ,germany4 ,even as early as #aebd1 in ,an ,admonition to all the ,brethren of ,silesia#e he called attention to the superficiality of the change which was taking place in men's lives as a result of the ,reformation--the lack of inward grasp as he calls it--and to the externality of the new ,reform1 the tendency to stop at alphabetical promises of salvation4 ,he gives a searching examination to the central principles of ,luther's teachings and approves of them all1 but at the same time he points out that little will be gained if they be adopted only as intellectual statements and formulated views4 ,he pleads for a faith in ,christ and an appreciation of ,him that shall reach the deep regions of the spirit1 renew the heart1 and produce a new man in the believer--the atoning work of ,christ must be vital--and for a type of religion that will involve suffering with ,christ1 real conformity of will to ,his will1 dying to self and rising again with ,him1 which means that we cannot take the #fg cross at its softest spot4#f ,he calls with glowing passion for a radical transformation of personal and social life1 and for a serious attempt to revive primitive ,christianity with its conquering power4 ,luther himself was always impressed with the lack of real1 intense1 personal religion which resulted from the ,reformation movement1 and he often bewailed this lack4 ,he said once to ,schwenckfeld in this early period1 ,dear ,caspar1 genuine ,christians are none too common4 ,i wish ,i could see two together in a place6 ,but with all his titanic power to shake the old ,church1 ,luther was not able to sift away the accumulated chaff of the ages and to seize upon the inward1 living kernel of ,christ's ,gospel in such a real and vivid presentation that men were once again able to find the entire ,christ1 and were once again lifted into apostolic power through the discovery of ,him4 ,this was the task to which ,schwenckfeld now felt himself summoned4 ,it seemed to him that the entire basis of salvation should be grasped in a way quite different from ,luther's way of formulation1 and this called for a restatement of the whole revelation of ,god in ,christ and of the work of ,christ in the soul of man4#g ,luther's final break with the spiritual ,reformer of ,silesia1 which occurred in #aebg1 was primarily occasioned by ,schwenckfeld's teaching on the meaning and value of the ,lord's ,supper1 though their difference was by no means confined to that point4 ,schwenckfeld's position had culminated in #aebf in a suspension of the celebration of the ,lord's ,supper--the so-called ,stillstand--until a right understanding and true practice of it according to the will of the ,lord should be revealed4#h ,we know at present of no apostolic commission1 he wrote1 nor #fh again do we make any claim to be regarded as apostles1 for we have neither received the fulness of the ,holy ,spirit nor the apostolic seal for such an office4 ,we dwell in humility and ascribe nothing to ourselves1 except that we bear witness to ,christ1 invite men to ,christ1 preach ,christ and ,his infinite work of salvation1 and labour as much as we can that ,christ may be truly known4#i ,into the bitter controversy over the ,sacrament--a controversy between noble and sincere ,reformers1 which forms the supreme internal tragedy of the ,reformation--we need not now enter4 ,we shall in the proper place give ,schwenckfeld's position upon it1 though only in so far as it belongs in an exposition of his type of spiritual ,christianity2 but the immediate effect of his position and practices was such a collision with ,luther1 and the arousal of such hostility on the part of the ,lutherans of ,silesia1 that the continued pursuit of ,schwenckfeld's mission in that country became impossible4 ,he was1 however1 not expelled by edict1 but under compulsion of the existing situation2 and in order not to be a trouble to his friend1 the ,duke of ,liegnitz1 he went in #aebi into voluntary exile1 never to return4 ,for thirty years he was a wanderer without a permanent home on the earth1 but he could thank his ,lord ,christ1 as he did1 for granting him through all these years an inward freedom1 and for bringing him into ,his castle of ,peace4 ,he once wrote3 ,if ,i had wanted a good place on earth1 if ,i had cared more for temporal than for eternal things1 and if ,i would have deserted my ,christ1 then ,i might have stayed in my fatherland and in my own house1 and ,i might have had the powerful of this world for my friends4#aj ,he sojourned for longer or shorter periods in ,strasbourg1 ,augsburg1 ,ulm1 and other cities1 but nowhere was he safe from his enemies1 and he always faced the prospect of banishment even from his place of temporary sojourn4 #fi ,furious declarations were passed against him by the ,schmalkald ,league in #aedj1 for to his anti-,lutheran views on the sacraments he had now added teachings on the nature of ,christ which the theologians pronounced unorthodox4 ,three years later he sent a messenger to ,luther in hope of a friendly understanding4 ,luther's answer was brief and final3 ,the stupid fool1 possessed by the devil1 understands nothing4 ,he does not know what he is babbling4 ,but if he won't stop his drivel1 let him at least not bother me with the booklets which the devil spues out of him4#aa ,at the ministerial ,council of ,protestant ,states in #aeef ,schwenckfeld was denounced in the most vituperous language of the period1 and the civil authorities were urged to proceed against him as a dangerous heretic4 ,he always had1 notwithstanding this pursuit of theological hate1 many powerful friends1 and a large number of brave and devoted followers who were glad to risk goods1 home1 and life for the sake of what was to them the living ,word of ,god4 ,he died--or as his friends preferred to say1 he had a quiet and peaceful home passage--at ,ulm in #aefa4 ,of the purity1 the brave sincerity1 the nobility1 the outward and inward consistency of his life there is no question4 ,his enemies had no word to say which reflected upon the motives of his heart or upon the genuine piety of his life4 ,his religion cost him all that he held dear in the outer world--he had not taken the cross at the softest spot--and he practised his faith as the most precious thing a man could possess in this world or in any other4 ,we must now turn to a study of his type of ,christianity1 which will be presented here not in the order of its historical development1 but as it appears in perspective in his life and writings4 ,he does not ground his conception of salvation1 his idea of religion ueberhaupt1 as the humanistic ,reformers1 ,denck1 ,buenderlin1 ,entfelder1 and ,franck1 do1 on the essentially divine nature of the #gj soul in its deepest reality1#ab nor again as the medieval mystics do1 on the substantial presence within the soul of a divine soul-centre1 an unlost and inalienable ,spark or ,image of ,god which can turn back home and unite itself with its ,source1 the ,godhead4 ,he begins1 as ,luther does1 with man fallen1 dead in sin1 by nature blind and deaf to divine realities4 ,for him1 as for ,luther1 there exists no natural freedom of the will1 by which a person can spontaneously and of his own initiative rise up1 shake off the shackles of sin1 and go to living as a son of ,god4 ,this stupendous event1 this absolute shift of the life-level1 comes1 and can come1 he thinks1 only through an act of ,god1 directly1 immediately wrought upon the soul4 ,salvation must be a supernatural event4 ,through this act of ,god from above there results within the soul an experience which in every respect is a new creation4 ,it is a cataclysmic event of the same order as the fiat lux of cosmic creation1 a rebirth through which the man who has it once again comes into the condition ,adam was in before he fell4 ,everything which has to do with salvation in ,schwenckfeld's ,christianity goes back to the historical ,christ4#ac ,christ is the first-born of this new creation4 ,he is the first new ,adam1 who by ,his triumphant life and victorious resurrection has become for ever a life-giving ,spirit1 the creative ,principle of a new humanity4 ,in ,christ the ,word of ,god1 the actual ,divine ,seed of ,god1 became flesh1 entered into our human nature and penetrated it with ,spirit and with ,life1 conquered its stubborn bent toward sin1 and transfigured and transformed this human flesh into a divine and heavenly substance4 ,by obedience to the complete will of ,god1 even to the extreme depths of suffering1 sacrifice1 and death on the ,cross for #ga the love of men1 ,christ glorified human flesh1 exalted it from flesh to spirit1 and in ,his resurrected heavenly life ,he is able to unite ,himself inwardly with the souls of believers1 so that ,his spiritual resurrected flesh and blood can be their food and drink1 and ,he can become the life-giving source of a new order of humanity1 the spiritual ,head of a new race4 ,if the soul of man1 he wrote1 is to be truly nourished1 vitally fed and watered1 so that it comes into possession of ,eternal ,life1 it must die to its fleshly life and receive into itself a divine and spiritual ,life1 having its source in the ,being of ,god and mediated to the soul by the living1 inward-working ,flesh and ,blood of ,jesus ,christ1 through which mediation we come into spiritual union and vital fellowship with ,god who is ,spirit4#ad ,salvation for ,schwenckfeld1 therefore1 is participation in the life of this new creation1 this new world-order4 ,to become a ,christian1 in his sense of the word1 is to pass over one of the most decisive watersheds in the universe1 to go from one kingdom to another kingdom of a higher rank4 ,the process--for it is a vital process--is from beginning to end in the realm of experience4 ,by the exercise of faith in the crucified1 risen1 and glorified ,god-,man1 as the life-giving ,spirit1 real power from a higher world streams into the soul4 ,something pneumatic1 something which belongs ontologically to a higher spiritual world-order1 comes into the person as a divinely bestowed germ-plasm1 with living1 renewing1 organizing power4 ,as with ,irenaeus1 so with ,schwenckfeld1 salvation is real redemption1 the deification of mortal man1 the actual formation of an immortal nature1 the restoration of humanity to what it originally was1 through the in-streaming life-energy of a mystical ,adam-,christ1 the ,founder and ,head of a new spiritual race4#ae ,by this incoming spiritual power and life-substance the entire personality of the recipient is affected4 ,the #gb recreative energy which pours in transforms both soul and body4 ,the inner eternal ,word of ,god1 who became flesh1 acts upon the inner nature of man1 so that the believing man is changed into something spiritual1 divine and heavenly1 and like ,jesus ,christ1 the incarnated ,word of ,god4#af ,there comes1 with this epoch-making experience1 a sense of freedom not known before1 a power of control over the body and its appetites1 an illumination of the intellect1 a new sensitiveness of conscience to the meaning of sin1 an extraordinary expansion of the vision of the goal of life--which is a full-grown man in ,christ1--and an apprehension of the gift of the ,spirit sufficient for the achievement of that goal4 ,not least among the signs of transfiguration and of heightened life is the attainment of a joy which spreads through the inward spirit and shines on the face--a joy which can turn hard exile into a ,ruheschloss1 a castle of peace4 ,those who have experienced this dynamic transfiguration gain thereby gifts1 capacities1 and powers to hear the ,word of ,god within their own souls1 and thus this ,word1 which is the same life-giving ,spirit that became flesh in ,christ and that produces the new creation in man1 becomes a perpetual inward ,teacher in those who are reborn4 ,precious gifts of the ,holy ,ghost flow from the essential ,being of ,god into the heart of the believer4 ,there is1 ,schwenckfeld holds1 a double revelation of ,god4 ,the primary ,word of ,god is eternal1 spiritual1 inward4 ,the ,word1 when spiritual messengers preach or teach1 is of two kinds with a decided difference in their manner of working4 ,one is of ,god1 even is ,god1 and lives and works in the heart of the messenger4 ,this is the inner ,word1 and is in reality nothing else than the continued manifestation of ,christ4 ,he is inwardly revealed1 and heard with the inward ears of the heart4#ag ,it is1 in fact1 ,god ,himself operating as ,life and ,spirit and ,light upon the spiritual substance of the human soul1 first as the ,life-,seed which forms the new creation in man1 and afterwards as the permanent #gc nourishing and tutoring ,spirit who leads the obedient soul on into all the ,truth1 and perfects it into the likeness and stature of ,christ4 ,there is a living1 inner ,scripture1 written in the believer's heart by the finger of ,god4 ,this inner ,scripture has an active creative power of holiness1 and makes holy1 living1 righteous and saved all those in whose hearts it is written4 ,the divine word in the secondary sense is the outward word--the word of ,scripture4 ,the other word which serves the inner ,word with voice1 sound1 and expression is the external word1 and is heard by the external man with his ears of sense1 and is written and read in letters4 ,he who has read and heard only that1 and not the inner ,word1 has not heard the ,gospel of ,christ1 the ,gospel of ,grace1 nor has he received or understood it4#ah ,it is at best only the witness or testimony which assists the soul to find the real life-giving ,word4 ,cut apart from the inner spiritual ,word1 the word of the letter is dead1 as the body would be if sundered from the spirit4 ,it paints truth powerfully for the eye1 but it cannot bring it into the heart4#ai ,the ,scriptures cannot bring to the soul that of which they speak4 ,this must be sought directly from ,god ,himself4#bj ,in his practical use of ,scripture and in his estimate of its importance he is hardly behind ,luther himself4 ,there is1 he says1 no writing on earth like the ,holy ,scriptures4#ba ,his ,christianity is penetrated and illuminated at every point by the profound spiritual experiences of the saints of the ,bible1 and still more by the vivid portraits of ,christ in the ,gospels1 by the words from ,his lips recorded there1 and by the experiences of the apostles and the development of the primitive ,church4 ,he never doubts or questions the inspiration of the ,scriptures2 quite the contrary1 he holds that ,scripture is given by ,god and is an inexhaustible well of inspired truth from which the soul can endlessly draw4 ,the actual content of ,christian faith is supplied by the historical revelation2 #gd but ,schwenckfeld always insists that written words1 however inspired1 are still external to the soul1 and merely record historical events which have happened to others in other ages4 ,if man1 he writes1 is to understand spiritual things and is to know and judge rightly1 he must bring the divine ,light to the ,scriptures1 the ,spirit to the letter1 the ,truth to the picture1 and the ,master to ,his created work4 4 4 4 ,in a word1 to understand the ,scriptures a man must become a new man1 a man of ,god2 he must be in ,christ who gave forth the ,scriptures4#b ,that which is to change the inner nature of a man must be something personally experienced and not external to him2 must be in its own nature as spiritual as the soul itself is and not material1 as written words are4 ,the pen cannot completely bring the heart to the paper1 nor can the mouth entirely express the well of living water within itself4#bc ,the ,bible leads to ,christ and bears witness of ,him as no other book does1 but it is not ,christ4 ,and even the ,bible remains a closed book until ,christ opens it4#bd ,the ,scriptures tell1 as no other writings do1 of the ,word of ,god and its life-operations in the world1 but they are still not the ,word of ,god4 ,the spiritual realities of life cannot be settled by laboriously piling up texts of ,scripture1 by subtle theological dialectic1 or by learned exegesis of sacred words4 ,if these spiritual realities are to become real and effective to us1 it must be through the direct relation of the human spirit with the divine ,spirit--the inward spiritual ,word of ,god4#be ,he who will see the truth must have ,god for eyes4#bf ,schwenckfeld's view of the process of salvation and the permanent illumination of the reborn soul by a real incoming divine substance--whether called ,word or ,seed--is the dynamic feature of his ,christianity4 ,he is endeavouring to find a foundation for a religious energism that will avoid the dangers which beset ,luther's principle #ge of justification by faith4 ,from the inception of the ,reformation movement there had appeared a tendency to regard the exercise of faith as all that was required for human salvation4 ,luther did not mean it so1 but it was the easy line of least resistance to hold that faith had a magic effect in the invisible realm1 that is to say3 ,as soon as a person exercised faith1 ,god counted the faith for righteousness1 and regarded that person as justified4 ,the important operation was thus in a region outside the soul4 ,the momentous shift was not in the personal character of the individual1 but in the way the individual was regarded and valued in the heavenly estimates4 ,it was the discovery of the prevalence of this crude and magical reliance on faith which first drove ,schwenckfeld to a deeper study of the problems of religion4 ,it was the necessity that he felt to discover some way by which man himself could be actually renewed1 transformed1 recreated1 and made righteous--rather than merely counted or reckoned righteous by some magical transaction--that made him an independent reformer and set him on his solitary way4 ,to this deep and central question of religion1 ,how is a human soul saved8 there were in ,schwenckfeld's day four well-known answers3 7#a7 ,there was the answer of the ,church in which he was born4 ,salvation is by ,grace1 mediated through the sacramental channels of the mysterious and divinely founded ,church4 ,man's part consists in the performance of the works which the ,church requires of him and the proper use of the sacramental means of ,grace4 ,through these sacramental channels actual ,grace1 substantial divine help1 comes into man and works the miracle of salvation in him4 7#b7 ,there was the answer of the great mystics1 not always clear and simple1 but very profound and significant4 ,the ,ground and the ,abyss of the soul is one substance with the eternal and absolute ,godhead4 ,finite strivings1 isolated purposes1 selfish aims1 centrifugal pursuits are vain and illusory4 ,we lose our lives in so far as we live #gf in self-will and in self-centred joys4 ,the way home1 the way of salvation1 is a return to that ,ground-,reality from which we have gone out--a return to union and oneness of ,life with the infinite ,godhead4 7#c7 ,the third answer is that of ,luther3 ,salvation is by faith4 ,this seems at first to be a dynamic answer4 ,it breaks in on the distracted world like a new moral trumpet-call to the soul4 ,it comes to men like a fresh ,copernican insight which discovers a new religious world-centre4 ,the soul by its own inward vision1 by its moral attitude1 by the swing of the will1 can initiate a new relation with ,god1 and so produce a new inward kingdom4 ,that1 however1 is not ,luther's message4 ,he could not take that optimistic view of life because it implied that man has within himself a native capacity for ,god1 and can rise to the vision and attitude which lead to a moral renewal of the self4 ,luther never succeeded in clearing his principle from scholastic complications4 ,he never put it upon a moral and dynamic foundation4 ,it remains to the last a mysterious principle1 and was easily open to the antinomian interpretation1 that upon the exercise of faith ,god for ,christ's merits counts man justified--an interpretation dear to those who are slack-minded and prone to forensic schemes of salvation4 7#d7 ,the fourth view was that of the humanist-spiritual ,reformers1 men of the type of ,denck and ,buenderlin1 who are the precursors of what we to-day call the ethical way of salvation4 ,they assume that salvation is from beginning to end a moral process4 ,god is in essence and nature a loving1 self-revealing1 self-giving ,god1 who has in all ages unveiled ,himself in revelations suited to the spiritual stature of man1 has in the fulness of time become incarnate in ,christ1 and forever pleads with men through ,his ,spirit to come to ,him4 ,those who see and hear1 those who respond and co-operate1 i4e4 those who exercise faith1 are thereby morally transformed into an inward likeness to ,him1 and so enter upon a life which prefers light to darkness1 goodness to sin1 love to hate4 #gg ,schwenckfeld was not satisfied with any of these views4 ,he knew and loved the mystics1 but he was too much impressed with the mighty ,life and message of the historical ,christ to adopt the mystic's way4 ,he felt that ,lutheran ,christianity was too scholastic1 too dependent on externals1 too inclined to an antinomian use of faith4 ,he could not go along the path of the ,humanist-,spirituals1 for he believed that man had been ruined in the ,fall1 was too deeply scarred with sin to help himself1 was without freewill1 was devoid of native capacity for spiritual vision and saving faith4 ,salvation1 if it is to be effected at all1 must be initiated by ,divine ,grace and must be accomplished for man by ,god4 ,but it could be for ,schwenckfeld no forensic adjustment1 no change of reckoning in the heavenly ledgers4 ,justification1 he once wrote1 is not only forgiveness of sins1 but it is more1 it is the actual healing and renewing of the inward man4#bg ,it must involve a real and radical transformation of man's nature--man must cease from sin and the love of it1 he must receive from beyond himself a passion for goodness and a power to enable him to achieve it4 ,the passion for goodness1 in ,schwenckfeld's view1 is created through the vision of the ,god-,man who has suffered and died on the ,cross for us1 and has been glorified in absolute newness of life2 and the power for moral holiness is supplied to the soul by the direct inflowing of divine ,life-streams from this new ,adam1 who is henceforth the ,head of the spiritual order of humanity1 the ,life-giving ,spirit who renews all who receive ,him in faith4 ,faith1 he says1 is a penetrating stream of light flowing out from the central divine ,light and ,fire1 which is ,god ,himself1 into our hearts by which we are inflamed with love for ,god and for our neighbour1 and by which we see both what we lack in ourselves and what can abundantly supply our lack1 so that we may be made ready for the ,kingdom of ,god and be prepared to become children of ,god4#bh ,real faith1 he elsewhere says1 that is to say1 justifying faith1 can come from nothing #gh external4 ,it is a gracious and gratuitous gift of ,god through the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it is an emanation ,troepflein from the eternal ,life of ,god1 and is of the same essence and substance as ,god ,himself4#bi ,it is1 in fact1 the ,eternal ,word of ,god become vocal and vital within the inner region of our own lives4#cj ,the ,church1 in ,schwenckfeld's conception1 is this complete spiritual community of which ,christ is the ,head4 ,we maintain1 he wrote in the early period of his mission1 and it remained the settled view of his life1 that the ,christian ,church according to the usage of the ,scripture is the congregation or assembly of all or of many who with heart and soul are believers in ,christ1 whose ,head is ,christ our ,lord1 as ,st4 ,paul writes to the ,ephesians and elsewhere1 and who are born of ,god's ,word alone1 and are nourished and ruled by ,god's ,word4#ca ,the ,christian ,church1 he elsewhere says1 is the entire community of the children of ,god4 ,it is the actual ,body of ,christ1 the ,seed of ,abraham1 the ,house of the living ,god1 the ,temple of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it has its life and power through the obedience of faith1 it manifests to the world the ,name of the ,lord1 the goodness and the glory of ,him who called its members from darkness into ,his marvellous ,light4 ,wherever such a ,church is gathered1 there also is ,christ1 its ,head1 who governs it1 teaches it1 guards and defends it1 works in it and pours ,his ,life into its members1 to each according to the measure of his living faith4 ,this inward invisible ,christ belongs to all ages and all times and lands4#cb ,the ,church1 in its true life and power1 is thus for him a continuation of the apostolic type4 ,he had no interest in the formation of a sectarian denomination1 and he was fundamentally averse to a ,state-,church system4 ,the true ,church community can be identified with no temporal1 empirical organization--whether established or separatist4 ,it is a spiritual invisible community as wide as the world1 including all persons in all regions of #gi the earth and in all religious communions who are joined in life and spirit to the ,divine ,head4 ,it expands and is enlarged by a process of organic growth under the organizing direction of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,as often1 he writes1 as a new warrior comes to the heavenly army1 as often as a poor sinner repents1 the body of ,christ becomes larger1 the ,king more splendid1 ,his ,kingdom stronger1 ,his might more perfect4 ,not that ,god becomes greater or more perfect in ,his essence1 but that flesh becomes more perfect in ,god1 and ,god dwells in all ,his fulness in the flesh into which in ,jesus ,christ ,he ever more pours ,himself4#cc ,each soul that enters the kingdom of experience through the work of the ,life-giving ,spirit is builded into this invisible expanding ,church of the ages1 and is endowed with some gift to become an organ of the ,divine ,head4 ,all spiritual service arises through the definite call and commission of ,god1 and the persons so called and commissioned are rightly prepared for their service1 not by election and ordination1 but by inward compulsion and illumination through the ,word of ,god4 ,the preacher possesses no magical efficacy4 ,his only power lies in his spiritual experience1 his clarified vision1 and his organic connection with ,christ the ,head of the ,church and the source of its energy4 ,if his life is spiritually poor and weak and thin1 if it lacks moral passion and insight1 his ministry will be correspondingly ineffective and futile1 for the dynamic spiritual impact of a life is in proportion to its personal experience and its moral capacity to transmit divine power4 ,here again the emphasis is on the moral aspect of religion as contrasted with the magical4 ,there can be no severing of the ecclesiastical office or function from the moral character of the person himself4 ,schwenckfeld has cut away completely from sacerdotalism and has returned1 as far as with his limited historical insight he knew how to do it1 to the ideal of the primitive ,apostolic ,church4 ,the true mark and sign of membership in the community of saints--the invisible ,church--is1 for him as for ,st4 ,paul1 #hj possession of the mind of ,christ1 faith1 patience1 integrity1 peace1 unity of spirit1 the power of ,god1 joy in the ,holy ,ghost1 and the abounding gifts and fruits of the ,spirit4 ,no outward unity or uniformity1 either in doctrine or ceremonies1 or rules or sacraments1 can make a ,christian ,church2 but inner unity of spirit1 of heart1 soul and conscience in ,christ and in the knowledge of ,him1 a unity in love and faith1 does make a ,church of ,christ4#cd ,the ,church is in a very true sense bone of ,christ's bone and flesh of ,his flesh1 vitalized by ,his blood1 empowered by ,his real presence1 and formed into an organism which reveals and exhibits the divine and heavenly ,life--a world-order as far above the natural human life as that is above the plant4 ,quite consistently with this spiritual view of religion--this view that the true ,church is an invisible ,church--,schwenckfeld taught that the true sacrament is an inner and spiritual sacrament1 and not legal and external like those of the ,old ,testament4 ,god must ,himself1 apart from all external means1 through ,christ touch the soul1 speak in it1 work in it1 if we are to experience salvation and eternal life4#ce ,the direct incoming of the ,divine ,spirit1 producing a rebirth and a new creation in the man himself1 is the only baptism which avails with ,god or which makes any difference in the actual condition of man4 ,baptism in its true significance is the reception of cleansing power1 it is an inward process which purifies the heart1 illuminates the conscience1 and is not only necessary for salvation but in fact is salvation4 ,christian baptism is therefore not with water1 but with ,christ3 it is the immersion of the soul in the life-giving streams of ,christ's spiritual presence4 ,schwenckfeld was always kindly disposed toward the ,anabaptists1 but he was not of them4 ,he presented a very different type of ,christianity to their type1 which he penetratingly criticized1 though in a kindly spirit4 ,he did not approve of rebaptism1 for he insisted that the all-important matter was not how or when water was applied1 #ha but the reception of ,christ's real baptism1 an inner baptism1 a baptism of spirit and power1 by which the believing soul1 the inner man1 is clarified1 strengthened1 and made pure4#cf ,his view of the ,lord's ,supper in the same way fits his entire conception of ,christianity as an inward religion4 ,it was through his study of the meaning and significance of the ,supper that he arrived at his peculiar and unique type of religion4 ,he began his meditation with the practical test--the case of ,judas4 ,if the bread and wine of the ,last ,supper were identical with the body and blood of ,christ1 then ,judas must have eaten of ,christ as the other disciples did1 and1 notwithstanding his evil spirit1 he must have received the divine nature into himself--but that is impossible4 ,in his intellectual difficulty he turned to the great mystical discourse in the sixth chapter of ,john1 in the final interpretation of which he received important suggestion and help from ,valentine ,crautwald1 ,lector of the ,dom in ,liegnitz4 ,in this remarkable discourse ,christ promises to feed ,his disciples1 ,his followers1 with ,his own flesh and blood1 by which they will partake of the eternal nature and enter with ,him into a resurrection life4 ,the flesh and blood here offered to men cannot refer to an outward sacrament which is eaten in a physical way1 because in the very same discourse ,christ says that outward1 physical flesh profits nothing4 ,it is the ,spirit that gives life1 and1 therefore1 the flesh and blood of ,christ must be synonymous with the ,word if they are actually to recreate and nourish the soul and to renew and vitalize the spirit of man4 ,this feeding and renewing of the soul through ,christ's flesh and blood1 ,schwenckfeld treats1 as we have seen1 not as a figure or symbol1 but as a literal fact of ,christian experience4 ,through the exercise of faith in the person of the crucified1 risen1 and glorified ,christ--the creative ,adam--incorruptible1 life-giving substance comes into the soul and transfigures it4 ,something from the divine #hb and heavenly world1 something from that spiritualized and glorified nature of ,christ1 becomes the actual food of man's spirit1 so that through it he partakes of the same nature as that of the ,god-,man4 ,not once or twice1 but as a continuous experience1 the soul may share this glorious meal of spiritual renewal--this eating and drinking of ,christ4 ,the external supper--and for that matter the external baptism too--may have a place in the ,church of ,christ as a pictorial symbol of the actual experience1 or as a visible profession of faith1 but this outward sign is1 in his view1 of little moment1 and must not occupy the foreground of attention1 nor be made a subject of polemic or of insistence4 ,the new ,creation1 the response of faith to the living ,word1 the transfiguration of life into the likeness of ,christ1 are the momentous facts of a ,christian experience1 and none of these things is mediated by external ceremonies4 ,it was his ideal purpose to promote the formation of little groups of spiritual ,christians which should live in the land in quietness1 and spread by an inward power and inspiration received from above4 ,he saw clearly that no true ,reformation could be carried through by edicts or by the proclamations of rulers1 or by the decision of councils4 ,a permanent work1 from his point of view1 could be accomplished only by the slow and patient development of the religious life and spiritual experience of the people1 since the goal which he sought was the formation1 not of state-made ,churches1 but of renewed personal lives1 awakened consciences1 burning moral passion1 and first-hand conviction of immediate relation with the ,world of ,divine ,reality4 ,to this work of arousing individual souls to these deeper issues of life1 and of building up little scattered societies under the headship of ,christ1 which should be1 as it were1 oases of the ,kingdom of ,god in the world1 he dedicated his years of exile4 ,all such quiet inward movements progress1 as ,christ foresaw1 too slowly and gradually for observation2 but this method of reforming the ,church through rebirth and the creation of ,christ-guided societies #hc accomplished1 even during ,schwenckfeld's life1 impressive results4 ,there were many1 not only in ,silesia but in all regions which the missionary-reformer was able to reach1 who preferred salt and bread in the school of ,christ to ease and plenty elsewhere1 and they formed their little groups in the midst of a hostile world4 ,the public records of ,augsburg reveal the existence1 during ,schwenckfeld's life1 of a remarkable group of these quiet1 spiritual worshippers in that city4 ,their leaders were men of menial occupations--men who would have attracted no notice from the officials of city or ,church if they had been contented to conform to any prevailing or recognized type of religion4 ,under the inspiration which they received from the writings of ,schwenckfeld they formed a little meeting--in every respect like a seventeenth-century ,quaker meeting--in their own homes1 meeting about in turn1 discarding all use of sacraments1 and waiting on ,god for edification rather than on public preaching4 ,they read the books and epistles of ,schwenckfeld in their gatherings1 they wrote epistles to other groups of ,schwenckfeldians1 and received epistles in turn and read them in their gatherings4 ,they objected to any form of religious exercise which seemed to them incomprehensible to their spirits and which did not spring directly out of the inward ministry of the ,word of ,god4 ,they were eventually discovered1 their leaders banished1 their books burned1 and their little meeting of quiet spirituals 7stillen ,frommen7 as they called themselves was ruthlessly stamped out4#cg ,societies something like this were formed in scores of places1 and continued to cultivate their inward piety in the ,fatherland1 until harried by persecution they migrated in #agcd to ,pennsylvania1 where they have continued to maintain their community life until the present day4 ,but the most important effect of ,schwenckfeld's life and work must not be sought in the history of these #hd visible societies which owed their origin to his apostolic activity4 ,his first concern was always for the building of the invisible community of ,god throughout the whole world--not for the promotion of a sect--and his greatest contribution will be found in the silent1 often unnoticed1 propagation of his spirit1 the contagious dissemination of his ideas1 the gradual influence of his truth and insight upon ,christian communions and upon individual believers that hardly knew his name4 ,his correspondence was extraordinarily extensive2 his books and tracts1 which were legion1 found eager readers and transmitters1 and slowly--too slowly for observation--the spiritual message of the homeless reformer made its way into the inner life of faithful souls1 who in all lands were praying for the consolation of ,god's new ,israel4 ,even so early as #aeea1 an ,english writer1 ,wyllyam ,turner1 in a book written as a preservative and treacle against the poyson of ,pelagius1 especially as renewed in the furious secte of the ,annabaptistes1 mentions the ,swengfeldianes as one of the heads of this monstre in many poyntes lyke unto the watersnake with seven heads4#ch ,there is1 however1 slight evidence of the spread of ,schwenckfeld's views1 whether they be called poyson or treacle1 in ,england during the sixteenth century1 though they are clearly in evidence in the seventeenth century4 ,one of the most obvious signs of his influence in the seventeenth century1 both in ,england and in ,holland1 appears in the spread of principles which were embodied in the ,collegiants of ,holland and the corresponding societies of ,seekers in ,england4#ci ,the cardinal principle of these groups in both countries was the belief that the visible ,church had become apostate and had lost its divine authoritative power1 that it now lacked apostolic ministry and efficacious sacraments and the gifts of the ,spirit which demonstrate the true apostolic succession4 ,therefore those who held this view1 like doves without their mates1 were waiting and seeking for the appearing of a #he new apostolic commission1 for the fresh outpouring of ,god's ,spirit on men1 and for the refounding of the ,church1 as originally1 in actual demonstration and power4 ,it was a settled view of ,schwenckfeld's that the visible ,church had lost its original power and authority1 and he cherished1 too1 a persistent faith and hope that in ,god's good time it would again be restored to its pristine vitality and its original conquering power4 ,we ask1 he writes1 where in the world to-day there is gathered together an external ,church of the apostolic form and type1 and according to the will of ,christ4#dj ,and yet scattered everywhere throughout the world--even in ,turkey and ,calcutta#da--;,god has1 he says1 ,his own faithful people1 known only to ,him1 who live ,christlike and holy lives1 whom ,christ the living ,word1 that became flesh1 baptizes inwardly with the ,holy ,spirit and inwardly feeds without external preaching or sacrament1 writes ,his law in their hearts and guides into ,eternal ,life4#db ,but the time is coming when once more there will be in the world an apostolic and completely reformed ,church of ,christ1 ,his living body and the organ of the ,spirit1 with divine gifts and powers and commission4 ,in the interim let the chosen children of ,god1 he writes1 rejoice and comfort themselves in this1 that their salvation rests neither in an external ,church1 nor in the external use of sacraments1 nor in any external thing1 but that it rests alone in ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 and is received through true and living faith4#dc ,for ,schwenckfeld himself the important matter was the increase of this inward life1 the silent growth of this kingdom of ,god in the hearts of men1 the spread of this invisible ,church1 but his writings plainly suggest that ,god will eventually restore the former glory to ,his visible ,church4 ,you are1 he says1 in one of his epistles1 to pray earnestly that ,god will raise up true apostles and preachers and evangelists1 so that ,his ,church may #hf be reformed in ,christ1 edified in the ,holy ,ghost1 and unified into one1 and so that our boasting of the pure preaching of the ,gospel and the right understanding and use of the sacraments may be true before ,god1#dd and the time is coming1 we may in good faith believe1 when the sacraments will be used according to the will of ,christ1 and then there will be a true ,christian ,church1 taught outwardly by apostolic ministers and taught inwardly by the ,lord ,himself4#de ,fortunately1 however1 salvation does not depend upon anything outward1 and during the ,stillstand or interim there is no danger to be feared from the intermission of outward ceremonies4#df ,sebastian ,franck graphically describes this waiting1 seeking attitude as well known in his time4 ,he wrote in his ,chronicle 7#aeca73 ,some are ready to allow ,baptism and other ceremonies to remain in abeyance stilston1 evidently ,schwenckfeld's ,stillstand until ,god gives a further command and sends true labourers into ,his harvest-field4 ,for this some have great longings and yearnings and wish nothing else4#dg ,the intense expectation which the ,seekers1 both in ,holland and ,england1 exhibit was1 of course1 a much later development1 was due to many influences1 and is connected only indirectly with the reforming work and the ,gospel message of ,schwenckfeld4 ,it indicates1 in the exaggerated emphasis of the ,seekers1 a failure to grasp the deeper significance of spiritual ,christianity as a present reality1 and it misses the truth1 which the world has so painfully slowly grasped1 that the only way to form an apostolic and efficacious visible ,church is not through sudden miracles and cataclysmic restorations and commissions1 but by the slow contagion and conquering power of this inward kingdom1 of this invisible ,church1 as it becomes the spirit and life of the outward and visible ,church4 ,this truth the ,silesian reformer knew full well1 and for this reason he was ready at all costs to be a quiet apostle of the invisible ,community of ,god and let the outward #hg organism and organ of its ministry come in ,god's own way4 ,the nobler men among the ,english ,seekers1 as also among the ,dutch ,societies1 rose gradually to this larger view of spiritual religion1 and came to realize1 as ,schwenckfeld did1 that the real processes of salvation are inward and dynamic4 ,samuel ,rutherford is not a very safe witness in matters which involve impartial judgment1 or which concern types of spiritual experience foreign to his own type1 but he is following a real clew when he connects1 as he does1 the leaders of spiritual1 inward religion in his day1 especially those who had shared the seeker aspirations1 with ,schwenckfeld4#dh ,rutherford's account is thoroughly unfair and full of inaccuracies1 but it suffices at least to reveal the fact that ,schwenckfeld was a living force in the period of the ,english ,commonwealth1 and that1 though almost a hundred years had passed since his home-passage from ,ulm was accomplished1 he was still making disciples for the ever-enlarging community and household of ,god4 #a ,the most important material for a study of ,schwenckfeld is the following3-- ,corpus ,schwenckfeldianorum1 edited by ,c4 ,d4 ,hartranft4 ,published ,leipzig1 vol4 i4 7#aijg72 vol4 ii4 7#aiaa72 vol4 iii4 7#aiac74 ,other volumes to follow4 ,schriften von ,kaspar ,schwenckfeld1 in #d folio volumes4 ,published between the years #aefd-aegj4 ,indicated in my notes as vol4 i41 vol4 ii41 vol4 iii4 ,a1 vol4 iii4 ,b4 ,there are1 too1 many uncollected books and tracts1 to some of which ,i refer in footnotes4 ,karl ,ecke1 ,schwenckfeld1 ,luther1 und der ,gedanke einer apostolischen ,reformation 7,berlin1 #aiaa74 ,important book1 but to be followed with caution4 ,r4 ,h4 ,gruetzmacher1 ,wort und ,geist 7,leipzig1 #aijb74 ,gottfried ,arnold1 ,kirchen- und ,ketzer-,historien1 i4 pp4 #abdf-abii4 7,edition of #agdj47 ,h4 ,w4 ,erbkam1 ,geschichte der prolestantischen ,sekten im ,zeitaller der ,reformation 7,hamburg und ,gotha1 #ahdh71 pp4 #ceg-dge4 ,doellinger1 ,die ,reformation1 i4 pp4 #beg-bhj4 ,ernst ,troeltsch1 ,die ,soziallehren der christlichen ,kirchen und ,gruppen 7,tuebingen1 #aiab71 pp4 #hha-hhf4 #b ,christ1 ,schwenckfeld insisted1 is the sum of the whole ,bible1 and to learn to know ,christ fundamentally is to grasp the substance of the entire ,scripture4 #c ,he wrote in #aedc to ,luther3 ,i owe to you in ,god and the truth all honour1 love1 and goodwill1 because from the first ,i have reaped much fruit from your service1 and ,i have not ceased to pray for you according to my poor powers4--,schriften1 ii4 p4 #gja d4 #d ,in ,an ,epistle to the ,sisters in the ,cloister at ,naumberg1 written probably in the autumn of #aebc1 he says3 ,a true ,christian life in its essential requirements does not consist in external appearance 4 4 4 but quite the contrary1 it does consist in personal trust in ,god through an experience of ,jesus ,christ1 which the ,holy ,ghost brings forth in the heart by the hearing of the ,divine ,word4--,corpus ,schwenckfeldianorum1 i4 p4 #aah4 #e ,ermahnung dess ,missbrauchs etlicher fuernemsten ,artikel des ,evangelii 7#aebd74 ,corpus ,schw4 ii4 pp4 #bf-aje4 #f ,wir greyffen das ,creutz noch am waichsten ,ort an4--,ermahnung dess ,missbrauchs4 ,corpus ,schw4 ii4 p4 #hi4 #g ,there are now in general two parties that make wrong use of the ,gospel of ,christ1 one of which turns to the right and the other to the left of the only true and straight way4 ,the first party is that of the ,papacy 4 4 4 the other party consists of those to whom ,god has now granted a gracious light--,but6--,ermahnung dess ,missbrauchs4 #h ,the ,stillstand was proposed in a ,circular ,letter written by ,schwenckfeld1 ,valentine ,crautwald1 and the ,liegnitz ,pastors1 ,april #ba1 #aebf4--;,corpus ,schwenckfeld1 i4 pp4 #cbe-ccc4 #i ,the revival of this idea of a ,stillstand1 that is1 of a suspension of certain time-honoured practices of the ,church until a further revelation and new enduement should be granted1 will be referred to in later chapters1 especially in connection with the ,collegiants of ,holland and the ,english ,seekers4 #aj ,ecke1 op4 cit4 p4 #bag4 #aa ,arnold1 op4 cit4 ii4 p4 #bea4 ,there are many similar references to ,schwenckfeld in ,luther's ,table ,talk1 and he usually calls him by the opprobrious name of ,stenkfeld4 #ab ,ein natuerliches ,licht kennt ,schwenckfeld nicht4--,gruetzmacher1 ,wort und ,grist 7,leipzig1 #aijb71 p4 #afh4 #ac ,the important data for ,schwenckfeld's doctrine of ,christ and the way of salvation will be found in the following writings by him3-- ,von der goettlichen ,kindschaft und ,herrlichkeit des ganzen ,sones ,gottes 7#aech74 ,ermanunge zum wahren und selig machende ,erkaenntnis ,christi 7#aeci74 ,konfession und ,erklaerung von ,erkaenntnus ,christi und seiner goettlichen ,herrlichkeit 7#aedj74 #ad ,schriften1 i4 p4 #ffd4 ,see also p4 #ffb4 #ae ,for the doctrine of deification in ,irenaeus see ,harnack1 ,hist4 of ,dogma1 ii4 pp4 #bcj-cah4 #af ,see ,schriften1 i4 p4 #gfh4 #ag ,ibid4 i4 p4 #gfg a4 #ah ,schriften1 i4 p4 #gfg a4 #ai ,die heilige ,schrift4 x4 d4 #bj ,ibid4 cviii4 c4 #ba ,ibid4 ii4 b4 #bb ,die heilige ,schrift4 vi4 and vii4 #bc ,vom ,worte ,gottes1 xxii4 c4 #bd ,die heilige ,schrift4 iv4 b4 #be ,catechismus vom ,wort des ,creuetses1 vom ,wort ,gottes1 und vom ,underscheide des ,worts des ,geists und ,buchstabens4 #bf ,die heilige ,schrift4 iv4 c4 #bg ,schriften1 i4 p4 #gbe4 #bh ,ibid4 i4 p4 #fcd4 #bi ,schriften1 i4 p4 #chj4 #cj ,see ibid4 ii4 p4 #dba4 #ca ,corpus ,schwenck4 i4 p4 #bie4 #cb ,schriften1 iii4 ,a4 #cc ,schriften1 ii4 p4 #bij4 #cd ,schriften1 ii4 p4 #ghe4 #ce ,ibid4 i4 p4 #gfh b4 #cf ,schriften1 i4 p4 #eac4 ,for a criticism of the legalism of the ,anabaptists see ibid4 i4 pp4 #hja-hjh4 #cg ,the details are given in ,friederich ,roth's ,augsburgs ,reformations-,geschichte 7,muenchen1 #aijg71 iii4 p4 #bde ff4 #ch ,a ,preservative or ,treacle against the ,poyson of ,pelagius1 etc4 7#aeea71 ,a iii4 #ci ,for a fuller account of the ,collegiants see ,chap4 ,,vii4 #dj ,schriften1 iii4 ,b1 p4 #egb4 #da ,ibid4 ii4 p4 #ghc4 #db ,ibid4 a4 p4 #ghd4 #dc ,ibid4 iii4 ,a1 p4 #adf4 #dd ,schriften1 ii4 p4 #ghe4 #de ,ibid4 ii4 p4 #ghc4 #df ,ibid4 iii4 ,a1 p4 #gd4 #dg ,franck's ,chronica 7#aeca71 p4 ccccli4 #dh ,rutherford1 ,a ,survey of the ,spiritual ,antichrist 7#afdh71 chap4 v4 #hh ,,chapter ,,vi ,,sebastian ,,castellio3 ,a ,,forgotten ,,prophet#a ,reformation history has been far too closely confined to a few main highways of thought1 and few persons therefore realize how rich in ideas and how complex in typical religious conceptions this spiritual upheaval really was4 ,the types that prevailed and won their way to wide favour have naturally compelled attention and are adequately known4 ,there were1 however1 very serious and impressive attempts made to give the ,reformation a totally different course from the one it finally took in history1 and these attempts1 defeated by the sweep of the main current1 became submerged1 and their dedicated and heroic leaders became forgotten4 ,many of these spiritual ventures which for the moment failed and were submerged are in striking parallelism with currents of thought to-day1 and our generation can perhaps appreciate at their real worth these solitary souls who were destined to see their cause defeated1 to hear their names defamed1 and to live in jeopardy among the very people whom they most longed to help4 ,sebastian ,castellio is one of these submerged venturers4 ,while he lived he was so absolutely absorbed in the battle for truth that he took no pains at all to acquaint posterity with the details of his life1 or to make his name quick and powerful in the ears of men4 ,when he died #hi and laid down the weapons of his spiritual warfare his pious opponents thanked ,god for the relief and did what they could to consign him to oblivion4 ,but after the long and silent flow of years the world has come up to his position and can appreciate a spirit who was too far in advance of the line of march to be comprehended in his lifetime4 ,he was born in the little ,french village of ,st4 ,martin du ,fresne--not many miles west of ,lake ,geneva in the year #aeae4 ,the home was pinched with poverty1 but somebody in the home or in the village discovered that little ,bastian was endowed with unusual gifts and must be given the chance to realize the life which his youth forecast2 and that ancient family sacrifice1 which has glorified so many homes of poverty1 was made here in ,st4 ,martin1 and the boy1 possessed with his eager passion for knowledge1 was started on his course in the ,college de la ,trinite in ,lyons4 ,he soon found himself bursting into a new world1 the world of classic antiquity1 which the ,humanists were restoring to the youth of that period1 and he experienced that emancipating leap of soul and thrill of joy which such a world of beauty can produce upon a lofty spirit that sees and appreciates it4 ,some time during the ,lyons period he came also under a still greater and more emancipating influence1 the divine and simple ,christ of the ,gospels1 whom the most serious of the ,humanists had rediscovered1 and to whom ,castellio now dedicated the central loyalty of his soul4 ,at twenty-five years of age1 now a splendid classical scholar1 radiant with faith and hope and the vision of a new age for humanity which the recovered gospel was to bring in1 ,castellio went to ,strasbourg to share the task of the ,reformers and to put his life into the new movement4 ,calvin1 then living in ,strasbourg1 received the brilliant recruit with joy and took him into his own home4 ,when the great ,reformer returned to ,geneva in #aeda to take up the mighty task of his life he summoned ,castellio to help him1 and made him ,principal of the ,college of ,geneva1 which ,calvin planned to make one of the #ij foremost seats of ,greek learning and one of the most illuminating centres for the study of the ,scriptures4 ,the young scholar's career seemed assured4 ,he had the friendship of ,calvin1 he was head of an important institution of learning1 the opportunity for creative literary work was opening before him1 and he was aspiring soon to fulfil the clearest call of his life--to become a minister of the new gospel4 ,his first contribution to religious literature was his volume of ,sacred ,dialogues1 a series of vivid scenes out of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 told in dialogue fashion1 both in ,latin and ,french4#b ,they were to serve a double purpose3 first1 to teach ,french boys to read ,latin1 and secondly1 to form in them a love for the great characters of the ,bible and an appreciation of its lofty message of life4 ,the stories were really good stories1 simple enough for children1 and yet freighted with a depth of meaning which made them suitable for mature minds4 ,their success was extraordinary1 and their fine quality was almost universally recognized4 ,they went through twenty-eight editions in their author's lifetime1 and they were translated into many languages4#c ,his bent toward a religion of a deeply ethical and spiritual type already appears in this early work1 and here he announces a principle that was to rule his later life and was to cost him much suffering3 ,the friend of ,truth obeys not the multitude but the ,truth4 ,at the very time this book was appearing1 an opportunity offered for testing the mettle of his courage4 ,one of those ever-recurrent plagues that harassed former ages1 before microbes were discovered1 fell upon ,geneva4 ,the minister1 who had volunteered to give spiritual comfort to those who were suffering with the plague in the hospital1 was stricken with the dread disease1 and a new volunteer was asked for4 ,the records of the city show that ,castellio1 though not yet ordained1 and under no obligation to take such risk1 offered himself for the #ia hazardous service when the ministers of the city declined it4 ,the ordination through human hands was1 however1 never to come to him1 and a harder test of courage than the plague was before him4 ,in the course of his studies he found himself compelled to take the position that the ,song of ,solomon was an ancient love poem1 and that the traditional interpretation of it as a revelation of the true relation between ,christ and the ,church was a strained and unnatural interpretation4 ,he also felt that as a scholar he could not with intellectual honesty agree with the statement in the ,catechism that ,christ descended into ,hell4 ,calvin challenged both these positions of ,castellio1 but his opposition to him was clearly far deeper than a difference of opinion on these two points4 ,calvin instinctively felt that the bold and independent spirit of this young scholar1 his qualities of leadership1 and his literary genius marked him out as a man who could not long be an easy-minded and supple subordinate4 ,a letter which ,calvin wrote at this time to his friend ,viret shows where the real tension lay4 ,castellio has got it into his head1 he writes1 that ,i want to rule6 ,the great ,reformer may not have been conscious yet of such a purpose1 but there can be no question that ,castellio read the signs correctly1 and he was to be the first1 as ,buisson has said1 to discover that to resist ,calvin was in the mind of the latter1 to resist the ,holy ,ghost4#d ,calvin successfully opposed his ordination1 and made it impossible for him to continue in ,geneva his work as an honest scholar4 ,to remain meant that he must surrender his right of independent judgment1 he must cease to follow the line of emancipated scholarship1 he must adjust his conscience to fit the ideas that were coming to be counted orthodox in the circle of the ,reformed faith4 ,that surrender he could no more make than ,luther could surrender to the demands of his opponents at ,worms4 ,he quietly closed up his work in the ,college of ,geneva and went into voluntary exile1 to seek a sphere of life where he might think and speak as #ib he saw the truth and where he could keep his conscience a pure virgin4 ,he settled in ,basle1 where ,erasmus had found a refuge1 and where1 two years before1 the exiled and hunted ,sebastian ,franck1 the spiritual forerunner of ,castellio1 had died in peace4 ,for ten years 7#aede-aeee7 he lived with his large family in pitiable poverty4 ,he read proof for the ,humanist printer ,oporin1 he fished with a boat-hook for drift-wood along the shores of the ,rhine1--rude labour no doubt1 he says1 but honest1 and ,i do not blush for having done it1--and he did whatever honest work he could find that would help keep body and soul together4 ,through all these years1 every moment of the day that could be saved from bread-winning toil1 and much of his night-time1 went into the herculean task to which he had dedicated himself--the complete translation of the ,bible from its original languages into both ,latin and ,french4#e ,being himself one of the common people he always had the interests and needs of the common people in view1 and he put the ,bible into current sixteenth-century speech4 ,his ,french translation has the marked characteristics of the ,renaissance period4 ,he makes patriarchs1 prophets1 and the persons of the ,new ,testament live again in his vivid word-pictures1 as the great contemporary painters were making them live on their canvases4 ,but that which gave his translation its great human merit and popular interest was a serious defect in the eyes of the theologians4 ,it was vivid1 full of the native ,oriental colour1 true in the main to the original1 and strong in its appeal to religious imagination1 but painfully weak in its support of the dogmas and doctrines around which the theological battles of the ,reformation were centring4 ,still less were the theologians pleased with the ,preface of his ,latin ,bible1 dedicated to the boy-king of ,england1 ,edward ,,vi4 ,here he boldly insists that the ,reformation1 #ic wherever it spreads1 shall champion the principle of free conscience1 and shall wage its battles with spiritual weapons alone4 ,the only enemies of our faith1 he says1 are vices1 and vices can be conquered only by virtues4 ,the ,christ who said if they strike you on one cheek turn the other1 has called us to the spiritual task of instructing men in the truth1 and that work can never be put into the hands of an executioner6 ,i address you1 ,o king1 he concludes1 not as a prophet sent from ,god1 but as a man of the people who abhors quarrels and hatred1 and who wishes to see religion spread by love rather than by fierce controversy1 by purity of heart rather than by external methods4 4 4 4 ,read these sacred writings with a pious and religious heart1 and prepare yourself to reign as a mortal man who must give an account to immortal ,god4 ,i desire that you may have the meekness of ,moses1 the piety of ,david1 and the wisdom of ,solomon4#f ,two years after this appeal to the new ,protestantism to make the great venture of spreading its truth by love and persuasion1 there came from ,geneva the decisive answer in the burning of ,servetus1 followed by the famous ,defence before the world1 written mainly by ,calvin1 of the course that had been taken4 ,one month later1 a brief ,latin work appeared from the press with the title1 ,de haereticis1 an sint persequendi1 etc4 7,magdeburgi1 #aeed71 followed in very short time by a ,french edition 7,rouen1 #aeed74 ,the body of the work contained impressive passages in favour of toleration from ,church ,fathers1 from ,luther1 ,erasmus1 ,sebastian ,franck1 and others1 concluding with a passage from ,basil ,montfort1 a name which thinly veils ,bastian ,castellio himself4 ,the ,preface was addressed to the ,duke of ,wurtemberg1 bore the name of ,martinus ,bellius1 and was beyond doubt written by ,castellio1 who inspired and directed the entire work1 in which he was assisted by a very small group of refugees in ,basle of similar ideas on this subject to his #id own4 ,this ,preface is one of the mother documents on freedom of conscience1 from which in time came a large offspring1 and it is1 furthermore1 an interesting interpretation of a type of ,christianity then somewhat new in the world4 ,its simplicity1 its human appeal1 its restrained emotional power1 its prophetic tone1 its sincerity and depth of earnestness mark it as a distinct work of genius1 almost in the class with ,pascal's ,provincial ,letters4 ,if thou1 illustrious ,prince1 had informed thy subjects that thou wert coming to visit them at an unnamed time and had requested them to be prepared in white garments to meet thee on thy coming2 what wouldst thou do1 if1 on arrival1 thou shouldst find that instead of robing themselves in white they had occupied themselves in violent debate about thy person--some insisting that thou wert in ,france1 others that thou wert in ,spain2 some declaring that thou would come on horseback1 others that thou would come by chariot2 some holding that thou would come with great pomp1 others that thou would come without train or following8 ,and what especially wouldst thou say if they debated not only with words but with blows of fist and strokes of sword1 and if some succeeded in killing and destroying others who differed from them8 ',he will come on horseback4' ',no1 he won't2 he will come by chariot4' ',you lie4' ',no1 ,i do not2 you are the liar4' ',take that'--a blow with the fist4 ',you take that'--a sword-thrust through the body4 ,o ,prince1 what would you think of such citizens8 ,christ asked us to put on the white robes of a pure and holy life1 but what occupies our thought8 ,we dispute not only of the way to ,christ1 but of ,his relation to ,god the ,father1 of the ,trinity1 of predestination1 of free will1 of the nature of ,god1 of angels1 of the condition of the soul after death1--of a multitude of matters that are not essential for salvation1 and matters1 in fact1 which never can be known until our hearts are pure1 for they are things which must be spiritually perceived4 ,with a striking boldness1 but with beautiful simplicity of spirit1 he describes an honest follower of ,christ--and #ie it is himself whom he is describing--who believes in ,god the ,father and in ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 and who wants to do ,his will1 but cannot see that will just as others about him see it1 in matters of intellectual formulation and in matters of external practice4 ,i cannot1 he adds1 do violence to my conscience for fear of disobeying ,christ4 ,i must be saved or lost by my own personal faith1 not by that of another4 ,i ask you1 whether ,christ1 who forgave those who went astray1 and commanded ,his followers to forgive until seventy times seven1 ,christ who is the final ,judge of us all1 if ,he were here1 would command a person like that to be killed6 4 4 4 ,o ,christ1 ,creator and ,king of the world1 he cries out1 dost ,thou see and approve these things8 ,hast ,thou become a totally different person from what ,thou wert8 ,when ,thou wert on earth1 nothing could be more gentle and kind1 more ready to suffer injuries4 ,thou wert like a sheep dumb before the shearers4 ,beaten1 spit upon1 mocked1 crowned with thorns1 crucified between thieves1 ,thou didst pray for those who injured ,thee4 ,hast ,thou changed to this8 ,art ,thou now so cruel and contrary to ,thyself8 ,dost ,thou command that those who do not understand ,thy ordinances and commandments as those over us require1 should be drowned1 or drawn and quartered1 and burned at the stake6 ,the ,christian world holds this view now4 ,it is a part of the necessary air we breathe4 ,but at this crisis in modern history it was unforgivably new4#g ,one man's soul had the vision1 one man's entire moral fibre throbbed with passion for it1 and his rich intellectual nature pleaded for it as the only course of reason3 ,to burn a man is not to defend a doctrine1 it is to burn a man6 ,but it was a voice crying in a wilderness1 and from henceforth ,castellio was a marked and dangerous man in the eyes of all who were opposed to ,bellianism --as the principle of toleration was nicknamed in honour of ,martinus ,bellius--and that included almost all the world4 ,but to the end of his life1 and in almost every one of his multitudinous #if tracts he continued to announce the principle of religious liberty1 and to work for a type of ,christianity which depended for its conquering power solely on its inherent truth and on its moral dynamic4 ,calvin1 who recognized the hand of ,castellio in this powerful defence of freedom of thought1 called his opponent a monster full of poison and madness1 and proceeded to demolish him in a ,reply4 ,in his ,contra libellum ,calvini1 which is an answer to this ,reply1 ,castellio declares that ,calvin's act in burning ,servetus was a bloody act1 and that now his book is a direct menace to honest1 pious people4 ,i1 he adds1 who have a horror of blood1 propose to examine the book4 ,i do not defend ,servetus4 ,i have never read his books4 ,calvin burned them together with their author4 ,i do not want to burn ,calvin or to burn his book4 ,i am only going to answer it4 ,he notes that ,calvin complains of novelties and innovations1 a strange complaint1 he thinks1 from a man who has introduced more innovations in ten years than the entire ,church had introduced in six centuries6 ,all the sects1 he reminds the great ,reformer1 claim to be founded on the ,word of ,god4 ,they all believe that their religion is true4 ,calvin says that his is the only true one4 ,each of the others says that his is the only true one4 ,calvin says that they are wrong4 ,he makes himself 7by what right ,i do not know7 the judge and sovereign arbiter4 ,he claims that he has on his side the sure evidence of the ,word of ,god4 ,then why does he write so many books to prove what is evident8 ,the truth is surely not evident to those who die denying that it is truth6 ,calvin asks how doctrine is to be guarded if heretics are not to be punished4 ,doctrine1 cries ,castellio1 ,christ's doctrine means loving one's enemies1 returning good for evil1 having a pure heart and a hunger and thirst for righteousness4 ,you may return to ,moses if you will1 but for us others ,christ has come4 ,love1 he constantly insists1 is the supreme badge of any true ,christianity1 and the traits of the beatitudes in a person's life are a surer evidence that he belongs in #ig ,christ's family1 than is the fact that he holds current opinions on obscure questions of belief4 ,before ,god1 he writes in his ,defensio1 a work of the year #aefb1 to those who wish to hunt him off the face of the earth1 and from the bottom of my heart1 ,i call you to the spirit of love4 ,by the bowels of ,christ1 ,i ask and implore you to leave me in peace1 to stop persecuting me4 ,let me have the liberty of my faith as you have of yours4 ,at the heart of religion ,i am one with you4 ,it is in reality the same religion2 only on certain points of interpretation ,i see differently from you4 ,but however we differ in opinion1 why cannot we love one another8 ,he was1 however1 never to have the peace for which he pleaded1 and he was never to experience the love and brotherly kindness for which he longed4 ,whole sheaves of fiery arrows were shot at him1 and in tract after tract he had to see himself called monster1 wretch1 dog1 pest1 fog-bank1 and finally to see himself proclaimed to the world as a petty thief who was supporting himself by stealing wood from his neighbours6 ,with beautiful dignity ,castellio tells the story of how he fished for public drift-wood on the shores of the ,rhine1 and how he kept his family alive by honest toil1 when he was living in pitiable poverty1 to which1 he says to ,calvin1 everybody knows that thy attacks had brought me4 ,i cannot conceive how thou of all persons1 thou who knowest me1 can have believed a tale of theft about me1 and in any case have told it to others4#i ,compelled1 as he was1 to see the ,reformation take what seemed to him the false course--the course of defending itself by persecution1 of buttressing itself on election1 of elevating1 through a new scholasticism1 doctrine above life1--he turned more and more1 as time went on1 toward interior religion1 the cultivation of an inner sanctuary1 the deepening of the mystical roots of his life1 and the perfection of a religion of inner and spiritual life4 ,i have never taken holy things lightly1 #ih he once wrote1 and in the later years of what proved to be his brief as well as stormy life1 he drew nearer to ,christ as the ,life of his life1 and laboured with deepening passion to practise and present a religion of veracity1 of reality and of transforming power4 ,it is certain1 he says in his ,contra libellum ,calvini1 that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 and there is furthermore no doubt about the worth of love--love to ,god and love to man4 ,there is no doubt1 again1 of the worth of forgiveness1 of patience1 of pity1 of kindness1 and of obedience to duty4 ,why leave these sure things and quarrel over inscrutable mysteries8 ,this point that the things which are essential to salvation are clear and luminous is a frequently occurring one in his writings4 ,impenetrable mysteries do not interest him1 and he declares with reiteration that controversies and divisions are occasioned mainly by the proclamation of dogma on these inscrutable things4 ,in a remarkable work1 which remains still in manuscript--his ,de arte dubitandi et confidendi1 sciendi et ignorandi1--he pleads for a religion that fits the facts of life and for the use of intelligence even in these lofty matters of spiritual experience where most astonishing miracles occur4 ,he returns1 in this writing1 to his old position that the truths which concern salvation are clear and appeal powerfully to human reason4 ,there are1 ,i know1 he says1 persons who insist that we should believe even against reason4 ,it is1 however1 the worst of all errors1 and it is laid upon me to fight it4 ,i may not be able to exterminate the monster1 but ,i hope to give it such a blow that it will know that it has been hit4 ,let no one think that he is doing wrong in using his mental faculties4 ,it is our proper way of arriving at the truth4#i ,without entering in detail into the bottomless controversy of those times1 let us endeavour to get an adequate view of ,castellio's type of ,christianity1 and then we shall be able to form an estimate of the man who in the #ii strong power of his faith stood almost alone as the great battle of words raged around him4#aj ,those on the other side of the controversy began always from the opposite end of the spiritual universe to his point of departure4 ,they were fascinated with the mysteries of the ,eternal ,will1 and used all the keys of their logic to unlock the mysteries of foreknowledge1 predestination1 and grace which has wrought the miracle of salvation for the elect4 ,castellio1 on the other hand1 in true modern fashion1 starts always with the concrete1 the near and the known1 to work upward to the nature of the unknown4 ,we must1 he says1 try to discover the ,divine attributes and the ,divine ,character by first finding out what our own deepest nature implies4 ,if ,god is to speak to us it must be in terms of our nature4 ,before undertaking to fathom with the plummet of logic the unsoundable mystery of foreknowledge1 let us see what we can know through a return to the real nature of man as he is1 and especially to the real nature of the new ,adam who is ,christ1 the ,son of ,god4 ,man1 as both ,scripture and his own inner self testify1 is made in the image of ,god1 is dowered with freedom to determine his own destiny1 may go upward into light1 or downward into darkness4 ,man thus made1 when put to trial1 failed1 followed lower instincts instead of higher1 and experienced the awful penalty of sin1 namely its cumulative power1 the tendency of sin to beget sin1 and to make higher choices ever more difficult4 ,christ1 however1 the new ,adam1 has succeeded4 ,he has completely revealed the way of obedience1 the way in which spirit conquers flesh4 ,he is the new kind of ,person who lives from above and who exhibits the cumulative power of goodness4 ,his victory1 which was won by ,his own free choice1 inspires all men who see it with faith and hope in man's spiritual possibilities4 ,castellio declines to discuss ,christ's metaphysical nature1 except in so far as ,his life has revealed #ajj it to us4 ,he sees in ,him the ,heart and ,character of ,god1 the certainty of ,divine love and forgiveness1 and the way of life for all who desire to be spiritually saved1 which means1 for him1 the formation of a new inward self1 a purified nature1 a morally transformed man1 a will which no longer loves or wills sin4 ,christ alone1 he says1 can heal the malady of the soul1 but ,he can heal it4 ,there is1 he says again1 no other way of salvation for any man than the way of self-denial4 ,he must put off his old man and put on ,christ--however much blood and sweat the struggle may cost4 ,man1 he insists1 is always wrong when he represents ,god as angry4 ,christ showed that ,god needed no appeasing1 but rather that man needed to be brought back to ,god by the drawing of ,love1 and be reconciled to ,him4 ,faith--which for every prophet of human redemption is the key that unlocks all doors for the soul--is for ,castellio the supreme moral force by which man turns ,god's revelations of ,himself into spiritual victories and into personal conquests of character4 ,it is never something forensic1 something magical4 ,it is1 as little1 mere belief of historical facts and events4 ,it is1 on the contrary1 a moral power that moves mountains of difficulty1 works miracles of transformation1 and enables the person who has it to participate in the life of ,god4 ,it is a passionate leap 7elan7 of the soul of the creature toward the ,creator2 it is a way of renewing strength in ,him and of becoming a participator in ,his divine nature4 ,it is a return of the soul to its source4 ,it is a persistent will1 which multiplies one's strength a hundredfold1 makes ,pentecost possible again1 and enables us to achieve the goal which the vision of our heart sees4 ,the only obstacle to this all-conquering faith is selfishness1 the only mortal enemy is self-will4#aa ,there have been1 ,castellio holds1 progressive stages in the ,divine education of the race1 and in man's apprehension of ,god4 ,the mark of advance is always found in the progress from law and letter to spirit1 and from #aja outward practices and ceremonies to inward experience4 ,divine revelations can always be taken at different levels4 ,they can be seen in a literal1 pictorial1 temporal way1 or they can be read deeper--by those who are purified by faith and love1 and made partakers of the self-giving ,life of ,god--as eternal and spiritual realities4 ,the written word of ,god is the garment of the ,divine ,thought which is the real ,word of ,god4 ,it takes more than eyes of flesh to see through the temporal garment to the inner ,life and ,spirit beneath4 ,only the person who has in himself the illumination of the same ,spirit that gave the original revelation can see through the garment of the letter to the eternal message1 the ever-living ,word hidden within4#ab ,in the ,christianity of the full-grown spiritual man1 sacraments and everything external must be used only as pictorial helps and symbolic suggestions for the furtherance of spiritual life4 ,within us1 as direct offspring of ,god1 as image of ,god1 there is a ,divine ,reason1 which existed before books1 before rites1 before the foundation of the world1 and will exist after books and rites have vanished1 and the world has gone to wreck4 ,it can no more be abolished than ,god ,himself can be4 ,it was by this that ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god--called1 in fact1 ,logos of ,god--lived and taught us how to live4 ,it was in the ,light of this that ,he transcended books and rites and declared1 without quoting text1 ,god is ,spirit and thou shalt worship ,god in spirit and in truth4 ,this ,reason is in all ages the right investigator and interpreter of ,truth1 even though time changes outward things and written texts grow corrupt4#ac ,as his life was drawing to a close1 he sent forth anonymously another powerful prophet-call for the complete liberation of mind and conscience4 ,ten years before the awful deeds of ,st4 ,bartholomew's ,day1 he issued his little ,french book with the title ,conseil a la ,france desolee--,counsel #ajb to ,france in her ,distress4 ,it is a calm and penetrating diagnosis of the evils which are destroying the life of ,france and working her desolation4 ,it throbs with noble patriotism and is full of real prophetic insight1 though he spoke to deaf ears and wrote for blind eyes4 ,the woes of ,france--her torn and distracted condition--are mainly due to the blind and foolish method of attempting to force intelligent men to accept a form of religion which in their hearts they do not believe is true4 ,there can be no united people1 strong and happy1 until the blunder of compelling conscience entirely ceases4 ,he pleads in tenderness and love with both religious parties1 ,catholics and ,evangelicals1 to leave the outgrown legalism of ,moses and go to the ,gospels for a religion which leads into truth and freedom4 ,o ,france1 ,france1 he cries--as formerly a greater ,one had said1 ,o ,jerusalem1 ,jerusalem--my counsel is that thou cease to compel men's consciences1 that thou cease to kill and to persecute1 that thou grant to men who believe in ,jesus ,christ the privilege of serving ,god according to their own innermost faith and not according to some one else's faith4 ,and you1 that are private people1 do not be so ready to follow those who lead you astray and push you to take up arms and kill your brothers4 ,and ,thou1 ,o ,lord our ,saviour1 wilt ,thou give to us all grace to awake and come to our senses before it is forever too late4 ,i1 at least1 have now done my duty and spoken my word of truth4 ,st4 ,bartholomew's ,day was the answer to this searching appeal1 and the land1 deaf to the call of its prophet1 was to become more desolate still4 ,just as the storm of persecution that had been gathering around him for years was about to burst pitilessly upon him in #aefc1 he quietly died1 worn out in body1 and passed to where beyond these voices there is peace4 ,his students in the ,university of ,basle1 where1 in spite of the opposition from ,geneva1 he had been ,professor of ,greek for ten years1 bore his coffin in honour on their shoulders to his grave1 and his little band of disciples devoted themselves to spreading1 in ,holland and wherever #ajc they could find soil for it1 the precious seed of his truth1 which had in later years a very wide harvest4#ad ,he was not a theologian of the ,reformation type4 ,he did not think the thoughts nor speak the dialect of his contemporaries4 ,they need not be blamed for thanking ,god at his death nor for seeing in him an arch-enemy of their work4 ,they were honestly working for one goal1 and he was as honestly living by the light of a far different ideal4 ,the spiritual discipline of the modern world was to come through their laborious systems1 but he1 anticipating the results of the travail and the slow spiral progress1 and seeing in clear vision the triumph of man's liberated spirit1 with exuberant optimism believed that the religion of the ,spirit could be had for the taking--and he stretched out his hand for it6 ,i am1 he cried out beneath the bludgeons1 a poor little man1 more than simple1 humble and peaceable1 with no desire for glory1 only affirming what in my heart ,i believe2 why cannot ,i live and say my honest word and have your love8 ,the time was not ready for him1 but he did his day's work with loyalty1 sincerity1 and bravery1 and seen in perspective is worthy to be honoured as a hero and a saint4#ae #a ,f4 ,buisson1 ,sebastien ,castellion1 sa vie et son oeuvre 7,paris1 #ahib71 #b vols42 ,charles ,jarrin1 ,deux ,oublies 7,bourg1 #ahhi72 ,emile ,broussoux1 ,sebastien ,castellion1 sa vie1 ses oeuvres1 et sa theologie 7,strasbourg1 #ahfg72 ,a4 ,schweizer1 ,die protestantischen ,centraldogmen 7,zuerich1 #ahed71 pp4 #caa-cgc4 #b ,dialogi sacri1 latino-gallici1 ad linguas moresque puerorum formandos4 ,liber primus4 ,geneve1 #aedc4 #c ,there were at least three ,english translations--#afaj1 #agae1 and #agdc4 #d ,buisson1 op4 cit4 i4 p4 #bje4 #e ,his ,latin ,bible appeared in #aeea and the ,french ,bible in #aeee4 ,during this period he also brought out a new edition of his ,sacred ,dialogues1 an edition of ,xenophon1 a translation of the ,sibylline ,oracles1 a ,latin poem on ,jonah1 and a ,greek poem on ,john the ,baptist1 the ,forerunner4 #f ,calvin1 in striking contrast1 had written to the same boy-king in #aedh3 ,under the cover of the ,gospel1 foolish people would throw everything into confusion4 ,others cling to the superstitions of the ,antichrist at ,rome4 ,they all deserve to be repressed by the sword which is committed to you4 #g ,beza called it diabolical doctrine4 #h ,he selected as the title of this book the opprobrious word which ,calvin had used in the charge--,harpago1 i4e4 ,boat-hook4 #i ,this ,,ms4 is in the ,bibliotheque de l',eglise des ,remontrants in ,rotterdam4 ,i have used only the extracts given from it in ,buisson and ,jarrin4 #aj ,the main lines of ,castellio's ,christianity can be found in his ,dialogi quatuor3 7i47 ,de praedestinatione1 7ii47 ,de electione1 7iii47 ,de libero arbitrio1 7iv47 ,de fide 7,gouda1 #afac7 and in his ,scripta selecta4 7#aeif74 #aa ,for ,faith see ,de fide and ,de arts dub4 ii4 #bab4 #ab ,this idea comes out in his ,preface to the ,bible1 in his ,moses latinus1 and in his manuscript work1 ,de arte dubitandi4 #ac ,de arte dubitandi4 #ad ,under the nom-de-plume of ,john ,theophilus1 ,castellio translated the ,theologia ,germanica into ,latin1 and published it with an ,introduction4 ,his translation carried this golden book of mystical religion into very wide circulation1 and became a powerful influence1 especially in ,england1 as we shall see1 in reproducing a similar type of religious thought4 ,the ,quaker ,william ,caton1 who spent the latter part of his life in ,holland1 cites ,castellio seven times in his ,tract1 ,the ,testimony of a ,cloud of ,witnesses1 who in their ,generation have testified against that horrible ,evil of ,forcing of ,conscience and ,persecution about ,matters of ,religion 7#affb71 and he seems very familiar with his writings4 ,he also cites ,schwenckfeld and ,franck on pp4 #cg and #ag respectively4 #ae ,castellio's plea for toleration1 ,traite des ,heretiques a savoir1 si on les doit persecuter 7,rouen1 #aeed71 has just been reissued in attractive form in ,geneva1 edited by ,olivet and ,choisy4 #ajd ,,chapter ,,vii ,,coornhert ,,and ,,the ,,collegiants--,a ,,movement ,,for ,,spiritual ,,religion ,,in ,,holland ,the struggle for political liberty in the ,netherlands forms one of the most dramatic and impressive chapters in modern history1 but the story of the long struggle in these same ,provinces for the right to believe and to think according to the dictates of conscience is hardly less dramatic and impressive4 ,everybody knows that during the early years of the seventeenth century ,holland was the one country in ,europe which furnished cities of refuge for the persecuted and hunted exponents of unpopular faiths1 and that the little band of ,pilgrims who brought their precious seed to the new world had first preserved and nurtured it in a safe asylum among the ,dutch2 but the slow spiritual travail that won this soul freedom1 and the brave work of spreading1 on that soil1 a religion of personal insight and individual experience are not so well known4#a ,the growth and development of this great movement1 with its numerous ramifications and differentiations1 obviously cannot be told here1 but one or two specimen lines of the movement will be briefly studied for the light they throw upon this general type of religion under consideration1 and for their specific influence #aje upon corresponding spiritual movements in ,england and ,america4 ,the silent propagation and germination of religious ideas in lands far away from their original habitat1 their sudden appearance in a new spot like an outbreak of contagion1 are always mysterious and fascinating subjects of research4 ,some chance talk with a disciple plants the seed1 or some stray book comes to the hand of a baffled seeker at the moment when his soul is in a suggestible state1 and lo6 a new vision is created and a new apostle of the movement is prepared1 often so inwardly and mysteriously that to himself he seems to be an apostle not of men nor by man4 ,one of the earliest ,dutch exponents and interpreters of this type of spiritual religion which we have been studying as a by-product of the ,reformation in ,germany1 and one who became an apostle of it because at a critical period of his life the seeds of it had fallen into his awakened mind1 was ,dirck ,volckertsz ,coornhert4#b ,he was born in ,amsterdam in #aebb4 ,he perfected himself as expert in copper-plate engraving and etching1 and intended to pursue a quiet career in his adopted city of ,haarlem1 but he found himself disturbed with intimations clear of wider scope4 ,a keen desire to go back to the original sources of religious truth and to read the ,new ,testament and the ,fathers in their own tongue induced him to learn ,greek and ,latin after he was thirty years of age4 ,he possessed excellent gifts and natural abilities of mind1 and he soon had an enviable reputation for skill and learning4 ,like ,sebastian ,franck1 whom he resembled in many points1 he was profoundly interested in history and in the stages of man's historical development1 and1 like the former1 he undertook the translation of great masterpieces which expressed the ideas that peculiarly suited his own temper of mind1 such as ,boethius' ,consolation of ,philosophy2 ,cicero1 ,on ,duties2 and ,erasmus' ,paraphrases of the ,new ,testament4 ,he was throughout #ajf his life deeply influenced by ,erasmus1 and his writings show everywhere a very strong humanistic colouring4 ,it was no accident that one of his most important literary works was on ,ethics 7,sittenkunst71 for his primary interest centred in man and in the art of living well 7,die ,kunst wohl zu leben74#c ,as he developed into independent manhood1 he threw himself with great zeal into the cause of political freedom for the city of ,haarlem1 on account of which he suffered a severe imprisonment in the ,hague in #aefj1 and at a later time was compelled to flee into temporary exile4 ,he attracted the attention of ,william of ,orange1 who discovered his abilities and made him ,secretary to the ,states-,general in #aegb1 prized him highly for his character and abilities1 commissioned him to write important state papers1 and intrusted very weighty affairs to him4 ,in his youth he had been an extensive traveller and had seen with his own eyes the methods which the ,spanish ,inquisition employed to compel uniformity of faith and1 with his whole moral being revolting from these unspiritual methods1 he dedicated himself to the cause of liberty of religious thought1 and for this he wrote and spoke and wrought with a fearlessness and bravery not often surpassed4#d ,with this passion of his for intellectual and spiritual freedom was joined a deeply grounded disapproval of the fundamental ideas of ,calvinism1 as he found it expounded by the preachers and theologians of the ,reformed ,church in ,holland4 ,as a ,humanist1 he was convinced of man's freedom of will1 and he was equally convinced that however man had been marred by a fall from his highest possibilities1 he was still possessed of native gifts and graces1 and bore deep within himself an unlost central being1 which in all his wanderings joined him indissolubly to ,god4 ,on the great theological #ajg issues of the day he disputed1 with penetrating insight1 against the leading theologians of the ,netherlands1 and he always proved to be a formidable antagonist who could not be put down or kept refuted4 ,jacobus ,arminius1 at the turning of his career1 was selected by the ,consistory to make once for all a refutation of ,coornhert's dangerous writings4 ,he1 however1 became so impressed1 as he studied the works which he was to refute1 that he shifted his own fundamental points of belief1 accepted many of ,coornhert's views1 and became himself a greater heretic and a more dangerous opponent of ,calvinism than the man whom he was chosen to annihilate4#e ,sometime in his religious development--it is impossible to settle precisely when or where--he read the writings of the spiritual ,reformers1 and received from them formative influences which turned him powerfully to the cultivation of inward religion for his own soul and to the expression and interpretation of a universal ,christianity--a ,christianity of the inward ,word and of an invisible ,church4 ,the lines of similarity between many of his views and those of ,franck are so marked that no one can doubt that he read the books and meditated upon the bold teachings of this solitary apostle of the invisible ,church4 ,in fact he frequently mentions ,franck by name in his writings and quotes his views4 ,it is certain1 too1 that he admired1 loved1 and translated the writings of ,sebastian ,castellio1 the ,french ,humanist1 first an admirer and then opponent of ,calvin1 pioneer defender of freedom of thought1 and exponent of inward and spiritual religion of the type of the ,german ,spiritual ,reformers1#f and it is unmistakable that we have1 in this ,dutch self-taught scholar1 a virile interpreter of this same type of ,christianity1 marked with his own peculiar variation1 and penetrated with the living convictions of his personal faith and first-hand experience4 ,while putting emphasis on personal experience and on inward insight he nevertheless1 like ,franck1 was suspicious #ajh and wary of mystical enthusiasm and of private openings4 ,he criticized the revelations of ,david ,joris and ,henry ,nicholas1 and in place of their caprice he endeavoured to find the way to a religion grounded in the nature of things and of universal value4 ,he was deeply read in the ,mystics and constantly used their terminology1 but he often gave new meaning to their words and pursued quite a different goal from that which absorbs the true mystic4 ,coornhert makes a sharp distinction between lower knowledge and higher knowledge--knowledge proper4 ,lower knowledge does not get beyond images and copies of true reality4 ,it is sufficient for man's practical guidance in the affairs of this world of space and time1 but it becomes only a dead knowledge when it is applied to matters of eternal moment4 ,the higher knowledge1 on the other hand1 is knowledge won through direct experience and practice of the will4 ,this higher knowledge is possible for man because through ,reason he partakes of the ,word of ,god which is ,reason itself revealed and uttered1 and therefore he may know ,god and know of his own salvation with a certainty that far transcends the lower knowledge which he possesses of external things1 or of mere historical happenings4#g ,this ,word of ,god is eternal1 and is the source of all spiritual light and truth that have come to the race in all ages4 ,through it the patriarchs discovered how to live well1 even in a world of sin1 and through this same ,word the prophets saw the line of march for their people1 and by the power and inspiration of this ,word the written word was given as a temporary guidance1 as a pedagogical help1 as a lantern on men's paths1 until the morning ,star1 ,jesus ,christ1 the living ,word1 should rise and shine in men's hearts4 ,the living ,word is1 thus1 vastly different from the written word4 ,one is essence1 the other only image or shadow2 one is eternal1 the other is temporal2 one is uncreated1 the other is made2 one is the ,light itself1 the other is the lantern through which the #aji ,light shines2 one is ,life itself1 the other is only the witness of this ,life--the finger which points toward it4#h ,true religion is distinguished from all false or lower forms of religion in this1 that true religion is always inward and spiritual1 is directly initiated within the soul1 is independent of form and letter1 is concerned solely with the eternal and invisible1 and verifies itself by producing within man a nature like that of ,god as ,he is seen in ,christ4 ,the law of true religion is a new and divinely formed disposition toward goodness--a law written in the heart2 its temple is not of stone or wood1 but is a living and spiritual temple1 its worship consists entirely of spiritual activities1 i4e4 the offering of genuine praise from appreciative hearts1 the sacrifice of the self to ,god1 and the partaking of divine food and drink through living communion with ,christ the ,life4 ,religion1 of this true and saving sort1 never comes through hearsay knowledge1 or along the channels of tradition1 or by a head knowledge of texts of the written word4 ,it comes only with inward experience of the ,word of ,god1 and it grows and deepens as the will of man lives by the ,will of ,god1 and as the kingdom of ,god comes1 not in some far-away ,jerusalem1 or in some remote realm above the sky1 but in a man's own heart4 ,this true and saving religion is begun1 and completed1 within the soul by a process which ,coornhert names by the great historic word1 faith4 ,faith is the soul's free assent to the living ,word of ,god as1 through amazing grace1 it offers itself to man in the desperate straits of his life4 ,man is so made that he perpetually seeks some desired satisfaction and1 in his restless search for this unattained good1 he tries many false and specious trails1 is endlessly baffled and deceived1 and finally discovers1 if he is fortunate enough to come to himself1 that he is like a shipwrecked man on a single plank with sea everywhere about him and no haven in sight4 ,in this strait the ,light1 which he has not noted before1 breaks in on his darkness1 and the way of ,grace is presented to him in #aaj ,christ4 ,he feels himself called to a strange way of finding his desired satisfaction--no longer the way of flesh and worldly wisdom1 but the way of the cross1 of suffering1 and of sacrifice4 ,reason1 enlightened by the ,word of ,god1 prompts him to assent2 the ,scriptures1 laden with promises1 bear their affirmative testimony1 and thus he makes his venture of faith1 takes the risk of the voluntary sacrifice of his own pleasant desires1 his preference for ways of ease and comfort1 his self-will1 and makes the bold experiment of trusting the ,word of ,god1 as it reveals itself to him1 and of following ,christ4 ,he finds that his faith verifies itself at every step1 his experiment carries him on into an experience1 his venture brings him to the reality he is seeking4 ,every stage of this pragmatic faith1 which in a word is obedience to the ,light1 makes the fact and the meaning of sin clearer1 at the same time makes the knowledge of ,god more real and the nature of goodness more plain1 and it leads away from a superstition of fear to a religion of love and of joy4#i ,all other religions1 besides this true and inward religion of the spirit1 called by ,coornhert outer or external religions1 are considered of value only as preparatory stages toward the one true religion which establishes the kingdom of ,god in man's heart4 ,with this fundamental view1 he quite naturally regards all external forms and ceremonies as temporary1 and he holds that all of them1 even the highest of them1 are nothing else than visible signs1 figures1 shadows1 symbols1 pointing to invisible1 spiritual1 eternal realities1 which in their nature are far different from the signs and symbols4 ,the signs and symbols can in no way effect salvation2 they can at best only suggest to the quickened soul the true realities1 to know which is salvation4 ,the real and availing circumcision1 as the spiritual prophets and apostles always knew1 was a circumcision of the heart1 and not of the flesh1 and so1 too1 the true and availing baptism is a baptism into the life1 death1 and resurrection of ,christ1 #aaa and cleanses the soul of its sins and produces a good conscience toward ,god--the old sinful man is buried and a new and ,christlike man is raised4 ,the same transforming effects attach to the real communion in which the finite human spirit feeds upon its true divine food and drink--the ,life of ,christ given for us4 ,the real ,sabbath is not a sacred day1 kept in a ceremonial and legal sense1 but rather an inward quiet1 a prevailing peace of soul1 a rest in the life of ,god from stress and strain and passion4 ,the ,church has been pitiably torn and mutilated by disputes over the genuine form of administering these outer ceremonies1 supposing them to be in themselves sacraments of life4 ,as soon as they are recognized to be what they really are1 only temporary signs and symbols1 then the main emphasis can be put where it properly belongs1 and where ,christ himself always put it1 on love and on the practice of love4 ,no ceremony1 even though instituted by ,christ himself and practised with absolute correctness1 can make a bad heart good1 but love--love which suffers long and is kind--flows only from a renewed and transformed heart which already partakes of the same nature as that which was incarnate in ,christ4 ,imprisonment1 isolation1 exile1 excommunication may deprive one of the outward ceremonies1 but neither death nor life1 nor any outward circumstance in the universe1 need separate the soul from the love of ,god in ,christ1 or deprive it of the privilege of loving6#aj ,coornhert criticizes the great ,reformers for having put far too weighty emphasis on externals1 and he especially criticizes ,calvin for having given undue prominence to pure doctrine and to the right use of sacraments4 ,it is impossible1 he insists1 to establish authoritatively from ,scripture this so-called pure doctrine4 ,in fact1 many parts of ,scripture are against the doctrine of predestination1 and ,scripture is always against the doctrine of perseverance in sin4 ,all speculations about the ,trinity1 or about the dual nature of ,christ1 transcend our knowledge and should be rejected4 ,furthermore #aab there is no authoritative ,scripture or revelation for the new forms of the sacrament that have been introduced by the ,reformers and are being made essential to salvation4 ,the true ,reformation1 he thinks1 should be devoted to the construction of the invisible ,church1 which has existed in all ages of the world1 but which is kept from realizing its full scope and power because the attention of men is too greatly absorbed with signs and symbols and outward things4#aa ,for similar reasons he disapproved of the ,anabaptists1 even in their purified form as worked out under the guidance of ,menno ,simons4 ,they still held1 as did the reformed churches1 that the true ,church is a visible church which every one to be a ,christian must join1 though this true ,church1 as they conceive it1 consists only of saints4 ,they claim the authoritative right to ban all persons who1 according to their opinion1 are not saints4 ,this right ,coornhert denies4 ,he further disapproves of their literal interpretations of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and of the obstacles which they put in the way of the free exercise of prophecy on the part of the members of the community4 ,he insists that a person may be a ,christian and yet belong to no visible church1 if meantime he is a true member of the invisible ,communion4 ,he himself refrained from taking the communion supper1 either with ,papists1 ,lutherans1 or ,calvinists1 because he said they all set the sacrament above the real characteristic mark of ,christian membership1 which is love1 and because there is no divine command1 with distinct and unambiguous authority1 for the efficacious celebration of the sacrament1 which in any case could not be rightly kept so long as sectarian hostility and lack of love prevail in the contending visible churches4#ab ,under these circumstances1 ,coornhert1 who was intensely concerned for the sincere1 simple-minded souls1 perplexed by the maze of varying sects and parties1 refused to found a new sect or to head a new schismatic movement4 ,on behalf of those who could not #aac conform1 he pleaded for freedom of conscience and for the right to live in the world undisturbed as members of the invisible ,church1 using or omitting outward ceremonies as conscience might direct1 waiting meantime and seeking in quiet faith for the coming of new and divinely commissioned apostles who would really reform the apostate ,churches1 unite all divided sects1 and gather in the world a true ,church of ,christ4#ac ,meantime1 while waiting for this true apostolic ,church to appear1 ,coornhert approved of the formation of an interim-,church4 ,this ,church1 according to his programme1 would accept as truth1 and as true practice1 anything plainly and clearly taught in the canonical ,scripture1 but he advised against using glosses and commentaries made by men1 since that is to turn from the sun to the stars and from the spring to the cistern4 ,this interim-,church was to have no authoritative teachers or preachers4 ,in place of official ministry1 the members were to edify one another in ,christian love1 with the reservation that they would welcome further illumination out of the ,scriptures wherever they have made a mistake or gone wrong4 ,all persons who confess ,god as ,father1 and ,jesus ,christ as sent by ,god1 and who in the power of faith abstain from sins1 may belong to this interim-,church4 ,for the sake of those who are still weak and spiritually immature1 he allowed the use of ceremonies in the interim-,church1 but all ceremonies are held as having no essential function for salvation1 and the believer is at liberty to make use of them or to abstain from using them as he prefers4#ad ,,ii ,coornhert's proposed interim-,church1 which at best was conceived as only a temporary substitute for the true apostolic ,church1 for which every spiritual ,christian is a waiter or seeker1 found actual embodiment in a very interesting movement of the early seventeenth #aad century1 known in ,dutch history as the ,collegiants or ,rynsburgers1 which we shall now proceed to study4#ae ,the ,collegiants had their origin in one of the stormiest of the many theological controversies which swept over the ,netherlands in this critical period of religious history1 a controversy arising over the views taught by ,jacobus ,arminius 7#aefj-afji74 ,the ,dutch ,protestants who accepted his views presented a ,remonstrance to the ,states of ,holland and ,friesland in #afaj1 in which they formulated their departure from strict1 orthodox ,calvinism4 ,the ,remonstrance contained five main ,articles3 7#a7 that the divine decrees of predestination are conditioned and not absolute2 7#b7 that the atonement is in intention universal2 7#c7 that a man cannot of himself do anything good without regeneration2 7#d7 that though the ,grace of ,god is a necessary condition of human effort it does not act irresistibly in man2 7#e7 that believers are able to resist sin1 but are not beyond the possibility of falling from ,grace4 ,the opponents to these views1 often called ,gomarists1 issued a counter-blast from which they received the name counter-,remonstrants4 ,the ,states-,general passed an edict tolerating both parties and forbidding further dispute1 but the conflict of views would not down4 ,it spread like a prairie fire1 became complicated with political issues1 had its martyrdoms1 and produced far-reaching results and consequences4#af ,at the ,synod of ,dort1 on ,april #bd1 #afai1 the ,remonstrants were declared guilty of falsifying religion and of destroying the unity of the ,church1 and were deposed from all their ecclesiastical and academic offices and positions4 ,two hundred were deposed from the ministerial office for life1 and one hundred were banished4 ,among the number of deposed ministers was ,christian #aae ,sopingius1 the pastor of ,warmund1 and the ,remonstrants1 who formed an important part of his congregation1 were left without the opportunity of hearing any ministry of which they approved4 ,in this strait ,giesbert ,van der ,kodde1 an ,elder in the ,warmund church1 took a bold step4 ,he was the son of a prosperous farmer who had given his children1 ,john1 ,william1 ,adrian1 and ,giesbert1 an unusually extended education4 ,all the sons learned ,latin1 ,italian1 ,french1 and ,english1 while ,william 7known in the scholarly world as ,gulielmus ,coddaeus7 was a ,hebrew and ,oriental scholar of note1 and at the age of twenty-six was made ,professor of ,hebrew in the ,university of ,leyden4 ,they owed the course of their religious development and their particular bent of mind to the writings of men like ,sebastian ,castellio2 ,coornhert1 whose views have been given above2 and ,jacobus ,acontius1 the ,italian humanist1 who laid down the principles that no majority can make a binding law in matters of faith1 that only ,god's ,spirit in the hearts of men can certify what is the truth1 and that ,confessions of ,faith have been the ruinous source of endless divisions in the ,church4 ,deeply imbued with the ideas of these spiritual reformers1 and in sympathy as they were with many of the views and practices of the ,mennonites about them1 the ,van der ,kodde brothers decided1 under the leadership of the boldest and most conscientious of them1 ,giesbert1 to come together without any minister and hold a meeting of a free congregational type4 ,at first the meeting was probably held in ,giesbert's house1 and consisted of readings from the ,scripture1 prayers1 and the public utterance of messages of edification by those who formed the group4 ,a little later a ,remonstrant preacher was sent to care for the orphaned ,church in ,warmund1 but ,giesbert had become satisfied with the new type of meeting1 and now expressed himself emphatically against listening to preachers who lived without working and at the expense of the community1 and who hindered the free exercise of prophecy4 ,many of the members of the ,church did not share these views1 but #aaf much preferred to have the comfort of a minister1 so that a separation occurred1 and ,giesbert1 with his brothers and fellow-believers1 rented a house and perfected their new type of congregational meeting4 ,they soon moved their meeting 7called a ,collegium1 i4e4 gathering7 to the neighbouring town of ,rynsburg1 where it received additions to its adherents1 largely drawn from the ,mennonites1 many of whose ideas were strongly impressed upon the little ,society1--for example1 opposition to taking oaths1 refusal to fight1 or even to take measures of self-defence1 and rejection of the right of magistrates and other political officers to inflict punishment4 ,they also adopted1 as the ,mennonites did1 the ,sermon on the ,mount as the basis of their ethical standard1 which they applied with literalness and rigour4 ,they insisted on simplicity of life1 the denial of worldly occupations or professions1 plainness of garb1 rejection of the world's etiquette1 absence of titles in addressing persons1 and equality of men and women1 even in public ministry4 ,they introduced the practice of immersion 7,dompeldoop7 as a mark of initiation into the ,society1 but they considered true ,christian baptism to be with the ,spirit and not with water1 and they allowed their members a large range of liberty in the use or disuse of water baptism1 as well as in the form of receiving it4 ,they rejected the ,supper as an ecclesiastical ceremony1 but they highly prized it as an occasion of fellowship and of group worship4 ,every person might share the supper with them if he confessed his faith in ,christ and were not living in unrepented sin1 though they were inclined to exclude persons occupying offices which involved the violation of the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,the one essential mark of fellowship was brother-love1 which was not to be confined to the narrow limits of the ,society1 but that person was regarded the truest disciple of ,christ who practised the neighbour-spirit in the broadest and most effective manner4 ,they cared for their own sick and poor1 and they had a wide sympathy for all oppressed and suffering people4 ,they pushed to the farthest limit #aag their opposition to war and all other forms of destroying human life4 ,from the first there was a decided strain of ,enthusiasm evident in the movement1 and a pronounced tendency to encourage a ministry of prophetic openings4 ,one of the original members1 ,john ,van der ,kodde1 declared that he should fear the loss of his salvation if he failed in a meeting to give utterance to the ,word of ,god revealed to him in his inner being4 ,they encouraged the custom of silent waiting in their gatherings as a preparation for openings4 ,they proved from the fourteenth chapter of #a ,corinthians that free prophecy is the highest form of ministry1 and they held that ,god by ,his grace could pour out ,his ,spirit upon men in the seventeenth century as well as in the days of the ,apostles and ,evangelists1 who did their mighty work1 not as ,church officials1 but as recipients of gifts from ,god4 ,they felt that prayer accompanied by tears was true prayer1 moved from above4 ,they1 however1 were persons of scholarship and refinement1 and not tumultuous or strongly emotional1 but1 on the contrary1 they highly valued dignity and propriety of behaviour4 ,as the movement spread1 ,collegia1 or societies1 were formed in ,leyden1 ,rotterdam1 ,amsterdam1 and in other localities1 essentially like the mother-society in ,rynsburg1 but with characteristic variations and with particular lines of local developments4 ,once every year they had a large yearly meeting in ,rynsburg1 to which the scattered members came from all parts of ,holland where there were societies4 ,as time went on1 two marked lines of differentiation appeared in the movement1 due to the trend of the influence of important leaders1 one group emphasizing especially the seeker-attitude1 and the other group receiving its formative influence from ,cartesian philosophy4 ,daniel ,van ,breen1 ,adam ,boreel1 and ,michael ,comans were the early leaders and pillars of the ,amsterdam ,collegium1 which was begun in #afde1 and some years later the group was greatly strengthened by the convincement of the young ,mennonite doctor and #aah teacher1 ,galenus ,abrahams1 who soon became the most prominent ,collegiant leader in ,holland4 ,adam ,boreel gave the movement a strong impetus and did much toward putting the teachings of ,coornhert into practice4 ,he was born at ,middleburg in #afjc4 ,he was a man of good scholarship1 being especially learned in ,hebrew1 and he was thoroughly impregnated with the views of the spiritualistic ,humanists of the former century1 ,franck1 ,castellio1 and ,coornhert1 as well as with the views of the mystics1 and he was himself a champion of individual religious freedom4 ,he held that the visible ,church since the apostolic age has been astray and apostate1 that ,confessions of faith1 ,church officers1 and sacraments are without authority1 that the uncontaminated teaching of the ,holy ,scripture is the only safe norm of faith1 and that until a true apostolic ,church is again established in the world by divine commission1 each faithful1 believing ,christian should maintain meantime the worship of ,god in his own way and wait in faith for a fuller revelation4#ag ,his mystical piety appears strongly in his hymns1 which are preserved in his complete works4 ,one of these hymns of ,boreel has been very freely translated into ,english by a ,lover of the ,life of our ,lord ,jesus1 probably ,henry ,more1 the ,platonist4 ,more says that he finds the hymn running much upon the mortification of our own wills and of our union and communion with ,god1 and he loves it as a deep expression of his own faith that no man can really adhere to ,christ1 and unwaveringly1 but by union to ,him by ,his ,spirit4 ,i give a few extracts from ,more's free ,translation3 #a4 ,o ,heavenly ,light6 my spirit to ,thee draw1 ,with powerful touch my senses smite1 ,thine arrows of ,love into me throw ,with flaming dart ,deep wound my heart1 ,and wounded seize for ever1 as thy right4 #aai #c4 ,do thou my faculties all captivate ,unto thyself with strongest tye2 ,my will entirely regulate3 ,make me thy slave1 ,nought else ,i crave ,for this ,i know is perfect ,liberty4 #e4 ,o endless good6 ,break like a flood ,into my soul1 and water my dry earth1 #f4 ,that by this mighty power ,i being reft ,of everything that is not ,one1 ,to ,thee alone ,i may be left ,by a firm will ,fixt to ,thee still ,and inwardly united into one4 #aa4 ,so that at last1 ,i being quite released ,from this strait-laced ,egoity ,my soul will vastly be increased ,into that ,all ,which ,one we call1 ,and ,one in itself alone doth ,all imply4 #ab4 ,here's ,rest1 here's ,peace1 here's ,joy and ,holy ,love1 ,the heaven is here of true ,content1 ,for those that seek the things above1 ,here's the true light ,of ,wisdom bright ,and ,prudence pure with no self-seeking blent4 #ae4 ,thus shall you be united with that ,one1 ,that ,one where's no ,duality1 ,for from that perfect ,good alone ,ever doth spring ,each pleasant thing ,the hungry soul to feed and satisfy4#ah ,stoupe1 in his ,religion of the ,dutch1#ai gives some interesting contemporary light on this branch of ,collegiants whom he calls ,borellists1 as follows3 ,the ,borellists had their name from one ,borrell1 the ,ringleader of their #abj sect1 a man very learned1 especially in the ,hebrew1 ,greek1 and ,latine tongues4 ,he was brother to ,monsieur ,borrell1 ambassador from the ,states-,general to his most ,christian ,majesty4 ,these ,borrellists do for the most part maintain the opinions of the ,mennonites though they come not to their assemblies4 ,they have made choice of a most austere kind of life1 spending a considerable part of their ,estates in almsgiving and a careful discharge of all the duties incumbent on a ,christian4 ,they have an aversion for all ,churches1 as also for the use of the ,sacraments1 publick prayers1 and all other external functions of ,god's ,service4 ,they maintain that all ,churches which are in the world and have been since the death of the apostles and their first subsequent successors have degenerated from the pure doctrine which they preached to the world2 for this reason1 that they have suffered the infallible ,word of ,god contained in the ,old and ,new ,testaments to be expounded and corrupted by ,doctors who are not infallible and would have their own confessions1 their catechisms1 and their ,liturgies and their sermons1 which are the works of men1 to pass for what they really are not1 to wit1 for the pure ,word of ,god4 ,they hold also that men are not to read anything but the ,word of ,god alone without any additional application of men4 ,abrahams 7b4 #afbb7 intensified the seeker aspect of the ,amsterdam group1 emphasizing the view that the existing ,church1 even in its best form1 is only an interim-,church with no saving sacraments and no compelling authority4 ,his position is expressed in the highly important ,nineteen ,articles which he1 and his fellow-believer1 ,david ,spruyt1 drew up in #afeh1 and in the further ,exposition ,nader ,verklaringe of #afei4 ,these documents present the apostolic pattern or model as the ideal of the visible ,church for all ages4 ,there neither is nor can be any other true ,church4 ,it is essentially a ,church managed1 maintained1 and governed through gifts bestowed by the ,holy ,spirit1 and in this ,church each spiritual member takes his part according to the measure of his special gift4 ,this pattern ,church1 however1 #aba fell away and became corrupted after the death of the apostles1 and instead of this glorious ,church an external ,church was established1 claiming to possess authoritative officials1 saving sacraments1 and infallible doctrines1 but really lacking the inward power of the apostolic ,church1 no longer following and imitating ,christ1 on the contrary adopting the world's way and the world's type of authority1 and destitute of the very mark and essence of real ,christianity1 the spirit of love4 ,through all the apostasy of the visible ,church1 however1 an invisible ,church has survived and preserved the eternal ideal4 ,it consists of all those1 in whatever ages and lands1 who have lived by their faith in ,christ1 have kept themselves pure and stainless in the midst of a sinful world1 have practised love1 even when they have received the buffets of hate1 have lived above division and schism and sect1 and have steadily believed that their names were written in heaven and that their ,church was visible to ,god1 even though none on earth called them brother1 or recognized their membership in the body of ,christ4 ,some time1 in ,god's good time1 that invisible ,church1 which no apostasy has annulled or destroyed1 will become once again a visible ,church1 equipped with gifted teachers and with apostolic leaders as at the first1 beautiful once more as a bride adorned for her husband1 and powerful again as the irresistible sword of the ,spirit4 ,but the ,reformers--,luther1 ,calvin1 ,zwingli1 and even ,menno ,simons--have taken an unwarranted course toward the reform and restoration of the ,church4 ,it was within their right and power to improve the unbearable condition of the outward ,church1 by faithfully following the plain teaching of the ,new ,testament1 and without usurping authority4 ,they1 however1 have not been satisfied to do what lay within the narrow limits of their commission4 ,they have ambitiously undertaken to set up again an authoritative visible ,church1 even though they lacked the gifts of the ,spirit for it1 and were without the necessary apostolic commission4 ,they insisted on their form of sacraments as essential to salvation2 they #abb drew up their infallible creeds2 they set up ,church officials who were to rule over other men's faith1 and they assumed a certain divine right to compel the consciences of their members4 ,most of the ,reformers have even sanctioned the use of bonds and prisons to secure uniformity of faith6 ,the primitive apostles claimed no such right and made use of no such unspiritual methods4 ,order is a good thing and is everywhere to be sought1 but ,god nowhere has conferred upon the heads of ,his ,church the authority to compel conscience or to force tender souls to submit to a system which reveals in itself no inherent evidences of divine origin4 ,the writers of these ,nineteen ,articles fail to see anywhere in the world a divinely established and spiritually endowed ,church of ,jesus ,christ4 ,they are determined to live in purity and love1 to avoid dissension and strife1 to guard their membership in the invisible ,church1 and to wait in faith for the outpouring of the ,spirit and the bestowal of miraculous gifts for the restoration of the ,church in its pristine apostolic purity and power4 ,we have thus1 here in ,holland1 an almost exact parallel to the ,seekers who were very numerous in ,england in the middle decades of the seventeenth century4 ,we get a very interesting side-light on ,galenus ,abrahams in the ,journal of ,george ,fox4 ,william ,penn and ,george ,keith held a discussion with this famous ,collegiant leader in #afgg1 at which time the latter asserted that nobody nowadays could be accepted as a messenger of ,god unless he confirmed his doctrine by miracle1#bj and ,fox says that ,abrahams was much confounded and truth gained ground4#ba ,fox himself was not present at the discussion1 but he had a personal interview with ,abrahams at about the same time as the discussion4 ,the interview was not very satisfactory4 ,fox says that he found this notable teacher very high and shy1 so that he would not let me touch him nor look upon him1 but he bid me keep my eyes off him1 for #abc he said they pierced him6#bb ,but at a later visit1 in #afhd1 ,fox found the ,collegiant doctor1 now venerable with years1 very loving and tender4 ,he confessed in some measure to truth1 ,fox says1 and we parted very lovingly4 ,at a meeting1 held in ,amsterdam a few weeks later1 ,abrahams was among the large group of attenders1 and was very attentive to the testimony of the truth1 and1 when the meeting was over1 ,fox says1 he came and got me by the hand very lovingly1#bc and seemed no longer afraid of the ,quaker's piercing eyes4 ,in spirit they were very near together1 and with a little more insight on both sides the two movements might have joined in one single stream4 ,for many years afterwards the common people1 not given to nice distinctions1 called the annual gathering of the ,collegiants at ,rynsburg the meeting of the ,quakers4#bd ,the other tendency in the movement1 which received its fullest expression in the group of ,collegiants at ,rynsburg and their friends in ,amsterdam1 had a still greater parallelism with ,quakerism1 in fact1 the most important book which came from a member of this group--,the ,light on the ,candlestick--is indistinguishable in its body of ideas from ,quaker teaching1 and differs only in one point1 that it reveals a more philosophically trained mind in the writer than does any early ,quaker book with the single exception of ,barclay's ,apology4 ,the author of ,the ,light on the ,candlestick--written originally in ,dutch and published in #affb under the title ,lucerna super candelabro--was probably ,peter ,balling1 though the book1 with characteristic ,collegiant modesty1 was published anonymously4 ,peter ,balling was one of an interesting group of scholarly ,collegiants who became very intimate friends of ,baruch ,spinoza1 and who received from the ,jewish philosopher a strong impulse toward mystical religion4 ,before they became acquainted with the young ,spinoza1 however1 they had already received through ,descartes a powerful intellectual awakening1 #abd and had discovered that consciousness itself1 when fully sounded1 has its own unescapable evidence of ,god4 ,it is not possible here to turn aside and study adequately this extraordinary philosophical movement known as ,cartesianism1 beginning in ,descartes 7#aeif-afej7 and culminating in ,spinoza 7#afcb-afgg71 but the distinct religious influence of it is so profoundly apparent1 both in ,peter ,balling and in the ,quaker apologist ,robert ,barclay 7#afdh-afij71 that a very brief review of the contribution from this source seems necessary4 ,rene ,descartes1 like almost every other supreme genius who has discovered a new way and has forever shifted the line of march for the race1 passed through a momentous inward upheaval1 amounting to a conversion experience1 and emerged into a new moral and intellectual world4#be ,it was on ,november #aj1 #afai1 in the midst of a great campaign during the opening stages of the ,thirty ,years' ,war1 in which at this time the young ,frenchman was a soldier on the ,roman ,catholic side1 that ,descartes1 sitting alone all day in a heated room of some ,german house1 resolved to have done with outworn systems of thought and with tradition1 and determined to make the search for truth the object of his life4#bf ,the new scientific method1 which was the fruit of his reflections and experiments1 and which has since been carried into every field of human research1 does not now concern us4 ,the feature of his philosophy which impressed these serious seekers after ,god was his fresh discovery of what is involved in the nature of self-consciousness4 ,beginning with the bold resolution to accept nothing untested1 to doubt everything in the universe that can be doubted1 and to receive as truth only that which successfully resists every attempt to doubt it1 he found one absolutely solid point with which to start1 in the self-existence of self-consciousness--,at least ,i who am doubting am thinking1 and to think is to exist4 #abe ,pushing his search deeper down to see what is further involved in the constitution of this self-consciousness1 he discovered a consciousness of ,god--the idea of an infinitely perfect ,being--within himself1 and this consciousness of ,god seemed to him to be the underlying condition of every kind of knowledge whatever4 ,it turns out to be impossible1 he believes1 to think of the finite without contrasting it1 in implication at least1 with the infinite which is therefore in consciousness1 just as it is impossible to talk of spaces without presupposing the one space of which given spaces are parts4 ,that we are oppressed with our own littleness1 that we look before and after and sigh for what is not1 that we are conscious of finiteness1 means that we partake in some way of an infinite which reveals itself in us by an inherent necessity of self-consciousness4 ,there are1 then1 some ideas within us--at least there is this one idea of an infinitely perfect reality--implanted in the very structure of our thinking self1 which could have come from no other source but from ,god1 who is that infinitely perfect ,reality4 ,other things may still be doubtful1 and a tinge of uncertainty may rest upon everything external to the mind that perceives them1 but the soul and ,god are sure1 and1 of these two certainties1 ,god is as sure as the soul itself1 because an idea of ,him is native to the soul as a necessary part of its furnishings1 and is the condition of thinking anything at all4#bg ,spinoza1 though bringing to his philosophy elements which are foreign to ,descartes1 and though fusing his otherwise mathematical and logical system with the warmth and fervour of mystical experience that is wholly lacking in the ,french philosopher1 carried ,cartesianism to its logical culmination1 and has given the world one of the most impressive presentations that ever has been given of the view that all things centre in ,god and are involved in ,his existence1 that it belongs to the very nature of the #abf human mind to know ,god1 and that all peace and felicity come from the love of an infinite and eternal object which feeds the soul with changeless and unmingled joy4 ,he1 too1 had his conversion-awakening which took him above the love of earthly things1 and through it he found an unvarying centre for his heart's devotion1 which made his life1 outwardly extremely humble1 inwardly one of the noblest and most saintly in the history of philosophy4 ,after experience had taught me1 he writes in the opening of his early ,treatise on the ,improvement of the ,understanding1 that all things which are ordinarily encountered in common life are vain and futile444 ,i at length determined to inquire if there were anything which was a ,,true ,,good1 capable of imparting itself1 and by which alone the mind could be affected to the exclusion of all else2 whether1 indeed1 anything existed by the discovery and acquisition of which ,i might have continuous and supreme joy to all eternity1 and the remainder of his life was penetrated by a noble passion for the ,eternal1 and dedicated to the interpretation of the ,highest ,good which he had discovered1 and which henceforth no rival good was ever to eclipse4 ,dr4 ,a4 ,wolf well says of him3 ,his moral ardour seems almost aglow with mystic fire1 and if we may not call him a priest of the most high ,god1 yet he was certainly a prophet of the power which makes for righteousness4#bh ,he is giving his own experience in the spiritual principle which he laid down early in his life3 ,so long as we have not such a clear idea of ,god as shall unite us with ,him in such a way that it will not let us love anything beside ,him1 we cannot truly say that we are united with ,god1 so as to depend immediately on ,him4#bi ,it is ,spinoza's primary principle that the only ,reality in the universe is an all-inclusive ,reality which is the origin1 source1 and explanation of all that is4 ,all human experience1 either of an inward or outward world1 if it is to have any meaning and reality at all1 involves the #abg existence of this inclusive ,whole of ,reality1 that is of ,god4 ,it belongs1 thus1 fundamentally to the nature of human consciousness to know ,god1 for if we did not know ,him we should not know anything else4 ,the moment a finite thing or a finite idea is severed from the ,whole in which it has its ground and meaning1 it becomes nothing2 it is real only so long as it is a part of a larger ,reality1 and so every attempt to understand a flower in a crannied wall1 or any other object in the universe1 drives us higher up until we come at last to that which is the prius of all being and knowledge1 the explanation of all that is4 ,but this ultimate ,reality up to which all our experience carries us--if we take the pains to think out what is involved in the experience--is no mere sum of finites1 no bare aggregation of parts1 no heaped-up totality of separate units4 ,it is an ,absolute ,unity which binds all that is into one living1 organic ,whole1 a ,divine ,nature1--natura naturans ,spinoza calls it1--and which lives and is manifested in all the finite parts1 in so far as they are real at all4 ,and as soon as the mind finds itself in living unity with the eternal ,nature of things1 and views all things from their centre in ,god1 and sees how all objects and events flow from the eternal ,being of ,god1 it is led as by the hand to its highest blessedness4#cj ,the complications of ,spinoza's system1 and the difficulty of finding a way down from the ,absolute ,unity of ,god to the differentiation of the modes of a world--natura naturata--here1 in space and time1 do not now concern us4 ,the point of contact between ,spinoza and the spiritual movement which we are studying is found in his central principles that ,god is the prius of all finite reality1 that to know things or to know one's own mind truly is to know ,god1 and that a man who has formed a pure love for the eternal is above the variations of temporal fortune1 is not disturbed in spirit by changes in the object of his love1 but loves with a love which eternally feeds the soul with joy4 #abh ,during the most important period of his intellectual and spiritual development1 ,spinoza spent three years 7#affj-affc7 in the quiet village of ,rynsburg1 living in close and intimate contact with his ,collegiant friends4 ,it was here during these happiest years of his life1 in this quiet retreat and surrounded with spiritually-minded men with whom he had much in common1 that he wrote his ,short ,treatise on ,god1 ,man and ,his ,well-,being1 as well as his ,treatise on the ,improvement of the ,understanding1 which opens with his account of the birth of his own spiritual passion4 ,these intellectual and high-minded ,collegiants had their influence upon the philosopher1 and he in turn had a deep influence upon them4 ,peter ,balling translated into ,dutch in #affd ,spinoza's version of ,descartes' ,principia1 and ,balling turned to his friend ,spinoza for consolation in his great loss occasioned by the death of his child that same year1#ca while the philosopher at his death left all his unpublished manuscripts to another life-long intimate ,collegiant friend of his1 ,john ,rieuwertsz4 ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 to which we shall now turn for the ripest ideas of the little sect1 was written while ,spinoza was living among the ,collegiants in ,rynsburg4 ,it was very quickly discovered by the ,quakers1 who immediately recognized it as bone of their bone1 and circulated it as a ,quaker ,tract4 ,it was translated into ,english in #affc by ,b4 ,f41#cb who published it with this curious title-page3 ,the ,light upon the ,candlestick4 ,serving for ,observation of the ,principal things in the ,book called1 ,the ,mystery of the ,kingdom of ,god1 c4 ,against several ,professors1 ,treated of1 and written by ,will ,ames4 ,printed in ,low ,dutch for the ,author1 #affb1 and translated into ,english by ,b4 ,f4 ,the ,collegiant author1 quite in the spirit and style of ,spinoza1 urges the importance of discovering a central love for things which are durable and incorruptible1 knowing thereby better things than those to which the #abi multitude are link't so fast with love4 ,we have outgrown the toyes with which we played as children1 there is now no desire or moving thereunto1 because we have found better things for our minds2 so1 too1 all those things in which men1 even to old age1 so much delight would seem like toyes if they once discovered the true ,light which abides forever unchangeable1 and if through it they got a sight of those things which are alone worthy to be known4 ,this true and lasting change1 from toyes to the things which are durable and eternal1 can come only through an inward conversion4 ,when a new vision begins from within1 then the outward action follows of itself1 but no man will part with what he judges best till he sees something better1 and then the weaker yields to the stronger without any forcing4#cc ,this whole work of conversion1 of transformation1 of lasting change1 must have its origin in something within ourselves4 ,we cannot turn from baubles and toyes and our desire for that which is high in the world until a ,light from some source plainly shows us an eternal reality for which we may highly adventure the tryal4 ,there is1 our author insists1 only one place where such a guiding ,light could arise1 and that is within the soul itself1 as an inward and immediate knowledge3 ',tis not far to seek4 ,we direct thee to within thyself4 ,thou oughtest to turn into1 to mind and have regard unto1 that which is within thee1 to wit1 the ,light of ,truth1 the true ,light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world4 ,here 'tis that thou must be and not without thee4 ,here thou shalt find a ,principle certain and infallible1 through which increasing and going on into1 thou mayest at length arrive unto a happy condition4 ,of this thou mayest highly adventure the tryal4 ,and if thou happenest to be one of those that would know all things before thou dost begin444 know this1 ,thou dost therein just as those that would learn to read without knowing the ,letters4 ,he that will not adventure till he be fully satisfied1 shall never begin1 much less finish #acj his own salvation4 ,we say then1 that we exhort every one to turn unto the ,light that's in him4#cd ,in true ,cartesian fashion1 he demonstrates why this ,light must have its locus within the soul and not in some external means or medium4 ,all knowledge that ,god is being revealed in external signs1 or through external means1 already presupposes a prior knowledge of ,god4 ,we can judge no doctrine1 no ,book to be ,divine except by some inward and immediate knowledge of what really is ,divine4 ,without this ,light the ,scriptures are only ,words and ,letters4 ,but if we experience that the ,book called the ,bible in regard to the ,divine doctrine therein comprised hath such a harmony with ,that in us by which ,god is known1 that ,he must needs have been the ,author of it1 there cannot rationally be any more powerful demonstration4#ce ,the same principle is true with regard to every conceivable form of revelation which could be made to our outward senses1 whether by words1 or by miracles1 or by any other visible operations4 ,no finite thing can bring us a knowledge of ,god unless we already have within us a sufficient knowledge of ,him to make us able to appreciate and judge the ,divine character of the particular revelation2 that is to say1 we must already have ,god in order either to seek ,him or to find ,him2 or1 as ,balling puts it1 ,unless the knowledge of ,god precedes1 no man can discern ,him4 ,god is1 therefore1 the prius of all knowledge3 ,the knowledge of ,god must first be1 before there can be knowledge of any particular things1#cf and ,god must be assumed as present in the soul before any basis of truth or of religion can be found4 ,the ,light is the first ,principle of ,religion2 for1 seeing there can be no true ,religion without the knowledge of ,god1 and no knowledge of ,god without this ,light1 ,religion must necessarily have this ,light for its first ,principle4#cg ,without thyself1 ,o ,man1 he concludes1 thou hast no #aca means to look for1 by which thou mayest know ,god4 ,thou must abide within thyself2 to the ,light that is in thee thou must turn thee2 there thou wilt find it and nowhere else4 ,god is nearest unto thee and to every man4 ,he that goes forth of himself to any creature1 thereby to know ,god1 departs from ,god4 ,god is nearer unto every man than himself1 because ,he penetrates the most inward and intimate parts of man and is the ,life of the inmost spirit4 ,mind1 therefore1 the ,light that is in thee4#ch ,this ,light--the first ,principle of all ,religion--is also called in this little ,book by many other names4 ,it is the living ,word1 the ,truth of ,god1 the ,light of ,truth2 it is ,christ2 it is the ,spirit4#ci ,as a ,divine ,light1 it reproves man of sin1 shows him that he has strayed from ,god1 accuses him of the evil he commits4 ,it leads man into ,truth1 even though he has never heard or read of ,scripture2 it shows him the way to ,god2 it gives him peace of conscience in well-doing2 and1 if followed and obeyed1 it brings him into union with ,god1 wherein all happiness and salvation doth consist4#dj ,it operates in all men1 though in many men there are serious impediments which hinder its operations--the lets to it are manifold--but as soon as a man turns to it and cleanses his inner eye--removes the lets--he discovers a firm foundation upon which he may build stable and enduring things3 ,a ,principle whereby he may1 without ever erring1 guide the whole course of his life1 how he is to carry himself toward ,god1 his ,neighbour and himself4#da ,the writer1 having thus delivered his message1 wishes to have it distinctly understood that he is not trying to draw his readers to any new sect1 or to any outward and visible church4 ,go to1 then1 ,o ,man1 he says1 whoever thou art1 we will not draw thee off from one heap of men to carry thee over unto another1 'tis somewhat else we invite thee to6 ,we invite thee to ,something which may be a means to attain thy own #acb salvation and well-being membership in the invisible ,church4 ,such is the teaching of this strange little book1 written by the friend of ,spinoza1 and revealing the maturest expression of this slowly developing spiritual movement1 which began with ,hans ,denck and flowed uninterruptedly through many lives and along many channels and burst out full flood in ,england in the ,children of the ,light1 who were known to the world as ,quakers4 #a ,three important books on this subject are ,c4 ,b4 ,hylkema1 ,reformateurs 7,haarlem1 #aijb72 ,dr4 ,heinrich ,heppe1 ,geschichte des ,pietismus und der ,mystik in der reformirten ,kirche1 namentlich der ,niederlande 7,leiden1 #ahgi72 and ,wilhelm ,goeters1 ,die ,vorbereitung des ,pietismus in der reformierten ,kirche der ,niederlande 7,leipzig1 #aiaa74 #b ,the biographical details of his life are given in a ,preface to the three-volume edition of his collected works1 published in ,amsterdam in #afca4 #c ,the title of this work is ,zedekunst1 dat is1 ,wellevens ,kunst1 vermits waarheydts kennisse vanden ,mensche1 vande ,zonden ende vande ,deughden4 ,nu aldereerst beschreven in't ,neerlandtsch4 ,coornhert's ,wercken 7#afca71 i4 fol4 #bfh-ccec4 #d ,two of his powerful pleas for the freedom of the mind are1 ,epitome processus de occidendis haereticis et vi conscientiis inferenda 7,gouda1 #aeia71 and ,defensio processus de non occidendis haereticis 7,hannover1 #aeic74 #e ,gottfried ,arnold1 ,kirchen- und ,ketzer-,historien1 ii4 p4 #cgh1 sec4 #c4 #f ,see ,chap4 ,,vi4 #g ,zedekunst1 chaps4 i4 and ii4 #h ,zedekunst1 chaps4 iv4 and v4 #i ,wercken1 iii4 fol4 #dac-dbg4 ,see also ,hert-,spiegel godlycker ,schrifturen1 ,wercken1 i4 fol4 #a-dd4 #aj ,wercken1 iii4 fol4 #dac-dbg4 #aa ,see ,arnold1 op4 cit4 ii4 p4 #chj1 sec4 #h4 #ab ,his views in this particular are very similar to those of ,schwenckfeld4 #ac ,arnold1 op4 cit4 pp4 #cha-chb4 #ad ,wercken1 i4 fol4 #eed ff4 #ae ,the best history of the ,collegiants is ,j4 ,c4 ,van ,sloe's ,de ,rijnsburger ,collegianten 7,haarlem1 #ahie74 #af ,one of the most tragic consequences of the controversy was the martyrdom of ,john of ,barneveldt1 the political head of the ,remonstrants4 ,hugo ,grotius was thrown into prison1 but escaped through the bold ingenuity of his wife4 #ag ,adam ,boreel's teaching is set forth in his treatise1 ,ad4 legem et testimonium 7,amsterdam1 #afdc74 ,information upon his life and teaching is given in ,arnold1 op4 cit4 ii4 #chf-chg2 in ,hylkema1 ,reformateurs2 and in ,walter ,schneider1 ,adam ,boreel 7,giessen1 #aiaa74 #ah ,henry ,more's ,annotations upon the ,discourse of ,truth 7,london1 #afhb71 pp4 #bga-bgf4 #ai ,stoupe1 ,la ,religion des ,hollandois 7,paris1 #afgc71 translated into ,english under the title ,the ,religion of the ,dutch 7,london1 #afhj74 ,the extract is from p4 #hb of the ,french edition and pp4 #bf-bh of the ,english edition4 #bj ,sewel1 ,history of the ,people called ,quakers 7,phila4 edition1 #ahbc71 ii4 p4 #cfh4 #ba ,journal1 7ed4 #aija71 ii4 p4 #caj4 #bb ,journal1 ii4 p4 #dja4 #bc ,ibid4 ii4 pp4 #dja-djb4 #bd ,simeon ,friderich ,rues1 ,mennoniten und ,collegianten 7,jena1 #agdc71 p4 #bdd4 #be ,see ,e4 ,s4 ,haldane1 ,descartes1 ,his ,life and ,times 7#aije71 pp4 #ea-ec4 #bf ,the autobiographical account of this experience is given in the opening of part ii4 of the ,discourse on ,method4 #bg ,descartes' famous argument is found in ,meditations ,,iii4 and ,,iv4 of his ,meditations on ,first ,philosophy1 first published in #afda4 ,for an illuminating interpretation of the entire movement1 see ,edward ,caird's ,essay on ,cartesianism in ,essays on ,literature and ,philosophy 7#ahib71 ii4 pp4 #bfg-chc4 #bh ,spinoza1 ,short ,treatise on ,god1 ,man1 and his ,well-,being1 ,wolf's edition 7,london1 #aiaj71 p4 #ajb4 #bi ,ibid4 p4 #dj4 #cj ,ethics1 part ii4 ,preface4 #ca ,see ,spinoza's ,correspondence1 ,letter ,no4 ,,xxx4 #cb ,benjamin ,furley1 a ,quaker merchant of ,colchester1 then living in ,rotterdam4 #cc ,the ,light upon the ,candlestick1 p4 #h1 freely rendered4 #cd ,the ,light upon the ,candlestick1 pp4 #c-d4 #ce ,op4 cit4 p4 #aj4 ,he uses also the ,cartesian argument that there must at least be as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect1 p4 #ab4 #cf ,op4 cit4 p4 #ab4 #cg ,ibid4 p4 #f4 #ch ,the ,light upon the ,candlestick1 pp4 #ab-ac4 #ci ,ibid4 pp4 #d and #i4 #dj ,ibid4 p4 #e4 #da ,ibid4 p4 #f4 #acc ,,chapter ,,viii ,,valentine ,,weigel ,,and ,,nature ,,mysticism ,it is a central idea of mysticism that there is a way to ,god through the human soul4 ,the gate to ,heaven is thus kept1 not by ,st4 ,peter or by any other saint of the calendar2 it is kept by each individual person himself as he opens or closes within himself the spiritual circuit of connection with ,god4 ,the door into the ,eternal swings within the circle of our own inner life1 and all things are ours if we learn how to use the key that opens1 for to open and to find ,god are one and the same thing4 ,the emphasis in ,nature ,mysticism lies not so much on this direct pathway to ,god through the soul as upon the symbolic character of the world of ,nature as a visible revelation of an invisible ,universe1 and upon the idea that man is a microcosm1 a little world1 reproducing in epitome1 point for point1 though in miniature1 the great world1 or macrocosm4 ,on this line of thought1 everything is double4 ,the things that are seen are parables of other things which are not seen4 ,they are like printed words which mean something vastly more and deeper than what the eye sees as it scans mere letters4 ,one indwelling ,life1 one animating ,soul1 lives in and moves through the whole mighty frame of things and expresses its ,life through visible things in manifold ways1 as the invisible human soul expresses itself through the visible body4 ,everything is thus1 in a fragmentary way1 a focus of revelation for the ,divine ,spirit1 whose garment is this vast web of the visible world4 ,but man in a very special way1 as a complete microcosm1 is a concentrated extract1 a #acd comprehensive quintessence of the whole cosmos1 visible and invisible--an image of ,god and a mirror of the ,universe4 ,these views have a very ancient history and unite many strands of historic thought4 ,they came to light in the sixteenth century with the revival through ,greek literature of ,stoic1 ,neo-,platonic1 and ,neo-,pythagorean ideas4 ,but the ,greek stream of thought as it now reappeared was fused with streams of thought from many other sources--medieval mysticism1 ,persian astrology1 ,arabian philosophy1 and the ,jewish ,cabala1 which1 in turn1 was a fusing of many elements--and the mixture was honestly believed to be genuine1 revived ,christianity1 and ,christ1 as the new ,adam1 is throughout the central ,figure of these systems4 ,marsilius ,ficino1 the ,italian ,humanist1 who translated ,plato and the writings of the ,neo-,platonists into ,latin and so made them current for the readers of the sixteenth century1 gave a profoundly mystical colouring to the revived classical philosophy and identified it with pure and unadulterated ,christianity4#a ,his contemporary1 ,pico of ,mirandola 7#adfc-id71 joined the teachings of the ,cabala with his ,neo-,platonized ,christianity and so produced a new blend4 ,johann ,reuchlin 7#adee-aebb71 great ,german classical and ,hebrew scholar1 brave opponent of obscurantism1 forerunner of the ,reformation1 introduced the ,neo-,platonic and ,cabalistic blend of ideas into ,german thought4 ,the ,cabala1 it may be said briefly1 in the primary meaning of the word1 is the doctrine received by oral tradition as an important supplement to the written ,jewish ,scriptures1 but the ,cabala as we know it is an esoteric system which was formed under the influence of many streams of ancient thought-systems1 and which came into vogue about the thirteenth century1 though its devout adherents claimed that it had been orally transmitted through the intervening ages from ,adam in ,paradise4 ,according to the teaching of the ,cabala1 the original ,godhead1 called ,en-,soph1 the ,infinite1 is in essence #ace incomprehensible and immutable1 and capable of description only in negations4 ,god1 the ,en-,soph1 is above and beyond contact with anything finite1 material1 or imperfect4 ,it would be blasphemous to suppose that ,god the infinitely perfect1 ,god the absolutely immutable ,one1 by direct act made a world of matter or created a realm of existence marked with evil as this lower realm of ours is4 ,instead of supposing a creative act1 therefore1 the ,cabala supposes a series of emanations1 or overflows of divine splendour1 arranged in three groups of threes1 called ,sephiroth1 which reveal all that is revealable in ,god1 and by means of which invisible and visible worlds come into being4 ,these ,sephiroth1 or orders of emanation1 are thoughts of the ,wisdom of ,god become objectively and permanently real1 just because ,he thought them2 and though ,he is vastly1 inexhaustibly more than they1 yet ,he is actually immanent in them and the ground of their being4 ,they are 7#a7 the intelligible world1 or world of creative ideas2 7#b7 the world of spiritual forms1 such as the hierarchies of angels1 souls1 and the entire universe of immaterial beings1 the world of astral substance or of creative soul-matter2 and 7#c7 the natural world1 in which the divine plan of ,wisdom1 the creative ideas1 and the astral soul become visibly and concretely revealed4 ,man unites all the worlds in himself1 and in his unfallen state as ,adam-,cadmon combined all men in one ideal1 undifferentiated ,man4 ,the visible world is full of hints and symbols of the invisible1 and the initiated learn to read the signs of things seen1 the meanings of sacred letters1 and so to discover the secrets and mysteries of the inner world4 ,the ,cabala is full of unrestrained oriental imagination1 of fancies run riot1 and of symbolisms ridden to death4 ,its confusion of style and thought and its predilection for magic unfortunately proved contagious1 and played havoc with the productions of those who came under its spell4 ,its marvels1 however1 powerfully impressed the minds of its ,german readers4 ,through it they believed they were privileged to share in mysteries which had been hid from the creation of the world1 and #acf they conceived the idea that they had at last discovered a clue that would eventually lead them into all the secrets of the universe4#b ,cornelius ,agrippa of ,nettesheim 7#adhg-aece7 by his writings increased the prevailing fascination for occult knowledge and pushed this particular line of speculation into an acute stage4 ,he was a man of large learning and of heroic temper1 and1 possessed as he was of undoubted gifts1 in a different period and in a different environment he would1 no doubt1 have played a notable part in the development of human thought4 ,but he became enamoured in his youth with the adventurous quest for the discovery of ,nature's stupendous secrets1 and under the spell of the ,cabala1 and under the influence of eager expectations entertained in his day by men of rank and learning1 that fresh light was about to dawn upon the ancient mysteries of the world1 he took the false path of magic as the way to the conquest of the great secret4 ,it was1 however1 not the crude1 cheap magic of popular fancy1 a magic of mad and lawless caprice1 to which he was devoted2 it was a magic grounded in the nature of the deeper inner world which he believed was the ,soul of the world we see and touch4 ,the ,english translator of ,agrippa's ,occult ,philosophy in #afea very clearly apprehended and stated in his quaint ,preface to the ,judicious ,reader1 the foundation idea of ,agrippa's magic3 ,this is1 he says1 true and sublime ,occult ,philosophy--to understand the mysterious influence of the intellectual world upon the celestial world1 and of both upon the terrestrial world1 and to know how to dispose and fit ourselves so as to be capable of receiving the superior operations of these worlds1 whereby we may be enabled to operate wonderful things by a natural power4#c ,that saying precisely defines ,agrippa's faith4 ,there are1 he thinks1 #acg three worlds3 7#a7 the ,intellectual world2 7#b7 the ,celestial1 or ,astral1 world2 and 7#c7 the ,terrestrial world2 and man1 who is a microcosm embodying in himself all these worlds1 may1 in the innermost ground of his being1 come upon a divine knowledge which will enable him to unlock the mysteries of all worlds and to operate wonderful things4 ,in quite other ways than ,agrippa dreamed1 science has found the keys to many of these mysteries1 and has learned how to operate wonderful things by a natural power4 ,his enthusiasm and passion were right1 but he had not learned the slow and patient and laborious way4 ,a still greater figure in this field of occult knowledge and of nature mysticism was the far-travelled man and medical genius1 ,aureolus ,theophrastus ,bombast1 of ,hohenheim1 generally known as ,paracelsus4 ,he was born in #adic in the neighbourhood of ,einsiedeln1 not far from ,zurich1 the son of a physician of repute4 ,he studied in the ,university of ,basle1 and later was instructed by ,trithemius1 ,abbot of ,st4 ,jacobs at ,wurtzburg1 an adept in magic1 alchemy1 and astrology4 ,he passed a long period--probably ten years--of his later youth in travel1 studying humanity at close range1 gathering all sorts of information1 forming his theories of diseases and their cure1 and learning to know ,nature by treading her ,books1 through land after land1 with his feet1 which1 he once testified1 is the only way of knowing her truly4#d ,in #aebe he settled in ,basle1 and1 on the recommendation of ,o,ecolampadius was appointed professor of physic1 medicine1 and surgery in #aebg1 but his revolutionary teaching and practice1 his scorn for traditional methods1 his attacks on the ignorance and greed of apothecaries raised a storm which he could not weather1 and he secretly left the city in #aebh4 ,again he became a wanderer1 having extraordinary experiences of success and defeat1 treating all manner of diseases1 writing books on medicine and on the fundamental nature of things1 and finally died at ,salzburg in ,bavaria in #aeda4 ,paracelsus is a strange and baffling character4 ,he had #ach much of the spirit of the new age1 tangled with many of the ideas and fancies of his time4 ,his aspirations were lofty1 his medical skill was unique for his day1 he was in large measure liberated from tradition1 and he was dedicated1 as ,browning truly represents him1 to his mission1 but he was still under the spell of mystic categories1 and he still held the faith that ,nature's secrets were to be suddenly surprised by an inward way and by an inward ,light3 ,truth is within ourselves2 it takes no rise ,from outward things1 whate'er you may believe4 ,there is an inmost centre in us all1 ,where truth abides in fulness2 and around1 ,wall upon wall1 the gross flesh hems it in1 ,this perfect1 clear perception--which is truth1 ,a baffling and perverting carnal mesh ,binds it1 and makes all error3 and1 to ,,know1 ,rather consists in opening out a way ,whence the imprisoned splendour may escape1 ,than in effecting entry for a light ,supposed to be without4#e ,there are1 again1 in his ,universe1 as in the other occult systems1 three elemental worlds--the spiritual or intellectual world1 the astral world or universal ,soul1 and the terrestrial world2 and all three worlds are man's mothers4 ,man is a quintessence of all the elements1 visible and invisible4 ,he has a spiritual essence within him which is an emanation of ,god2 he has an astral-soul essence1 from the ,soul of the world2 and he partakes1 too1 of the material and earthly world4 ,his supreme aim in life should be to establish1 or rather re-establish1 a harmony between his own little world and the great ,universe1 so that all the worlds have their right proportions in him1 and so that through his highest essence he can win the secrets of the lower worlds--the astral and the material4 ,to accomplish that is to be spiritual1 to become like ,adam1 #aci a paradisaical ,man1 or like ,christ the new ,adam4 ,even the lowest world is penetrated with the spiritual seed or element4 ,the very basic substances of which it is composed--sulphur1 mercury1 and salt--are in essence spiritual principles1 elemental forces1 rather than crude matter1 and the lower world is written over1 like a palimpsest1 with signatures of the divine world to which it belongs4 ,all doors into all the worlds of ,god open to faith and prayer1 and he who subordinates lower elements in himself to higher has power and potency in all realms4 ,but far more important for the development of spiritual religion1 and far more important as a living link between ,reformers like ,denck1 ,schwenckfeld1 and ,franck of the sixteenth century1 and ,jacob ,boehme and the spiritual interpreters of the ,english ,commonwealth1 was ,valentine ,weigel1 ,pastor of ,zschopau4 ,like so many of the men who figure in these chapters1 he is little known1 seldom read1 not a quick and powerful name in the world1 but he is worth knowing1 and he was the bearer of a burning and kindling torch of truth4 ,he was born at ,naundorf1 a suburb of ,grossenhain1 ,district of ,meissen1 in #aecc4 ,he received the ,bachelor's and ,master's degree of the ,university of ,leipzig1 and he pursued his studies still further in the ,university of ,wittenberg1 his study-period having continued until #aefg4 ,in the autumn of that year he was ordained and called to be ,pastor of ,zschopau1 where he passed as a minister his entire public life1 which came to a peaceful end in #aehh4 ,he was an ideal pastor and true shepherd of his flock--loving them and being beloved by them4 ,his ministry was fresh and vital1 and made his hearers feel the presence and the power of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,there was1 so far as ,i can discover the facts1 only one blemish on his really beautiful character4 ,he lacked that robust1 unswerving conscience which compels a man who sees a new vision of the truth to proclaim it1 to champion it1 and to suffer and even die for it when it comes into collision with views which his own soul has outgrown4 #adj ,weigel was resolved not to have his heart's deepest faith1 his mind's most certain truth1 known1 at least during his lifetime1 by the persons who were the guardians of orthodoxy4 ,he signed the ,confessions of his time as though they expressed his own convictions2 he counted it a duty of the first importance to guard his pastoral flock from the distractions and assaults of heresy-hunters1 and he left his matured and deeply meditated views for posterity to discover4 ,how far he was personally timid cannot now be determined4 ,it would seem1 however1 from his own words1#f that he was especially concerned for the safety and welfare of his own flock1 who would suffer if he were cried down as an enthusiast or a spiritual prophet4 ,but even so1 it is very doubtful if any man can rightly permit anything on earth to take precedence to his own loyalty to the vision of truth which his soul sees4 ,as a result1 however1 of the course he took1 he died in good odour of sanctity1 and the epigones of that day had no suspicion of the ideas that were swarming in the mind of the quiet ,pastor of ,zschopau1 or of the mass of manuscripts proclaiming his faith in the inner ,word which he was leaving behind him1 to fly over the world like the loose leaves of the ,sibyl4 ,his writings were not printed until #afji and onwards1 and as his disciples went on producing writings1 somewhat in the style and spirit of the master who inspired them1 the list of books in ,weigel's name is considerably larger than the actual number of manuscripts extant at his death in #aehh4 ,it is not always easy to distinguish the pseudo-writings from the genuine ones1 but there is a vividness and pregnancy of style1 a spiritual depth and power in the earlier writings which are lacking in the later group1 and there is an emphasis on the magical and occult in the secondary writings that is largely absent in the primary ones4#g ,the most important of his books will be referred to and quoted from as ,i present his type of religion and his message1 but ,i shall draw especially upon his little #ada book1 ,von dem ,leben ,christi1 das ist1 vom wahren ,glauben 7,on the ,life of ,christ1 or ,true ,faith71 as it is the one of ,weigel's writings which1 in ,english translation1 most deeply influenced kindred spirits in the ,english ,commonwealth4#h ,his spiritual conception of ,christianity was formed and fed by the sermons of ,tauler1 and by that little book which was the hidden ,manna for all the spiritual leaders of these two centuries--the ,german ,theology4 ,weigel edited it with an introduction4 ,he calls it a precious little book1 a noble book2 but he tells his readers that they can understand it and find it fruitful only if they read it with a pure eye and with the key of ,david1 i4e4 with a personal experience4 ,but while he loved the golden book of mysticism and the sermons of the great ,strasbourg preacher1 and was led by the hand of these guides1 he drew also from many other sources and finally arrived at a type of religion1 still interior and personal1 but less negative and abstract than that of the fourteenth-century mystics1 and more penetrated and informed with the presence of the ,christ of the ,gospels4 ,he insists always that in the last analysis it is ,christ in us that saves us1 but it was ,christ in the flesh1 the ,christ of ,galilee and ,golgotha1 that revealed to men the way to apprehend the inward and eternal ,christ of ,god4 ,the indwelling ,christ1 he wrote1 is all in all4 ,he saves thee4 ,he is thy peace and thy comfort4 ,the outward ,christ1 the ,christ in the flesh1 and according to the flesh1 cannot save thee in an external way4 ,he must be in thee and thou must abide in ,him4 ,why then did ,he become man and suffer on the ,cross8 ,there are many reasons why1 but it was especially that ,god by the death and suffering of ,christ might take the wrath and hostility out of our hearts1 on account of which we falsely conceive of ,god as a wrathful enemy to us4 ,he had to deal that way with poor blind men like us and so reconcile us with ,himself4 #adb ,there was no need of it on ,his part4 ,he was always ,love and ,he always loved us1 even when we were enemies to ,him1 but we should never have known it if ,god had not condescended to show ,himself to us in ,his ,son and had not suffered for us4#i ,weigel everywhere maintains ,christ's double identity--an identity with ,god1 so that in ,christ we see ,god2 and an equal identity with man1 so that ,christ is man revealed in his fulfilled possibilities4 ,in ,him ,god and man are one4 ,in this deep-lying and fundamental idea of his entire ,christianity he was undoubtedly influenced1 profoundly influenced1 by ,schwenckfeld4 ,he presents in chapter i4 of his ,life of ,christ the ,schwenckfeldian view that ,christ is ,god and ,man in one4 ,but ,he is ,man not in the crass1 crude and earthly form3 ,he is not composed of mortal and earthly substance as our ,adamical bodies are4 ,he is wholly and absolutely composed of heavenly1 spiritual1 divine substance4 ,his flesh and blood are as divine and spiritual in origin as is ,his spirit1 so that ,his resurrection and ascension are the normal outcome of ,his nature4 ,it was as natural for ,him to rise into life and to ascend into glory as it is for heavy things to fall4 ,but that divine1 spiritual1 heavenly nature1 which appeared in ,him1 is the true1 original1 consummate nature of ,man4 ,man1 as we know him1 is cloudy1 or even muddy1 with a vesture of decay1 but that is not a feature of his real nature--either in its original or its potential form--and all who put on ,christ1 all who have ,christ in them1 become one flesh with ,him and gain an indestructible and permanent inward substance like ,his4 ,consistently with this view1 ,weigel declares that here lies the significance of ,christ's saying1 ,i am ,bread2 ,i am ,meat and ,drink4 ,the only adequate ,supper of the ,lord1 he says1 is real feeding upon ,his spiritual1 life-giving flesh and blood1 so that ,salvation is not tied to external sacraments1 but stands only in the faith that ,christ feeds us with ,himself4#aj ,there are1 he proceeds to show1 two radically diverse natures1 the traits and #adc characteristics of which he arranges in opposing pairs1 in two parallel columns as follows3 ,a4 ,the ,nature of ,christ and ,b4 ,the nature of ,adam and of those who live in ,him those who live by him1 and by ,him4 i4e4 those who live the natural1 earthly life4 #a4 ,this ,nature turns from #a4 ,this nature turns from ,god creatures to ,god4 to creatures4 #b4 ,this ,nature hates itself and #b4 ,this nature loves itself loves others4 more than it loves ,god or others4 #c4 ,this ,nature abhors all it #c4 ,this nature delights only itself does or omits4 in itself and in things of self4 #d4 ,this ,nature seeks to lose #d4 ,this nature seeks itself in self4 everything4 #e4 ,this ,nature denies self4 #e4 ,this nature cleaves to self4 #f4 ,this ,nature patiently bears #f4 ,this nature thrusts the the ,cross4 ,cross away4 #ae4 ,this ,nature desires to be #ae4 ,this nature desires to be conformed to ,christ and equal with ,god without ,his ,cross in all things4 any humility at all4#aa ,christ is thus for ,weigel entirely a new order of ,being--the ,beginner of a new race4 ,adam had in himself all the possibilities which ,christ realized1 but the former failed and the latter succeeded and so has become the ,head of a divine and heavenly type of humanity4 ,by a new nativity1 a rebirth from above1 any man in the world who wills it in living faith may be a recipient of the divine-principle1 the ,christ-,life1 and may thereby be raised to membership in the ,kingdom of the ,christ-,humanity1 which is as far above the ,adam-,humanity as the flower is above the soil from which it first sprang4 ,when ,christ is formed within and the ,humanity which ,he produces appears in the world1 then a new way of living comes into operation4 ,love is the supreme sign of the new type or order4 ,the man who has the ,christ-,life in him does not quarrel2 he does not go to law for temporall goods2 he does not kill2 he lets his coat and cloke go rather than oppose another4#ab ,if ,christ were of the seed of ,adam1 ,he would have the #add nature and inclinations of ,adam4 ,he would hang thieves1 behead adulterers1 rack murderers with the wheel1 kill hereticks1 and put corporeally to death all manner of sinners2 but now ,he is tender1 kind1 loving4 ,he kills no one4 ,the ,lamb kills no woolf4#ac ,weigel goes the whole bold way in his revolt from legalism1 and he accepts the principle of love as a structural principle of the society which ,christ is forming in the world3 ,where the ,life of ,christ is1 there is no warre made with corporall weapons4 ,the world wars but ,christ doth not so4 ,his warfare is spiritual4 ,he that maketh warre is no ,christian but a woolf1 ana belongs not to the sheepfold nor hath he anything to expect of the ,kingdom of ,god1 nor may the warrs of the ,old ,testament1 of the time of darknesse serve his turne1 for ,christians deal not after a ,mosaicall1 earthly fashion1 but they walke in the ,life of ,christ1 without all revenge4 ,we walk no longer under ,moses but under ,christ4#ad ,the ,christian man1 however1 even with his new nativity and with his re-created spirit of love1 differs in one respect from ,christ4 ,christ is wholly heavenly1 ,his ,nature is woven throughout of spiritual and divine substance4 ,there is no rent nor seam in it4 ,man1 on the other hand1 is double1 and throughout his temporal period he remains double4 ,by his new nativity man can become inwardly spirit though he remains outwardly composed of flesh4#ae ,before the fall ,adam was unsundered from ,god4 ,it was sin which made the cleft or rent which separated ,god and man4 ,through ,christ1 the new and heavenly ,adam1 the junction may be formed again in man's inner self1 and once again ,god and man in us may be unsundered4 ,the flesh is not destroyed1 but it ceases to be the dominating factor4 ,it serves now merely as the habitation of an invisible spirit1 and it exists for the spirit1 not the spirit for it4#af ,not only is the body a #ade habitation for the ,christ-formed soul1 but the world now becomes to the enlightened soul an ,inn for a transient guest rather than a permanent abiding-place3 like as in an ,inne there is meat set before the guest and bedding is allowed to him1 even so ,christians are in this world guests and their country is above4 ,it is not fitting for a guest that comes into an ,inne1 where nothing is his own1 that he should appropriate things to himself and quarrel about them6#ag ,as fast as ,christ is formed within1 as the ,life of one's life1 the believer attains thereby a peace and a power which make the rent between flesh and spirit ever less disturbing1 though it still remains until the fleshly tabernacle dissolves4 ,the goal of the spiritual life here on earth is the attainment of the silent ,sabbath of the soul1 in which ,god becomes so completely the soul's sufficiency that the flesh has little scope or sway any more1 and there is no longer need of furious struggle against it1 like a serpent between two rocks1 trying to pull off his old skin6#ah ,in his ,heavenly ,jerusalem in ,us1 he says3 ,it is an attribute of ,god that ,he is the ,eternal ,peace which is longed for by us men1 but found by few because they do not mind ,christ1 who is the ,way4 ,god has not grounded either thy ,peace or thy ,salvation on thy running hither and yon1 nor on thy works and thy creaturely activities1 but on an inner calm and quiet1 on a ,sabbath of the soul1 in which thou canst hear1 with the simple and the tender-minded1 what the ,lord is saying and doing4#ai ,in close conformity to the teaching of ,sebastian ,franck1#bj ,weigel thinks of the ,church of ,god as an invisible ,assembly of all true ,believers in the entire world1 united1 not outwardly but inwardly1 in the unity of the ,spirit and by the bond of ,love and ,peace4 ,there are for him1 as for ,franck and other ,spirituals1 two kinds of churches3 7#a7 ,the church composed of a visible group1 #adf to be pointed out with the finger1 located in a definite country1 allied with a temporal government1 held together by a body of doctrine1 tied to certain sacraments and possessed of force to constrain men1 by carnall perswasions1 to conform4#ba ,then there is 7#b7 the real ,church of ,god1 the upper ,jerusalem1 a body visible in no one locality1 but dispersed over the earth like wheat in chaff1 held together by no declarations of doctrine1 tied to no sacraments1 dependent on no earthly ,lieutenant or ,vice-gerent1 and on no university-trained ,doctors1 which recognizes ,prince and ,ploughman alike1 and secures its unity through ,christ and through the invisible cement of ,love4 ,to this ,assembly1 writes ,weigel1 doe ,i stick2 in this holy ,church doe ,i rejoice to be4 4 4 4 ,jesus ,christ is my ,head1 my ,teacher4 ,he is everywhere with me and in me1 and ,i in ,him4 ,although the ,protestants should chase me amongst ,papists or ,atheists1 yet ,i should still be in the holy ,church and should have all the heavenly ,gifts common to all ,believers1 and although the ,papists should banish me into ,turkey1 yet even there should ,i be in the holy ,church4#bb ,no book appeared in ,england before #afdh--the date of the translation of ,weigel's ,life of ,christ--which more closely approached the ,quaker position4 ,that religion must have an inward seat and origin2 that divine things must be learned of ,god1 are taken as axiomatic truths throughout this book4 ,if a man is to see1 he must have eyes of his own2 if he is to teach1 he must have the ,word of ,god within him4 ,people say that there can be no true ,faith without outward preaching ministry4 ,that is not so1 ,weigel declares4 ,the way to heaven is open to hungry penitent souls everywhere1 although1 as is the case with infants1 they may hear no sermons at all3 ,faith comes by inward hearing4 ,good books1 outward verbal ministry have their place1 they testify to the real ,treasure1 they are witnesses to the inner ,word within us1 but ,faith is not tied to books2 it is a new nativity which #adg cannot be found in a book4 ,he who hath the inward ,schoolmaster loseth nothing of his ,salvation although all preachers should be dead and all books burned4#bc ,many take great pains to be baptized1 and to hear sermons of their hired priests1 and to use the ,lord's ,supper1 and to read theological books1 who1 nevertheless1 show no spiritual profit therefrom4 ,the reason is that ,truth runs into no one by a pipe6#bd ,in the ,church of men--the man-made ,church--the measuring-line1 or standard1 he says1 is the written ,scripture1 according to one's own interpretation1 or according to books1 or according to ,university men2 but in the true ,church the measuring-reed is the inward ,word1 the ,spirit of ,christ1 within the believer4 ,those who are in the ,universities and ,churches of men have ,christ in their mouths1 and they have a measuring-reed by their side--the inhabitants of ,god's ,church on the other hand have the ,life of ,christ and the testing-standard within themselves4#be ,those who are nominal professors hang salvation on a literal knowledge of the merit secured by ,christ's death2 the true believer knows that salvation is never a purchase1 is never outwardly effected1 but is a new self1 a new spirit1 a new relation to ,god3 ,man must cease to be what he is before he can come to be another kind of person4#bf ,outward baptism and external supper may1 if one wishes1 be used as symbols of the soul's supreme events1 but they cannot rightly be thought of as effecting any change of themselves in the real nature of the man2 only ,christ the ,life-bringer1 only the resident work of ,god within the soul1 can produce the transformation from old self to new self4 ,salvation is not tyed to sacraments4#bg ,it is a well-settled view of ,weigel's that ,heaven and ,hell are primarily in the soul of man4 ,he says1 in ,know ,thyself1 that both the ,trees of ,paradise are in us2 and in his ,ort der ,welt he declares that the ,eternal ,hell of the lost will be their own ,hell4#bh ,and in his ,christliches #adh ,gespraech he insists that the holy ,spirit1 the present ,christ1 does not need to come down from ,heaven to meet with us1 for when ,he is in our hearts there then is ,heaven4#bi ,no person can ever be in ,heaven until ,heaven is in him4 ,in ,der gueldene ,griff and elsewhere ,weigel works out a very interesting theory of knowledge1 which fits well with the inwardness of his religious views4 ,he holds that in sense perception the percipient brings forth his real knowledge from within4 ,the external object1 or the outward stimulus1 is the soliciting occasion1 or suggestion1 or the sign for the experience1 but what we see is determined from within rather than from without4 ,all real knowledge is in the knower4 ,both external world and written scriptures are in themselves shadows until the inward spirit interprets them1 and through them comes to the ,word of ,god which they suggest and symbolize4 ,weigel plainly arrived at his ground ideas under the formative influence of ,schwenckfeld and ,franck1 but he also reveals1 especially in his conception of the deeper inner world and of the microcosmic character of man1 the influence of ,paracelsus and of the nature mystics of his time4 ,he was himself1 in turn1 a most important influence in the development of the religious ideas of ,jacob ,boehme1 and he is historically one of the most significant men of the entire spiritual group before the great ,silesian mystic4#cj ,this chapter cannot come to a proper close without some consideration of a ,weigelean book which was translated into ,english in #afdi1 under the title1 ,astrologie ,theologized3 ,that the ,inward man by the ,light of ,grace1 through possession and practice of a holy life1 is to be acknowledged and live in us3 which is the only means to keep the true ,sabbath in inward holinesse4 #adi ,the anonymous translator ascribes the book to ,weigel4 ,it is1 in fact4 ,part ,two of ,greek ,gnothi ,seauton1 but it is uncertain whether it was written by ,weigel himself4 ,but whether written by ,weigel or later by one of his school1 it is a good illustration of the way in which mystically inclined ,christians of that period endeavoured to make spiritual conquest of the prevailing ,astrology and1 through its help1 to discover the nature of the inner1 hidden universe4 ,astrology1 this little book declares1 is conversant with the secrets of ,god which are hidden in the natural things of creation4 ,it is the science of reading the unseen through the seen1 for1 according to the teaching of this book1 everything visible is an unveiling of something invisible4 ,man--who is a centre of the whole universe1 who has in himself elements of all the worlds1 inner and outer--is created to be a visible ,paradise1 ,garden1 ,tabernacle1 ,mansion1 ,house1 ,temple and ,jerusalem of ,god4 ,all the wisdom1 power1 virtue1 and glory of ,god are hidden and are slumbering in man4 ,there is nothing so near to man as ,god is--,he is nearer to us than we are to ourselves#ca--;and the only reason we do not find ,him and know ,him and open out our life interiorly1 so that the true ,sabbath comes to the soul1 is due to our vagabond and unquiet ways of keeping busy with our own will1 outside our internal country4 ,if ,i could desist from the things with which ,i vex and worry myself1 and study to be at rest in my ,god who dwells with me2 if ,i could accustom my mind to spiritual tranquillity and cease to wander in a maze of thoughts1 cares1 and affections2 if ,i could be at leisure from the external things and creatures of this world1 and chiefly from myself2 if1 in short1 ,i might come into a plenary dereliction of myself1 ,i should at once begin to see and know of the most present habitation of ,god in me and so ,i should eat of the ,tree of ,life in the midst of the ,paradise1 which ,paradise ,i myself am1 and be a ,guest of ,god4#cb ,adam1 who was the ,protoplast and begetter of all men1 and who1 like everything else in the universe1 was double1 #aej allowed himself to live toward the outward instead of toward the inward1 permitted the seed of the serpent to grow in him instead of the divine seed1 and so came under the dominance of the natural1 elemental world1 with its lesser light of knowledge and with its tree of death4 ,but the ,paradise1 with its greater ,light of ,wisdom and with its ,tree of ,life1 is always near to man and can be repossessed and regained by him4 ,the outer elements1 and the astral world with its visible stars1 rule no one1 determine no one4 ,each man's star is in his own breast4 ,it lies in his own power to theologize his astrologie1 to turn his universe into spiritual forces4 ,by a new nativity1 initiated by obedient response to the inward ,light--the spiritual ,star1 not of earth and not of the astral universe1 but of ,god the indwelling ,spirit--he may put on the new man1 created after the likeness of ,god1 and become the recipient of heavenly ,wisdom springing up within him from the ,life of the ,spirit4#cc ,there can be no question in the mind of any one who is familiar with the literature and religious thought of seventeenth-century ,england1 that the ideas set forth in this chapter exerted a wide and profound influence1 and were a part of the psychological climate of the middle decades of that century4 ,the channel here indicated was only one of the ways through which these ideas came in4 ,in due time we shall discover other channels of this spiritual message4 #a ,ficino is dealt with at greater length in ,chapter ,,xiii4 #b ,the ,cabala was1 as ,i have tried to make clear1 only one of the influences which produced this new intellectual climate4 ,the rediscovered ,hermes ,trismegistus1 the mystically coloured ,platonism1 as it came from ,italy1 the awakened interest in ,nature and in man1 and the powerful message of the ,german ,mystics all played an important part toward the formation of the new ,weltanschauung4 #c ,three ,books of ,occult ,philosophy1 translated by ,j4 ,f4 7,london1 #afea74 #d ,stoddart's ,life of ,paracelsus 7,london1 #aiaa71 p4 #gf4 #e ,browning1 ,paracelsus1 ,b4 i4 ,this passage fairly represents ,paracelsus' general position4 ,there is1 he says in his ,philosophia sagax1 a ,light in the spirit of man which illuminates everything4 4 4 4 ,the quality of each thing created by ,god1 whether it be visible or invisible to the senses1 may be perceived and known4 ,if man knows the essence of things1 their attributes1 their attractions1 and the elements of which they consist1 he will be a ,master of nature1 of the elements1 and of the spirits4 #f ,christliches ,gespraech1 chap4 iii4 #g ,there is an excellent critical study of ,weigel's writings by ,a4 ,israel1 entitled1 ,weigels ,leben und ,schriften nach den ,quellen dargestellt 7,zschopau1 #ahhh74 #h ,of the ,life of ,christ1 ,that is1 ,of ,true ,faith which is the ,rule1 ,square1 ,levell or ,measuring ,line of the ,holy ,city of ,god and of the ,inhabitants thereof here on ,earth4 ,written in the ,german ,language by ,valentine ,weigelus4 7,london1 ,giles ,calvert1 #afdh47 #i ,quoted from ,israel1 op4 cit4 p4 #ajg4 #aj ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part i4 chap4 ii4 #aa ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part i4 chap4 iii4 #ab ,ibid4 part i4 chap4 viii4 #ac ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part i4 chap4 ix4 #ad ,ibid4 part ii4 chap4 ix42 part i4 chap4 x42 part ii4 chap4 x42 and part4 i4 chap4 xiv4 #ae ,ibid4 part ii4 chaps4 iii4 and iv4 #af ,this is the view set forth in his ,greek ,gnothi ,seauton ,know ,thyself4 #ag ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part ii4 chaps4 v4 and vii4 #ah ,ibid4 part i4 chap4 viii4 #ai ,vom himmlischen ,jerusalem in uns1 chap4 viii4 #bj ,weigel enjoins his readers to read ,franck's book on the ,tree of the ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil4 ,see ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part ii4 p4 #eg4 #ba ,faith1 he says1 cannot be forced into any person by gallows or pillory4 ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part i4 chap4 xv4 #bb ,ibid4 part ii4 chap4 xiv4 ,this is built on a passage in ,franck's ,apologia4 #bc ,on the ,life of ,christ1 part i4 chaps4 iv4 and v4 #bd ,ibid4 part i4 chap4 vi4 #be ,ibid4 part i4 chaps4 xii4 and xiii4 #bf ,quoted from ,tauler by ,weigel1 ibid4 chap4 vii4 ,see also part iii4 chap4 i4 #bg ,ibid4 part ii4 chap4 ii4 #bh ,op4 cit4 chap4 xx4 #bi ,christ4 ,gespraech1 chap4 ii4 #cj ,in his ,der gueldene ,griff1 he tells of a personal spiritual opening which is very similar to the one which occurred later in the life of ,boehme4 ,he found himself astray in a wilderness of darkness and he cried to ,god for ,light to enlighten his soul4 ,suddenly1 he says1 the ,light came and my eyes were opened so that ,i saw more clearly than all the teachers in all the world with all their books could teach me4 ,chap4 xxiv4 #ca ,astrologie ,theologized1 p4 #h4 #cb ,ibid4 pp4 #af-ag4 #cc ,this little book refers with much appreciation to ,theophrastus ,paracelsus4 ,it uses his theory of first matter and his doctrine of the seven governours of the world1 which we shall meet in a new form in ,boehme4 ,another book which carried astrological ideas into religious thought in a much cruder way was ,andreas ,tentzel's ,de ratione naturali arboris vitae et scientiae boni et mali1 etc41 which was ,pars ,secunda of his ,medicinii diastatica 7,jena1 #afbi74 ,it was translated into ,english in #afeg by ,n4 ,turner with the title3 ,the ,mumial ,treatise of ,tentzelius1 being a natural account of the ,tree of ,life and of the ,tree of ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil1 with a mystical interpretation of that great ,secret1 to wit1 the ,cabalistical ,concordance of the ,tree of ,life and ,death1 of ,christ and ,adam4 ,tentzel was a famous doctor and disciple of ,paracelsus and flourished in ,germany during the first half of the seventeenth century4 #aea ,,chapter ,,ix ,,jacob ,,boehme3 ,,his ,,life ,,and ,,spirit#a ,few men have ever made greater claim to be the bearer of a new revelation than did the humble shoemaker-prophet of ,silesia1 ,jacob ,boehme4 ,i am1 he wrote in his earliest book1 only a very little spark of ,god's ,light1 but ,he is now pleased in this last time to reveal through me what has been partly concealed from the beginning of the ,world1#b and he admonished the reader1 if he would understand what is written1 to let go opinion #aeb and conceit and heathenish wisdom1 and read with the ,light and ,power of the ,holy ,spirit1 for this book comes not forth from ,reason1 but by the impulse of the ,spirit4#c ,i have not dared1 he wrote to a friend in #afbj1 to write otherwise than was given and indited to me4 ,i have continually written as the ,spirit dictated and have not given place to ,reason4#d ,again and again he warns the reader to let his book alone unless he is ready for a new dawning of divine ,truth1 for a fresh ,light to break3 ,if thou art not a spiritual overcomer1 then let my book alone4 ,do not meddle with it1 but stick to thy old matters6#e ,before the ,spirit came upon him1 he felt himself to be a little stammering child1 and he always declared that without this ,spirit he could not comprehend even his own writings--when ,he parteth from me1 ,i know nothing but the elementary and earthly things of this world#f--;but with this divine ,spirit unfolding within him the profoundest depth of mysteries1 he believed1 though with much simplicity and generally with humility1 that the true ground of things had not been so fully revealed to any man from the beginning of the world--but1 he adds1 seeing ,god will have it so1 ,i submit to ,his will4#g ,nobody before him1 he declares1 no matter how learned he was1 has had the ax by the handle1 but1 with a sudden change of figure1 he proclaims that now the ,morning ,glow is breaking and the ,day ,dawn is rising4#h ,in his ,epistles he says3 ,i am only a layman1 ,i have not studied1 yet ,i bring to light things which all the ,high ,schools and ,universities have been unable to do4 4 4 4 ,the language of ,nature is made known to me so that ,i can understand the greatest mysteries1 in my own mother-tongue4 ,though ,i cannot say ,i have learned or comprehended these things1 yet so long as the hand of ,god stayeth upon me ,i understand4#i ,we shall be able to estimate the value of these lofty #aec claims after we have gathered up the substance of his teaching1 but it may be well to say at the opening of this ,study of ,boehme that in my opinion no more remarkable religious message has come in modern centuries from an untrained and undisciplined mind than that which lies scattered through the voluminous and somewhat chaotic writings of this seventeenth-century prophet of the common people4#ai ,he frequently speaks of himself as unlearned1 and in the technical sense of the word he was unlearned4 ,he had only a simple schooling1 but he possessed extraordinary native capacity and he was well and widely read in the books which fitted the frame and temper of his mind1 and he had very unusual powers of meditation and recollection so that he thought over and over again in his quiet hours of labour the ideas which he seized upon in the books he read4 ,there are many strands of thought woven together in his writings1 and everything he dealt with is given a #aed new aspect through the vivid insights which he always brings into play1 the amazing visual power which he displays1 and his profoundly penetrating moral and intellectual grasp4 ,but1 nevertheless1 he plainly belongs in the direct line of these spiritual reformers whom we have been studying4 ,he was deeply influenced1 first of all1 by ,luther1 especially in two directions4 ,he got primarily from the great reformer his transforming insight of the immense importance of personal faith for salvation1 and secondly he was impressed--almost overwhelmingly impressed in his early years--with the awful reality and range of the principle of positive evil in the universe1 upon which ,luther had insisted with intensity of emphasis4 ,his feet1 however1 were set upon the track which seemed to him to lead to light by the help which he got from the other line of reformers4 ,schwenckfeld made him feel the impossibility of any scheme of salvation that rested on transactions and operations external to the human soul itself1 and through that same noble ,silesian reformer he discovered the central significance of the new birth through a creative work of ,grace within4 ,sebastian ,franck was clearly one of his spiritual masters4 ,from him1 directly or indirectly1 he learned that the spirit must be freed from the letter1 that external revelations are symbols which remain dead and inert until they are vivified and vitalized by the inwardly illuminated spirit4 ,he was still more directly influenced by ,valentine ,weigel1 the pastor of ,zschopau1 who united the spiritual-mystical views of ,schwenckfeld1 ,franck1 and the other teachers of his type with a nature mysticism or theosophy which had become1 as we have seen1 a powerful interest in the sixteenth century when a real science was struggling to be born1 but had not yet seen the light4 ,this nature mysticism came to him also in a crude and indigestible form through the writings of ,paracelsus4 ,through him ,boehme acquired a vocabulary of alchemistical terms which he was always labouring to turn to spiritual meaning1 but which always baffled him4 ,it has been customary to treat ,boehme as a mystic1 and he has not #aee usually been brought into this line of spiritual development where ,i am placing him1 but his entire outlook and body of ideas are different from those of the great ,roman ,catholic mystics4 ,he has read neither the classical nor the scholastic interpreters of mysticism4 ,in so far as he knows of historical mysticism he knows it through ,franck and ,weigel and others1 where it is profoundly transformed and subordinated to other aspects of religion and thought4 ,unlike the great mystics1 he does not treat the visible and the finite as unreal and to be negated4 ,the world is a positive reality and a divine revelation4 ,nor1 again1 are sin and evil negative in character for him4 ,evil is tremendously real and positive1 in grim conflict with the good and to be conquered only through stern battle4 ,a mystic1 an illuminate1 he undoubtedly was in his first-hand experience1 but his message of salvation and his interpretation of life are of the wider1 distinctively spiritual type4 ,jacob ,boehme#aa was born in ,november #aege in the little market-town of ,alt ,seidenberg1 a few miles from ,goerlitz4 ,his father's name was ,jacob and his mother's ,ursula1 both persons of good old ,german peasant stock1 possessed of a strong strain of simple piety4 ,the family religion was ,lutheran1 and ,jacob the son was brought up both at home and at church in the ,lutheran faith as it had shaped itself into definite form at the end of the sixteenth century4 ,his early education was very limited1 but he was possessed of unusual fundamental capacity and always exhibited a native mental power of very high order4 ,he was always a keen observer2 he looked through things1 and whether he was in the fields1 where much of his early life was spent as a watcher of cattle1 or reading the ,bible1 which he knew as few persons have known it1 he saw everything with a vivid and quickened imagination4 ,he plainly began1 while still very young1 to revolt from the orthodox theology of his time1 and his #aef years of reading and of silent meditation and reflection were the actual preparation for what seemed finally to come to him like a sudden revelation or1 to use his own common figure1 as a flash4#ab ,his external appearance has been quaintly portrayed by his admiring friend and biographer1 ,abraham von ,franckenberg1 who1 like a good portrait-painter1 strives to let the body reveal the soul4 ,the external form of ,jacob's body1 he says1 was worn and very plain2 his stature was small1 his forehead low1 his temples broad and prominent1 his nose somewhat crooked1 his eyes grey and rather of an azure-cast1 lighting up like the windows of ,solomon's ,temple2 his beard was short and thin2 his voice was feeble1 yet his conversation was mild and pleasant4 ,he was gentle in manner1 modest in his words1 humble in conduct1 patient in suffering and meek of heart4 ,his spirit was highly illuminated of ,god beyond anything ,nature could produce4#ac ,this youth1 with azure-grey eyes that lighted up like the windows of ,solomon's ,temple1 was from his childhood possessed of a most acutely sensitive and suggestible psychical disposition4 ,he always felt that the real world was deeper than the one which he saw with his senses1 and he was frequently swept from within by mighty currents which he could not trace to any well-mapped region of the domain of ,nature4 ,his vivid and pictorial imagination1 his consciousness of inrushes from the unplumbed deeps within1 and his inclination to solitude and meditation are well in evidence at an early age1 and we have no difficulty at all in seeing that his psychological equilibrium was unstable1 and that he was capable of sudden shifts of inward level4 ,the first sign of his psychical peculiarity comes to light in an incident of his early childhood4 ,while he was tending cattle in the fields one day he climbed alone a neighbouring #aeg mountain-peak1 and on the summit he espied among the great red sandstones a kind of aperture overgrown with bushes4 ,boy-like he entered the opening1 and there within1 in a strange vault1 he descried a large portable vessel full of money4 ,the sight of it made him shudder1 and1 without touching the treasure1 he made his way out to the world again4 ,to his surprise he was never able to find the aperture again1 though1 in company with the other less imaginative cowboys1 he often hunted for it4 ,his friend1 von ,franckenberg1 who relates the story and says that he had it from ,boehme's mouth1 thinks that the experience was a sort of emblematic omen or presage of his future spiritual admission to the sight of the hidden treasury of the wisdom and mysteries of ,god and ,nature1#ad but we are more interested in it as a revelation of the extraordinary psychical nature of the boy1 with his tendency to hallucination4 ,when he was in his fourteenth year he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in ,seidenberg1 and devoted himself diligently to the mastery of his trade4 ,it was during this period of apprenticeship1 which lasted three years1 that there was granted to him a kind of secret tinder and glimmer of coming fame4 ,one day a stranger1 plain and mean in dress1 but otherwise of good presence1 came to the shop and asked to buy a pair of shoes4 ,as the master shoemaker was absent1 the uninitiated prentice-boy did not feel competent to sell the shoes1 but the buyer would not be put off4 ,thereupon young ,jacob set an enormous price upon them1 hoping to stave off the trade4 ,the man1 however1 without any demur paid the price1 took the shoes1 and went out4 ,just outside the door the stranger stopped1 and in a serious tone called out1 ,jacob1 come hither to me6 ,the man1 with shining eyes looking him full in the face1 took his hand and said1 ,jacob1 thou art little but thou shalt become great--a man very different from the common cast1 so that thou shalt be a wonder to the world4 ,be a good lad2 fear ,god and reverence ,his ,word4 ,with a little more counsel1 the #aeh stranger pressed his hand and went his way1 leaving the boy amazed4#ae ,he had1 his intimate biographer tells us1 lived from his very youth up in the fear of ,god1 in all humility and simplicity1 and had taken peculiar pleasure in hearing sermons1 but from the opening of his apprenticeship he began to revolt from the endless controversies and scholastic wranglings about religion1 and he withdrew into himself1 fervently and incessantly praying and seeking and knocking1 until one day he was translated into the holy ,sabbath and glorious ,day of ,rest to the soul1 and1 according to his own words1 was enwrapt with the ,divine ,light for the space of seven days and stood possessed of the highest beatific wisdom of ,god1 in the ecstatic joy of the ,kingdom4#af ,boehme looked upon this ,sabbatic experience as his spiritual call1 and from this time on he increased his endeavours to live a pure life of godliness and virtue1 refusing to listen to frivolous talk1 reproving his fellows and even his shopmaster when they indulged in light and wanton conversation1 until finally the master discharged him with the remark that he did not care to keep a house-prophet any longer4#ag ,hereupon he went forth as a travelling cobbler1 spending some years in his wanderings1 discovering more and more1 as he passed from place to place1 how religion was being lost in the ,babel of theological wrangling1 and seeing1 with those penetrating eyes of his1 deeper into the meaning of life and the world4 ,near the end of the century--probably about #aeii--;he gave up his wanderings1 married ,catherine ,kunchman1 a young woman of virtuous disposition1 and opened a shoemaker's shop for himself in the town of ,goerlitz1 where he soon established a reputation for honest1 faithful work1 and where he modestly prospered and was able to buy a home of his own1 and where he reared the four sons and two daughters who came to the happy home4 #aei ,the supreme experience of his life--and one of the most remarkable instances of illumination in the large literature of mystical experiences--occurred when ,boehme was twenty-five years of age1 some time in the year #afjj4 ,his eye fell by chance upon the surface of a polished pewter dish which reflected the bright sunlight1 when suddenly he felt himself environed and penetrated by the ,light of ,god1 and admitted into the innermost ground and centre of the universe4 ,his experience1 instead of waning as he came back to normal consciousness1 on the contrary deepened4 ,he went to the public green in ,goerlitz1 near his house1 and there it seemed to him that he could see into the very heart and secret of ,nature1 and that he could behold the innermost properties of things4#ah ,in his own account of his experience1 ,boehme plainly indicates that he had been going through a long and earnest travail of soul as a ,seeker1#ai striving to find the heart of ,jesus ,christ and to be freed and delivered from everything that turned him away from ,christ4 ,at last1 he says1 he resolved to put his life to the utmost hazard rather than miss his life-quest1 when suddenly the gate was opened4 ,he continues his account as follows3 ,in one quarter of an hour ,i saw and knew more than if ,i had been many years together in a ,university4 4 4 4 ,i saw and knew the ,being of ,beings1 the ,byss and ,abyss1 the eternal generation of the ,trinity1 the origin and descent of this world1 and of all creatures through ,divine ,wisdom4 ,i knew and saw in myself all the three worlds--7#a7 the ,divine1 ,angelical1 or ,paradisaical ,world2 7#b7 the dark world1 the origin of fire2 and 7#c7 the external1 visible world as an outbreathing or expression of the internal and spiritual worlds4 ,i saw1 too1 the essential nature of evil and of good1 and how the #afj pregnant ,mother--the eternal genetrix--brought them forth4#bj ,he has also vividly told his experience in the ,aurora3 ,while ,i was in affliction and trouble1 ,i elevated my spirit1 and earnestly raised it up unto ,god1 as with a great stress and onset1 lifting up my whole heart and mind and will and resolution to wrestle with the love and mercy of ,god and not to give over unless ,he blessed me--then the ,spirit did break through4 ,when in my resolved zeal ,i made such an assault1 storm1 and onset upon ,god1 as if ,i had more reserves of virtue and power ready1 with a resolution to hazard my life upon it1 suddenly my spirit did break through the ,gate1 not without the assistance of the ,holy ,spirit1 and ,i reached to the innermost ,birth of the ,deity and there ,i was embraced with love as a bridegroom embraces his bride4 ,my triumphing can be compared to nothing but the experience in which life is generated in the midst of death or like the resurrection from the dead4 ,in this ,light my spirit suddenly saw through all1 and in all created things1 even in herbs and grass1 ,i knew ,god--who ,he is1 how ,he is1 and what ,his will is--and suddenly in that ,light my will was set upon by a mighty impulse to describe the being of ,god4#ba ,this experience was the momentous watershed of his life4 ,he is constantly referring to it either directly or indirectly4 ,i teach1 write1 and speak1 is his frequent testimony1 of what has been wrought in me4 ,i have not scraped my teaching together out of histories and so made opinions4 ,i have by ,god's grace obtained eyes of my own4#bb ,there come moments1 he writes1 when the soul sees ,god as in a flash of lightning1#bc and he tells his readers that when the ,gate is opened to them1 they also will understand4#bd ,in my own faculties1 he writes again1 ,i am as blind a man as #afa ever was1 but in the ,spirit of ,god my spirit sees through all4#be ,during the ten quiet years which followed the opening of the ,gate to him1 ,boehme meditated on what he had seen1 and1 though he does not say so1 he almost certainly read much in the works of the great masters1 as he calls them1 who were trying to tell1 often in confused language1 the central secret of the universe4 ,instead of fading out1 his flash of insight grew steadily clearer to him as he read and pondered1 and little by little1 as one comes to see in the dark1 certain great ideas became defined4 ,with his third flash1#bf which came to him in #afaj1 when he felt once more overshadowed by the ,holy ,spirit and touched by ,god1#bg he was moved to write down for his own use what he had seen4 ,it was1 he says1 powerfully borne in upon my mind to write down these things for a memorial1 however difficult they might be of apprehension to my outer self intellect and of expression through my pen4 ,i felt compelled to begin at once1 like a child going to school1 to work upon this very great ,mystery4 ,inwardly in spirit ,i saw it all well enough1 as in a great depth2 for ,i looked through as into a chaos where all things lie undifferentiated but the unravelling thereof seemed impossible4 ,from time to time an opening took place within me1 as of a growth4#bh ,i kept this to myself for twelve years #afjj-ab1 being full of it and ,i experienced a vehement impulse before ,i could bring it out into expression2 but at last it overwhelmed me like a cloud-burst which hits whatever it lights upon4 ,and so it went with me3 whatsoever ,i could grasp sufficiently to bring it out1 that ,i wrote down4#bi ,this first book which thus grew out of his spiritual travails and openings ,boehme called ,morning ,glow1 to which later1 through the suggestion of a friend1 he gave #afb the title ,aurora4 ,it is a strange melange of chaos where all things lie undifferentiated and of insight2 dreary wastes of words that elude comprehension1 with beautiful patches of spiritual oasis4 ,he himself always felt that the book was dictated to him1 and that he only passively held the pen which wrote it4 ,art1 he says1 speaking of his writing1 has not written here1 neither was there any time to consider how to set it down punctually1 according to the understanding of the letters1 but all was ordered according to the direction of the ,spirit1 which often went in haste1 so that in many words letters may be wanting1 and in some places a capital letter for a word2 so that the ,penman's hand1 by reason that he was not accustomed to it1 did often shake4 ,and though ,i could have wrote in a more accurate1 fair1 and plain manner1 yet the reason was this1 that the burning fire often forced forward with speed1 and the hand and pen must hasten directly after it2 for it goes and comes like a sudden shower4#cj ,this is obviously an inside account of the production of inspirational script1 amounting almost to automatic impulsion4 ,throughout his voluminous writings he often speaks of this hand1 or this pen as though they were owned and moved by a will far deeper than his own individual consciousness1#ca and his writings themselves frequently bear the marks of automatisms4 ,his manuscript copy of ,morning ,glow was freely lent to readers and circulated widely4 ,boehme himself kept no copy by him1 but he tells us that during its wanderings the manuscript was copied out in full four times by strangers and brought to him4#cb ,one of the copies fell into the hands of ,gregorius ,richter1 pastor primarius of ,goerlitz1 a violent guardian of orthodoxy and a man extremely jealous of any infringement of the dignity of his official position4 ,he proceeded at once--without sufficient examination or knowledge--to #afc vilify and condemn the writing1 and in a sermon on ,false ,prophets he vigorously attacked the local prophet of ,goerlitz1 who meekly sat in ,church and listened to the fulminations against him4#cc ,after the sermon1 ,boehme modestly asked the preacher to show him what was wrong with his teaching1 but the only answer he received was that if he did not instantly leave the town the pastor would have him arrested2 and the following day ,richter had ,boehme summoned before the magistrates1 and succeeded by his influence and authority in overawing them so that they ordered the harmless prophet to leave the town forthwith without any time given him to see his family or to close up his affairs4 ,boehme quietly replied1 ,yes1 dear ,sirs1 it shall be done2 since it cannot be otherwise ,i am content4 ,the next day1 however1 the magistrates of ,goerlitz held a meeting and recalled the banished prophet and offered him the privilege of remaining in his home and occupation on condition that he would cease from writing on theological matters4 ,on this latter point we have ,boehme's own testimony1 though he does not refer the condition to the magistrates4 ,when ,i appeared before him ,pastor ,richter1 ,boehme says1 to defend myself and indicate my standpoint1 the ,rev4 ,primarius ,richter exacted from me a promise to give up writing and to this ,i assented1 since ,i did not then see clearly the divine way1 nor did ,i understand what ,god would later do with me4 4 4 4 ,by his order ,i gave up for many years #afac-ah all writing or speaking about my knowledge of divine things1 hoping vainly that the evil reports would at last come to an end1 instead of which they only grew worse and more malignant4#cd ,boehme's friend1 ,doctor ,cornelius ,weissner1 in his account1 which is none too accurate1 endeavours to find an explanation of ,richter's persistent hate and persecution #afd of the shoemaker-prophet in a gentle reproof which the latter administered to the former for having meanly treated a poor kinsman of ,boehme in a small commercial transaction1 but it is by no means necessary to bring up incidents of this sort to discover an adequate ground for ,richter's fury4 ,the ,aurora itself furnishes plenty of passages which would1 if read1 throw a jealous guardian of orthodoxy into fierce activity4 ,one passage in which ,boehme boldly attacks the popular doctrine of predestination and asserts that the writers and scribes who teach it are masterbuilders of ,lies will be sufficient illustration of the theological provocation3 ,this present world doth dare to say that ,god hath decreed or concluded it so in ,his predestinate purpose and counsel that some men should be saved and some should be damned1 as if hell and malice and evil had been from eternity and that it was in ,god's predestinate purpose that men should be and must be therein4 ,such persons pull and hale the ,scriptures to prove it1 though1 indeed1 they neither have the knowledge of the true ,god nor the understanding of ,scripture4 ,these justifiers and disputers assist the ,devil steadfastly and pervert ,god's truth and change it into lies4#ce ,he closed his book with these daring words3 ,should ,peter or ,paul seem to have written otherwise1 then look to the essence1 look to the heart i4e4 to interior meaning4 ,if you lay hold of the heart of ,god you have ground enough4#cf ,his entire conception of salvation was1 too1 as we shall see1 vastly different from the prevailing orthodox conception1 and furthermore he was only a layman1 innocent of the schools1 and yet he was claiming to speak as an almost infallible instrument of a fresh revelation of ,god4 ,theologians of the type of the ,primarius ,richter need no other provocation to account for their relentless pursuit of local prophets that appear in the domain of their authority4 ,meantime ,boehme's fame was slowly spreading1 and he was drawing into sympathetic fellowship with himself a number of high-minded and serious men who were #afe dissatisfied with the current orthodox teaching4 ,in this group of friends who found comfort in the fresh message of ,boehme were ,dr4 ,balthazar ,walther1 director of the ,chemical ,laboratory of ,dresden1 ,dr4 ,tobias ,kober1 physician at ,goerlitz1 a disciple of ,paracelsus1 ,abraham von ,franckenberg1 who calls ,jacob our ,god-taught man1 ,doctor ,cornelius ,weissner1 who became intimate with him in #afah1 and the nobleman ,carl von ,endern1 who copied out the entire manuscript of the ,aurora4 ,these friends frequently encouraged ,boehme to break his enforced silence1 and he himself was restless and melancholy1 feeling that he was entrusted with a talent which he ought to put to usury and not return to ,god singly and without improvement1 like the lazy servant4 ,it was with me1 he writes1 describing his years of silence1 as when a seed is hidden in the earth4 ,it grows up in storm and rough weather1 against all reason4 ,in winter time1 all is dead1 and reason says3 ',it is all over with it4' ,but the precious seed within me sprouted and grew green1 oblivious of all storms1 and amid disgrace and ridicule it has blossomed forth into a lily6#cg ,under the pressure1 from without and from within1 he resolved after five years of repression to break the seal of silence and give the world his message4 ,writing to a dear friend1 whom he called a plant of ,god1 he says3 ,my very dear brother in the life of ,god1 you are more acceptable to me in that it was you who awaked me out of my sleep1 that ,i might go on to bring forth fruit in the life of ,god--and ,i want you to know that after ,i was awakened a strong smell was given to me in the life of ,god4#ch ,during the next six years 7#afah-bd7 he wrote almost incessantly1 producing1 from #afbj on1 book after book in rapid succession4#ci ,in #afbb1 he informs a friend that he #aff has laid aside his trade to serve ,god and his brothers1#dj and in #afbc1 he says that he has written without ceasing during the autumn and winter4 ,he felt throughout his life that the illumination1 which broke upon him in the year #afjj1 steadily increased with the years1 and he came to look upon his first book as only the crude attempt of a child as compared with his later works4 ,the ,day1 he writes in #afbj1 has now overtaken the ,aurora the morning glow2 it has grown full daylight and the morning is extinguished4#da ,he says1 with artlessness1 that when he wrote the ,aurora1 he was not yet accustomed to the ,spirit4 ,the heavenly joy1 indeed1 met him and he followed the ,spirit's guidance1 but much of his own wild and untamed nature still remained to mar his work4 ,each successive book marks a growth of the spiritual lily in him1 he thinks3 ,each book from the first is ten times deeper6#db ,once again1 the zeal of a friend brought ,boehme into the storm-centre of persecution4 ,until #afbc1 his works circulated only in manuscript and were kept from the eye of his ecclesiastical enemy1 but toward the end of that year1 an admirer1 ,sigismund von ,schweinitz1 printed three of his little books--,true ,repentance2 ,true ,resignation2 and ,the ,supersensual ,life--in one volume under the title ,the ,way to ,christ4 ,richter was immediately aroused and poured forth his feelings in some desperately bad verses3 ,quot continentur lineae1 blasphemiae ,tot continentur in libro sutorio1 ,qui nil nisi picem redolet sutoriam1 #afg ,atrum et colorem1 quern vocant sutorium4 ,pfuy6 pfuy6 teter sit fetor a nobis procul6#dc ,but the ,primarius was not content with this harmless weapon of ridicule4 ,he stirred up the neighbouring clergymen to join him in the attack1 and a complaint was lodged in ,town ,council against ,boehme as a rabid enthusiast1 and he was warned to leave the town4 ,boehme was as sweet and gentle in spirit now as he had been ten years before4 ,he wrote in #afbd3 ,i pray for those who have reviled and condemned me4 ,they curse me and ,i bless4 ,i am standing the test ,proba and have the mark of ,christ on my forehead4#dd ,but he thought that it did not befit him as an instrument of ,god's revelation to let the false charges against him go unanswered4 ,he accordingly replied to the accusations in an ,apology1 in which the whole depth and beauty of his spiritual nature breathes forth4 ,his appeal was in vain and he was forced to leave ,goerlitz4 ,he went forth1 however1 in no discouraged mood4 ,he saw that his message was being sounded through ,europe1 and he predicts that the nations will take up what his own native town is casting away4 ,already1 he hears1 his book has been read with interest in the ,court of the ,elector of ,saxony1 and he writes1 ,march #ae1 #afbd3 ,i am invited there to a conference with high people and ,i have consented to go at the end of the ,leipzig fair4 ,soon the revelation of ,jesus ,christ shall break forth and destroy the works of the ,devil4#de ,the real trouble with the world1 he thinks1 is that the ,christians in it are titular and verbal1--they are only opinion-peddlers1#df and that is why a man who insists upon a reproduction of the life of ,christ is persecuted4 ,the visit to the ,elector's ,court in ,dresden came off well for the simple shoemaker4 ,he spent two months in the home of the court physician1 ,dr4 ,hinkelmann1 where many of the nobility and clergy came to see #afh him and to talk with him4 ,three professors of theology and other learned doctors were asked by the ,elector to examine him4 ,they reported that they did not yet quite succeed in understanding him1 and that therefore they could not pronounce judgment4 ,they hoped ,his ,highness would please to have patience and allow the man sufficient time to expound his ideas--which were1 in fact1 already expounded in more than a score of volumes6 ,one of the professors is reported to have said3 ,i would not for the world be a party to this man's condemnation1 and another declared3 ,nor would ,i1 for who knows what lies at the bottom of it all6#dg ,the end of the good man's life1 however1 was near4 ,he was taken ill in ,november #afbd1 while staying with his old friend1 von ,schweinitz1 and he hurried home to ,goerlitz1 where his family had remained during his absence1 to die in the quiet of his own house4 ,the night before he died1 he spoke of hearing beautiful music1 and asked to have the door opened that he might hear it better4 ,in the morning--as the ,aurora appeared--he bade farewell to his wife and children1 committed his soul to the crucified ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 arranged a few simple matters1 and1 with a smile on his face1 said1 ,now ,i go to ,paradise4 ,his old enemy1 ,richter1 had died a few months before him1 but the new pastor was of the same temper and refused to preach his funeral sermon4 ,the second pastor of the city was finally ordered by the ,governor of ,lausitz to preach the sermon1 which he began with the words1 ,i had rather have walked a hundred and twenty miles than preach this sermon6#dh ,the common people1 however1--the shoemakers1 tanners and a great concourse of us his fast friends1 as one of them writes1--were at the funeral1 and a band of young shoemakers carried his body to its last resting-place1 where a block of porphyry now informs the visitor that ,jacob ,boehme1 philosophus ,teutonicus sleeps beneath4 ,gruetzmacher holds that ,boehme is an isolated thinker1 having little1 if any1 historical connection with #afi the past4#di ,i do not agree with this view4 ,i find in him rather the ripe fulfilment of the powerful protest against the dead letter1 against a formal religion1 and equally a fulfilment of a ,christianity of inward life1 which was voiced so vigorously in the writings of ,denck1 ,buenderlin1 ,entfelder1 ,franck1 and ,weigel1 neglecting for the moment another side of ,boehme and another set of influences which appeared in him4 ,the central note of his life-long prophet-cry was against a form of religion built upon the letter of ,scripture and consisting of external ceremonies and practices1 and this is the ground of ,richter's bitter hostility and stubborn opposition4#ej ,the ,church of his day seems to him a veritable ,babel--full of pride and wrangling1 and jangling1 and snarling about the letter of the written ,word1 lacking in true1 real1 effectual knowledge and power2 a pitiably poor substitute for the ,temple of the holy ,spirit where ,god's living ,word is taught4#ea ,through each of his books we hear of verbal ,christendom2 of titular ,christians2 of historical feigned faith2 of history religion2 of an external forgiveness of sins2 of the work of outward letters4 ,the builders of ,babel1 he says1 cannot endure that one should teach that ,christ ,himself must be the teacher in the human heart--they jangle instead about the mere husk1 about the written word and letter while they miss the living ,word4#eb ,the divisions of ,christendom are due to the fact that its master-builders are of the ,babel-type4 ,they always follow the line of opinion2 their basis is the letter2 their method of approach is external4 ,they build stone houses in which they read the writings which the ,apostles left behind them1 while they themselves dispute and contend about mental idols and #agj opinions4#ec ,the true ,church of ,christ1 on the contrary1 is the living ,temple of the ,spirit4 ,it is built up of men made wholly new by the inward power of the ,divine ,spirit and made one by an inward unity of heart and life with ,christ--as a living ,twig of our ,life-,tree ,jesus ,christ4 ,nobody can belong to this ,church unless he puts on the shirt of a little child1 dies to selfishness and hypocrisy1 rises again in a new will and obedience1 and forms his life in its inmost ground according to ,christ1 the ,life4#ed ,the wise world1 he declares1 will not believe in the true inward work of ,christ in the heart2 it will have only an external washing away of sins in ,grace1 but the ,,abc of true religion is far different4#ee ,he only is a ,christian in fact in whom ,christ dwelleth1 liveth and hath ,his being1 in whom ,christ hath arisen as the eternal ground of the soul4 ,he only is a ,christian who has this high title in himself1 and has entered with mind and soul into that ,eternal ,word which has manifested itself as the life of our humanity4#ef ,he wrote near the end of his life to ,balthazar ,tilken3 ,if ,i had no other book except the book which ,i myself am1 ,i should have books enough4 ,the entire ,bible lies in me if ,i have ,christ's ,spirit in me4 ,what do ,i need of more books8 ,shall ,i quarrel over what is outside me before ,i have learned what is within me8#eg ,what would it profit me if ,i were continually quoting the ,bible and knew the whole book by heart but did not know the ,spirit that inspired the holy men who wrote that book1 nor the source from which they received their knowledge8 ,how can ,i expect to understand them in truth1 if ,i have not the same ,spirit they had8#eh ,this insistence on personal1 first-hand experience and practice of the ,christ-,life1 as the ground of true religion1 #aga is the fundamental feature of ,boehme's ,christianity4 ,he travels1 as we shall see1 through immense heights and deeps4 ,like ,dante1 who immeasurably surpasses him in power of expression1 but not in prophetic power of vision1 he saw the eternal realities of heaven and hell and the world between1 and he told as well as he could what he saw1 but his practical message which runs like a thread through all his writings is always simple--almost childlike in its simplicity--,thou must thyself be the way4 ,the spiritual understanding must be born in thee4#ei ,a ,christian is a new creature in the ground of the heart4#fj ,the ,kingdom of ,god is not from without1 but it is a new man1 who lives in love1 in patience1 in hope1 in faith and in the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ4#fa ,and this simple shoemaker of ,goerlitz1 with his amazing range of thought and depth of experience1 practised and embodied the way of life which he recommended4 ,he was a good man1 and his life touches us even now with a kind of awe4 ,life1 he once said1 is a strange bath of thorns and thistles1#fb and he himself experienced that bath1 but he went through the world hearing everywhere a divine music and having a joy in his heart which made his whole being tremble and his soul triumph as if it were in ,god4#fc #a ,i have used as primary source the ,german edition of ,boehme's ,works--,theosophia revelata--published in #agcj in #h vols4 ,all my references are to the ,english translations made by ,sparrow1 ,ellistone1 and ,blunden1 #afdg-fa4 ,these translations were republished1 #agfd1 in #d vols4 in an edition which has incorrectly been called ,william ,law's edition4 ,four volumes have been republished by ,john ,m4 ,watkins of ,london1 as follows3 ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man1 #aiji2 ,the ,three ,principles1 #aiaj2 ,the ,forty ,questions and ,the ,clavis1 #aiaa2 and ,the ,way to ,christ1 #aiaa4 ,the ,signatura rerum1 in ,english1 has been published in ,everyman's ,library4 ,a valuable volume of selections from ,jacob ,behmen's ,theosophic ,philosophy was made by ,edward ,taylor1 ,london1 #afia4 ,many volumes of selections have been published in recent years4 ,the books on ,boehme which ,i have found most suggestive and helpful are the following3 ,franz von ,baader's ,vorlesungen und ,erlaeuterungen ueber ,j4 ,boehme's ,lehre1 ,werke 7,leipzig1 #aheb71 vol4 iii4 edition of #ahee1 vol4 xiii42 ,emile ,boutroux1 ,le ,philosophe allemand 7,paris1 #ahhh73 translated into ,english by ,rothwell in ,boutroux's ,historical ,studies in ,philosophy 7,london1 #aiab71 pp4 #afi-bcc2 ,hans ,lassen ,martensen's ,jacob ,boehme 7translated from the ,danish by ,t4 ,rhys ,evans1 ,london1 #ahhe72 ,franz ,hartmann's ,life and ,doctrine of ,jacob ,boehme 7,london1 #ahia72 ,von ,harless' ,jacob ,boehme und die ,alchymisten 7,leipzig1 #ahhb72 ,ederheimer's ,jakob ,boehme und die ,romantiker 7,heidelberg1 #aija72 ,paul ,deussen's ,jacob ,boehme--an ,address delivered at ,kiel1 ,may #h1 #ahig--translated from the ,german by ,mrs4 ,d4 ,s4 ,hehner and printed as ,introduction to ,watkin's edition of ,the ,three ,principles 7#aiaj72 ,christopher ,walton's ,notes and ,materials for a ,biography of ,william ,law 7,london1 #ahed7--;a volume of great value to the student of ,boehme2 ,rudolph ,steiner's ,mystics of the ,renaissance 7translated1 ,london1 #aiaa71 pp4 #bbc-bde2 ,a4 ,j4 ,penny's ,studies in ,jacob ,boehme 7,london1 #aiab71 uncritical and written from the theosophical point of view2 ,hegel's ,history of philosophy 7translated by ,haldane and ,simson1 ,london1 #ahie71 iii4 pp4 #ahh-baf4 #b ,aurora1 ,john ,sparrow's translation 7,london1 #afef71 ii4 #gi-hj4 #c ,aurora1 iii4 #a-c4 #d ,third ,epistle1 #ae4 #e ,aurora1 xiii4 #bg4 #f ,ibid4 viii4 #ai4 #g ,ibid4 ix #ij4 #h ,ibid4 xiii4 #b-d4 #i ,third ,epistle1 #bb4 #aj ,many thinkers of prominent rank have borne testimony to the greatness of ,boehme's genius4 ,i shall mention only a few of these estimates3 ,i would recommend you to procure the writings of ,boehme and diligently read them4 ,for though ,i have studied philosophy and theology from my youth 4 4 4 yet ,i must acknowledge that the above writings have been to me of more service for the understanding of the ,bible than all my ,university learning4--,j4 ,g4 ,gictell1 #afih4 ,jacob ,boehme1 as a religious and philosophical genius1 has not often had his equal in the world's history4--,jacob ,boehme3 ,his ,life and ,philosophy4 ,an ,address by ,dr4 ,paul ,deussen4 ,jacob ,boehme est le seul1 au moins dont on ait eu les ecrits jusqu'a lui1 auquel ,dieu ait decouvert le fond de la nature1 tant des choses spirituelles1 que des corporelles4--,peter ,poiret1 in a note at the end of his ,theologie germanique1 #agjj4 ,as a chosen servant of ,god1 ,jacob ,boehme must be placed among those who have received the highest measures of light1 wisdom1 and knowledge from above4 4 4 4 ,all that lay in religion and nature as a mystery unsearchable was in its deepest ground opened to this instrument of ,god4--,william ,law1 ,works 7ed4 #ahic71 vi4 p4 #bje4 ,to ,jacob ,boehme belongs the merit of having taught more profoundly than any one else before or after him the truth that back of and behind all that has come to appear of good and evil there is an immaterial ,world which is the essence and reality of all that is4--,franz von ,baader1 ,werke 7,leipzig1 #aheb71 iii4 p4 #chb4 ,novalis wrote in a letter to ,ludwig ,tieck in #ahjj3 ,man sieht durchaus in ihm ,jakob ,boehme den gewaltigen ,fruehling mit seinen quellenden1 treibenden1 bildenden1 und mischenden ,kraeften1 die von innen heraus die ,welt gebaeren4 ,ein echtes ,chaos voll dunkler ,begier und wunderbarem ,leben--einen wahren auseinandergehenden ,mikrokosmos4--,quoted from ,edgar ,ederheimer's ,jakob ,boehme und die ,romantiker 7#aijd71 p4 #eg4 #aa ,his ,english translators in the seventeenth century variously spelled his name ,behm1 ,behme1 and ,behmen4 ,this latter spelling was adopted in the so-called ,law ,edition of #agfd1 and has thus come into common use in ,england and ,america4 #ab ,boehme refers frequently to the writings of high masters1 whom he says he read 7,aurora1 x4 #de71 and he often names ,schwenckfeld and ,weigel in particular4 ,see especially ,the ,second ,epistle1 sec4 #ed-fb #ac ,memoirs of the ,life1 ,death and ,burial1 and ,wonderful ,writings of ,jacob ,behmen1 translated by ,francis ,okeley 7#aghj71 p4 #bb4 #ad ,memoirs1 p4 #b4 #ae ,memoirs1 p4 #f4 ,von ,franckenberg says that ,boehme himself told him this incident4 #af ,ibid4 pp4 #d-e4 ,the reader will have noted the long history of this phrase1 ,sabbath of the soul4 #ag ,ibid4 p4 #g4 #ah ,memoirs1 p4 #h4 ,paracelsus taught that the inner nature of things might be seen by one who has become an organ of the ,universal ,mind4 ,he says3 ,hidden things which cannot be perceived by the physical senses may be found through the sidereal body1 through whose organism we may look into nature in the same way as the sun shines through a glass4 ,the inner nature of everything may be known through ,magic ,the ,divine ,magia and the power of inner sight4--,hartmann's ,life of ,paracelsus 7#ahif71 p4 #ec4 #ai ,he uses this word ,seeker hundreds of times in his writings4 #bj ,second ,epistle1 sec4 #f-h4 #ba ,aurora1 xix4 #aj-ac4 ,he goes on in the following sections to describe how for twelve years this insight grew in his soul like a young tree before the exact understanding of it all was arrived at4 #bb ,the ,fifth ,epistle1 #ej4 #bc ,aurora1 xi4 #adf4 #bd ,ibid4 xi4 #f4 #be ,aurora1 xxii4 #dg4 #bf ,in the ,aurora ,boehme speaks of the ,flash as an experience3 ,as the lightning flash appears and disappears again in a moment1 so it is also with the soul4 ,in its battle the soul suddenly penetrates through the clouds and sees ,god like a flash of ,light4--,ibid4 xi4 #gf4 #bg ,memoirs1 p4 #h4 #bh ,evidently the flash of the year #afaj was not the last one4 ,in fact1 he seems to have had frequent ecstasies4 #bi ,the ,second ,epistle1 #i-aj4 #cj ,third ,epistle1 #ce4 #ca ,see especially ,signatura rerum1 ix4 #fc1 and ,forty ,questions1 xxvi4 #b-c and xxx4 #c and #e4 #cb ,third ,epistle1 #cb4 ,the ,memoirs describe how it was copied by a ,gentleman of some rank ,carl von ,endern4 #cc ,memoirs1 p4 #i4 #cd ,preserved in the ,diary of ,bartholomew ,scultetus1 then ,mayor of ,goerlitz 7,ueberfeld's edition1 #agcj74 ,this ,diary does not record any actual banishment of ,boehme4 ,the data for our knowledge of the persecutions of ,boehme are found in a personal narrative written by his friend ,cornelius ,weissner1 ,m4,d4--,memoirs1 pp4 #ci-ej4 #ce ,aurora1 xiii4 #g-aj4 #cf ,ibid4 xxxvi4 #aeb4 #cg ,third ,epistle1 #g4 #ch ,fifteenth ,epistle1 #ah4 ,this new smell in the life of ,god often occurs in ,boehme's writings4 ,compare ,george ,fox's testimony1 ,the whole creation had a new smell4 ,for further comparisons see pp4 #bba-bbg4 #ci ,the following is a complete list of his writings3 #afab4 ,the ,aurora4 #afai4 ,the ,three ,principles of the ,divine ,essence4 #afbj4 ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man2 ,forty ,questions2 ,the ,incarnation of ,jesus ,christ2 ,the ,suffering1 ,death and ,resurrection of ,christ2 ,the ,tree of ,faith2 ,six ,points2 ,heavenly and ,earthly ,mysterium2 ,the ,last ,times4 #afba4 ,de signatura rerum2 ,the ,four ,complexions2 ,apology to ,balthazar ,tilken in #b parts2 ,consideration on ,esaias ,stiefel's ,book4 #afbb4 ,sec4 ,apology to ,stiefel2 ,repentance2 ,resignation2 ,regeneration4 #afbc4 ,predestination and ,election of ,god2 ,a ,short ,compendium of ,repentance2 ,the ,mysterium magnum4 #afbd4 ,the ,clavis2 ,the ,supersensual ,life2 ,divine ,contemplation2 ,baptism and the ,supper2 ,a ,dialogue ,between the ,enlightened and ,unenlightened ,soul2 ,an ,apology on the ,book of ,repentance2 #agg ,theosophic ,questions2 ,an ,epitome of the ,mysterium magnum2 ,the ,holy ,week2 ,an ,exposition of the ,threefold ,world4 ,undated4 ,an ,apology to ,esaias ,stiefel2 ,the ,last ,judgment2 ,epistles4 #dj ,thirty-first ,epistle1 #aj4 #da ,the ,third ,epistle1 #cj4 #db ,ibid4 #bi4 #dc ,there are as many blasphemies in the shoemaker's book as there are lines4 ,it smells of shoemaker's wax and filthy blacking4 ,may this intolerable stench be far from us4 #dd ,thirty-fourth ,epistle1 #e4 #de ,thirty-third ,epistle4 #df ,thirty-fourth ,epistle1 #af and #ba4 #dg ,weissner's ,narrative1 ,memoirs1 p4 #di4 #dh ,ibid4 p4 #eh4 #di ,wort und ,geist1 p4 #aif seq4 #ej ,what could be a bolder criticism of the existing ,church of his day than this3 ,in place of the wolf the ,roman ,church there has grown up the fox the ,lutheran ,church another anti-,christ1 never a whit better than the first4 ,if he should come to be old enough how he would devour the poor people's hens6--,the ,three ,principles of the ,divine ,essence1 xviii4 #ajb4 #ea ,mysterium magnum1 xxvii4 #dg4 #eb ,ibid4 xxviii4 #di-ea4 #ec ,mysterium magnum1 xxxvi4 #cd2 xl4 #ih4 #ed ,ibid4 lxiii4 #dg-ea2 ,twenty-first ,epistle1 #a4 #ee ,myst4 mag4 xxv4 #ac4 #ef ,the ,first ,epistle1 #c-e4 #eg ,apology to ,tilken1 ii4 #bih4 #eh ,ibid4 #gb4 ,compare ,george ,fox's testimony3 ,all must come to that ,spirit1 if they would know ,god or ,christ or the ,scriptures aright1 which they that gave them forth were led and taught by4--,journal 7ed4 #aija71 i4 #ce and passim4 #ei ,sig4 re4 xiv4 i4 #fj ,myst4 mag4 lxx4 #dj4 #fa ,fourth ,epistle1 #bg and #cb4 #fb ,the ,three ,princ4 xxii4 #b4 #fc ,aurora1 iii4 #ci4 #agb ,,chapter ,x ,,boehme',s ,,universe ,if thou wilt be a philosopher or naturalist and search into ,god's being in ,nature and discern how it all came to pass1 then pray to ,god for the ,holy ,spirit to enlighten thee4 ,in thy flesh and blood thou art not able to apprehend it1 but dost read it as if a mist were before thy eyes4 ,in the ,holy ,spirit alone1 and in the whole ,nature out of which all things were made1 canst thou search into ,nature4--,aurora1 ii4 #ae-ag4 ,one idea underlies everything which ,boehme has written1 namely1 that nobody can successfully search into visible ,nature1 or can say anything true about ,man or about the problem of good and evil1 until he has apprehended the whole ,nature out of which all things were made4 ,it will not do1 he thinks1 to make the easy assumption that in the beginning the world was made out of nothing4 ,if ,god made all things out of nothing1 he says1 then the visible world would be no revelation of ,him1 for it would have nothing of ,him in it4 ,he would still be off beyond and outside1 and would not be known in this world4 ,persons however learned they may be1 who hold such 'opinions' have never opened the ,gates of ,god4#a ,behind the visible universe and in it there is an invisible universe2 behind the material universe and in it there is an immaterial universe2 behind the temporal universe and in it there is an eternal universe1 and the first business of the philosopher or naturalist1 as ,boehme conceives it1 is to discover the essential ,nature of this invisible1 immaterial1 eternal universe out of which this fragment of a visible world has come forth4 #agc ,need have we1 ,sore need1 of stars that set not in mid storm1 ,lights that outlast the lightnings4#b ,the visible fragment is never self-explanatory2 all attempts to account for what occurs in it drive the serious observer deeper for his answer1 and with a breathless boldness this meditative shoemaker of ,goerlitz undertakes to tell of the nature of this deeper ,world within the world4 ,as a boy he saw a vast treasury of wealth hidden in the inside of a mountain1 though he could never make anybody else see it4 ,as a man he believed that he saw an immeasurable wealth of reality hidden within the world of sense1 and he tried1 often with poor enough success1 to make others see the inside world which he found4 ,we must now endeavour to grasp what it was that he saw4 ,there is no doubt at all that this inside world which he discovered within and behind visible ,nature1 within and behind man1 is really there1 nor is there any doubt in my mind that he1 ,jacob ,boehme1 got an insight into its nature and significance which is of real worth to the modern world1 but he is seriously hampered by the poverty of his categories1 by the difficulties of his symbolism and by his literary limitations1 when he comes to the almost insuperable task of expressing what he has seen4 ,he is himself perfectly conscious of his limitations4 ,he is constantly amazed that ,god uses such a mean instrument1 he regrets again and again that he is so difficult to be understood1 and he often wishes that he could impart his own soul to his readers that they might grasp his meaning1#c for he never for a moment doubts that by ,god's grace he has eyes of his own4#d ,he lived in an unscientific age1 before our present exact terminology was coined4 ,he was the inheritor of the vocabulary and symbolism of alchemy and astrology1 and he was obliged to force his spiritual insight into a language which for us has become largely an antique rubbish heap4#e ,if he #agd had possessed the marvellous power that ,dante had to compel words to express what his soul saw1 he might have fused these artificial symbolisms with the fire of his spirit1 and given them an eternal value as the ,florentine did with the equally dry and stubborn terminology of scholasticism1 but that gift he did not have4#f ,we must not blame him too much for his obscurities and for his large regions of rubbish and confusion1 but be thankful for the luminous patches1 and try to seize the meaning and the message where it breaks through and gets revealed4 ,the outward1 visible1 temporal world1 he declares1 is a spiration1 or outbreathing1 or egress of an eternal spiritual ,world and this inner1 spiritual ,world couches within our visible world and is its ground and mother1 and the outward world is from husk to core a parable or figure of the inward and eternal ,world4 ,the whole outward visible world1 with all its being1 is a 'signature' or figure of the inward1 spiritual ,world1 and everything has a character that fits an internal reality and process1 and the internal is in the external4#g ,as he expresses the same idea in another book3 ,the visible world is a manifestation of the inward spiritual ,world1 and it is an image or figure of eternity1 whereby eternity has made itself visible4#h ,but there is a still deeper ,source of things than this inward spiritual ,world1 which is after all a manifested and organized ,world1 and ,boehme begins his account with ,that which is before beginnings--the unoriginated ,mother of all ,worlds and of ,all that is1 visible and invisible4 ,this infinite ,mother of all births1 this eternal ,matrix1 he calls the ,ungrund1 ,abyss1 or the ,great #age ,mystery1#i or the ,eternal ,stillness4 ,here we are beyond beginnings1 beyond time1 beyond nature1 and we can say nothing in the language of reason that is true or adequate4 ,the eternal divine ,abyss is its own origin and explanation2 it presupposes nothing but itself2 there is nothing beyond it1 nothing outside it--there is1 in fact1 no beyond and outside--it is neither near nor far off4#aj ,it is an absolute ,peace1 an indivisible ,unity1 an undifferentiated ,one--an ,abysmal ,deep1 which no ,name can adequately name and which can be described in no words of time and space1 of here and now4 ,but we must not make the common blunder of supposing that ,boehme means that before ,god expressed ,himself and unfolded ,himself in the infinite processes of revelation and creation1 ,he existed apart1 as this undifferentiated ,one1 this unknowable ,abyss1 this incomprehensible ,matrix4 ,there is no before4 ,creation1 revelation1 manifestation is a dateless and eternal fact4 ,god to be a personal ,god must go out of ,himself and find ,himself in something that mirrors ,him4 ,he must have a ,son4 ,he must pour ,his ,life and ,love through a universe4 ,what ,boehme means1 then1 is that no manifestation1 no created universe1 no expression1 is the ultimate ,reality itself4 ,the manifested universe has come out of ,more than itself4 ,the ,abyss is more than anything1 or all1 that comes out of it1 or can come out of it1 and it lies with its infinite depth beneath everything which appears1 as a man's entire life1 conscious and unconscious1 is in and yet lies behind every act of will1 though we can talk about only what is voiced or expressed4 ,even within this ,abysmal ,depth1 that underlies all that comes to being1 there is eternal process--eternal movement toward ,personality and ,character3 ,god is the eternal ,seeker and ,finder of ,himself4#aa ,in the #agf ,stillness an eternal ,will arises1 a longing desire for manifestation1 the eye of eternity turns upon itself and discovers itself#ab--;in a word there is within the infinite ,divine ,deep an eternal process of self-consciousness and personality1 which ,boehme expresses in the words1 ,the ,father eternally generates the ,son4 ,god hath no beginning and there is nothing sooner than ,he1 but ,his ,word hath a bottomless1 unfathomable origin in ,him and an eternal end3 which is not rightly called end1 but ,person1 i4e4 the ,heart of the ,father1 for it is generated in the eternal ,centre4#ac ,this inner process toward ,personality is often called by ,boehme the eternal ,virgin who brings to birth ,god as ,person1 or sometimes the ,mirror1 in which ,god sees ,himself revealed as will and wisdom and goodness4 ,in the greatest artistic creation of the modern world--,the ,sistine ,madonna--,raphael has with almost infinite pictorial power of genius tried to express in visible form this ,birth of ,god4 ,behind curtains which hang suspended from nowhere and stretch across the universe1 dividing the visible from the invisible1 the world of ,nature from the world of holy mystery1 the infinite1 immeasurable and abysmal ,god is pictured as defined and personal in the face and figure of a little ,child1 in which the artist suggests in symbolism the infinite depth and joy and potency of ,divinity breaking forth out of mystery into form4 ,it is precisely this birth of ,god into visibility that ,boehme is endeavouring to tell4 ,the ,son1 however1 ,boehme says1 is not divided or sundered from the ,father1 as two persons side by side--there are not two ,gods4 ,the ,son is the heart of the ,father--,god as ,person--the outspringing ,joy of the total triumphing ,reality1#ad and through this eternal movement toward self-consciousness and ,personality1 ,god becomes ,spirit1 an out-going energy of purpose1 a dynamic activity1 bursting forth into infinite manifestation and differentiation--a forth-breathed or expressed ,word4#ae ,through #agg this eternal process of self-differentiation and outgoing activity1 the inner spiritual universe comes into being--as an intermediate ,nature or world1 between the ineffable ,abyss of ,god on the one hand1 and our world of material1 visible things on the other hand4 ,the process of the whole creation1 he says1 is nothing else but a manifestation of the deep and unsearchable ,god1 and yet creation is not ,god but rather like an apple which springs from the power of the tree and grows upon the tree1 and yet is not the tree--even so all things have sprung forth out of the central divine ,desire4#af ,this entire manifested or out-breathed universe is1 he says1 the expression of the divine desire for holy sport and play4 ,the ,heart of ,god enjoys this myriad play of created beings1 all tuned as the infinite strings of a harp for contributing to one mighty harmony1 and all together uttering and voicing the infinite variety of the divine purpose4 ,each differentiated spirit or light or property or atom of creation has a part to play in the infinite sport or game or harmony1 so that in ,god there might be a holy play through the universe as a child plays with his mother1 and that so the joy in the ,heart of ,god might be increased1#ag or again1 so that each being may be a true sounding string in ,god's harmonious concert4#ah ,this eternal1 interior ,world--the ,mirror in which the ,spirit manifests ,himself--is a double world of darkness and light1 for there can be no manifestation except through opposites4#ai ,there must be yes and no4 ,in order to have a play there must be opposing players4 ,in order to have life and reality there must be conflict and conquest4 ,as soon as the forth-going ,word of ,god is differentiated into many concrete expressions and the fundamental ,unity of the ,abyss is broken up into particular desires and wills1 there is bound to be a clash of opposites--will and contra-will1 strain and tension1 light and joy and beauty1 and over against them pain and sorrow and evil4 ,evil must appear as soon as there is #agh process of separation1 differentiation1 variety1 specialization and particularity4#bj ,darkness appears as soon as there is a contraction or narrowing into concrete desire and will4 ,both worlds--the light world and the dark world--are made by desire and will4 ,narrowing desires for individual and particular aims1 which sever a being from the total whole of divine goodness1 make the kingdom of darkness1 while death to self-will and a yearning desire and will for all that is expressed in the ,heart and ,light of ,god1 in the ,person of ,his ,son1 make the kingdom of ,light4 ,lucifer--the awful example of the dark ,world--fell because he stood in pride and despised the ,birth of the ,heart of ,god and its gentle1 universalizing love-spirit2 and so his light went out into darkness4 ,his climbing up into a severed will was his fall4 ,the more he climbed toward the sundered aim of his own will and turned away from the ,heart of ,god1 the greater was his fall1 for to turn away from the ,heart of ,god is always to fall4#ba ,there is no darkness1 no evil1 in angel or devil or man1 except the nature of that particular being's own will and desire--both darkness and light are born of desire4 ,the origin of the fall of any creature1 therefore1 is not outside that creature1 but within it4#bb ,the evil in the world is only a possible good spoiled4 ,beings created for a holy sport and play1 for an ordered harmony1 as infinite harp-strings for a celestial music1 set their wilful desires upon sundered ends1 broke the intended harmony1 or temperature1 as ,boehme calls it1 introduced strife--the turba magna--and darkness1 and so spoiled the actual material out of which the kingdoms of nature are made1 for the attitude of will moulds the permanent structure of the being4 ,through the whole universe1 visible and invisible1 as a result1 the dark lines run1 and the drama of the whole process of the universe is the mighty issue between light and darkness1 good and evil3 ,two universal qualities persist from #agi beginning to end and produce two kingdoms arrayed against each other--each within the other--one love1 the other wrath2 one light1 the other darkness2 one heavenly1 the other hellish4#bc ,now out of this inner spiritual universe--a double universe of light and darkness--this temporal1 visible1 more or less material1 world has come forth1 as an outer sheath of an inner world1 and1 like its ,mother1 it1 too1 is a double world of good and evil4 ,there is not1 as ,william ,law1 interpreting ,boehme1 once said1 the smallest thing or the smallest quality of a thing in this world1 but is a quality of heaven or hell discovered i4e4 revealed under a temporal form4 ,every thing that is disagreeable to taste1 to the sight1 to our hearing1 smelling or feeling has its root and ground and cause in and from hell the dark kingdom1 and is as surely in its degree the working and manifestation of hell in this world1 as the most diabolical malice and wickedness is2 the stink of weeds1 of mire1 of all poisonous1 corrupted things2 shrieks1 horrible sounds2 wrathful fire1 rage of tempests and thick darkness1 are all of them things that had no possibility of existence1 till the fallen angels disordered their kingdom i4e4 until the inner universe was spoiled by narrow1 sundered desires4 ,therefore everything that is disagreeable and horrible in this life1 everything that can afflict and terrify our senses1 all the kinds of natural and moral evil1 are only so much of the nature1 effects and manifestation of hell1 for hell and evil are only two words for one and the same thing4 4 4 4 ,on the other hand1 all that is sweet1 delightful and amiable in the world1 in the serenity of air1 the fineness of seasons1 the joy of light1 the melody of sounds1 the beauty of colours1 the fragrance of smells1 the splendour of precious stones1 is nothing else but heaven breaking through the veil of this world1 manifesting itself in such a degree and darting forth in such variety so much of its own nature4#bd ,i have spoken so far as though ,boehme traced the #ahj source of every thing to will and desire1 as though1 in fact1 the visible universe were the manifold outer expression of some deep-lying personal will1 and in the last analysis that is true1 but his more usual form of interpretation is that of the working of great structural tendencies1 or energies1 or qualities1 as he calls them1 which are common both to the inner and the outer universe4 ,there are1 he declares again and again with painful reiteration1 but with little advance of lucidity1 seven of these fundamental laws or energies or qualities1 like the sevenfold colour-band of the rainbow1 though they can never be untangled or sundered or thought of as standing side by side1 for together in their unity and interprocesses they form the universe1 with its warp and woof of light and darkness4#be ,the first quality is a contracting1 compacting tendency which runs through the entire universe1 outer and inner4 ,it is in its inmost essence desire1 the egoistic tendency1 the focusing of will upon a definite aim so that consciousness contracts from its universal and absolute possibilities to a definite1 limited1 concrete something in particular1 and thus negates everything else4 ,desire always disturbs the ,quiet and brings contraction1 negation and darkness4 ,in the outer world it appears as the property of cohesion which makes the particles of a particular thing hold and cling together and form one self-contained and separate thing4 ,it is the individualizing tendency which permeates the universe and which may be expressed either as a material law in the outer world1 or as personal will-tendency in the inner world4 ,the second quality is the attractive1 gravitating tendency which binds whole with whole as an organizing1 universalizing energy4 ,this1 again1 is both spiritual and physical--it has an outer and an inner aspect4 ,it is a fundamental love-principle in the inner world--the #aha foundation1 as ,boehme says1 of sweetness and warmth and mercy#bf--;and at the same time is a structural1 organizing law of nature1 which tends out of many parts to make one universe4#bg ,these two diverse tendencies at work eternally in the same world produce strain and tension and anguish4 ,the tension occasioned by these opposite forces gives rise to the third quality1 which is a tendency toward movement1 oscillation1 rotation--what ,boehme often calls the wheel of nature1 or the wheel of motion1 or the wheel of life4#bh ,this1 too1 is both outer and inner2 a law of the physical world and a tendency of spirit4 ,there is nothing in nature that is not ceaselessly moved1 and there is no life without its restlessness and anguish1 its inward strain and stress1 its tension and its problem1 its dizzy wheel of life--the perpetual pursuit of a goal which ends at the starting-point as an endless circular process4 ,the fourth quality is the flash1 or ignition1 due to collision between nature and spirit1 in which a new principle of activity breaks through what before was mere play of forces1 and reveals something that has activity in itself1 the kindling1 burning power of fire1 though not yet fire which gives light4 ,in the outer world it is the bursting forth of the elemental1 fusing1 consuming powers of ,nature which may either construct or destroy4 ,in the inner world it is the birth of self-consciousness on its lower levels1 the awaking of the soul1 the kindling of passion1 and desire1 and purpose4 ,any one of these four lower qualities may stay at its own level1 remain in itself1 out of temperature or balance with the rest1 and so be only a dark principle2 or it may go on and fulfil itself in one of the higher qualities next to be described1 and so become a part of the triumphing light principle4 ,fire may be only a fire of anguish or it may go up into a fire of love2 it may be a harsh1 #ahb self-tormenting fire1 or it may be a soft1 light-bringing1 purifying fire4 ,suffering may harden the spirit1 or it may be the condition of joy4 ,crucifixion may be mere torture1 or it may be the way of salvation4 ,it is then here at the great divide between the qualities that the universe reveals its differentiation into two kingdoms--the dark and the light4 ,the fifth quality is ,light1 springing out of the flash of fire and rising to the level of illumination and the revelation of beauty4 ,it is at this stage of ,light that the lower force-forms and fire-forms first stand revealed in their full meaning and come to their real fulfilment4 ,on its inner or spiritual side this ,light-quality is an amiable and blessed ,love4 ,it is the dawn and beginning of the triumphing spirit of freedom which wills to draw all things back to one centre1 one harmony1 one unity1 in which wild will and selfish passion and isolating pride1 and all that springs from the dark fire-root are quenched1 and instead the central principle of the spiritual world--,love--comes into play4 ,boehme calls his sixth quality voice or sound1 but he means by it the entire range of intelligent expression through tone and melody1 music and speech1 everything in the world1 in fact1 that gives joy and beauty through purposeful utterance4 ,he even widens his category of sound to include colours and smells and tastes1 in short1 all the sense-qualities by which the world gets revealed in its richness of beauty and harmony to our perception4 ,he widens it1 too1 to include deeper and subtler tones than those of our earth-born sense--the heavenly sports and melodies and harmonies which the rightly attuned spirit may hear with a finer organ than the ear4 ,the seventh1 and final1 quality is body or figure1 by which he means the fundamental tendency or energy toward expression in actuality and concrete form4 ,the final goal of intelligent purpose is the realization of wisdom1 of idea1 in actual ,nature-forms and life-forms--the incarnation of the spirit4 ,there is nothing real in the #ahc universe but has its form1 its signature1 its figure1 its body-aspect3 ,there is not anything but has its soul and its body1 and each soul is as it were an inner kernel1 or seed1 to a visible and comprehensible body1#bi and1 as we shall see1 the supreme achievement of the universe is the visible appearance of the ,word of ,god1 the eternal ,son1 in flesh like ours--a visible realization in time of the eternal ,heart of ,god4 ,the glory of ,god appears in a kingdom of ,god1 a visible vesture of the ,spirit4 ,all these seven qualities1 or fountain-spirits1 or fundamental tendencies1 are in every part and parcel of the universe1 and each particular thing or being finds his true place in the vast drama or play of the universe1 according to which quality is prepotent1 and marks the thing or being with its signature4 ,they constitute in their eternal nature what ,boehme calls ,the ,three ,principles that underlie all reality of every order4 ,the first principle is the substratum or essence of these first three qualities1 the nature-tendencies at the level of forces1 which he generally calls the fire-principle1 i4e4 the dark fire1 before the flash has come4 ,the second principle is the substratum or essence of the last three qualities--the tendencies toward unity1 harmony1 order1 love1 which he calls the light-principle4 ,the third principle produces the union or synthesis of the other two--the principle of realization in body and form1 the triumph over opposition of these two opposing principles in the exhibition of the real1 the actual1 the living1 the conscious1 where dark and light are both joined1 but are dominated by another irreducible principle4 ,to these three fundamental principles correspond the three supreme divine aspects3 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost4#cj ,we are here1 of course1 far from a scientific account of the processes and evolution of the universe4 ,boehme #ahd is no scientific genius and he did not dream that every item and event of the world of phenomena could be causally explained1 without reference to any deeper abysmal world of ,spirit4 ,his mission is rather that of the prophet who has eyes of his own4 ,he is endeavouring to tell us1 often no doubt in very laborious fashion1 sometimes as one who is tunnelling through long tracts of darkness1 that this outside world which we see and describe is a parable1 a pictorial drama1 suggesting1 hinting1 revealing an inside world of ,spirit and ,will2 that every slightest fragment of the seen is big with significance as a revelation of an unseen realm1 which again is an egress from the unimaginable ,splendour of ,god4 ,he believes1 like ,paracelsus1 that everything in ,nature--plants1 metals1 and stars--can be fundamentally searched out and comprehended by the inward way of approach1 can be read like an open book by the children of the ,spirit who have caught the secret clue that leads in1 and who have the key that unlocks the inner realm4#ca ,obviously his inner way of approach works more successfully when applied to man than when applied to plants and metals and stars--and when he writes of man1 whether in the first or in the third person1 he does often seem to have eyes of his own1 and to hold the key that unlocks4 ,it is an elemental idea with him that man is a little world--a microcosm--and expresses in himself all the properties of the great world--the macrocosm4#cb ,as you find man to be1 he writes1 just so is eternity4 ,consider man in body and soul1 in good and evil1 in light and darkness1 in joy and sorrow1 in power and weakness1 in life and death--all is in man1 both heaven and earth1 stars and elements4 ,nothing can be named that is not man4#cc ,every man's life is inwardly bottomless and opens from within into all the immeasurable depth of ,god4 ,eternity springs through time and reveals itself in every person1 for the foundation property of the soul #ahe of every man is essentially eternal1 spiritual1 and abysmal--it is a little drop out of the ,fountain of the ,life of ,god1 it is a little sparkle of the ,divine ,splendour4#cd ,god is spoken of again and again as man's native country1 his true origin and home--,the soul of man is always seeking after its native country1 out of which it has wandered1 seeking to return home again to its rest in ,god4#be ,the soul of man1 he says again1 has come out from the eternal ,father1 out from the ,divine ,centre1 but this soul--with this high origin and this noble mark--stands always at the opening of two gates4#cf ,two worlds1 two mighty cosmic principles1 make their appeal to his will4 ,two kingdoms wrestle in him1 two natures strive for the mastery in his life1 and he makes his world1 his nature1 his life1 his eternal destiny by his choices3 ,whatsoever thou buildest and sowest here in thy spirit1 be it words1 works1 or thought1 that will be thy eternal house4#cg ,the good or evil that men do1 by acts of will1 enters into and forms the soul and so moulds its permanent habitation4#ch ,adam once1 and every man after him also once1 has belonged1 in the centre of the soul1 to ,god1 and whether it be ,adam or some far-off descendant of him1 each is the creator of his own real world1 and settles for himself the atmosphere in which he shall live and the inner tincture of his abiding nature4 ,adam fell--and any man's name can here be substituted for ,adam--because1 though he was a spark of ,god's eternal essence1 he broke himself off and sundered himself from the universal ,will--by contraction--and withdrew into self-seeking1 and centred himself in selfishness4 ,he broke the perfect temperature--or harmonious balance of qualities--and turned his will toward the dark world and the light in him grew dim4#ci ,to follow the dark world is to be ,lucifer or fallen ,adam1 to follow the light world completely is to be ,christ#dj--;and before every soul the two #ahf gates stand open4#da ,in a powerful and penetrating passage he says3 ,we should take heed and beget that which is good out of ourselves4 ,if we make an angel of ourselves we are that2 if we make a devil of ourselves1 we are that4#db ,this last sentence is a good introduction to ,boehme's conception of the next world--the great beyond4 ,he was as completely free of the crude idea that heaven is a shining locality in the sky1 and hell a yawning pit of fire below the earth1 as the most exact scientific scholar of the modern world is likely to be4 ,he had grasped the essential and enduring character of man's spiritual nature so firmly that he ceased to have any further interest in the mythological aspects in which vivid and pictorial imagination has invested the unseen world4 ,god's presence itself1 he says1 is heaven1 and if ,god did but put away the veiling shadows1 which now curtain thy sight1 thou wouldst see1 even where thou now art1 the ,face of ,god and the heavenly gate4 ,god is so near that at any moment a holy ,birth a ,birth into the ,life of ,god may be accomplished in thy heart1#dc and1 again1 in the same book he writes3 ,if man's eyes were opened he would see ,god everywhere1 for heaven is everywhere for those who are in the innermost ,birth4 ,when ,stephen saw heaven opened and ,jesus at the right hand of ,god1 his spirit did not swing itself aloft into some heaven in the sky1 but it rather penetrated into the innermost ,birth where heaven always is4 ,thou must not think that ,god is a ,being who is off in an upper heaven1 or that when the soul departs it goes many hundred thousands of miles aloft4 ,it does not need to do that1 for as soon as it has entered the innermost ,birth it is in heaven already with ,god--near and far in ,god is one thing4#dd ,the next world--the beyond--therefore1 must not be thought of in terms of space and time1 of here and there1 of now and then1 as a place to which we shall journey at the momentous moment of death3 the soul #ahg needeth no going forth4#de ,as soon as the external veil of flesh dissolves1 each person is in his own country and has all the time been in it4 ,there is nothing nearer to you than heaven and hell4 ,to whichever of them you incline and toward whichever of them you tend--that is most near you1 and every man has in himself the key4#df ,heaven and hell are everywhere throughout the whole world4 ,you need not seek them far off4 ,it is always the nature of ,anti-,christ and ,babel and opinion-peddlers to seek ,god and heaven and hell above the stars or under the deep4 ,there is only one place to look for ,god and that is in one's own soul1 there is only one region in which to find heaven or hell1 and that is in the nature and character of the person's own desire and will3 ,even though the devil should go many millions of miles1 desiring to see heaven and enter into it1 yet he would still be in hell and could not see heaven at all4#dg ,the soul1 ,boehme says in substance1 hath heaven or hell in itself4 ,heaven is the turning of the will into ,god's love2 hell is the turning of the will into hate4 ,now when the body falls away the heavenly soul is thoroughly penetrated with the ,love and ,light of ,god1 even as fire penetrates and enlightens white-hot iron1 whereby it loses its darkness--this is heaven and this is the right hand of ,god4 ,the soul that dwells in falsehood1 lust1 pride1 envy1 and anger carries hell in itself and cannot reach the ,light and ,love of ,god4 ,though it should go a thousand miles or a thousand times ten thousand miles--even climb beyond the spaces of the stars and the bounds of the universe--it would still remain in the same property and source of darkness as before4#dh ,the next world--the world beyond--is #ahh just this world1 as it is in each one of us1 with its essential spirit and nature and character clearly revealed and fulfilled4 ,god creates and maintains no hell of ever-lasting torture2 ,he builds and supports no heaven of endless glory4 ,they are both formed out of the soul's own substance as it turns toward light or darkness1 toward love or hate--in short1 as it keeps house1 to use one of his vivid words1 with the eternal nature of things4 ,something like this1 then1 was the universe which ,boehme--with those azure-grey eyes that lighted up like the windows of ,solomon's ,temple--saw there in ,goerlitz1 as he pegged his shoes4 ,open your eyes1 he once said1 and the whole world is full of ,god4#di ,but he is not a pantheist1 in the usual sense of that word1 blurring away the lines between good and evil1 or the boundaries which mark off self from self1 and self from ,god4 ,there is forever1 to be sure1 a hidden essence or substance in the soul which is from ,god1 and which remains to the end unlost and unspoiled--something to which ,god can speak and to which ,his ,light and ,grace can make appeal2 but ,i am indestructibly a real ,i1 and ,god is in ,his true nature no vague ,abyss--,he eternally utters ,himself as ,person3 ,the first ,abysmal ,god without beginning begets a comprehensible will which is ,son4 ,thus the ,abyss which in itself is an indescribable ,nothing nothing in particular forms itself into ,something definite through the ,birth of a ,son1 and so is ,spirit4#ej ,in ,god ,himself there is only ,good1 only triumphing eternal ,joy1#ea but as soon as finite processes appear1 as soon as anything is differentiated into actuality1 the potentialities of darkness and light appear1 the possibilities of good and evil are there3 ,all things consist in ,yes or ,no4 ,in order to have anything definite made manifest there must be a contrary therein--a ,yes and a ,no4#eb ,the universe1 therefore1 though it came forth out of the eternal ,mother and remains still1 in its deepest origin and being1 rooted in the substance of ,god1 is a #ahi battleground of strife1 an endless ,armageddon4 ,both within and without the world is woven of mixed strands1 a warp of darkness and a woof of light1 and all beings possessed of will are thus actors in a mighty drama of eternal significance1 with exits1 not only at the end of the ,fifth ,act but throughout the play1 through two gates into two worlds which are both all the time present here and now4 #a ,aurora1 xxi4 #fj-fb4 #b ,swinburne1 ,erechtheus4 #c ,see ,fifteenth ,epistle1 #be4 #d ,fifth ,epistle1 #ej4 #e ,like ,paracelsus1 he uses sulphur in a symbolic way to represent an active energy of the universe and a form of will in man4 ,in a similar way1 mercury stands for intelligence and spirit1 and salt is the symbol for substance4 ,no one could find in a chemist's shop the salt or sulphur that ,boehme talks about6 #f ,there is a fine saying about ,dante in the ,ottimo ,commento3 ,i1 the writer1 heard ,dante say that never a rhyme had led him to say other than he would1 but that many a time and oft he had made words say for him what they were not wont to say for other poets4 #g ,sig4 re4 ix4 #a-c4 ,paracelsus said1 ,everything is the product of one creative effort1 and1 ,there is nothing corporeal that does not possess a soul4 #h ,the ,supersensual ,life1 p4 #dd4 #i ,paracelsus and others used the term ,mysterium magnum to denote the original1 but unoriginated1 matter out of which all things were made4 ,mysterium is anything out of which something germinally contained in it can be developed4 #aj ,mysterium magnum1 xxix4 #a-b4 #aa ,forty ,questions1 i4 #eg4 #ab ,sig4 re4 ii4 #d-ae1 and iii4 #a-aj4 #ac ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man1 iii4 #b4 #ad ,aurora1 iii4 #ce-ci4 #ae ,ibid4 vi4 #f-h2 ,clavis1 #ah-bi4 #af ,sig4 re4 xvi4 i4 #ag ,aurora1 xiii4 #dh-eg2 ,myst4 mag4 viii4 #ca2 ,the ,three ,principles1 iv4 #ff4 #ah ,sig4 re4 xv4 #ch4 #ai ,myst4 mag4 viii4 #bg4 #bj ,myst4 mag4 xxix4 #a-aj4 #ba ,the ,three ,principles1 iv4 #fh-gd2 ,the ,threefold ,life1 iv4 #cc4 #bb ,myst4 mag4 ix4 #c-h4 #bc ,aurora1 ,preface #hd4 #bd ,christopher ,walton1 ,notes and ,materials for a ,biography of ,wm4 ,law 7,london1 #ahed71 #ee4 #be ,the great passages in which ,boehme expounds the seven qualities are found in the ,aurora1 chaps4 viii4-xi42 ,sig4 re4 chap4 xiv42 ,the ,clavis1 #ed-acb2 though they are more or less definitely stated or implied in nearly everything he wrote4 ,seven qualities or principles or sources appear and reappear in ever shifting forms throughout the entire literature of ,gnosticism1 alchemy1 and nature-mysticism4 #bf ,aurora1 viii4 #cb-ce4 #bg ,some of ,boehme's enthusiastic friends insist that ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 who was an admirer of ,boehme1 ploughed with ,boehme's heifer1 i4e4 got his suggestion of the law of universal gravitation from the philosopher of ,goerlitz4 ,see ,walton1 ,notes1 p4 #df and passim4 #bh ,sig4 re4 iv4 passim4 #bi ,sig4 re4 xiii4 #cj ,for fuller treatment of this point see ,boutroux1 ,historical ,studies in ,philosophy1 chapter on ,jacob ,boehme1 the ,german ,philosopher1 pp4 #aii-bja4 #ca ,third ,epistle1 #cc4 #cb ,twenty-fourth ,epistle1 #g2 ,sig4 re4 i4 #cc ,the ,threefold ,life1 vi4 #dg4 #cd ,the ,three ,princ4 xiv4 #hi2 ,first ,epistle1 #db4 #ce ,the ,three ,princ4 x4 #bf2 xvi4 #ej4 #cf ,ibid4 x4 #ac4 #cg ,aurora1 xviii4 #di4 #ch ,myst4 mag4 xxii4 #da4 #ci ,ibid4 xviii4 #ca-dc1 given in substance4 #dj ,ibid4 xxvi4 #ai4 ,the place of ,christ in ,boehme's system will be given in the next chapter4 #da ,myst4 mag4 xxvi4 #e4 #db ,incarnation1 part ii4 ix4 #ab-ad4 #dc ,aurora1 x4 #ajj-ajc4 #dd ,ibid4 xix4 #ef-ei4 #de ,the ,supersensual ,life1 #cf4 #df ,the ,three ,princ4 ix4 #be-bg and xix4 #cc4 #dg ,myst4 mag4 viii4 #bh4 #dh ,the ,supersensual ,life1 #ch4 ,every reader will naturally be reminded of ,milton's great lines3 ,the mind is its own place1 and in itself ,can make a heaven of hell1 a hell of heaven4 ,there were no doubt many sources in ,milton's time for such a conception1 but the poet surely would read the translations of ,boehme which were coming from the press all through the period of his literary activity4 #di ,the ,threefold ,life1 xi4 #ajf4 #ej ,election1 i4 #aj-ag4 #ea ,aurora1 ii4 #fc4 #eb ,theosoph4 ,quest4 iii4 #b-d4 #aij ,,chapter ,,xi ,,jacob ,,boehme',s ,,way ,,of ,,salvation ,i will write a ,process or ,way which ,i myself have gone4#a ,most writers who have treated of ,boehme have mainly dealt with his ,weltanschauung--his theosophical view of the ,abyss and the worlds of time and eternity1--or they have devoted themselves to descriptions of his type of mysticism4#b ,his important permanent contribution to ,christianity is1 however1 to be found in his interpretation of the way1 or1 as he calls it1 the process of salvation4 ,very much that he wrote about the procession of the universe is capricious and subjective4 ,his interpretations of ,genesis1 and of ,old ,testament ,scripture in general1 are thoroughly uncritical and of value only as they reveal his own mind and his occasional flashes of insight4 ,but his accounts of his own experience and his message of the way to ,god possess an elemental and universal value1 and belong among the precious words of the prophets of the race4 ,his ,way of ,salvation is in direct line with the central ideas of ,denck1 ,buenderlin1 ,entfelder1 ,franck1 ,schwenckfeld1 and ,weigel2 that is1 his emphasis is always1 as was theirs1 upon the native divine possibilities of the soul1 upon the fact of a spiritual environment in immediate correspondence and co-operation with the soul1 and upon the necessity of personal and inward experience as the key to every gate of life2 but he puts more stress even than ,schwenckfeld did #aia upon the epoch-making new birth1 and he sees more in the ,person of ,christ as the way of salvation than any of the spiritual ,reformers of the sixteenth century had seen1 while his own personal experience was so unique and illuminating1 so profound and transforming1 that he was able to speak on divine things with a grasp and insight and with a spiritual authority beyond that attained by any of the reformers in this group4 ,he has given1 ,i think1 as profound and as simple1 and at the same time as vital an interpretation of salvation through ,christ as the ,reformation movement produced before the nineteenth century1 and much that he said touches the very core of what seems to us to-day to be the heart of the ,gospel1 the central fact of mature religion4#c ,as we have seen1 ,boehme does not in the least blink the tragic depth of sin1 while he goes as far as anybody in holding that the centre of man's soul came out of eternity1#d that as a mother bringeth forth a child out of her own substance and nourisheth it therewith1 so doth ,god with man his child1#e and that the inward ground and centre of the soul1 with its divine capacity of response to ,grace and ,light1 is an inalienable possession of every man4#f ,yet1 at the same time1 he insists that there is in every soul both a yes and a no1 a vision of the good and a contrarium1 a hunger for the universal will of ,god and a hunger for the particular will of self4#g ,the form of hunger1 the inclination of desire1 the attitude of will shapes the destiny1 forms the fundamental disposition1 and builds the life of every man into heaven or into hell--a man puts on a garment of light or a garment of wrath as he puts on clothes4#h ,to consent to false desire1 to turn toward objects that feed only the particular selfish will1 to live in the lower qualities of dark-fire is to #aib form a soul tinctured with darkness and sundered from the eternal root of ,life4 ,lucifer went the whole way in his consent to false and evil desire4 ,he said1 ,evil be thou my good6 and formed his entire nature out of the dark-principle1 and his ,light went out4 ,adam and his offspring after him1 however1 only dimmed the native ,light and deadened the original power that belongs to one who comes from ,god1 to live in heavenly harmony and joy4 ,man has fallen indeed1 but he is not hopelessly lost1 he is forever seeking his native country1 and he forever bears within himself an immortal seed which may burst into ,life--into a ,lily-blossom4#i ,the way of salvation for ,boehme is the process by which this original ,light and power1 dimmed and deadened by sin1 are restored to the soul4 ,he never tires of insisting that the restoration can come only by a process of ,life1 not by a scheme of theology4 ,like the early prophets of ,israel1 in their sweeping attacks on the ritual and sacrificial systems that were being substituted for moral and spiritual life1 ,boehme flings himself with holy passion against the substitution of doctrines of salvation for a real life-process of salvation1 personally experienced in the soul4 ,cain and ,babel are his two favourite types of the prevailing substitute-religion which he calls verbal1 or historical1 or titular ,christianity4#aj ,whatever ,babel teaches1 he says1 of external imputed righteousness1 or of external assumed adoption is without foundation or footing4#aa ,he is still only a follower of ,cain who tries to cover his old1 evil1 unchanged self with the purple mantle of ,christ's death4#ab ,the opinion that the old man of evil-will can be covered with ,christ's merit1 the faith that ,his death pays off for us the debt of our sin is only a supposed religion4#ac ,christianity1 he says again1 does not consist in the mere knowing of history and applying the history-knowledge to ourselves1 #aic saying3 ',christ died for us2 ,he hath paid the ransom for us1 so that we need do nothing but comfort ourselves therewith and steadfastly believe that it is so4'#ad ,the doctors and the wise world and the makers of opinion will have it that ,christ has suffered on the ,cross for all our sins1 and that we can be justified and acquitted of all our transgressions by what ,he did for us1 but it is no true1 safe way for the soul4 ,to stake faith upon a history that once was1 to look for satisfaction through the sufferings which ,christ endured before we were born is to be the child of an assumed grace1 is to possess a mere external and historical faith that leaves the dim1 weak soul where it was before4 ,all such invented works and supposed schemes are of ,anti-,christ1 they avail nothing whatever toward the real process of salvation4#ae ,the gravamen of his charge is not that the opinions are false1 or that the history is unimportant1 but that opinions and history are taken as substitutes for religion itself1 which is and must always be an actual inward process constructing a new and victorious life in the person himself4 ,all fictions1 ,i say1 and devices which men contrive to come to ,god by are lost labour and vain endeavour without a new mind4 ,verbal forgiveness and outward imputation of righteousness are false and vain comforts--soft cushions for the evil soul--without the creation of a will wholly new1 which loveth and willeth evil no more4#af ,the whole problem1 then1 is the problem of the formation of a new vision1 a new desire1 a new will1 and ,boehme finds the solution of this deepest human problem in ,christ4 ,christ is the ,light-revelation of ,god--the shining forth of the ,light and ,love nature of the ,eternal ,god4 ,it must not be supposed for a moment that once--before satisfaction was made to ,him--,god was an angry ,god who had to be reconciled by a transaction1 or that there was a time in history when ,god began to reveal ,his ,heart in a ,christ-revelation1 or #aid that when ,christ became man1 ,deity divided itself into sundered ,persons4#ag ,no4 ,you ought not to have such thoughts1 ,boehme says4 ,the ,heart and ,light and ,love of ,god are from eternity4 ,christ has never sundered or broken ,himself away from ,god2 they are not two but forever ,one4 ,all the ,light and ,love and ,joy of ,god have blossomed into the ,christ-manifestation and become revealed in ,him4 ,like everything else in the universe1 ,christ is both outward and inward4 ,he belongs in the eternal inward world and ,he also has had ,his temporal manifestation in the visible world4 ,the ,heart of ,god became a human soul1 brought the fulness of the ,deity into humanity1 and slew the spirit of the world4#ah ,the inward penetrated the outward and illuminated it with ,light4#ai ,christ entered into humanity and tinctured it with ,deity4#bj ,in ,him the ,heart of ,god became man1 and in the power of the heavenly ,light ,he wrestled with our wild human nature and conquered it4#ba ,eternity and time are united in ,him4#bb ,he is the wedding chamber of ,god and man4#bc ,he is ,god and man in one undivided ,person4#bd ,he is actual ,god2 ,he is essential man--the ,god-man1 the man-,god1 in whom the arms of everlasting ,love are outstretched and through whom humanity is brought into the power of the ,eternal ,god4#be ,it was in this dear ,emmanuel1 as he often calls ,christ1 that ,love became man and put on our human flesh and our human soul1#bf and the full power of ,eternal ,love stood revealed in time1 for ,one who is ,love itself was born of our own very birth4#bg ,the ,cross was not a transaction4 ,it was the culmination of this mighty ,love1 for here on the cross hung ,god and man--,god's ,love springing forth in a soul strong enough to show it in its full scope4#bh ,but let no person think that he can cover himself with the purple mantle of ,christ's sufferings and death1 #aie and so win his salvation3 ,thou thyself1 he says1 must go through ,christ's whole journey1 and enter wholly into ,his process4#bi ,we become children of ,god in ,christ1 he wrote in one of his ,epistles1 not by an outward1 adventitious show of appropriating ,grace1 not through some merit of ,grace appropriated from without1 or received in an historical apprehension of being justified by another1 but through an inward1 resident ,grace1 which regenerates us into childlikeness1 so that ,christ the conqueror of death arises in us and becomes a dominating operation in us4#cj ,this is the heart of his entire message4 ,every step must be experimental4 ,salvation is an inward process1 and ,christ is efficacious and effective because ,he lives and operates in us4 ,the suffering and death of ,christ1 he says1 avail only for those who die to their own will in and with ,christ1 and are buried with ,him to a new will and obedience1 and hate sin2 who put on ,christ in ,his suffering1 reproach1 and persecution1 take ,his cross upon them and follow ,him under ,his red banner2 to those who put on ,christ in ,his process and now become in the inward spiritual man ,christ's members and the ,temple of ,god who dwells in us4 ,no one has a right to comfort himself with ,christ's merits unless he desires wholly to put on ,christ in himself4 ,he is not a ,christian until he has put ,him on by true repentance and conversion to ,him with absolute resignation and self-denial1 so that ,christ espouseth and betrotheth ,himself with him4 4 4 4 ,for a ,christian must be born of ,christ and must die to the will of ,adam4 ,he must have ,christ in him and be a member of ,his ,life according to the spiritual man4#ca ,faith1 which is always the key-word in any person's interpretation of ,christianity1 is for ,boehme a dynamic process of appropriating ,christ1 and of re-living ,him4 ,faith1 he writes in his treatise on ,the ,incarnation1 #aif is not historical knowledge for a man to make articles of it and to depend on them1 but faith is one spirit with ,god1 it is the activity of ,god2 it is free1 but only for the right and for pure ,love1 in which it draws the breath of its power and strength4 ,it is1 finally1 itself the substance4#cb ,faith is1 thus1 not knowledge1 it is not believing facts of history1 it is not accepting metaphysical dogma4 ,it is1 as he is never weary of saying1 strong earnestness of spirit1 the earnest will to live in the inward and eternal1 passionate hunger and thirst for ,god1 and finally the act of receiving ,christ into the soul as a present power and spirit to live by4 ,i must die1 he wrote1 with my outward man the man of self-centred will in ,christ's death and arise and live anew in ,him4 ,therefore ,i live now by the will of faith in the spirit of ,christ and receive ,christ with ,his humanity into my will4 ,he makes through me a manifestation of the spiritual world and introduces the true ,love-sound into the harp-strings of my life4 ,he became that which ,i am1 and now ,he has made me that which ,he is6#cc ,another word for this efficacious and dynamic ,faith is ,birth or innermost ,birth1 by which ,boehme means the act of discovering the ,gate to the ,heart and ,love and ,light of ,god1 and of entering it4 ,the ,son of ,god1 the ,eternal ,word of the ,father1 the ,glance and ,brightness and ,power of ,eternal ,light must become man and be born in you2 otherwise you are in the dark stable and go about groping4#cd ,if thou art born of ,god1 then within the circle of thy own life is the whole undivided ,heart of ,god4#ce ,it is a transforming event by which one swings over from life in the outer to life in the inner world1 from life in the dark world to life in the light world1 and is born into the kingdom1 or principle1 which ,christ revealed in ,his triumphant spiritual ,life4 ,the human spirit1 by this innermost ,birth1 reaches the principle of ,life by which ,christ lived1 and the gate into heaven is opened and paradise is in the soul4 ,in a #aig beautiful passage he says3 ,this birth must be wrought within you4 ,the ,heart1 or the ,son of ,god must arise in the birth of your life1 and then you are in ,christ and ,he is in you1 and all that ,he and the ,father have is yours2 and as the ,son is one with the ,father1 so also the new man is one with the ,father and with the ,son1 one virtue1 one power1 one light1 one life1 one eternal paradise1 one enduring substance1 one ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 and thou ,his child6#cf ,god is no longer conceived as far away4 ,he is now with ,his ,love and ,light as near as the soul is to itself1 and the joy of being born in ,christ is like the joy of parents when a little child is born to them4#cg ,god's will now becomes the man's will1 he turns back into the unity from which he broke away1 he sees now in one moment what all the doctors in the schools1 on the mere level of reason1 have never seen1 and his inward eye is so opened that he knows ,god as soon as his eye turns toward ,him4#ch ,this ,faith-process1 or innermost life-birth1 is not the act of a moment that is over and done with4 ,it means the progressive formation of a new man within the man1 so that the real ,christian becomes a living branch in a mighty ,christ-,tree4 ,just as ,adam was the trunk of a great race-tree of fallen humanity1 ,christ is to be the ,eternal ,life-,tree of the universe in whom all the new-born souls of men shall live as springing1 flowering branches or twigs3 ,god created only one ,man2 all other men are twigs of the ,one ,stem4#ci ,in ,christ1 he says1 we are all only one1 as a tree in many boughs and branches1 and1 with a return to autobiography1 ,boehme adds1 ,his ,life has been brought into mine1 so that ,i am atoned with ,him in ,his ,love4 ,the will of ,christ has entered into humanity again in me1 and now my will in me enters into ,his humanity4#dj ,he writes to one of his ,silesian friends3 ,you are a growing branch in the ,life-,tree of ,god in ,christ1 in whom all the children of ,god are also branches1 and he adds that there is no other faith #aih which saves except ,christ in us1 the ,life of our lives4#da ,sometimes he calls this triumphant experience the birth of a new branch in ,christ's ,life-,tree1 sometimes the birth of the ,lily in ,christ's garden of flowers1 sometimes it is the birth of the immortal seed4 ,sometimes it is uniting in life and spirit with ,him who is the ,treader on the ,serpent1 sometimes it is finding the noble ,virgin1 sometimes it is discovering the ,philosopher's ,stone1 sometimes it is winning the precious ,diadem1 sometimes it is possessing the key which unlocks the ,door1 sometimes it is arriving at the ,sabbath ,quiet of the soul4 ,these are only a variety of ways1 many of them forgotten inheritances from alchemy and astrology1 of saying that the soul finds its goal in an experience which binds it into one common corporate life with ,christ and so into an elemental ,love-,unity with ,god3 whoever is born of ,christ liveth and walketh in ,him1 puts ,him on in ,his suffering1 death1 and resurrection1 becomes a member of ,christ's body1 is tinctured with ,his spirit1 and has his own human life rooted in the ,love of ,god4#db ,here1 then1 in the creation and formation of this organic ,life-,tree the universe attains its ultimate goal4 ,it is wholly an achievement of free will1 of holy choice4 ,the dark ,principle is not annihilated1 is not suppressed1 but the ,heart of ,god moves ever on in a steadily growing triumph1 binding soul after soul into the divine ,igdrasil ,tree of the ,light ,universe1 in a unity that is not now the unity of negation and undifferentiation--an ,abyss that swallows up all that is in it1--but a unity of many wills united in a spirit of concord and love1 many persons formed by holy desire into one unbroken symphony as harps of ,god4 ,with the change of centre in the inner man corresponds also the outer life of word and deed1 for the outer1 here as everywhere1 is only the signature of an inner which fits it3 ,a man must show the root of the tree out of which spirit and flesh have their origin4#dc ,when the will becomes new-born and the soul unites itself as a twig #aii in ,christ's ,life-,tree1 then it ceases to love sin and will it4 ,when ,god brings ,his will into birth in us1 ,he gives us virtue and power to will what ,he wills1 and to leave our sins behind4#dd ,the attitude of hate1 the spirit of war are marks of the old unchanged nature1 and are heathenish and not ,christian4 ,when ,christ is formed in the inner ground of the soul1 a man leaves the sword in the sheath and lives in the virtue and power of peace and love4 ,what will ,christ say1 he asks the ministers of the ,church of his day1 when ,he sees your apostolic hearts covered with armor8 ,when ,he gave you the sword of the ,spirit1 did ,he command you to fight and make war1 or to instigate kings and princes to put on the sword and kill8#de ,like the prophets of ,israel1 he feels intensely the sufferings of the poor and the oppressed1 and he breaks out frequently into a biting satire on a kind of ,christianity which not only neglects the true cure of soul and body1 but consumes the sweat and blood of the needy1 and feeds upon the sighs and groans and tears of the poor4#df ,the true idea of a real ,christianity is fraternity in the ,life of ,christ--thy brother's soul1 he says1 is a fellow-member with thy soul1#dg and he insists1 as though it were the mighty burden of his spirit1 that all possessions1 goods1 and talents shall contribute to the common life of humanity and to the benefit of the social group4#dh ,it is much better for parents to labour to form good souls in their children than to strive to gather and to leave behind for them great riches and abundance of goods6#di ,self-desire is a ground not only of personal disquiet but also of social disturbance1 and ,boehme feels that the way to spread peace and joy through the world is to cultivate the ,love-spirit of ,christ and to practice it in fellowship with men4 ,like his ,german predecessor1 ,sebastian ,franck1 he is #bjj primarily concerned with the invisible ,church1 and he holds lightly to the empirical ,church as he knows it4 ,the ,church to which his spirit is dedicated is the organic ,life-,tree of which ,christ is the living ,stem4 ,the holy ,zion is not from without1 he says1 it is built up of those who are joined to ,christ and who all live together in one city which is ,christ in us4#ej ,a ,christian in the life belongs to no sect1 he ceases to wrangle over opinions and words1 he dwells in the midst of sects and ,babel-churches1 but he keeps above the controversies and contentions1 and puts his knowing and willing into the ,life of ,christ1 and works quietly on toward the formation and triumph of the one true ,christian ,church1#ea which will be1 when its glory is complete1 the visible expression of the ,divine ,life-,tree4 ,he dislikes1 as much as did the ,english ,quaker1 ,george ,fox1 the custom of calling stone houses churches1 and he will not admit that a building is anything but a building3 ,stone houses1 called churches1 have no greater holiness than other houses1 for they are built of stone and other such material1 as other houses are1 and ,god is no more powerful in them than ,he is in other houses1 but the ,church i4e4 the ,congregation which meets there1 if the members of it bind themselves by prayer into one body in ,christ1 is a holy ,temple of ,jesus ,christ4#eb ,his attitude toward outward sacraments consistently fits in with all his central teachings4 ,the outward1 for ,boehme1 is never unimportant4 ,it is always significant and can always be used as a parable or symbol of something inner and eternal4 ,but the outward is at best only temporal1 only symbolic1 and it becomes a hindrance if it is taken for the real substance of which it is only the outward signature3 ,the form shall be destroyed and shall cease with time1 but the spirit remains forever4#ec ,the sacraments1 he declares1 do not take away sin1 for men go to church all their lives and receive the sacraments #bja and remain as wicked and beastly as ever--while a holy man always has a ,church within himself and an inward ministry4#ed ,blessedness1 therefore1 lies not in the outward1 but in the life and power of the inward spirit1 and it is only a ,babel-,church that claims the right to cast out those who have the real substance and neglect only the outward form4#ee ,in his ,treatise on the ,holy ,supper1 he wrote3 ,it is not enough for a man to hear sermons preached1 and to be baptised in the name of ,christ1 and to go to the ,supper4 ,this maketh no ,christian4 ,for that1 there must be earnestness4 ,no person is a ,christian unless ,christ live and work in him4#ef ,the pith and heart of ,christianity1 the consummate goal of the way of ,salvation1 for ,boehme is1 as we have seen1 not history and not any kind of outward form or letter--buchstaebliches ,wort1--it is an experience in which the soul finds itself at the top of ,jacob's ladder1 and feels its life in ,god and ,god's ,life in it in an ineffable ,love-union4 ,he has himself given a very simple and penetrating account of this type of experience drawn from what he calls his own book of life3 ,finding within myself a powerful contrarium1 namely1 the desires that belong to flesh and blood1 ,i began to fight a hard battle against my corrupted nature1 and with the aid of ,god ,i made up my mind to overcome the inherited evil will1 to break it1 and to enter wholly into the ,love of ,god4 4 4 4 ,this1 however1 was not possible for me to accomplish1 but ,i stood firmly by my earnest resolution1 and fought a hard battle with myself4 ,now while ,i was wrestling and battling1 being aided by ,god1 a wonderful light arose within my soul4 ,it was a light entirely foreign to my unruly nature1 but in it ,i recognized the true nature of ,god and man1 and the relation existing between them1 a thing which heretofore ,i had never understood4#eg ,in one of his other autobiographical passages1 he says that after much earnest seeking and desire and many a hard repulse1 the ,gate was opened6 ,these are #bjb characteristic accounts of a profound mystical experience4 ,there had been long stress and inward battle1 the tension of a divided self1 and then a great ground swell of earnest will--a resolve1 he says1 to put my life in hazard rather than give over1 when a wonderful light arose within the soul and the ,gate was opened4 ,and when this mighty light fell upon me1 ,i saw1 he says1 in still another description1 in an effectual peculiar manner1 and ,i knew in the spirit4#eh ,the central aspect of his experience was plainly an overmastering conviction of contact with1 an immersion into1 a deeper world of spirit and of inner unity of life and spirit with this deeper world4 ,his own personal spirit united1 as he once put it1 with the innermost ,birth in ,god and stood in the ,light4#ei ,he discovered that ,god goes clean another way to work than by the way of reasoning or of sense experience#fj--;instead of waiting for man to climb up to ,him1 ,he climbs up into man's soul4#fa ,by a new and inner way1 to change the figure1 the tides of the shoreless ,divine ,sea break in upon the life of a man and bathe his entire being4 ,it seems to ,boehme1 at one time1 like the rising of a mid-noon ,sun1 with illuminating rays1 and he describes the experience in terms of ,light and enlarged ,vision1 or1 again1 it appears like the bursting open of a secret door into a world of new dimensions1 and he calls it the opening of the ,gate1 or now again he feels as though the elemental creative power of ,god had burst into operation within him and that a mighty birth-process had lifted him to a new kingdom1 or to a new order of nature1 or1 finally1 hushed and soothed and healed as though he had suddenly found the breast of an infinite ,mother1 he describes his state as the innermost ,quiet--the return to the soul's eternal native country and abiding ,home4 ,descriptions here all fail and are only stammering words of a child1 as ,boehme himself says4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 descriptions fail and fall short in the case of all genuine life-experiences1 #bjc even those that are most universal and common to the race4 ,how one feels when after nights of agony from watching over a child that is hovering between life and death1 and seemingly certain to slip away from human reach1 the doctor says1 ,he has passed the crisis and the danger is over6 one cannot describe4 ,whenever it is a matter that concerns the inner quick of the soul1 all words are the stammerings of a child4 ,the true mystical experience is not primarily a knowledge-experience1 it is not the apprehension of one more describable fact to be added to our total stock of information--what ,boehme so often calls opinions and history1--it is a sudden plunge or immersion into the stream of ,life itself1 it is an interior appreciation of the higher meaning of life by the discovery of a way of entering the ,life-process1 or1 better1 of letting the ,life-process enter you1 on a higher level than is usual4 ,life always advances by a kind of leap1 an elan1 which would not have been predicted or anticipated1 but which1 now it is here revealed in a being with a novel function and a higher capacity of survival1 will lift the whole scale of life henceforth to a new level4 ,so1 in some way which must for the present at least remain mysterious1 the eternal ,source of ,life1 when it finds a human door ready for its entrance1 breaks in--or shall we say that the earnest will climbs up and pushes open the door into new regions in this eternal ,life ,source8--and it seems then1 as ,boehme says1 as though the true nature of ,god and man and the true relation between ,god and man had been found4 ,the mystical experience is1 thus1 one way1 perhaps the highest we have yet discovered1 of entering the ,life-process itself and of gaining an interior appreciation of ,reality by living in the central stream and flow of it1 so that the ,spirit can break through and can see into the ,depth of ,deity4 ,boehme appears to hold two inconsistent and seemingly contradictory views about the human attitude which is the psychological pre-condition for this epoch-making experience4 ,in his own autobiographical #bjd accounts1 he always refers to the part that earnest resolution has played in bringing success to his momentous quest4 ,no great mystic since ,st4 ,augustine has made more of the will in spiritual matters than he does4 ,we have seen how the doors to both world-kingdoms stand before the soul1 and how free-will1 earnest purpose1 decisive endeavour settle for each soul which door shall open and which shall shut1 and so determine its eternal destiny4 ,election is1 for ,boehme1 a fiction of the false imagination1 a ,babel-opinion1 a perverse invention of the ,church of ,cain4 ,christ never says thou couldst not1 but rather thou wouldst not4#fb ,not only does he1 in a general way1 thus make the will the decisive element in human destiny1 he also implies that the creative flash of spiritual insight1 the innermost birth which brings the soul into living union with its source is due1 on the human side1 to resolution1 to earnestness1 to valiant wrestling1 to a brave venture of faith that risks everything4 ,it requires mighty endurance1 hard labour1 stoutness of spirit1 and a great storm1 assault1 and onset to open the ,gate4 ,in a word1 the key to any important spiritual experience is intention1 inward pre-perception1 that holds the mind intently focussed in expectation1 without which the flash of spiritual vision is not likely to come4 ,but on the other hand ,boehme is a powerful exponent of the idea that desire and will must utterly1 absolutely die before ,god can come to birth in the soul--,christ is born and lives in our ,nothingness4#fc ,a man1 he says1 must die wholly to self-hood1 forsake it and enter again into the original ,nothing1--the eternal ,unity in which nothing is willed in particular1--before ,god can have ,his way with him2 all sin arises from self-hood1 from desire4#fd ,how1 asks a disciple in one of ,boehme's imaginary dialogues1 shall ,i come to the hidden centre where ,god dwelleth and not man8 ,tell me plainly1 loving sir1 how it is to be found and entered into8 #bje ,the ,master3 ,there where the soul hath slain its own will and willeth no more anything of itself4 4 4 4 ,the ,disciple3 ,but how shall ,i comprehend it8 ,the ,master3 ,if thou goest about to comprehend in thy own will1 it flieth from thee1 but if thou dost surrender thyself wholly1 then thou art dead to thy own will1 and ,love will be the ,life of thy nature4#fe ,he seems to go as far in this direction toward the annihilation of desire1 negation of the finite1 and loss of self-hood as any of the pantheistic mystics4 ,this sample passage will indicate his teaching3 ,when thou art wholly gone forth from the creature and become nothing to all that is nature and creature1 then thou art in that ,eternal ,one which is ,god ,himself1 and then thou shalt experience the supreme virtue of ,love4#ff ,these two diverse statements are1 however1 not as inconsistent as they at first seem4 ,the will1 the intention that is a psychological preparation for this mystical experience is a will washed and purged of selfish impulse and self-seeking aims4 ,it is an intention that cannot be described in terms of any finite content4 ,it is the intense heave of the whole undivided being toward ,god with no reservation1 no calculation of return profits1 no thought even of isolated and independent personality4 ,a true account of consciousness1 preceding the moment of bursting through the ,gate1 might emphasize with equal accuracy either the earnest resolution1 the storm and onset of will1 or the annihilation of particular desire1 the surrender of individualistic self-hood1 death to own will in the ,life and ,virtue of ,love4 ,the effects of such an experience as that which came to ,boehme1 if we may take his case as typical1 are 7#a7 ,the birth of an inner conviction of ,god's immediate and environing ,presence amounting to axiomatic certainty--faith through experience has become the substance1 and is now one spirit with ,god2 7#b7 ,the radiation of the whole being with a joy like that which parents have at the birth of their first-born child--the joy now of the #bjf soul crying1 ,abba2 7#c7 ,a vastly heightened perception of what is involved in the eternal nature of the religious life and in the spiritual relation between the soul and ,god1 i4e4 increased ability to see what promotes and furthers the soul's health and development2 7#d7 ,a unification1 co-ordination1 and centralizing of the inner faculties1 so that there is an increment of power revealed in the entire personality2 and 7#e7 ,an increase of clarity and a sharpening of focus in the perception of moral distinctions together with a distinctly heightened moral and social passion4 ,boehme himself always believed1 further1 that his entire system of ideas1 his philosophy of the universe1 and his way of salvation were a revelation of the ,spirit to him1--in a word1 that his wisdom was theosophy1 a ,god-communicated knowledge4 ,i have no desire to mark off dogmatically the scope and possible limits of revelation1 nor is it necessary here to discuss the abstract question whether ideas are ever communicated to a mind ab extra1 and without the mediation of subjective processes1 or not4 ,in the concrete case of ,jacob ,boehme1 ,i do not find any compelling evidence of the unmediated communication of ideas4 ,he was a man of unusual native capacity1 and1 though untrained1 his mind possessed a high order of range and quality1 and swept1 as he was1 by a mighty transforming experience1 he found himself in novel fashion1 and was the recipient of inspirations1 which fired and fused his soul1 gave him heightened insight into the significance of things old and new1 and often enabled him to build better than he knew4 ,he is1 however1 obviously using the stock of ideas which his generation and those early and late before it1 had made part of the necessary air men breathed4 ,his terminology and symbolism were as old as mythology1 and were the warp and woof of the nature philosophies and the alchemy of his day4 ,his impressive and spiritual interpretation of ,christianity is always deep and vital1 and freighted with the weight of his own inward direct appreciation of ,god's revelation of ,himself in ,christ1 #bjg but even here he is walking on a road which many brave souls before him had helped to build1 and we cannot with truth say that he supplies us with a new gospel which had been privately communicated to him4 ,in fact1 the portions of his voluminous writings which bear the mark of having been written as automatic script--by this hand1 as he often says--are the chaotic and confused portions1 full of monotonous repetitions1 of undigested and indigestible phrases and the dreary re-shufflings of sub-conscious wreckage4 ,boehme used to say that in the time of the lily his writings would be much sought after4 ,but ,i doubt if1 even in the time of the lily1 most persons will have the patience to read this shoemaker-prophet's books in their present form1 that is1 if in the time of the lily men still enjoy and prize intelligence and lucidity2 but there already is enough of the lily-spirit in the world to appreciate and to give thanks for the experience1 the flashes of insight1 the simple wisdom1 the brave sincerity1 the inner certainty of the true ,world within the world we see1 and the spiritual message of the way to the soul's native ,country1 which he has given us4 #a ,true ,repentance1 i4 #b ,i have given his ,weltanschauung in the previous chapter1 and ,i shall discuss his mysticism at the end of this chapter4 #c ,hegel says that ,boehme's piety is in the highest degree deep and inward4--,history of ,philos4 iii4 p4 #baf4 #d ,true ,resignation1 iii4 #bj4 #e ,the ,three ,princ41 ,preface1 #d4 #f ,there is in every man an incorporate ground of ,grace1 an inner ,temple of ,christ1 the soul's immortal ,dowry4 ,no man can sell or pawn this ground of ,grace1 this habitation and dwelling-place of ,christ4 ,it remains unlost as the possession of ,god--an inward ,ground and spiritual substance4--,myst4 mag4 lxxiv4 #bj-cc1 freely rendered4 #g ,sig4 re4 xv4 #de4 #h ,aurora1 xviii4 #dc4 #i ,the ,three ,princ41 xiv4 #c and #ab2 also ibid4 #he and #hh4 #aj ,myst4 mag4 xxvii4 #da4 #aa ,ninth ,epistle1 #af4 #ab ,myst4 mag4 xxvii4 passim2 also ,seventh ,epistle1 #aa-ad4 #ac ,tenth ,epistle1 #ac-ad4 #ad ,regeneration1 #f4 #ae ,for a sample passage see ,sig4 re4 xv4 #bb-dg4 #af ,true ,resignation1 #cj-da4 ,freely rendered4 #ag ,the ,three ,princ4 xxxiii4 #h-ag4 #ah ,ibid4 xix4 #f4 #ai ,sig4 re4 ix4 #fg4 #bj ,ibid4 xi4 #hh4 #ba ,aurora1 ,preface1 #bg4 #bb ,sig4 re4 xi4 #hj4 #bc ,prayer in ,true ,repentance4 #bd ,three ,princ4 xxii4 #ha4 #be ,myst4 mag4 lxx4 #g-aj2 ,three ,princ4 xviii4 #hj2 and ,supersensual ,life1 #bg4 #bf ,three4 ,princ4 xxv4 #dc4 #bg ,ibid4 xxv4 #f4 #bh ,read ,ibid4 xxv4 #g-da4 #bi ,true ,repentance4 #cj ,first ,epistle1 #f4 ,hegel well says of ,boehme3 ,what marks him out and makes him noteworthy is the ,protestant principle of placing the intellectual world within one's own mind and heart1 and of experiencing and knowing and feeling in one's own self-consciousness all that was formerly conceived as a ,beyond4--,history of ,philos4 iii4 p4 #aia4 #ca ,tenth ,epistle1 #af-ai4 #cb ,incarnation1 part iii4 chap4 i4 #e-ae4 #cc ,sig4 re4 xii4 #aj-ac4 #cd ,the ,threefold ,life1 iii4 #ca4 #ce ,ibid4 vi4 #ga4 #cf ,the ,three ,princ4 iv4 #i4 #cg ,aurora1 xix4 #eb-ff4 #ch ,myst4 mag4 lxxii4 #g-aj4 #ci ,ibid4 xxiv4 #ag4 #dj ,sig4 re4 ix4 #fc4 #da ,seventh ,epistle1 #a4 #db ,ibid41 #f and #ab4 #dc ,apology to ,stiefel1 #bc4 #dd ,true ,resignation1 iii4 #ba4 #de ,myst4 mag4 lxii4 #be4 #df ,the ,three ,principles1 xix4 #dg2 xxi4 #cb42 ,sig4 re4 viii4 #bg4 #dg ,forty ,questions1 xii4 #ci4 #dh ,for an example of it1 see ,myst4 mag4 lxxiv4 #df4 #di ,forty ,questions1 x4 #i4 #ej ,fourth ,epistle1 #cb1 and ,true ,repentance4 #ea ,regeneration1 #afa-afb4 #eb ,myst4 mag4 lxiii4 #dg4 ,this theme constantly reappears4 #ec ,sig4 re4 xv4 #cg4 #ed ,resignation1 vi4 #acd-aea4 #ee ,forty ,questions1 xiv4 #ag-ai4 #ef ,op4 cit4 iv4 #af4 #eg ,von ,hartmann's ,life and ,doctrines of ,jacob ,boehme1 p4 #ej4 #eh ,twenty-fifth ,epistle1 #b4 #ei ,aurora1 xix4 #ie4 #fj ,twenty-sixth ,epistle1 #g4 #fa ,aurora1 xviii4 #i4 #fb ,sig4 re4 xvi4 #ch4 #fc ,ibid4 ix4 #fe4 #fd ,ibid4 xiii4 #bg and xv4 #i4 #fe ,the ,supersensual ,life1 #bi and #cj4 #ff ,ibid4 #bg4 #bjh ,,chapter ,,xii ,,jacob ,,boehme',s ,,influence ,,in ,,england ,the first appearance in ,english of any of the writings of ,jacob ,boehme was in #afde1 when a tiny volume was issued with the title3 ,two ,theosophical ,epistles1 ,englished4 ,there had appeared a year earlier 7#afdd7 a seven-page biography of ,boehme which was the first presentation of him to the ,english reader4 ,this brief sketch contains the well-known incidents which became the stock material for the later accounts of his life4#a ,it also contained the following quaint description of ,boehme which was the model for all the portraits of the ,teutonic philosopher in the ,english biographies of him3 ,the stature of his outward body was almost of no ,personage2 his person was little and leane1 with browes somewhat inbowed2 high ,temples1 somewhat hauk-nosed3 ,his eyes were gray and somewhat heaven blew1 and otherwise as the ,windows in ,solomon's ,temple3 ,he had a thin ,beard2 a small low ,voyce4 ,his ,speech was lovely4 ,he was modest in his ,behaviour1 humble in his conversation and meeke in his heart4 ,his spirit was highly enlightened by ,god1 as is to be seen and discerned in the ,divine ,light out of his writings4 ,the slender volume of ,theosophical ,epistles was followed by another little book issued a year later 7#afdf71 #bji consisting of a ,discourse delivered in ,latin in the ,schools at ,cambridge by ,charles ,hotham1 ,rector of ,wigan4 ,this ,discourse was translated into ,english by the author's brother1 ,justice ,durant ,hotham1 and was published under the title3 ,introduction to ,teutonic ,philosophy1 or ,a ,determination concerning the ,original of the ,soul1 ,englished by ,d4 ,f4 ,durant ,frater1 #afej4 ,this interesting little volume1 full of quaint phrase and strange speculation1 reflects throughout its pages the profound influence of ,boehme on these two brothers4 ,the ,preface to the ,englished edition written by ,justice ,hotham not only shows specific marks of ,boehme's influence upon a high-minded and scholarly man1 but it also reveals in an impressive way a type of thought that was very prevalent in ,england at this period of commotion4 ,there are1 ,justice ,hotham says1 two islands of exceeding danger1 yet built upon and inhabited and defended as part of the main continent of ,truth4 ,the first is called3 ',i believe as the ,church believeth4' ,happy man whom so easie labour hath set on the shore of wisdom6 ,the other island is called3 'whatsoever the ,church believes that will ,i not believe4' ,both these islands seem to him exceeding dangerous4 ,to adopt as truth what the ,church has believed1 solely because the ,church has believed it1 to forego the personal quest and to arrive at the shores of wisdom without the venturous voyage1 is too easie labour for the soul4 ,but1 nevertheless1 he feels that the opposite danger--the danger of negating a truth merely because the ,church affirms it--is even more serious4 ,it is wise to maintain an attitude of much reverence toward the unanimous consent of good and pious men in sacred matters4 ,he suggests that the way of wisdom consists in making the ,i believe of the ,church neither a fetter nor a scandel4 ,may ,i be1 he says1 in the bed-route of those ,seekers that1 distrusting the known and experienced deceits of their own ,reason1 walk unfettered in the quest of truth1 4 4 4 not hunting those poor soules with ,dogge and speare whose dimme sight hath led them into desert and unbeated #baj paths4 ,this was in all probability the ,justice ,hotham of whom ,george ,fox wrote3 ,he was a pretty tender man yt had had some experiences of ,god's workeinge in his hearte3 after yt ,i had some discourse with him off ye things of ,god hee tooke mee ,into his ,closett saide hee had knowne yt principle of the ,light this #aj yeere3 hee was glad yt ye ,lorde did now publish it abroade to ye people4#b ,like his ,teutonic master1 ,justice ,hotham distrusts ,reason and ,sense as spiritual guides4 ,they are at best1 he says1 but guides of the night1 dim lights set up1 far distant from ,truth's stately mansion1 to lead poor groping souls in this world's affairs4 ,the surer ,guide is within the soul itself1 for the soul of man1 he insists1 has a noble descent from eternal essences and our nobel ,genealogy should mind us of our ,father's ,house and make us weary of tutelage under hairy ,faunes and cloven-footed ,satyres4#c ,he shows that he has lost all interest in theological speculations that assume a ,god remote in time and space1 a ,god who once created a world and left it to go to ruin4 ,he reminds his readers that the ,god in whom he believes is yet alive and still speaks4#d ,in the light of this ,preface1 in which he declares that he has suckt in truth from divinest philosophy from his childhood1 it is not strange that he welcomed ,fox1 when the latter appeared in ,yorkshire in #afea1 proclaiming an inward ,light and a present ,god near at hand1 nor is it surprising that ,hotham said to the young prophet of the inward ,guide3 ,if ,god had not raised uppe this principle of light and life1 ye nation had beene overspread with rantism 4 4 4 but this principle of truth overthrew ye roote grounde of there i4e4 the ,ranters' principle4#e ,the enthusiasm of ,justice ,hotham for his ,teutonic master gets fervid expression at the end of his ,preface as follows3 ,whatever the thrice great ,hermes ,hermes ,trismegistus delivered as oracles from his prophetical tripos1 or ,pythagoras spake by authority or #baa ,socrates debated or ,aristotle affirmed2 yea1 whatever divine ,plato prophesied or ,plotinus proved3 this and all this1 or a far higher and profounder philosophy is 7,i think7 contained in the ,teutonick's writings4 ,and if there be any friendly medium which can possibly reconcile these ancient differences between the nobler wisdom which hath fixt her ,palace in ,holy ,writ and her stubborn handmaid1 ,naturall ,reason3 this happy marriage of the ,spirit and ,soul1 this wonderful consent of discords in one harmony1 we owe in great measure to ,teutonicus his skill6 ,the central problem of the ,discourse1 written by the brother1 ,charles ,hotham1 is the origin of the soul4 ,after the manner of his ,german teacher1 the ,english disciple finds the origin of man's soul in the bottomless1 immeasurable ,abyss of the ,godhead1 in the great deep of the perpetually eternal ,god4 ,man is an epitome of the universe4 ,he unites in himself all the contrary principles of the worlds visible and invisible1 he is a unity of body and soul1 a centre of light and darkness1 and in him is a supreme region1 or ,divine ,principle1 by the mediation of which man has direct fellowship with ,god4 ,in man1 who thus epitomizes all the spheres and principles of the universe1 ,god1 as in a glasse1 hath a lively and delightful prospect of ,his own lovely visage and incomprehensible ,beauty4 ,finally1 again1 the disciple reflects the constant teaching of ,boehme that everything in the visible world is a symbol of a fundamental and eternal ,world4 ,durant ,hotham showed the full measure of his devotion to his ,german master in the ,life of ,jacob ,behmen which he wrote in #afec4f ,it is1 however1 much more important for the insight which it gives of the inner life of the ,yorkshire ,justice than for any biographical information it furnishes of ,boehme himself4 ,hotham thinks that in ,boehme he has discovered a new type of ,christian ,saint--one who led a saint-like life in much sweet communion #bab with ,god1 while he declares that many of those who get admission into the ,calendar by the synodical jurisdiction of those who claim also to hold the bunch of keys to the bigger ,heaven are hardly ripe for canonization--,as for many who in these last ages have termed themselves saints--what shift ,god may make of them in heaven1 ,i know not 7,he can do much7--but if ,i may speak unfeignedly1 they are so unmortified and untrue of word and deed that they are found untoward members for a true ,commonwealth and civil ,society here on ,earth4#g ,the type of saint the ,justice admires is one who refuses utterly to choose the path of least resistance1 one who will not be a messenger of eternal happiness at a cheap rate1 but rather one who comes to challenge the easy world1 to fight evil customs and entrenched systems and to win the ,land which the ,devil holds in possession2 and1 with the name of ,jacob ,boehme1 he thinks he can begin a new roll of ,civil ,saints1 hoping1 he says1 that in these last generations much company may be added to the bead roll thus happily started4 ,two points stand out clearly as central ideas of ,justice ,hotham's ,christianity4 ,the first one is that religion is an inward affair4 ,god1 he declares1 hath sent this last ,generation a plain1 uncouth ,message1 bidding man to fight1 telling him that he shall have a ,heaven1 a ,joy1 a ,paradise1 a ,land1 a ,territory1 a ,kingship--but that all this is in himself1 the ,land to be won is himself4#h ,the second one is that religion is a progressive movement1 an unfolding revelation of life4 ,what a height of ,presumption is it1 he says1 to believe that the ,wisdom and fullness of ,god can ever be pent up in a ,synodical ,canon8 ,how overweening are we to limit the successive manifestations of ,god to a present rule and light1 persecuting all that comes not forth in its height and breadth6 ,it is through this unnatural desire to keep ,christians in a perpetual infancy that our dry nurses in the ,church have brought us to such a dwarfish stature1 #bac and he prays that the merciful ,god may teach at least one nation a better way than that of muzzling the bringer of fresh light4 ,much more important1 however1 for the dissemination of ,boehme's ideas in ,england was the patient and faithful work of ,john ,sparrow who1 in collaboration with his kinsman1 ,john ,ellistone1 translated into ,english the entire body of ,boehme's writings1 between the years #afdg and #affa4i ,sparrow was born at ,stambourne in ,essex in #afae4 ,he was admitted to the ,inner ,court in #afcc and subsequently called to the ,bar4 ,he was probably the author of a widely-read book1 published in #afdi1 under the title of ,mercurius ,teutonicus1 consisting of a series of propheticall passages from ,boehme4#aj ,his outer life was uneventful2 his inner life is revealed in his ,introductions to the ,boehme ,translations4 ,he begins his long series of ,translations with the testimony that the writings of this author have so very much satisfied his own soul that he wants others to be partakers of the same source of light1 though he warns his readers that their own souls must come by experience into the condition ,boehme himself was in before they can fully understand him4#aa ,he is profoundly impressed1 #bad as his great contemporary1 ,milton1 was1 with the strange birth of new sects now sprung up in ,england1 but he hopes that goodness will get the upper hand and that the fruits of the spirit will prevail1 and his mind is led to think that through ,boehme's message1 which has been very beneficial in other nations1 our troubled1 doubting souls in ,england may receive much ,comfort1 leading to that inward ,peace which passeth all understanding1 and that all disturbing sects and heresies 4 4 4 will be made to vanish and cease4#ab ,sparrow was deeply impressed with two of ,boehme's central ideas1 and he gives expression to them1 in his own quaint and peculiar way1 in almost every one of his ,introductions--7#a7 the idea that the visible is a parable of the ,invisible1 and 7#b7 the idea that ,god manifests ,himself within men4 ,in the very first of the ,introductions both of these ideas appear3 ,this outward world1 he says1 is the best outward looking-glasse to see whatever hath been1 is1 or shall be in ,eternity1 and our own minds are the best inward looking-glasse to see ,eternity exactly in2#ac and he expresses the belief that any one who learns to read all the work of ,god in the world without1 and in the mind of man within1 will learn to know ,him truly1 will see ,eternity manifested in time1 will discover that the mind of man is a centre of all mysteries1 and that heaven and hell are potentially in us1 and he will be convinced that ,god is in all things and all things are in ,god2 that we live in ,him and that ,he lives in us4#ad ,this second idea--that ,god can be found in the depth of man's soul--is strongly emphasized in ,sparrow's next ,introduction1 written in #afdh--,the ,ground of what hath ever been lieth in man4#ae ,all that is in the ,scriptures has come out of man's experience and therefore can now be grasped by us4 ,all that was in ,adam lies in the ground and depth of any man4 ,when the ,apostle ,john wrote that there is an unction which teacheth all things and leadeth into all truth1 he did not confine this possibility #bae to apostles1 but intended to include all men in the class of those who may be anointed1 and all who know what is in man realize that it is possible to attain to this inward and apostolic guidance4#af ,in a passage of great boldness ,sparrow goes in his venturous faith in the inner ,spirit as far as the young ,leicestershire preacher did who was starting out1 the very year this ,introduction was written1 to proclaim the message of the inward ,light4 ,the ground1 he says1 of all that was in ,adam is in us2 for whatever ,ground lay in ,god1 the same lieth in ,christ and through ,him it lieth in us1 for ,he is in us all4 ,and he that knoweth ,god in himself 4 4 4 may well be able to speak the word of ,god infallibly as the holy men that penned the ,scriptures4 ,and he that can understand these things in himself may well know who speaketh by the ,spirit of ,god and who speaketh his own fancies and delusions4#ag ,in the ,introduction to the ,mysterium magnum1 ,sparrow returns to this idea of inward illumination1 though he balances it better than he did in the former ,introduction1 with his estimation of the antient ,holy ,scriptures1 and he does not again suggest that present-day men speak infallibly4 ,he thinks that the same ,god who so eminently taught ,moses by ,his ,spirit that he could describe the processes of creation1 must have also prepared the people by the instruction of the same ,spirit1 so that they could understand what was written1 and so that the ,spirit in one man could verify itself in the experience of many men4 ,he declares that when the ,scriptures instruct and perfect the man of ,god1 they are effective1 not as a meer relation of things done1 but as the medium of the living ,word which reaches the inward ,man1 the hidden ,man of the heart1 the ,christ in us1 so that we pass beyond the history of ,christ and rise to the experience that ,christ is born within us4#ah ,no other book1 he says1 but the ,scriptures1 teaches #baf man with assured knowledge of all the things which concern the soule1 the eternal part of man1 for other writers have written from the observation of their outward senses1 but these writers had inward senses--their eyes saw1 their ears heard1 their hands handled the ,word of ,life4 ,and yet for those in these days who can look through the vayle or shell within which the ,eternal ,spirit works its ,wonders1 the visible things of the world prove to be a glasse wherein the similitude of spirituall things are represented and the ,minde of man is a most clear and undeceiving glasse wherein we may perceive the motions and activities of that ,work-,master1 the ,spirit who hath created everything in the world4#ab ,in the most satisfactory of all his ,introductions1 the one to the ,aurora in #afef1 he undertakes to show that the ,light within which has now arisen in ,england is not a substitute for the ,christ of history4 ,on the contrary1 he insists that the ,christ within and the ,christ of history is one and the same ,person who is not divided4 ,he was once manifested in the likeness of sinful flesh1 suffering1 dying1 rising1 ascending in glory1 and now1 in an inward and spiritual manner1 ,he is actually present within men so that they may become conformable in soul and spirit to ,him and share in ,his life1 sufferings1 death1 resurrection and glory1 or they may1 by their own choice1 crucify ,him afresh within themselves4#bj ,the ,word of ,life calls loudly within every man1 urging the soul to forsake that which it perceives to be evil and to embrace that which it perceives to be good and holy and divine4 ,this1 he says1 is the ,eternal ,gospel1 and it brings to all men everywhere the good news that we live and move and have our being in ,god1 and that the soul that gropes in sincerity after ,god will find ,him1 for ,he is very nigh1 even in the heart of the seeker4#ba ,he deals in an interesting way with the important contemporary problem--raised by the prevalence of the emphasis on an inward ,divine ,presence--whether human ,perfection is possible in this life4 ,his #bag conclusion is that the tendency to sin remains so long as the mortal body lasts4 ,no person will ever reach a stage of earthly life in which the spur of the flesh is eradicated1 and so no person can be infallibly certain that he is beyond sin1 but when ,christ is inwardly united to the soul and ,his ,spirit dwells in us and reigns in us and we are risen in soul1 spirit1 and mind with ,him1 then we live no longer after the flesh1 or according to its thrust and push1 but share ,his life and partake of the conquering power of ,his ,spirit2 and thus1 though sown in imperfection we are raised in perfection4#bb ,the important matter1 however1 is not that one call himself a ,perfectist1 but that he actually live in this earthly pilgrimage and in this vale of sinfull flesh in the power of ,eternity and by the ,light of ,christ1 whose fulness may be revealed in himself4#bc ,john ,ellistone1 ,sparrow's kinsman and able helper in the work of bringing ,boehme into ,english thought1 holds the same fundamental ideas as his co-labourer1 though he has his own peculiar style and his own unique way of uttering himself4 ,the stress of his emphasis is always on first-hand experience--what he calls an effectual1 living1 essential knowledge and real spiritual being of it in one's own soul2#bd and the brunt of his attack is #bah always against a religion of notions--what he calls verball1 high-flowne1 contrived knowledge and vapouring ,notions1 constructed from the mental idolls of approved masters4#be ,religion1 he maintains1 can no more consist of the letter or of a talkative historicall account than music can consist of a row of written notes4 ,these things are only signs for the direction of the skilful musician who must himself make the sounds on his instrument before there is any music4 ,so1 too1 if there is to be any real religion in the world1 we ,christians must do more than read and approve the deciphered writings of illuminated men1 we must act by the same ,spirit that inspired those men1 we must be practitioners of the ,divine ,light1 we must give living expression to ,divine love and righteousness1 we must practice the way of regeneration in the ,spirit of ,christ and divinitize our knowledge into an effectual working love and attaine the experimental and essential reality of it in our owne soules6#bf ,the way out of the tedious ,maze and wearisome laborinth of discussions and opinions concerning ,god1 ,christ1 ,faith1 ,election1 the ,ordinances and the ,way of ,worship is to know the ,word of ,life1 ,light and ,love experimentally1 to have the fire of ,his love so enkindled in our own hearts that it may breake forth in our practice and conversation to the destroying of all ,thornes and tearing ,bryars of vaine contentions6#bg ,like his kinsman1 he has endless faith in the possibility of man2 he thinks that the entire ,scripture directs us to the ,word within us1 and that the ,book of all mysteries is within ourselves4 ,in our owne ,book1 he says1 which is the ,image of ,god in us1 ,time and ,eternity and all ,mysteries are couched and contained1 and they may be read in our owne soules by the illumination of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,our ,minde is a true mysticall ,mirror and ,looking-glasse of ,divine and ,naturall ,mysteries1 and we shall receive more real knowledge from one effectuall innate essentiall beame or ray of ,light arising from the ,new ,birth within us than in reading many #bai hundreds of authors whereby we frame a ,babel of knowledge in the ,nation4#bh ,he goes so far with his faith in the soul's possibility to return into the ,original ,centre of all ,reality that he declares that a man may sink deep enough into this ,original ,principle that binds his own soul into union with ,god so that he can penetrate by an inner ,light and experience into the secret qualities and virtues hid in all visible and corporeal things1 and may learn to discover the healing and curative powers of metals and plants1 and may thus1 by inward knowledge1 advance all ,arts and ,sciences4#bi ,ellistone returns to this inner way of arriving at a knowledge of outward things in his ,preface to ,signatura rerum in #afea4 ,man1 he declares1 is a microcosm1 or abridgment1 of the whole universe1 he is the emblem and hieroglyphic of ,time and ,eternity1 and he who will take pains to push in beyond ,solomon's ,porch1 or the ,outer ,court of sense and natural reason1 to the ,inner ,court and ,holy ,place1 where the immortal ,seed abides and where man can become one again with that which he was in ,god before he became a creature1 then he will have the key that opens all mysteries both inner and outer4 ,nature will be an open ,book of ,parables in which he can read the truth of ,eternity1 the world will be a clear mirror in which he can see the things of the ,spirit and he will know what will cure both soul and body4 ,the ,depth of ,god within the ,soul1 the ,inner ,light1 is the precious ,pearl1 the never-failing ,comfort1 the ,panacea for all diseases1 the sure ,antidote even against death itself1 the unfailing ,guide and ,way of all ,wisdom4#cj ,here1 then1 were two very enthusiastic disciples of ,boehme who took their master's teaching very seriously1 who on the whole grasped its essential meaning1 were possessed and penetrated by the idea of a deeper eternal world manifesting itself in the temporal1 and who gave their lives to the difficult task of making ,boehme's message #bbj available to their own people and to their own perplexed age4 ,they were not occultists4 ,they did not run into enthusiastic vapourings1 nor did they strain after psychic experiences which would relieve them of the stress and strain of achieving the goal of life through the formation of balanced character and the practice of social virtues1 though1 as we shall see1 some of the readers of their translations took the risky course1 and ended in the fog rather than in the clear light4 ,the question has naturally been raised whether ,boehme exercised any direct influence upon the early ,quaker movement4#ca ,there is at present no way of proving that ,george ,fox1 the chief exponent of the movement1 had actually read the writings of the ,teutonic philosopher or had consciously absorbed the views of the latter1 but there are so many marks of influence apparent in the ,journal that no careful student of both writers can doubt that there was some sort of influence1 direct or indirect1 conscious or unconscious4 ,the works of ,boehme were1 as we have seen1 all available in ,english1 during the great formative period of ,fox's life1 from #afdg to #affa4 ,there can be no question that they were read by the serious ,seekers in the period of the ,commonwealth4 ,thomas ,taylor1 who was one of the finest fruits of the ,seeker movement1 bears in #afei a positive testimony to the spiritual value of ,jacob ,bewman's 7,behmen7 writings4 ,taylor received a letter from ,justice ,william ,thornton of ,hipswell in ,yorkshire1 warning him to beware of the confused ,notions and great words of ,jacob ,bewman and such like frothy scriblers4 ,taylor replies3 ,for thy light expressions of ,jacob ,bewman1 ,i know in most things he speaks a ,parable to thee yet1 and so his writings may well be lightly esteemed of by thee2 but there is that in his ,writings which1 if ever thy eye be opened1 will appear to be a sweet unfolding of the ,mystery of ,god and of ,christ1 in divers particulars1 according to his ,gift4 ,and therefore beware of speaking ,evil of that which thou #bba know'st not4#cb ,we have also seen how ,boehme appealed to such noble ,seekers as ,charles and ,durant ,hotham1 ,john ,sparrow1 and ,john ,ellistone4#cc ,one ,quaker of some importance1 ,francis ,ellington1 not only read the writings of ,boehme1 but regarded that ,faithful ,servant ,jacob ,behme as a ,prophet of the ,lord4#cd ,he quotes from his ,german ,prophet the words3 ,a ,lilly blossometh to you ye ,northern ,countries2 if you destroy it not with sectarian contention of the learned1 then it will become a great ,tree among you1 but if you shall rather contend than to know the true ,god1 then the ,ray passeth by and hitteth only some2 and then afterwards you shall be forced to draw water for the thirst of your souls among strange nations4 ,ellington regards ,boehme as a genuine prophet1 and the ,lilly that was to blossom in the ,north seems to ,ellington plainly to be ,george ,fox and his ,quaker ,society1 which the learned have tried in vain to overthrow4 ,he cites many passages from the ,teutonic ,prophet of the ,lord to show the parallelism between the prophesied type of spiritual religion and the ,children of the ,light who have exactly fulfilled it4#ce ,it would be natural to expect that the young ,quaker seeker1 eager for any light on his dark path1 would read the ,forty ,questions and ,the ,three ,principles of the ,divine ,essence1 or at least that he would hear them discussed by the people among whom he moved in these intense and eventful years4 ,in any case there are ideas expressed and experiences described in the ,journal which look strangely like memories1 conscious or subconscious1 of ideas and experiences to be found in the ,boehme writings4 ,the most striking single passage is one which describes an experience which occurred to ,fox in #afdh4 ,it is as follows3 ,now was ,i come up in ,spirit through the flaming sword into the paradise of ,god4 ,all things were #bbb new2 and all the ,creation gave another smell unto me than before1 beyond what words can utter4 ,i knew nothing but pureness and innocency and righteousness1 being renewed into the image of ,god by ,jesus ,christ1 to the state of ,adam before he fell4 ,the creation was opened to me2 and it was showed me how all things had their names given them1 according to their nature and virtue4 ,i was at a stand in my mind1 whether ,i should practise physic for the good of mankind1 seeing the nature and virtue of things were so opened to me by the ,lord4 4 4 4 ,the admirable works of creation and the virtues thereof may be known through the openings of that divine ,word of ,wisdom and power by which they were made4#cf ,jacob ,boehme had1 as we have seen1 a similar experience of having the nature and virtues of things opened to him in the year #afjj4 ,the following account of it was given in ,sparrow's ,introduction to ,forty ,questions1 printed in #afdg3 ,he went forth into the fields and there perceived the wonderful or wonder works of the ,creator in the signatures1 shapes1 figures1 and qualities or properties of all created things very clearly and plainly laid open4 ,whereupon he was filled with exceeding joy4 ,the same incident is told in a slightly different way in ,justice ,hotham's ,life of ,behmen3 ,going abroad into the ,fields1 to a ,green before ,neys-,gate1 at ,gorlitts1 he there sate down1 and viewing the ,herbs and ,grass of the ,field1 in his ,inward ,light he saw into their essences1 use and properties4 ,it was1 further1 a fundamental idea of ,boehme's that the outward and visible world is a parable and symbol of the spiritual world within1 and that by a spiritual experience which carries the soul down to the inner1 hidden1 abysmal ,centre1 the secrets and mysteries of the outward creation may become revealed4 ,hotham says that ,boehme1 by his divine ,light1 beheld the whole of creation1 and from that ,fountain of ,revelation wrote his book ,de signatura rerum4#cg ,ellistone1 in the ,introduction to ,boehme's ,epistles1 printed in #afdi1 predicts #bbc that an experience1 like this one which ,fox claimed1 will come to those who receive the inner ,divine ,light4 ,this knowledge1 he says1 must advance all ,arts and ,sciences and conduce to the attainment of the ,universal ,tincture and ,signature1 whereby the different secret qualities and vertues that are hid in all visible and corporeall things1 as ,metals1 ,minerals1 ,plants and ,herbes1 may be drawne forth and applied to their right naturall use for the curing and healing of corrupt and decayed nature4#ch ,it was also a feature of ,boehme's teaching that man must enter again into ,paradise and return to the condition of the unfallen ,adam4 ,the ,noble ,virgin i4e4 ,sophia or ,spiritual ,wisdom1 ,boehme writes1 showeth us the ,gate and how we must enter again into ,paradise through the sharpness of the sword1 which1 in a few lines previous1 he calls the flaming sword which ,god set to keep the ,tree of ,life4#ci ,fox's experience of the new smell of creation is an even more striking parallel4 ,mystic awakenings and spiritual openings generally impress the recipient of them with a sense of new and fresh penetration into the meaning of things and leave them with a feeling of heightened powers1 but cases in which the experience results in a new sense of smell are fairly rare4 ,two persons might1 no doubt1 have such an experience quite independently1 but one who has become familiar with the range of suggestion in experiences of this type will note with interest the large place which new ,smells and ,odours occupy in ,boehme's writings4 ,for example1 he says1 in the ,signatura rerum1 where he describes the coming of the ,paradise-experience3 ,when ,paradise springs up1 the paradisaical joy puts itself forth with a lovely smell1#dj and in one of his ,epistles he speaks of a spiritual awakening in his own life that was marked by a new smell--,a very strong ,odour was given to me in the life of ,god4#da ,there is another passage in ,fox's ,journal1 a few lines #bbd beyond this famous account of his ,paradise-experience1 that also bears the mark of ,boehme's influence4 ,in fact1 it is difficult to believe that ,fox could have got his phraseology anywhere else than from ,boehme4 ,the passage reads3 ,as people come into subjection to the ,spirit of ,god and grow up in the ,image and ,power of the ,almighty1 they may receive the ,word of ,wisdom that opens all things1 and1 come to know the hidden ,unity in the ,eternal ,being4#db ,everywhere in ,boehme it is ,sophia1 the ,word of ,wisdom1 that opens all things1 and the goal of all spiritual experience and of all divine illumination for him consists in coming to the hidden ,unity in the ,eternal ,being1 or the ,eternal ,essence4 ,that is not a ,biblical phrase1 and it is not one which the ,drayton youth would have heard from native ,english sources4 ,it came to ,england with the ,boehme literature4 ,further revelations along this same line of opening follow in the ,journal4 ,in the ,vale of ,beavor the ,lord opened things to ,fox1 relating to the three great professions in the world1 physic1 divinity and law4 ,he showed me1 ,fox says1 that the physicians were out of the ,wisdom of ,god by which the creatures were made1 and so knew not their virtue because they were out of the ,word of ,wisdom4 ,he saw that the priests were actuated by the dark power--a very suspicious phrase to one who knows what a place the ,dark ,principle holds in ,boehme's writings--and he saw that the lawyers were out of the ,wisdom of ,god4 ,but it was opened to him that all these three professions might be reformed and brought into the ,wisdom of ,god by which all things were created1 and have a right understanding of the virtues of things through the ,word of ,wisdom2 for in the ,light all things may be seen both visible and invisible4#dc ,the extraordinary use of ,old ,testament figures1 by which ,fox illustrates the condition of the ,church1 in the section of the ,journal following the passages above quoted1 is no less significant4 ,the figures of ,cain and ,esau1 of ,korah and ,balaam1 and the types of ,adam and ,moses are given #bbe quite in the style of ,the ,three ,principles1 or of the ,mysterium magnum4#dd ,one parallel is especially interesting4 ,fox says3 ,i saw plainly that none could read ,moses aright without ,moses' spirit1 by which ,moses saw how man was in the ,image of ,god in ,paradise1 and how he fell and how death came over him1 and how all men have been under this death4#de ,the ,preface to ,mysterium magnum says3 ,i cannot but think that the same ,god that taught ,moses so eminently by ,his ,spirit had so fitted the people for whom he wrote that they were capable to receive instruction by his words4#df ,this idea1 so frequently expressed in the writings of ,fox1 that no one can understand the ,scriptures except by the ,spirit that gave forth the ,scriptures1#dg is equally a fundamental idea of ,boehme and his ,english interpreters4 ,in many passages of the ,mysterium magnum ,boehme declares that the written word is only a witness to the living ,word1 which latter ,word can be understood only by those who are in the ,spirit that spoke in the ,prophets and ,apostles4#dh ,sparrow1 in his ,introduction to the ,aurora1 declares that no person can understand the spiritual mystery of redemption1 though he reade of it in the ,scriptures1 unless the ,holy ,spirit in himself1 the true ,divine ,light1 enlighten him1 and give him the word of faith in his heart2 neither1 he adds1 can any understand the ,holy ,scriptures but by the same ,gifts of the ,holy ,spirit in the ,soul4#di ,on one occasion the ,lord showed ,fox the nature of things that are in the human heart--as the nature of dogs1 swine1 vipers1 etc4#ej ,so1 too1 ,boehme saw that there are many kinds of wild beast in man's nature--the lion1 the wolf1 the dog1 the fox1 and the serpent4#ea ,fox frequently speaks of the two seeds--the ,seed of ,god or the ,seed of ,christ and the seed of the serpent--and the victory of life in the ,spirit consists in having the ,seed of ,god conquer the seed of the serpent1 or1 as ,fox #bbf often expresses it1 having the ,seed of ,god bruise the serpent's head1 or having the ,seed of ,god atop of the devil and all his works2 or having the ,seed reign4#eb ,this phraseology runs throughout ,boehme's writings4 ,the two seeds are everywhere in evidence1 and the ,treader on the serpent is the frequent name for ,christ and for the victorious soul4 ,god showed ,adam1 ,boehme says1 how the ,treader on the serpent should once again be brought with virtue and power up into the ,paradise of ,god1 and live anew by the ,word of ,god4#ec ,fox1 in the account of his first great transforming opening in #afdg1 says3 ,i knew ,god by revelation as one who hath the key doth open4#ed ,this is a frequent figure in ,boehme for a first-hand experience4 ,where is ,paradise to be found8 he asks4 ,is it far away or is it near8 ,one person cannot lend the key to another4 ,every one must unlock it with his own key or else he cannot enter1#ee and again he describes that surpassing joy of the new regeneration1 when the soul gets the keys of the kingdom of heaven and may open for itself4#ef ,fox's openings about university-trained ministers and his references to stone churches1 or churches of stone and mortar1 have many parallels in ,boehme4 ,dinah of the ,old ,testament1 for example1 is nothing else but a figure of our stone churches and our colleges with their ministers6 and ,jacob's concubine1 again1 signifieth nothing else but the stone churches in which ,god's word and testament are handled4#eg ,finally1 ,fox's great vision of an ocean of ,darkness and an ocean of ,light1 while no doubt a real experience and expressed in his own words1 is profoundly like ,boehme's fundamental insight that there are two world-principles of ,light and ,darkness1 and that ,light is1 in the end1 victorious over ,darkness4#eh ,no attempt has been made to gather an exhaustive set #bbg of parallels between the experiences and ideas of these two religious teachers4 ,enough1 however1 is presented to show that this spiritual leader in ,england was distinctly a debtor to the ,teutonic seer who died the same year in which the former was born4 ,fox himself never mentions ,boehme by name1 nor does he ever refer to the little sect of ,behmenists1 which1 springing into existence contemporaneously with the birth of the ,quaker movement1 had an interesting1 though short-lived1 history2 but a number of the followers of ,fox went aggressively into the lists against their puny rival4 ,the so-called sect of ,behmenists is thus described by ,richard ,baxter3 ,the fifth sect are the ,behmenists whose opinions go much toward the way of the former the ,quakers for the sufficiency of the ,light of ,nature1 ,inward ,light1 the salvation of the ,heathen as well as ,christians1 and a dependence on 'revelations4' ,but they are fewer in number1 and seem to have attained to greater ,meekness and conquest of passions than any of the rest4 ,their doctrines are to be seen in ,jacob ,behmen's ,books1 by him that hath nothing else to do1 than to bestow a great deal of time to understand him that was not willing to be easily understood6#ei ,the chiefest of this sect of ,behmenists1 ,baxter says1 was ,dr4 ,john ,pordage4 ,pordage was born in #afjg2 was curate in #afdd of ,st4 ,lawrence's in ,reading2 was made rector of the ,church in ,bradfield late in #afdf2 was charged in #afea with heresies1 comprised in nine articles1 consisting apparently of a sort of mystical pantheism4 ,he was at first acquitted1 but was later charged again with heresies on these nine counts1 with fifty-six more1 and was deprived of his rectory in #afee4 ,he valiantly defended himself in a book with the title1 ,truth appearing through the ,clouds of ,undeserved ,scandel1 and in other publications1 and after the ,restoration he was reinstated4 ,as the ,behmenists were definitely attacked by the ,quaker1 ,john ,anderdon1 in #affa1 it is to be inferred that they existed as a society at least as early as the #bbh ,restoration1 though the movement became much more prominent in the 'seventies1 when ,pordage discovered a remarkable woman named ,jane ,leade1 and they agreed to wait together in prayer and pure dedication4 ,jane ,leade1 whose maiden name was ,jane ,ward1 was born of a good ,english family in #afbc4 ,she was a psychopathic child1 and as a young girl heard miraculous voices which led her to devote herself to religion4 ,she became profoundly impressed with the writings of ,boehme1 as ,pordage had been still earlier1 and under the suggestion of ,boehme's experiences she received many prophetic visions1 which are recorded in her spiritual ,diary1 ,a ,fountain of ,gardens4#fj ,a few instances of her experiences in the early stages will be of some value to the reader4 ,she was visiting1 she says1 in ,april #afgj1 in a quiet1 retired place1 and was contemplating the happy state of the angelical world1 much exercised upon ,solomon's choice1 which was to find out the ,noble ,stone of ,wisdom4 ,there came upon me an overshadowing bright cloud1 and in the midst of it the ,figure of a woman1 most richly adorned with transparent gold1 her hair hanging down1 and her face as terrible as chrystal for brightness1 but her countenance was sweet and mild4 ,at which sight ,i was somewhat amazed1 and immediately this ,voice came1 saying1 ,behold1 ,i am ,god's ,eternal ,virgin1 ,wisdom1 whom thou hast been enquiring after4 ,i am to unseal the ,treasures of ,god's deep ,wisdom unto thee4 4 4 4 ,wisdom shall be born in the inward parts of thy soul4 ,three days later1 the same ,figure in greater ,glory did appear1 with a crown upon her head1 full of majesty1 saying1 ,behold me as thy ,mother and know thou art to enter into covenant1 to obey the ,new-,creation laws that shall be revealed unto thee4#fa ,in her account of the following extraordinary experience there are many marks of ,boehme's influence3 ,i retained no strength1 my ,sun of ,reason and the ,moon of my outward sense were folded up and withdrew4 ,i knew nothing by myself1 as #bbi to those working properties from ,nature and ,creature1 and the wheel of the ,motion standing still1 another influence moved from a central ,fire1 so that ,i felt myself transmuted into one pure flame4 ,then came that ,word to me1 ',this is no other than the ,gate to my ,eternal ,deep4'#fb ,pordage's main contribution to the exposition of ,behmenism was a book published in #afhc and entitled1 ,theologia ,mystica1 or the ,mystic ,divinitie of the ,eternal ,invisibles4 ,it is the work of a confused mind1 and its spiritual penetration1 as also its mastery of the ,english language1 are of a low order4 ,the marks of ,boehme's influence appear everywhere in the book1 though ,pordage is quite incapable of comprehending the more profound and robust features of ,boehme's philosophy4 ,what he relates professes to be what he himself has seen in visions1 or what he has heard from celestial visitants4 ,it has1 he says1 been his privilege to taste much of that ,tree of ,life which grows in the midst of the ,paradise of ,god2 to smell the difference between heaven and hell2 to have seen through the veil of nature into the spiritual glory of eternity1 to have felt the distillations of heavenly dew and secret touches of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,unlike his ,teutonic master1 he taught 7and it was also the view of ,jane ,leade7 that in the end ,divine ,love transmutes evil into good and even hell into ,paradise4 ,one passage in his book1 written in his best style1 will be sufficient to illustrate his glowing optimism3 ,love is of a transmuting and transforming ,nature4 ,the great effect of ,love is to turn all things into its own ,nature1 which is all goodness1 sweetness1 and perfection4 ,this is that ,divine ,power which turns ,water into ,wine1 ,sorrow and ,hellish ,anguish into exulting and triumphing ,joy2 ,curse into ,blessing2 where it meets with a barren heathy ,desart it transmutes it into a ,paradise of delights2 yea1 it changeth evil to good and all imperfection into perfection4 ,it restores that which is fallen and degenerated to its primary ,beauty1 ,excellence and ,perfection4 ,it is #bcj the ,divine ,stone1 the ,white ,stone with a ,name written on it1 which none knows but him that hath it 4 4 4 the ,divine ,elixir whose transforming power and efficacy nothing can withstand4#fc ,his greater disciple1 ,jane ,leade1 the enamoured woman-devotee of ,pordage1 the main exponent of the ,behmenist movement of this period1 was a far too voluminous writer4#fd ,she was a sincere1 pure-minded woman1 of intense devotion1 but she was a strongly emotional type of person1 and lived in a kind of permanent borderland of visions and revelations4 ,her language1 like that also of ,pordage1 is ungrammatical1 of involved style1 and full of overwrought and fanciful imagination4 ,christopher ,walton1 who in many ways respected her1 calls her writings a huge mass of parabolicalism and idiocratic deformity6#fd ,in her ,message to the ,philadelphian ,society she reports a curious vision from heaven which assures her that the ,quakers are not ,god's chosen people4 ,there pass in review before her illuminated sight the various claimants to the lofty title of the true ,church1 the real ,bride of ,christ4 ,there are ,anabaptists1 ,fifth ,monarchy ,men1 and many others4 ,then1 she says1 did ,i see a body greater than any of these come up with great boldness1 as deeming themselves to have arrived to ,perfection and so visibly distinguishing themselves from all the rest1 and ,i said1 ,now surely the anointed of the ,lord is before ,him4 ,but a ,voice said1 ,neither are these they2 for the ,lord seeth not as man seeth4#ff ,a third and intellectually far greater member of this group of ,behmenists was ,francis ,lee1 a ,fellow of ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,oxford1 a student in ,leyden ,university1 and a man of splendid parts4 ,he became acquainted with the movement while in ,holland1 and on his return home sought out ,jane ,leade1 became her adopted son1 and1 later1 on the strength of a revelation made to his #bca spiritual mother1 he married her daughter4 ,until the time of ,jane ,leade's death in #agjd1 he was her devoted disciple1 writing for her in the period of her blindness1 and editing and publishing many of her books4 ,he was the moving spirit in the formation of the ,philadelphian ,society for the propagation of the mystical ideas of the followers of ,boehme--a ,society which existed from #afig to #agjc1 and which had a far-reaching influence not only in ,england but still more on the ,continent of ,europe4#fg ,john ,anderdon1 an interesting ,quaker pamphleteer1 born in #afbd1 convinced of the ,truth of the ,quaker ,message by the preaching of ,francis ,howgil in #afeh1 and for many years a prisoner for his faith1 for which he finally died in prison1 furnishes in his attack on the ,behmenists in #affa the earliest data available for an estimate of their views and practices4#fh ,the writer has evidently read the works of ,jacob ,boehme1 or at least some of them1 and he contends that the ,behmenists whom he is attacking have failed to understand the writings of their master and have never fathomed the tendencie of his spirit3 ,the ,conclusion which you have drawn to yourselves from his ,writings will not profit you2 neither doth it make you any jot the more excellent1 that ye can talk much of him and his ,books and ,writings1 being not come to the right ,spirit in which is life1 which brings men out of dead ,forms4#fi ,his main criticism of the little sect is that its members make use of ,mediums and borrowed ,instruments for the conveyance of ,god's ,grace and ,virtue into the ,soul1#gj and that they have not come to the ,light which gives #bcb a true understanding of the things of ,god1 though he admits that there was sometime in them a hungering and thirsting after ,righteousness4#ga ,these ,mediums are evidently the ,water of ,baptism and the ,bread and ,wine of the ,supper--,ordinances1 he says1 as you call them4#gb ,it would seem from this ,quaker ,pamphlet that the ,behmenists under review were much like the followers of ,fox1 except only that they continued to use the sacraments4 ,this use of ,mediums seemed to him indicate that they were out of the ,light and trying to cover the serpent's head1 instead of stamping on it1 but ,anderdon would not have written his ,blow at ,babel if he had not been impressed with the general marks of likeness in other respects between the ,behmenists and his own people4 ,another interesting ,quaker document furnishes a glimpse of the ,behmenists a dozen years later--at about the period when ,john ,pordage and ,jane ,leade were beginning to wait together in prayer and pure meditation4 ,it is a ,minute adopted by the ,london ,morning ,meeting of ,friends1 the #bast of ye #gth ,month #afgd4 ,the occasion for action was the reception of an ,epistle to the ,behminists1 written by ,ralph ,frettwell of ,barbadoes1 at an earlier period one of the ,chief ,judges of the ,court of ,common-pleas in the island4 ,he had been stirred to write for the same reason that impelled ,anderdon1 and his ,epistle called these partly spiritualized people1 as he believed1 to the fuller ,light1 and warned them against the use of ,baptism1 and ,bread and ,wine1 and the ,pater ,noster4 ,the ,minute of the ,morning ,meeting1 which opens with the words3 ,deare freind ,r4 ,f4 in the ,truth that never changeth but changeth all who believe and obey it1 records the decision of the ,meeting not to publish the ,epistle1 wee haveing well weighed it in the feare of ,god and in tender ,care of ,truth4 ,the reason given in the ,minutes for not publishing the ,epistle is1 first1 that the writings of ,j4 ,b4 reveal #bcc a great mixture of light and darkness1 and indicate that he lived sometimes in the power of one and sometimes in the power of the other1 that ,god ,himself has tried and judged the ,spirit of darkness1 and that the ,spirit of ,light has already come to its own ,centre and flows forth again purely--presumably in the ,quaker movement4#gc ,as the ,lord ,himself has given judgment and has given victory to the ,principle of the ,light1 the publication of the ,epistle is unnecessary4 ,and1 secondly1 ,frettwell1 in calling the ,behmenists from the use of ,mediums1 admits that at an earlier period of his life1 before he received the full ,light1 he received light and peace through these external things4 ,this seemed to the ,meeting too much giveing them encouragement to dwell in things which give only drynesse and barrenness1 and they fear that the ffoxes among them would take advantage of this aid and comfort4#gd ,it would appear that the gravamen of the ,quaker attack on the little sect was the failure of its members to dispense with sacraments4 ,at a later period1 when the ,philadelphian ,society was in full flower1 an old-time pillar ,quaker1 ,george ,keith1 then become a ,churchman and an apostate in the eyes of ,friends1 attacked the writings of ,jane ,leade on the ground that she wrote derogatory to the ,humanity of ,christ1 i4e4 the historical ,christ4 ,francis ,lee took up vigorously the defence1 and told ,george ,keith that he himself had taught again and again the same principle of inward ,light and inward ,religion1 that he had never yet publicly renounced these early ideas of his1 and that he of all men ought to understand the meaning of a ,christ within and of a ,still ,eternity4#ge ,traces of ,boehme's influence appear in the terms and #bcd ideas of many ,english writers during the period under consideration1 besides those specifically mentioned4 ,sir ,isaac ,newton read ,boehme's books with great appreciation and meditated upon those strange accounts of the invisible universe which underlies and is in the visible world1 but we need not take too seriously the claim of the ,behmenists that he was ploughing with ,behmen's heifer when he discovered the law of universal gravitation6#gf ,milton1 without any doubt1 had read the ,german mystic's account of the eternal war between the ,light ,principle and the ,dark ,principle1 of the fall of ,lucifer1 of the loss of ,paradise1 and of the return of man in ,christ to ,paradise1 and there are many passages in the great poet which look decidedly like germinations from the seed which ,boehme sowed1 but we must observe caution in tracing the origin of verses written by a poet of ,milton's genius and originality and range of knowledge4 ,one great ,englishman of a later period1 ,william ,law1 unmistakably owed to ,jacob ,boehme the main influences which transformed his life1 and through the pure and lucid style of this noble ,english mystic of the eighteenth century1 ,boehme's insights found a new interpretation and a clearer expression than he himself or any other interpreter had been able to give them4#gg #a ,the ,life of one ,jacob ,boehmen1 who although he was a meane man1 yet wrote the most wonderful deepe knowledge in ,naturall and ,divine ,things1 that any hath been known to doe since the ,apostles' ,times1 and yet never read them or learned them from any other man1 as may be scene in that which followeth4--,london1 #afdd1 printed by ,l4 ,n4 for ,richard ,whitaker4 #b ,journal of ,george ,fox 7,cambridge edition1 #aiaa71 i4 p4 #ah4 #c ,preface1 ,a4 #d4 #d ,ibid4 #e ,journ4 i4 p4 #bi4 #f ,the ,life of ,jacob ,behmen1 written by ,durant ,hotham1 ,esquire1 ,november #g1 #afec4 ,printed for ,h4 ,blunden1 and sold at the ,castle in ,corn ,hill1 #afed4 #g ,life of ,jacob ,behmen1 ,b4 #b4 #h ,op4 cit4 ,b4 #b4 #i ,the writings were translated in the following order3 ,in #afdg1 ,forty ,questions by ,sparrow2 ,the ,clavis1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afdh1 ,the ,three ,principles1 by ,sparrow2 ,the ,way to ,christ 7including the ,treatises1 ,on ,true ,repentance2 ,on ,true ,resignation2 ,on ,regeneration2 ,the ,supersensual ,life2 and ,on ,illumination71 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afdi1 ,of the ,last ,times1 by ,sparrow2 ,epistles of ,jacob ,behmen1 by ,ellistone4 ,in #afej1 ,the ,three-fold ,life1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afea1 ,de signatura rerum1 by ,ellistone4 ,in #afeb1 ,christ's ,testaments--,baptism and ,supper1--by ,sparrow4 ,in #afed1 ,the ,mysterium magnum1 by ,ellistone and ,sparrow2 ,a ,table of the ,divine ,manifestation1 by ,h4 ,blunden and ,sparrow2 ,a ,table of the ,three ,principles1 ,h4 ,blunden and ,sparrow2 ,an ,epitome of the ,three ,principles1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afee1 ,on ,predestination1 by ,sparrow2 ,a ,short ,compendium on ,repentance1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afef1 ,the ,aurora1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #afei1 ,the ,treatise on the ,incarnation1 by ,sparrow4 ,in #affa1 ,the ,great ,six ,points2 ,the ,earthly and ,heavenly ,mystery2 ,the ,four ,complexions2 ,two ,apologies to ,tylcken2 ,considerations concerning ,stiefel's ,threefold ,state of ,man2 ,an ,apology concerning ,perfection2 ,on ,divine ,contemplation2 ,an ,apology for the ,books on ,true ,repentance and ,true ,resignation2 #agg ,theosophic ,questions2 ,the ,holy ,week2 #be ,epistles1 by ,sparrow4 #aj ,sparrow refers to this book in his ,introduction to ,the ,three ,principles as follows3 ,for a taste of the ,spirit of prophecy which the author ,boehme had1 there is a little treatise of some prophecies concerning these latter times1 collected out of his writings by a lover of the ,teutonic philosophy and entitled ,mercurius ,teutonicus4 #aa ,introd4 to ,forty ,questions4 #ab ,introd4 to ,forty ,questions4 #ac ,ibid4 #ad ,ibid4 #ae ,introd4 to ,the ,three ,princ4 #af ,introd4 to ,the ,three ,princ4 #ag ,ibid4 #ah ,to the ,reader in ,myst4 mag4 #ai ,to the ,reader in ,myst4 mag4 #bj ,preface to the ,reader in ,aurora4 #ba ,preface for the ,aurora4 #bb ,preface for the ,aurora4 #bc ,a contemporary of ,sparrow1 probably ,samuel ,pordage1 wrote an ,encomium on ,sparrow in the ,introduction to a long ,behmenite ,poem called ,mundorum explicatio 7,london1 #affa74 ,the passage is as follows3 ,and learned ,sparrow we thy praises too ,will ,sing2 rewards too small for what is due1 ,the ,gifts of ,glory and of ,praise we owe3 ,the ,english ,behmen doth ,thy ,trophies show4 ,whilst ,englishmen that great saint's praise declare1 ,thy ,name shall join'd with his receive a share4 ,the ,time shall come when his great ,name shall rise1 ,thy ,glory also shall ascend the skies4 ,thou mad'st him ,english speak1 or else what ,good ,had his works done us if not understood8 ,to ,germany they beneficial prove ,alone3 till we enjoyed them by thy ,love4 ,their ,german ,robes thou took'st from them1 that we ,their ,beauties might in ,english ,garments see4 ,thus has thy ,love a vast rich ,treasure showen1 ,and made what was exotic now our own4 #bd ,preface to ,boehme's ,epistles 7#afdi74 #be ,preface to ,boehme's ,epistles4 #bf ,ibid4 #bg ,ibid4 #bh ,preface to ,epistles4 #bi ,ibid4 #cj ,preface to ,sig4 re4 #ca ,this question was raised by ,barclay in his ,inner ,life of the ,religious ,societies of the ,commonwealth 7,london1 #ahgi71 pp4 #bad-bae4 #cb ,thomas ,taylor's ,works 7,london1 #afig71 p4 #hf4 #cc ,the writings themselves constantly use the word ,seeker1 and the ,introductions emphasize the ,seeking attitude4 #cd ,christian ,information ,concerning these ,last ,times1 by ,f4 ,e4 7,london1 #affd71 pp4 #aj-aa4 #ce ,op4 cit4 pp4 #aa-ab4 #cf ,journal 7ed4 #aija71 #bh4 ,unfortunately the ,cambridge ,journal does not contain any biographical incidents prior to #afeb4 #cg ,hotham's ,life1 ,d4 #d4 #ch ,preface to ,epistles1 p4 #aj4 #ci ,the ,three ,princ41 trans4 #afdh1 xx4 #dj-da4 #dj ,sig4 re4 viii4 #bc4 #da ,ep4 xv4 #ah4 ,for another passage on the new smell1 see ,the ,three ,princ4 iv4 #bg4 #db ,journal1 i4 p4 #bi4 #dc ,ibid4 i4 pp4 #bi-cj4 #dd ,see ,journal1 i4 pp4 #ca-cd4 #de ,ibid4 i4 p4 #cc4 #df ,op4 cit4 ,a4 #dg ,see1 for specimen passages1 ,journal1 i4 pp4 #cf and #abd4 #dh ,see especially ,myst4 mag4 xxxviii4 sections #eb-ei4 #di ,preface to ,aurora1 ,b4 #ej ,journal1 i4 p4 #ai4 #ea ,three ,princ4 xvi4 #ca-cg4 #eb ,see ,journal1 i4 p4 #ac2 pp4 #aij-aia and passim4 #ec ,three ,princ4 iv4 #e4 ,see also ibid4 xv4 #bd2 xvi4 #db2 and xviii4 #bd4 #ed ,journal1 i4 p4 #ab4 #ee ,three ,princ4 ix4 #be-bf4 #ef ,ibid4 xix4 #cc4 #eg ,myst4 mag4 lxii4 #ag and lxiii4 #cf4 #eh ,see ,fox's ,journal1 i4 p4 #ai4 #ei ,reliquiae ,baxterianae 7,london1 #agae71 i4 #gg4 #fj ,a ,fountain of ,gardens1 #d vols41 ,london1 #afif-agja4 #fa ,op4 cit4 i4 pp4 #ag-ai4 #fb ,a ,fountain of ,gardens1 p4 #be4 #fc ,theologia mystica1 p4 #ha4 #fd ,christopher ,walton1 in his ,notes and ,materials 7#ahed71 gives a list of eighteen of her books4 #fe ,ibid4 p4 #bch4 #ff ,op4 cit4 p4 #i4 ,pordage disliked the ,quakers and speaks slightingly of them in ,theologia mystica4 ,he also wrote a ,treatise against them4 ,see ,walton1 p4 #bjc4 #fg ,important material on this subject may be found in ,walton's ,notes and ,materials1 especially pp4 #ahh-beh4 #fh ,the full title-page of ,anderdon's book is as follows3 ,one ,blow at ,babel4 ,in those of the ,pepole called ,behemnites1 whose ,foundation is not upon that of the ,prophets and ,apostles1 which shall stand sure and firm forever2 but upon their own carnal conceptions1 begotten in their ,imaginations upon ,jacob ,behmen's writings3 ,they not knowing the better part1 the ,teachings of that ,spirit that sometime opened some ,mysteries of ,god's ,kingdom in ,jacob1 have chosen the worser part in ,esau1 according to the predominancy of that ,spirit which ruled in them when they made choice of their ,religion1 as it doth in others the hearts of the children of disobedience4--,by ,john ,anderdon4 7,london1 printed in the year #affb1 written in #affa74 #fi ,one ,blow at ,babel1 p4 #c4 #gj ,ibid4 pp4 #a and #f4 #ga ,one ,blow at ,babel1 pp4 #a-b4 #gb ,jane ,leade's writings give great importance to the outward sacraments4 #gc ,the use of the phrase its own ,centre1 which became an important ,quaker term1 is an interesting relic of ,boehme's influence4 #gd ,minutes of the ,morning ,meeting1 i4 ,george ,fox apparently asked to see ,frattwell's ,,ms41 for in a ,letter under date of eighth mo4 #ast1 #afgd1 ,alexander ,parker writes to ,george ,fox3 ,i likewise spoke to ,edw4 ,man ,edward ,mann to send down ,ralph ffrettwells ,book1 ,i suppose he intends to see thee shortly and if he can find ye ,book to bring itt with him4--,journal 7,cambridge edition71 ii4 p4 #cje4 #ge ,walton's ,notes and ,materials1 pp4 #bbg and #bca4 #gf ,see ,walton's ,notes and ,materials1 pp4 #c1 #df1 #gb1 and #djd4 #gg ,william ,law lies beyond the period to which this volume is devoted4 ,it is customary to call the edition of ,behmen's ,works1 published #agfd-agha1 ,william ,law's ,edition4 ,this is quite incorrect4 ,this edition is in the main a reprint of the earlier ,translations by ,sparrow and ,ellistone4 ,it was edited by ,george ,ward1 assisted by ,thomas ,langcake1 and printed at the expense of ,mrs4 ,hutcheson1 an intimate friend of ,william ,law4 #bce ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,early ,,english ,,interpreters ,,of ,,spiritual ,,religion3 ,,john ,,everard1 ,,giles ,,randall1 ,,and ,,others ,i ,the ideas developed by spiritual ,reformers on the ,continent were brought into ,england by a great variety of carriers and over many routes4 ,some of the routes were devious and are difficult to trace1 but some of them1 on the other hand1 are obvious and easily found4 ,one of the potent and pervasive intellectual influences for the formation of the spiritual type of thought in ,england was the ,platonic influence which came to ,england through the ,humanists4 ,this strand of thought1 inherited from the remote past1 is woven into the inner structure of all these interpreters of the divine ,life4 ,the ,english revival of ,greek philosophy is closely connected with the work of the early ,italian ,humanists1 especially with that of the ,florentine scholar1 ,marsilio ,ficino 7#adcc-adii71 who was selected and educated by ,cosimo de ,medici to be the head of the new ,academy in ,florence4 ,it was a fixed idea of ,ficino that ,philosophy and ,religion are identical1 and therefore that ,religion1 if it is true ,religion1 is rooted and grounded in ,reason1 since ,god is the source of all ,truth and all that is rational4 ,plato1 in ,ficino's eyes1 is ,philosophy4 ,he was the divine forerunner of ,christ in the realm of intellect as ,john the ,baptist was in the realm of the law4 ,in his mind ,plato's ,philosophy is the greatest possible preparation for an adequate understanding of the world of ,truth which ,christ has unveiled and of the way #bcf of ,life which ,he has revealed4 ,ficino translated ,plato's ,dialogues into ,latin1 and gave his own interpretation of the great philosopher in a ,treatise on ,plato's ,doctrine of ,immortality of ,souls4 ,he also translated ,plotinus and the writings falsely attributed to ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 and put them anew into spiritual circulation4 ,ficino1 though living in an age of corruption and debauchery1 and though closely associated with ,humanists who had hardly a thin veneer of ,christianity1 and who were bent on reviving paganism1 yet himself maintained a positive ,christian faith and a pure and simple life4 ,he found it possible to be a priest in the ,christian ,church and at the same time to be a high-priest in the temple of ,plato1 because he found faith and reason to be indivisible and indissoluble4 ,his influence was marked upon the early ,english ,humanists1 ,linacre1 ,grocyn1 ,colet1 and ,more1 and he was a vital influence in the new revival1 which occurred in the seventeenth century1 of ,plato and ,plotinus as contributors to a virile religion based upon an inherent divine and human relationship4 ,still another influence1 of a very different sort1 came to ,england by way of ,italy--the intense interpretation of ,faith as the way of salvation1 expressed in the writings of the ,spanish reformer1 ,juan de ,valdes1 and in the powerful sermons of his two ,italian disciples1 ,bernardino ,ochino 7#adhg-aefd7 and ,pietro ,martire ,vermigli 7#aejj-aefb71 generally known as ,peter ,martyr4 ,juan de ,valdes1 twin brother of the ,humanist1 ,alfonso de ,valdes1 the friend of the ,emperor ,charles ,v41 was born of a distinguished ,castilian family toward the end of the fifteenth century4 ,he was splendidly prepared in his youth1 both mentally and religiously1 for the great work of his life1 which was to be a spiritual mover of other souls4 ,as his views of the needed transformation of ,christianity broadened and intensified he concluded that he would be safer in ,italy than in ,spain1 and he thus took up his residence in ,naples in #aebi4 ,here he became the centre of a remarkable circle of spiritual men and women who were dedicating themselves to the reform of the ,church and to the #bcg propagation of a more vital religion4 ,ochino1 the most powerful ,italian preacher of the age2 the fervent scholar1 ,vermigli2 the papal secretary1 ,carnesecchi1 later a martyr to the new faith2 ,vittoria ,colonna1 the friend of ,michael ,angelo ,buonarotti1 and the beautiful ,giulia ,gonzaga1 were among those who kindled their torches from his burning flame4 ,for the instruction of his friends--especially for ,giulia ,gonzaga--de ,valdes translated ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles to the ,romans and ,galatians and wrote commentaries on them1 and contributed the penetrating original works1 ,the ,christian ,alphabet and ,the ,hundred and ,ten ,divine ,considerations4#a ,these writings present in vivid and powerful style the way of salvation through ,faith4 ,the primary insight is ,lutheran1 but it is everywhere coloured and tempered by the author's ,humanistic outlook4 ,he insists1 in all his interpretations of salvation1 upon the vital interior work of the ,holy ,spirit and upon the necessity of re-living the ,christ-life in all its heights and depths4 ,all the truths of religion1 he constantly urges1 must be known and verified in experience1 and those who are to be effective ministers of the ,gospel in any age must know that they are divinely sent and must be taught by the inward ,word of ,god rather than by human science4 ,the attractive power of the ,cross is rediscovered in his profound experience and makes itself felt as the dynamic principle of his entire moral activity4 ,the ,divine ,considerations was put into ,english by ,nicholas ,ferrar 7#aeib-afcg7 of ,little ,gidding1 and published at ,oxford in #afch1 together with the ,introduction to the ,commentary on ,romans1 under the name of ,john ,valdesso4 ,the ,english translation was submitted by ,ferrar to his friend1 ,george ,herbert1 who wrote some interesting critical notes which were printed with the original edition4 ,george ,herbert expresses his great love for ,valdesso1 whose eyes1 he says1 ,god has opened1 even in the midst of ,popery1 to understand and expresse so clearly #bch and excellently the intent of the ,gospell in the acceptation of ,christ's righteousness1 but he likes not his slighting of ,scripture and his use of the ,word of ,god for inward revelation4 ,he believed1 though wrongly1 that de ,valdes was a mystic1 and that he was advocating a religion of private enthusiasms and revelations4 ,the fact was rather that de ,valdes was presenting or was aiming to present a religion of universal validity1 brought to birth by the discovery of ,god in ,christ as revealed in the ,gospel1 and made continuously effective anew by personal experience of the same ,christ as ,divine ,revealer in the lives of men4 ,there is no question of the far-reaching influence of ,ferrar's translation of this vital message of de ,valdes1 especially among scholars and literary men4 ,it must also have had a popular influence1 for ,samuel ,rutherford in #afdh declared it to be one of the poysonable sources of ,familisme1 ,antinomianisme1 and ,enthusiasme4#b ,he charges that ,waldesso1 as he calls him1 teaches men that the ,scriptures have been supplanted by the inner ,light1 in fact that ,scripture shines only as a light in a dark place until the ,day-star arises in the heart1 and that then man hath no more need to seeke that of the holy ,scripture which departs of it selfe1 as the light of a candle departs when the ,sunne-beames enter1 even as ,moses departed at the presence of ,christ and the ,law at the presence of the ,gospel4#c ,ochino and ,vermigli spent six important years in ,england from #aedg to #aeec1 when persecution under ,mary forced them to flee4 ,they were far more under the influence of ,calvin at this period than under that of their former friend de ,valdes1 but they both with the fire and intensity of their ,italian nature--especially ,ochino in his sermons--drove home to the hearts and consciences of their hearers the way of salvation by faith and the absolute necessity of inner experience and interior religion4 #bci ,,ii4 ,,john ,,everard ,dr4 ,john ,everard of ,clare ,college1 ,cambridge1 was clearly one of the earliest and one of the most interesting carriers of these ideas1 and in his case it is not difficult to discover the influences which shaped the course of his thought and suggested the general lines of his message4 ,he was born about #aege--the birth year of ,jacob ,boehme--though all early biographical details are lacking4 ,he had a long student period at ,clare ,college1 receiving his degree of ,b4,a4 in #afjj1 ,m4,a4 in #afjg1 and ,d4,d4 in #afai4 ,he was deeply versed in the great mystics1 and always reveals in his sermons the influence of ,plotinus and ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 and no less the influence of ,eckhart1 ,tauler1 and the ,theologia ,germanica4 ,but at some period of his life he tapped a new source and came into possession of a fresh group of live and suggestive ideas which influenced all the thinking of his later stage4 ,his translations1 some of which are in ,,ms4 and some in printed form1 furnish a clue to the main sources of his ideas1 which present a striking parallelism with those held by the continental spiritual ,reformers of the sixteenth century4 ,he was possessed of original power and of penetrating insight1 with eyes of his own1 but no one can fail to see that he had read and pondered the writings of these submerged ,reformers1 and that in a country remote from theirs he has become a reincarnation of their ideas and a new voice for their message4 ,his public career1 in the ,england of the first two ,stuarts1 was a stormy one4 ,he was ,rector of ,st4 ,martin-in-the-,field4 ,in the early stage of his preaching he felt called upon to oppose the ,spanish ,marriage as the great sin of matching with idolaters1 and he underwent a series of imprisonments for his attacks upon this precious scheme of ,king ,james1 who wittily suggested changing his name from ,dr4 ,everard ,ever-out to ,dr4 ,never-out4 ,some time before his fiftieth year--the date cannot be exactly fixed--he reached #bdj his new and deeper insight1 and henceforth became the bearer of a message which seemed to him and to his friends like the reopening of the treasury of the ,gospels1 and in this new light he felt ashamed of the barren period of his life when he walked in the ignorance of litteral knowledge1 when he was a bare1 literal1 ,university preacher1 as he himself says1 and had not found the marrow and the true ,word of ,god4#d ,the great change which cleaves his public career into two well-defined parts is impressively indicated by his friend and disciple1 ,rapha ,harford1 in his ,dedicatory ,epistle to the ,sermons and in his preface to the ,reader1 though he nowhere gives any light upon the events and influences which initiated the transformation4 ,in a special and extraordinary manner ,god appeared to him in his latter days1 ,harford says1 and after that1 he desired nothing more than to bring others to see what he saw and to enjoy what he enjoyed4#e ,he was1 we are told1 a man of presence and of princely behaviour and was known as a good philosopher1 few or none exceeding him1 endowed with skill and depth of learning1 but after his new experience1 when he came to know himself1 and to know ,jesus ,christ and the ,scriptures experimentally rather than grammatically1 literally or academically1 he came to esteem lightly notions and speculation1 letter-learning and ,university-knowledge1 and he centred his spirit on union and communion with ,god and turned his supreme interest from forms1 externals and generals to the cultivation of the inner man1 and to acting more than talking4#f ,his new way of preaching--vivid1 concrete1 touched with subtle humour1 grounded in experience and filling old texts with new meaning--appealed powerfully to the common people and to an elect few of the more highly privileged who had won a large enough freedom of spirit to go with him into new paths4#g ,like his ,master1 he loved #bda the common people1 thinking it no disparagement to accompany with the lowest of men1 tinkers1 coblers1 weavers and poor beggarly fellows who came running to hear him1 and he poured out the best he had in his treasury to any1 even the simplest and most ordinary1 who cared to hear of this spiritual1 practical experiment of life4 ,his preaching naturally brought him suffering and persecution4 ,he was often fetched into the ,high ,commission1 was forced to give attendance from ,court to ,court and from ,term to ,term1 was on one occasion fined a thousand pounds for his heresies1 and had many interviews with ,archbishop ,laud1 but he always held that ,truth is strongest1 and he declared that ,god had called him to be a ,sampson against ,philistines and a ,david against the huge and mighty ,goliath of his times1#h and he was ready to pay the cost of obedience to the ,light4 ,his friend1 ,harford1 who had much ado to keep the manuscript of his sermons out of the ,bishop's fingers1 declares that though ,everard clearly distinguished the outward and killing letter from the ,life and ,spirit of the ,holy ,word1 he was not an antinomian or in sympathy with ranterism4 ,our author1 the ,dedicatory ,epistle says1 and says truly1 missed both rocks against which many have split their vessels4 ,he carries ,truth amain with ,topsail set4 ,he cuts his way clear between the meer ,rationalist who will square out ,god according to his ,reason1 and the ,familist who lives above all ordinances and by degrees hath turned licencious ,ranter4 ,thomas ,brooks added to ,harford's ,testimony a brief ,approbation to the ,volume1 on ,behalf of the ,publishers1 recommending all readers to receive its heaven-born truths into their homes and into their hearts1 assuring them that as they read and open their inner eyes they will find their own hearts in the book and the book in their own hearts1 i4e4 the book will find them4 ,before turning to ,everard's message1 as it finds expression in the rare volume of his sermons--,the ,gospel ,treasures ,opened--we must consider the ,translations #bdb which he left unpublished4 ,they are preserved in clearly written manuscripts in ,cambridge ,university ,library1 under the title ,three ,bookes ,translated out of their ,originall4#i ,the first ,book bears the following title-page3 ,the ,tree of ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil1 ,and the ,tree of ,life in the ,midst of the ,paradise of ,god3 ,taken out of a ,book called ,the ,letter and the ,life1 or ,the ,flesh and the ,spirit4 ,translated by ,dr4 ,everard4 ,an interesting article on ,dr4 ,everard in ,notes and ,queries#aj concludes that this first ,book of ,everard's is a free translation of the ,second ,part of ,tentzel's ,medicina diastica4 ,this guess1 however1 proves to be incorrect1 though there is a slight likeness between ,tentzel's book and the ,english ,,ms4 ,everard's book is1 in reality1 a translation of ,sebastian ,franck's ,von dem ,baum des ,wissens ,gutes und ,boeses 7,of the ,tree of ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil74 ,the translation is made from a ,latin edition of ,franck's little book1 which was published in #aefa4 ,the entire message of this treatise1 written by the wandering chronicler and spiritual prophet of ,germany1 and here reproduced in ,english1 is the inwardness of everything that concerns the religious life4 ,the ,tree of ,life was in ,adam's heart1 and in that same inner region of the soul was the ,tree of the ,knowledge of ,good and ,evil4 ,the story of ,paradise is a graphic parable of the soul's experience4 ,that ,tree which tested ,adam was and is nothing else in truth but the ,nature1 ,will1 ,knowledge1 and ,life of ,adam1 and every man is as much forbidden to eat of this ,tree as ,adam was4 ,franck's significant book contained passages from ,hans ,denck's ,widerruf 7,confession71 and ,everard translated them as an appendix to his first manuscript book4#aa ,they hold the very heart of ,denck's message and deal1 with ,denck's usual sincerity and boldness1 with the fundamental nature of spiritual religion4 ,he here declares the primacy of the ,word of ,god in the soul over everything else that ministers to man's life3 ,i prefer the ,holy ,scriptures before all ,humane #bdc ,treasure2 yet ,i do not so much esteem them as ,i do the ,word of ,god which is living1 potent1 and eternal1 and which is free from all elements of this world3 ,for that is ,god ,himself1 ,spirit and no letter1 written without pen or ink1 so that it can never be obliterated4 ,true ,salvation is in the ,word of ,god2 it is not tied up to the ,scriptures4 ,they alone cannot make a bad heart good1 though they may supply it with information4 ,but a heart illumined with the ,light of ,god is made better by everything4 ,franck declares1 in comment on ,denck's words3 ,i myself know at least twenty ,christian ,religions all of which claim to rest on the ,holy ,scriptures which they apply to themselves by far-fetched expositions and allegories1 or from the dead letter of the text4 4 4 4 ,they can be understood rightly1 however1 only by the divine new-man1 who is ,god-born1 and who brings to them the ,light of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,there can be no doubt1 ,i think1 that ,dr4 ,everard found in the writings of these two sixteenth-century prophets the body and filling of his own new conceptions of ,christianity1 and it was through his vigorous interpretations that this stream of thought first flowed into ,england4 ,it will not be necessary to make extended comment on ,everard's other translations4 ,the second one was ,the ,golden ,book of ,german ,divinitie1 rendered into ,english in #afbh from the ,latin edition of ,john ,theophilus1 who is ,sebastian ,castellio1 and the third is a translation of ,nicholas of ,cusa's ,de visione ,dei 7,the ,vision of ,god71 which is a profound and impressive piece of mystical literature and deserves to be much better known than it is4 ,everard1 further1 translated the ,mystical ,divinity of ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 selections from ,john ,tauler and ,meister ,eckhart1 and ,the ,divine ,pymander ,poemander of ,hermes ,trismegistus--a book which nearly all the spiritual ,humanists ranked in the very first list of religious literature4#ab ,we must now turn to ,everard's message as it is #bdd presented in his ,sermons1 and endeavour to discover what he told the throngs of people who came gladly to hear him in the ,kensington ,meetings and the gatherings at ,islington4 ,the central emphasis in every sermon is on personal experience1 or1 as we should phrase it to-day1 on a religion of life and reality4 ,he has had his own scholastic period1 but he looks back on it as a passage across an arid desert1 and he feels a mission laid upon him to call men everywhere away from a religion of notions and words#ac to a religion of first-hand experience and inwardly felt realities4 ,unless we know ,christ1 he says1 experimentally so that ,he lives within us spiritually1 and so that all which is known of ,him in the ,letter and ,historically is truly done and acted in our own souls--until we experimentally verify all we read of ,him--the ,gospel is a meer tale to us4 ,it is not saving knowledge to know that ,christ was born in ,bethlehem but to know that ,he is born in us4 ,it is vastly more important to know experimentally that we are crucified with ,christ than to know historically that ,he died in ,jerusalem many years ago1 and to feel ,jesus ,christ risen again within you is far more operative than to have a notional knowledge that ,he rose on the third day4 ,when thou begins to finde and know not merely that ,he was conceived in the womb of a virgin1 but that thou art that virgin and that ,he is more truly and spiritually1 and yet as really1 conceived in thy heart so that thou feelest the ,babe beginning to be conceived in thee by the power of the ,holy ,ghost and the ,most ,high overshadowing thee2 when thou feelest ,jesus ,christ stirring to be born and brought forth in thee2 when thou beginnest to see and feel all those mighty1 powerful actions done in thee which thou readest that ,he did in the flesh--here is a ,christ indeed1 a real ,christ who will do thee some good4#ad #bde ,to have ,christ born in the soul means also to do the deeds of ,christ1 to grow and increase toward perfection as ,his life is more fully manifested in us1 to be able to say as we read of divine events1 ,this day is this ,scripture fulfilled in me1 and to see ,christ work all ,his miracles before our eyes to-day4 ,it is the key of experience which unlocks all the drawers and cabinets and hidden and secret doors of ,scripture4#ae ,we can discover1 as we read1 that there are whole armies of ,philistines in us to be overcome1 that there are ,goliaths to be slain1 and that there are ,promised ,lands to be won4#af ,when thou hast seen ,god and found ,him for thyself2 then thou mayest say3 ,now ,i believe1 not only because it is written in ,genesis1 but because ,i have felt it and seen it written and fulfilled in mine own soul4#ag ,men should not so much trouble themselves1 he says to those who are expecting a ,fifth ,monarchy1 about a personal reign of ,christ here upon earth1 if they saw that the chief and real fulfilling of the ,scriptures were in them2 and that1 whatever is externally done in the world or expressed in the ,scriptures1 is but typical and representative1 and points out a more spiritual saving1 and a more divine fulfilling of them4#ah ,in almost the same figures used by ,sebastian ,franck he contrasts the letter and the ,spirit1 the outward and the inward1 the word of the written ,book and the living ,word of ,god4 ,this contrast is carefully worked out in four sermons1 preached at ,kensington1 on ,the ,dead and ,killing ,letter1 and the ,spirit and the ,life4 ,here he insists1 often in quaint and curious phrases1 that the ,old ,testament1 from the first of ,genesis to the last of the ,prophets1 is an allegory1 woven like a beautiful tapestry to picture forth to the eye a history whose real meaning is to be found within the soul2 if you dwell upon it only as picture1 only as history1 it is a letter that kills2 if you see your own selves in it and by it1 then it gives life4#ai ,you may learn the whole ,bible by heart and speak to any point in divinity according to text and letter1 and yet know #bdf nothing of ,god or of spiritual life4#bj ,if you be always handling the letter of the ,word1 always licking the letter1 always chewing upon that1 what great thing do you8 ,no marvel you are such starvelings6#ba ,the letter is the husk2 the ,word1 the ,spirit1 is the kernel2 the letter is the earthen jar1 the ,spirit is the hidden manna2 the letter is the outer court1 the ,spirit is the inner sanctuary2 the letter is the shadow1 the ,spirit is the substance2 the letter is the sheath1 the ,spirit is the sharp two-edged sword2 the letter is the hard encasing bone that must be broken1 the ,spirit is inward marrow which nourishes the soul2 the letter is temporal1 the ,word is eternal#bb--;if ye once know the truth experimentally after the ,spirit ye will no longer make such a stir about ,forms1 ,disciplines1 and ,externals as if that were the great and only ,reformation6#bc ,the real difficulty1 the true cause of spiritual dryness1 is that men strive and contend so much for the letter and the external part of ,god's worship1 that they neglect the inward and internal altogether2 for where is the man who is so zealous and hot for the internal as he is for the external4 ,if we press men to the inward before the outward1 or do as ,i do1 lift up that2 either how cold and heartless they are1 or else how quarrelsome and malicious they are6#bd ,when once the inward core of things has been grasped and the transforming experience has occurred1 making a new man--freed1 illuminated1 sin-delivered1 with ,god the ,life of the life and the ,soul of the soul#be--the outward forms and the external things will fall into the right perspective and will receive their proper emphasis4 ,imitating ,st4 ,augustine's great saying3 ,love ,god absolutely and then you may do as you please1 ,everard says1 ,turn the man loose who has found the living ,guide within him1 and then let him neglect the outward if he can2 just as you would say to a man who loves his wife with all tenderness1 'you may beat her1 hurt her or kill her1 if you want to6'#bf ,the conception of ,god which forms the foreground of #bdg all ,everard's teaching is one perfectly familiar to those that have studied the great mystics who have formed their ideas under the direct or indirect influence of ,plotinus4 ,the conception is1 of course1 not necessarily mystical--it is rather a recurring type of metaphysics--but it has peculiarly suited the mystical mind and is often regarded by ,christian historians as synonymous with mysticism4 ,god1 for ,everard as for ,dionysius and for ,eckhart1 ,tauler1 and ,franck1 is unknowable1 unspeakable1 unnamable1 abstracted from all that is created and visible1 an absolute ,one1 alone of all beings in the universe able to say ,i am1 since ,he alone is ,perfect ,reality2 but just for that reason ,he is unrevealable in ,his inmost nature to finite beings and incapable of manifestation through anything that is finite4#bg ,he is a permanent and unchanging ,substance2 all things that are visible are but shadow and appearance1 are like bubbles in the water which are now here and now gone4#bh ,every created and finite thing1 however--from a grain of sand to a radiant sun and from a blade of grass to the ,seraph that is nearest ,god--is a beam or a ray or expression of that eternal ,reality1 is an angel or messenger that in some minute1 or in some glorious fashion1 reveals ,god in space and time2 and all created things together1 from the lowest to the highest1 from the treble of the heavenly beings to the base of earthly things1 form one mighty sweet-tuned instrument1 sending forth one harmonious hallelujah to the ,creator and revealing a single organic universe1 acted and guided by one ,spirit--the ,soul of all that is4#bi ,ask the craggy mountains what part they sing1 and they will tell you that they sing the praise of the immutableness and unchangeableness of ,god2 ask the flowers of the field what part they sing1 and they will tell you they sing the wisdom and liberality of ,god who cloathes them beyond ,solomon in all his glory2 ask the sun1 moon and stars what part they sing1 and they will say the constancy of ,god's promises1 that they hold their course and do not alter it2 ask the poor received sinner #bdh what part he sings1 and he will tell you he sings the infinite free mercy of a most gracious ,father2 and ask the wicked1 obstinate sinner what part he sings1 and he will tell you he sings the praise of the patience and justice of ,god4#cj ,in a very striking passage1 ,everard points out how the beings nearest in order to ,god are most free of matter and imperfection1 while those lower in hierarchical scale are increasingly more material3 ,god is a pure ,spirit1 only ,form without any manner of matter2 and all the ,creatures1 the further off from ,him1 the more matter they have and the nearer the less4 ,for example1 ,angels are pictured with complete bodies2 yet to show they are further off from matter than men1 therefore they have always wings4 ,and ,arch-angels1 they being nearer the ,nature of ,god than ,angels1 are pictured with bodies cut off by the middle with wings4 ,but ,cherubims1 having less matter and nearer ,god ,himself than either1 are pictured only with heads and wings1 without bodies4 ,but ,seraphims1 being farthest off from man and nearest of all to ,god1 have no bodies nor heads nor wings at all but are only represented by a certain yellowish or fiery ,colour4#ca ,we ourselves1 we men1 are both finite and infinite4 ,we have come from an infinite source1 and even in our apparent finiteness and independence we still remain inwardly joined to that central ,reality4 ,he tells this in his parable of the water-drops3 ,suppose two water-drops reasoning together1 and one says to the other1 ',whence are we8 ,canst thou conceive whence we are8 ,dost thou know either whence we come or to whom we belong1 or whither we shall go8 ,something we are1 but what will in a short time become of us1 canst thou tell8' ,and the other drop might answer1 ',alas1 poor fellow-drop1 be assured we are nothing1 for the sun may arise and draw us up and scatter us and so bring us to nothing4' ,says the other again1 ',suppose it do1 for all that1 yet we are1 we have a being1 we are something4' ',why1 what are we8' saith the other4 #bdi ',why1 brother drop1 dost thou not know8 ,we1 even we1 as small and as contemptible as we are in ourselves1 yet we are members of the ,sea2 poor drops though we be1 yet let us not be discouraged3 ,we belong to the vast ,ocean4'#cb ,the way back to this infinite ,ocean from which we have come and in which we belong is through the tiny rivulet1 the narrow inlet1 of our own souls1 for the ,sea flows into all the creeks and crannies of the ,world4#cc ,but to find ,him--this original ,ground and ,reality--we must leave the outcoasts and go back into the ,abysse4 ,most of us are busy playing with cockel-shells and pebble-stones that lie on the outcoasts of the ,kingdom1 and we do not put back to the infinite ,sea itself1 where we become united and made one with ,his ,life4#cd ,the process of return is a process of denial and subtraction4 ,the cockel-shells and pebble-stones must be left1 and one finite thing after another must be dropped1 and finally all that thou callest ,i1 all that self ness1 all that propriety that thou hast taken to thyself1 whatsoever creates in us ,iness and selfness1 must be brought to nothing4#ce ,if we would hear ,god1 we must still the noises within ourselves4 ,all the ,artillery in the ,world1 were they all discharged together at one clap1 could not more deaf the ears of our bodies than the clamorings of desires in the soul deaf its ears1 so you see a man must go into silence or else he cannot hear ,god speak4#cf ,all the minstrels that are singing of self and self interests must be cast out4 ,if the creature is to be loved and used at all1 it must be loved and used rightly and in balance1 which is hard to do4 ,thou must love it and use it as if thou loved it not and used it not1 not appropriating it to thyself1 and always being ready to leave it willingly and freely2 so that thou sufferest no rending1 no tearing in thy soul to part with it1 and so thou usest it for ,god and in ,god and to ends appointed by ,god4#cg ,the result of this junction of finite and infinite in us is #bej that a ,christian life is bound to be a strenuous contest3 you must expect to fight a great battel4 ,you are1 ,everard says again1 bidden to fight with your own selves1 with your own desires1 with your own affections1 with your own reason1 with your own will2 and therefore if you will finde your enemies1 never look without4 ,if you will finde out the ,devil and what he is and what his nature is1 look within you4 ,there you may see him in his colours1 in his nature1 in his power1 in his effects and in his working4#ch ,in a word1 the way to ,god is the way of the ,cross4 ,christ ,himself is the pattern and ,his way of ,life is the typical way for all who would find ,god--,christ ,jesus is ,he that all visions tend to2 ,he is the substance of all the types1 shadows1 and sacrifices4 ,he is the business that the whole ,word was ever about1 and only is1 and shall be about2 ,he hath been1 is1 and shall be the business of all ages1 in one kinde or other4#ci ,the ,book of ,god1 he says in another sermon1 is a great ,book1 and many words are in it1 and many large volumes have been drawn out of it1 but ,jesus ,christ is the body of it2 ,he is the ,mark all these words shoot at4#dj ,it henceforth becomes our business to find ,christ's life and ,christ's death in us1 to see that all ,his deeds are done in us4 ,christ's will must become our will1 ,christ's peace our peace1 ,christ's sufferings our sufferings1 ,christ's cross our cross1 and then we may know the eternal ,sabbath1 and keep quiet1 even if the whole fabrick of heaven and earth crack and the mountains tumble down4#da ,everard was always on the watch for those things which prevent the growth1 progress1 and advance of the soul into the deeper significance of religion4 ,the true ,christian continually grows taller in ,christ1 he does not stop at the child's stature1 his growth is not stinted like a ,dwarf4#db ,he discovers one of the prevailing #bea causes of arrested development1 the stinting of the soul1 to lie in the wrong use of externals1 in the subtle tendency to rest in the elements or beginnings of religion1 as he calls them1 in the lowest things in ,christianity4 ,this is to cover oneself with fig-leaves as ,adam did4#dc ,men turn shadows into substance1 and instead of using ordinances and sacraments1 as means1 schoolmasters and tutors1 as steps and guides to ,christ who is the ,truth and ,substance1 they so use them that they stop the soul mid-way and hinder it from going on to ,christ4#dd ,he cites the way in which ,st4 ,paul burst out into a holy defiance of everything which did not directly minister to the formation of a new creation within the person1 whether it were ,moses and the law or even ,christ after the flesh1 or any outward ,priviledges and ,ordinances whatever4 ,those who make these things the top and quintessence of religion miss the ,apostle's more excellent way4 ,those who stick in externals and rest upon them as ,crutches and ,go-bies i4e4 become arrested there prevent growth in religion1 turn the ordinance into an ,idol and occasion disputes and differences1 like children who quarrel about triffles4#de ,but ,everard is1 nevertheless1 very cautious not to go too far in this direction and he always shows poise and balance4 ,so long as the outward1 whether letter or sacrament1 is kept in its place and is used as means or medium for the attainment of a spiritual goal--the formation of ,christ within--he approves of its use and warns against a too sudden transcendence of the outward helps to the soul4#df ,here in ,england1 then1 during the tumultuous years from #afbe to #afej a solid scholar and a great preacher was teaching the people the same views which the spiritual ,reformers of ,germany had taught a century earlier4 ,like them1 ,everard taught that the book of the ,bible1 in so far as it consists of words1 syllables1 and letters1 is not the ,word of ,god1 for ,god's ,word is not ink and paper1 but ,life and ,spirit1 quick and powerful1 illuminating the #beb soul immediately1 and demonstrating itself by its creative work upon the inward man until he becomes like the ,spirit that works within him4#dg ,like them1 he insisted that ,christ becomes ,saviour only as ,he becomes the ,life of our lives and repeats in us in a spiritual way the events of ,his outward and historical life4 ,like them1 too1 he had discovered that ,god is not a being of wrath and anger1 needing to be appeased4 ,on the contrary he says3 ,beloved1 were you once to come to a true sight of ,god1 you would see ,him glorious and amiable1 full of love and mercy and tenderness--all wrath and frowns blown clean away4 ,we should see in ,him not so much as any shadow of anger4#dh ,like them1 he found heaven not far away but in the redeemed soul3 ,heaven is nothing but ,grace perfected1 'tis of the same nature of that you enjoy here when you are united by faith to ,christ4#di ,i remember1 he once said1 how ,i was taught as a child1 either by my nurse1 or my mother1 or my schoolmaster1 that ,god was above in heaven1 above the sun1 moon and stars1 and there1 ,i thought1 was ,his ,court1 and ,his ,chamber of presence1 and ,i thought it a great height to come to this knowledge2 but ,i assure you ,i had more to do to unlearn this principle than ever ,i had to learn it4#ej ,he tries to call his hearers away from the childish apprehensions that heaven is a place of visible and ocular glories1 or that it shall be only hereafter1 or that its glory consists in ,thrones1 and ,crowns1 and ,scepters1 in ,music1 ,harps and ,vyols1 and such like carnal and poor things4#ea ,he was a man of beautiful spirit1 of saintly life1 courageous and discerning1 concerned not so much over self-sufferings as that truth should not in any way be obstructed through him1 and he belongs in the list of those who saw through the veil of the outward1 through the parable of the letter1 and found the inward and eternal ,reality4#eb #bec ,,iii4 ,,giles ,,randall ,,and ,,his ,,translations ,another seventeenth-century interpreter of religion as direct and immediate experience of ,god was ,giles ,randall1 who1 like ,john ,everard1 was a scholar1 a translator of religious books1 and a powerful popular preacher4 ,if one knew him only through the accounts of the heresy-hunters of the period1 one would suppose him to have been a disseminator of the most virulent poyson for the soul2 but a careful examination of all the material available convinces me that he was a high-minded1 sincere1 and fearless bearer of the message of the present1 living1 inwardly-experienced ,christ1 as ,eternal ,spirit1 ,divine ,light1 and ,word of ,god4 ,it is extremely difficult1 from the fragmentary details at hand1 to construct a biographical account of ,randall1 but the following sketch of him seems fairly well supported by facts3 ,he was the son of ,edward ,randall of ,chipping ,wycombe1 ,bucks1 and received his ,b4,a4 from ,lincoln ,college1 ,oxford1 ,february #ac1 #afbe-f4ec ,he was probably the nephew of ,john ,randall1 ,b4,d4 7#aegj-afbb71 an eminent ,puritan divine1 a man of good scholarship and of large means1 who bequeathed by will his house and garden to his loveing ,nephewe ,gyles ,randall4#ed ,he seems to have been for some years a minister in good odour and repute1 and to have given no occasion of complaint against his doctrine before #afdc4 ,he probably was the ,giles ,randall who was arrested in #afcg and tried in the ,star ,chamber for #bed preaching against ship-money as unjust and an offence against ,god1 since it was1 he declared in his sermon1 a way of taking burdens off rich men's shoulders and laying them on the necks of poor men4#ee ,he was again before the ,star ,chamber--this time it is certainly our ,giles ,randall--in #afdc charged with preaching anabaptism1 familism1 and antinomianism1 according to the usual labels of the time4 ,he had been for some years preaching peaceably at the ,spital in ,london with great multitudes of people nocking to hear him4#ef ,the charge of heresy was brought against ,randall for a sermon which he was said to have preached in ,st4 ,martin ,orgar's1 a soundly orthodox church1 in ,candlewick ward1 ,london--the charge being that he preached against the mandatory and obligatory nature of the law as a ,christian rule to walk by1 and asserted that a child of ,god can live as sinless a life as ,christ's was4#eg ,he was removed from the ministry for his anabaptism in the autumn of #afdd1 though he continued to preach after being removed4#eh ,the famous drag-nets of heresy give us a few more details of ,randall's poysonous doctrine4 ,edwards says that ,randall taught that our common food1 ordinary eating and drinking1 is a sacrament of ,christ's death1 and that all creatures i4e4 everything in the visible creation held forth ,god in ,christ4#ei ,samuel ,rutherford charges him with teaching a possible perfection in this life3 ,randall1 the antinomian and ,familist says1 those persons are ever learning and never coming to knowledge who say that perfection is not attainable in this life4#fj ,he further charges that ,randall in a sermon said that ,christ's ,parables1 from ,sowing1 a ,draw-net1 ,leaven1 etc41 did prove that to expound the ,scriptures by allegories was lawfull and that all the things of this life1 as ,seeds1 the ,wayside1 a ,rocke1 the ,sea1 a #bee ,net1 the ,leaven1 etc41 were sacraments of ,christ 4 4 4 and that a spiritual minde might see the mysteries of the ,gospel in all the things of nature and of this life4 ,this man who preacheth most abomnable ,familisme is suffered in and about ,london publickly1 twise on the ,lord's ,day1 to draw hundreds of ,godly people after him6#fa ,john ,etherington throws a little more light upon the nature of this abomnable ,familism1 which so many godly people liked4 ,he says that ,randall taught in his sermons that when a person is baptized with the ,holy ,ghost he knows all things1 and has entered into the deep mystery which is like the great ocean where there is no casting anchor nor sounding the bottome2 that perfection and the resurrection are attainable in the present time2 that those who have the ,spirit have nothing to doe with the law nor with the baptism of repentance which ,john preached2 he presumes to turn the holy writings of ,moses1 the ,prophets1 of ,christ and ,his ,apostles into ,allegories1 and gives a spiritual meaning to the same4#fb ,it is clear from the comments of these crumb-pickers of pernicious doctrine that ,giles ,randall1 as a preacher1 was teaching the views now quite familiar to us4 ,he was teaching that the whole world is a revelation of ,god1 that ,christ is ,god fully revealed2 that the ,divine ,spirit1 incarnate in ,him1 comes upon men still and brings them into the bottomless1 unsoundable deeps of ,life with ,god1 and makes it possible for them to attain a perfect life2 that the ,scriptures as outward and legal must be transcended1 and that they must be spiritually discerned and experienced4 ,nearly everything connected with ,randall's name presents an historical puzzle to us4 ,his biography1 as we have seen1 lies hid in obscurity and his books present baffling problems4 ,there are three translations of religious classics which bear his name on the title-page1 and which are introduced to the reader in ,prefaces written by him1 but it is far from certain that he actually made the #bef translations4 ,in #afdf he published a little book called the ,single ,eye1 or the ,vision of ,god wherein is unfolded the ,mystery of the ,divine ,presence4 ,randall says that the book was written by that learned ,doctor ,cusanus4 ,it is in fact a translation of the ,de visione ,dei of ,nicholas of ,cusa1 and it is word for word a printed copy of the ,cambridge ,,ms4 ascribed to ,john ,everard4 ,the other book1 published in #afdh1 is an ,english edition of ,theologia ,germanica1 the translation being made from the ,latin of ,john ,theophilus1 that is1 ,sebastian ,castellio4 ,it is called a ,little ,golden ,manuall briefly discovering the mysteries1 sublimity1 perfection and simplicity of ,christianity in ,belief and ,practice4 ,everard1 it will be remembered1 also translated this little golden book1 but in this case there are very great variations between ,randall's printed copy and the ,cambridge ,,ms41 and they probably did not come from the same hand4#fc ,the ,english translation was evidently made some time before the appearance of this edition of #afdh1 for ,randall says in his ,introduction that ,this little ,book was long veiled and obscured 7by its unknown tongue7 from the eye of the illiterate and inexpert1 until some years since1 through the desires and industries of some of our own countrymen1 lovers of ,truth1 it was translated and made to speak to thee in thine own dialect and language4 ,but the time of its ,nativity being under the late wise and wary ,hierarchic who had monopolized and engrossed the discovery of others 4 4 4 it walked up and down the city in ,,mss4 at deer rates from hand to hand of some well-wishers to truth1 in clandestine and private manner2 like ,moses in his ,arke1 or the little #beg ,child fled and hid from ,herod1 never daring to crowd into the ,presse1 fearing the rude usuage of those then in authority4#fd ,both ,robert ,baillie and ,benjamin ,bourne had seen the treatise before their respective books against heresy appeared in #afdf1 and they were deeply stirred against ,randall for sowing what to their minds seemed such dangerous doctrines and such regard for ,popish writings4#fe ,his critics further connect ,randall with other books4 ,baillie speaks of two books3 the one by a ,dutch ,frier evidently the ,theologia and the other by an ,english ,capuchine4 ,bourne writes against those dangerous books ,theologia ,germanica1 ,the ,bright ,star1 ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected1 and ,edwards couples with the ,vision of ,god 7the treatise by ,nicholas of ,cusa7 the third part of the ,rule of ,perfection by a ,cappuchian ,friar4#ff ,john ,goodwin1 vicar of ,st4 ,stephen's in ,coleman ,st41 commenting on ,edward's ,gangraena1 humorously says3 ,i marvaile how ,mr4 ,edwards having 7it seems7 an authorized power to make errors and heresies at what rate and of what materialles he pleaseth1 and hopes to live upon the trade1 could stay his pen at so small a number as #ahj1 and did not advance to that angelicall quotient in the ,apocalypse1 which is ten thousand times ten thousand1 and he adds that if ,edwards had consulted with a book printed within the compasse of his foure years1 intitled ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected1 set out by a mad man1 with some few others 4 4 4 ,he shall be able to increase his roll of errors from #ahj to #bhj1 if not to #ejj4fg ,samuel #beh ,rutherford says3 ,so hath ,randel the ,familist prefixed an ,epistle to two ,popish ,tractates1 furnishing to us excellent priviledges of ,familisme1 the one called ,theologia ,germanica1 and the other ,bright ,starre1 which both advance perfect ,saints above ,law1 and ,gospel4 4 4#fh ,this treatise1 called ,a ,bright ,starre 7,london1 #afdf71 which so deeply disturbed the seventeenth-century guardians of orthodoxy1 is a translation of ,the ,third ,part of the ,rule of ,perfection1 written by an ,english ,capuchin ,friar1 and faithfully done into the ,english tongue1 apparently by ,randall1 for the common good4#fi ,it is a profoundly mystical book1 characterized by interior depth and insight4 ,its central aim is the exposition of a stage of spiritual life which transcends both the active life and the contemplative life1 a stage which the writer calls the ,life ,supereminent4 ,in this highest stage the essential will of ,god is practiced1 without strain or effort1 because ,god ,himself has now become the inner ,life and ,being of the person1 the spring and power of the new-formed will4 ,randall's preface1 or ,epistle to the ,reader1 as he calls it1 is a further revelation of his religious views1 and his ,christian spirit4 ,he pleads for freedom and for variety in religious life and thought4 ,god does not want one fixed and unvarying ,christian form or doctrine2 ,he wants variety in the spiritual life as ,he has arranged for variety in the external world of nature3 ,as in the world all men are not of an equall height and stature of body1 but some taller1 some shorter2 some weaker1 some stronger3 so neither are all of one just and even proportion in spiritual light and strength of faith in the kingdome of ,christ1 some are dwarfs of ,zacheus his pitch1 some #bei againe of ,saul's port1 taller by his head and shoulders than his brethren2 so1 in the kingdome of ,christ1 some are babes1 some are young men1 some are fathers1 every one according to the measure of the gift of ,christ4 ,god has something in ,his kingdom that fits each spiritual stature1 something suited to each intellectual capacity4 ,he does not want one and the same note struck by all--harping blindly on one string4 ,he does not want men to be tyed to one forme and kept forever to one lesson1 unable to top up their work--,he wants men to go from strength to strength1 from faith to faith and from height to height4 ,randall declares that he has observed with deep sorrow the non-proficiency of many ingenuous spirits who through the policie of others and the too too much modesty and timerity of themselves have failed to progress to the top and pitch of their possible perfection--poore soules after many years travelling being found in the same place and going the same pace6 ,he hopes that this book on ,perfection which he is now giving common vulgar people in their own mother tongue1 though it is a way that is high and hard and almost unheard of amongst us1 may help men to grow up into their full stature and to come to the uttermost steps of ,jacob's ,ladder which reacheth into the heavens4 ,the lower stages of the religious life consist 7#a7 of external practices and exercises in conformity to the law of ,god1 and 7#b7 interior contemplation and meditation of a ,god thought of as outside and beyond the soul's real possession4 ,but the true spiritual life1 and ,sabbath rest of the soul1 is reached only when ,god becomes the inner ,life of our lives1 when ,christ is formed within and we see ,light and have our wisdom through ,his divine anointing4 ,at the highest stage of spiritual life man finds himself by ceasing to be himself4 ,god can now reveal ,his beauty and glory through such a person and act and work in him and through him4 ,this teaching1 ,randall admits1 is only for experienced ,christians1 but he believes that this book will have good successe amongst the ,children of #bfj the ,light1 who are taught of ,god and who run and read the hidden and deepe things of ,god4#gj ,if we may judge ,randall from his extant ,prefaces he was a beautiful spirit and was1 in fact1 what he calls himself1 a lover of the ,truth in the ,truth4#ga ,he says that ,nothing is or ever was endeavored by most men1 with more industry and less success than the true knowledge of ,god1 but this perennial failure is due1 he thinks1 to the false ways which have been taken1 especially to the negative process of abstraction by which men have tried in vain to find ,god4 ,the only true way to ,him is the new and living way through the concrete revelation of ,him4 ,the sound and unerring knowledge of ,god standeth in your knowledge of your man ,christ ,jesus1 and whoever hath seen ,him hath seen the ,father also1 for ,he is not a dead image of ,him1 but a living ,image of the invisible ,god1 yea1 the fulgor or brightness of ,his glory and character of ,his person4 4 4 4 ,he is an ,immanuel1 ,god with us1 ,god in us4 4 4 4 ,but there is no true knowledge of ,god within us till ,he be in us formed in the face of ,jesus ,christ4#gb ,he declares that since understanding must be helped by sense and sense is not available till it live in the light of the understanding1 we must learn to find the infinite in the finite1 the invisible in the visible1 and thus in ,christ we have ,god finitely infinite and infinitely finite--,he cloathes ,himself with flesh1 reason1 sense and the form and nature of a servant1 who yet is above all and ,lord over all4 ,he that is infinitely above thee makes himselfe be to thee visibly what ,he is in thee4#gc ,christ is the universal revealer of ,god to all who see ,him1 just as the portrait of a human face seems to fix and follow the beholder from any position in the room1 while at the same time it does the same to all other beholders from whatever angle they may look4#ge ,the ,vision of ,god1 whether ,englished by ,randall or #bfa by ,everard1 or by both working together1 is translated into beautiful1 often poetical and rhythmical ,english1 and contains many vivid passages1 such as the following3 ,thou1 ,o ,god1 canst never forsake me so long as ,i am capable of ,thee4#ge ,i love my life exceedingly because ,thou art the sweetness of my life4#gf ,no man can turn to ,thee except ,thou be present1 for except ,thou wert present and diddest solicit me ,i should not know ,thee at all4#gg ,restless is my heart1 ,o ,lord1 because ,thy love hath enflamed it with such a desire that it cannot rest but in ,thee alone4#gh ,in the ,son of ,man ,i see the ,son of ,god1 because ,thou art so the ,son of ,man that ,thou art the ,son of ,god and in the finite attracted nature ,i see the ,infinite ,attracting ,nature4 ,i see all things in thy human nature which ,i see in thy divine nature4#gi ,to come to ,god is ,paradise2 to see ,god is to be in ,paradise4#hj ,the ,word of ,god illuminateth the understanding as the light of the sun doth the world4 ,i see the fountain of ,light in the ,word of ,god4 4 4 4 ,christ is the ,word of ,god humanified and man deified4#ha ,what is more easie than to believe ,god1 what is more sweet than to love ,him4 4 4 4 ,thy ,spirit1 ,o ,god1 comes into the intellectual spirit of good men1 and by the heat of divine love concocts the virtuall power which may be perfected in us4 4 4 4 ,all ,scriptures labour for nothing but to show ,thee1 all intellectual spirits have no other exercise but to seek ,thee and to reveal ,thee4 ,above all things ,thou hast given me ,jesus for a ,master1 the ,way of ,life1 and ,truth1 so that there might be nothing at all wanting to me4#hb ,the literary style of ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected is unlike that of ,randall's known writings1 and yet it is not impossible for him to have written it4#hc ,the ideas which fill the little book are quite similar to those which #bfb ,randall held and are in full accord with those which prevailed in this general group of ,christian thinkers4 ,the writer of the treatise1 whoever he was1 is fond of allegory and symbolic interpretation4 ,he turns ,adam into a figure and makes the ,garden of ,eden an allegory in quite modern fashion4 ,doe you thinke1 he writes1 that there was a materiall garden or a tree whereon did grow the fruit of good and evill1 or that the serpent did goe up in the same to speake to the woman8 ,sure it cannot stand with reason that it could be so1 for it is said that all the creatures did come to ,adam1 and he gave them names according to their natures3 now it is contrary to the ,serpent's nature to speake after the manner of men1 unlesse you will alleadge that she understood the language of the beasts1 and thought them wiser than ,god1 and resolved to be ruled by them1 which to me seems altogether against reason1 that the woman should be so ignorant and unrationall1 who was created rationall after the image of ,god to be ruler of all creatures3 for at this day if a ,serpent went up into a tree1 and did speake from thence to men and women1 it would make them afraid in so much that they would not doe what he bid them3 or dost thou thinke that in ,mesopotamia 7a great way off beyond the seas7 that there is a materiall garden wherein standeth the tree of life1 and the tree of knowledge of good and ill1 both in one place1 and an angell1 standing with a flickering sword to keep the tree of life from the man6#hd ,the book contains a very striking confession of ,faith quite unlike that which ,rutherford or ,baillie or ,edwards would have allowed as sound1 but yet serious1 honest1 and marked with a clear note of experience4 ,god is1 for the writer1 above everything a living ,god1 a ,spirit1 a perfect clear ,light that reveals to man the ,truth4 ,god is1 he says1 ,light1 ,life1 and ,love1 and ,he is all these things to man4 ,he instructs and convinces his conscience2 ,he disciplines and corrects him2 ,he raises condemnation in us for our sins1 and ,his ,light persuades our hearts to have true sorrow and real repentance for our sins1 with a #bfc broken and contrite heart and sorrowful spirit1 and so we begin to hate ourselves and our sins1 and doe really forsake them4#he ,there is1 he maintains1 in words that sound strangely like the yet unborn ,quakers1 an infallible ,spirit1 ,jesus ,christ1 the power of ,god in us1 which directs1 corrects1 instructs1 perswades1 and makes us wise unto salvation2 for ,he is the holy ,word of life unto us 4 4 4 and discovers all mysteries unto us1 4 4 4 if so be we are obedient unto ,him2 but if we are not obedient unto ,him1 this infallible ,spirit1 ,jesus ,christ in us1 then we shall know nothing of ,god or of the ,scriptures1 but it shall be a sealed book1 a dead letter1 a seeming contradiction unto us4#hf ,samuel ,rutherford declares the little treatise to be a rude1 foolish and unlearned ,pamphlet of late penned and changing1 as ,familists and ,antinomians doe1 ,scripture and ,god and ,christ into metaphores and vaine ,allegories4#hg ,the comment of this good man is honest and sincere1 but of value only as revealing the mental attitude of himself4 ,here the representative of the old system was speaking out of the past and condemning a dawning movement which with his apperceiving material he could not understand1 but which was in a few years to have extraordinary expansion and which1 when it should in time become defecated through discipline and spiritual travail1 was destined to speak to the condition of many minds to whom ,rutherford's notions have become only empty words4 ,,iv ,a beautiful little anonymous book of this period1 containing a similar conception of ,christianity to that set forth in the writings of ,everard and ,randall1 must be briefly considered here3 ,the ,life and ,light of a ,man in ,christ ,jesus 7,london1 #afdf74 ,the writer1 who was a scholarly man1 shows the profound influence of the ,theologia ,germanica1 that universal book of religion which #bfd fed so many souls in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 and he has evidently found1 either at home or abroad1 spiritual guides who have brought him to the ,day-star in his own heart4 ,religion1 he says1 is wholly a matter of the operative manifestation of ,christ in a man--the divine ,spirit living in a man4#hh ,to miss that experience and to lack that inner life in ,god is to miss the very heart of religion4 ,there be many and diverse ,religions and ,baptisms among many and diverse peoples of the habitable world1 but to be baptized as a man in ,christ--that is to be baptized into the living1 active ,god1 so that the man has his salvation and eternal well-being wrought in him by the ,spirit and life of his ,god--is the only best4#hi ,those who lack this real spiritual business never attain the true ,sabbath-rest of the soul4 ,they go to meeting on ,sunday1 ,sabbath or ,first day sic merely to hear such or such a rare divine preach or discourse1 or to participate in such or such ,ordinances4#ij ,they have an artificiall1 historicall ,divinity ,theology which they have attained by the eye1 that is by reading books1 or by the ears1 that is1 by hearing this or that man1 or by gathering up expressions--their religion rests on knowledge and not on ,christ experienced within4#ia ,this external religion is not so much wrong as it is inadequate and immature4 ,it is1 he says1 like unto young children1 who with shells and little stones imitate a real building6#ib ,the religion which carries a man beyond shadows to true realities and from the cockle-shell house to a permanent and eternal temple for the ,spirit is the religion which finds ,christ within as the ,day-star in the man's own heart4#ic ,there is throughout this simple little book a noble appreciation of love as the supream good for the soul4 ,the ,god of infinite goodness and eternal love is a kind of refrain which bursts forth in these pages again #bfe and again4 ,love in us is1 he thinks1 a sparkle of that immense and infinite ,love of the ,king and ,lord of ,love4#id ,salvation and eternal well-being consist for him in the formation of a life consecrated and united unto the true ,light and ,love of ,christ4 ,the man who has this ,life within him will always be willing and glad when the time comes to returne againe into the bosome of his heavenly ,father-,god4#ie ,and not only is the man who has the ,life of ,christ in him harmonized in love upwardly toward ,god2 he is also harmonized outwardly towards his fellows4 ,he is a member with all other men1 with the good as a lowly-minded disciple to them2 with those that are not in ,christ1 as a deare1 sympathizing helper1 doing his utmost to do them good4#if ,he has written his little ,treatise1 he says1 as a love-token from the ,father to help lead men out of the darke pits of the world's darkness into the full ,light of the soul's day-dawn4 ,the book lacks the robustness and depth that are so clearly in evidence in most of the writings that have been dealt with in this volume1 but there is a beauty1 a simplicity1 a sweetness1 a sincerity born of experience1 which give this book an unusual flavour and perfume4 ,the writer says that there is an endless battle between the ,seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent1 but one feels that he has fought the battle through and won4 ,he says that a man should be unto ,god what a house is to a man1 i4e4 a man should be a habitation of the living ,god1 and the reader feels that this man has made himself a habitation for the divine presence within4 ,he says if you want spiritual help you must go to a man who has skill in ,god1 and one lays down his slender book feeling assured that1 out of the experience of ,christ in his own soul1 he did have skill in ,god1 so that he could speak to the condition of others4 ,there was at least one man in ,england in #afdf who knew that the true source and basis of religion was to be found in the experience of ,christ within and not in theological notions of ,him4 #a ,the ,italian titles of these two books are ,alfabeto ,christiana 7#aedf7 and ,le ,cento et dieci divine ,considerationi 7#aeej74 #b ,a ,survey of the ,spiritual ,antichrist 7#afdh71 p4 #afd4 #c ,ibid4 p4 #cai4 #d ,epistle ,dedicatory to ,some ,gospel ,treasures ,opened 7,london1 #afec74 #e ,gospel ,treas41 ,to the ,reader4 #f ,ibid4 #g ,sometimes ,divers ,earls and ,lords and other great ones were in his audience4 #h ,gospel ,treas41 ,to the ,reader4 #i ,sig4 ,dd4 xii4 p4 #fh4 #aj ,fourth series1 i4 p4 #eig4 #aa ,denck's name is used in its ,latin form ,john ,denqui1 and he is called magnus theologus4 #ab ,hermes ,trismegistus was published in ,everard's lifetime4 ,large extracts from his manuscript translations are given in the ,gospel ,treasures ,opened 7#afec74 ,the ,vision of ,god was edited and published in full by ,giles ,randall in #afdf1 and it is very probable that ,everard and ,randall did this work together4 #ac ,gospel ,treasures ,opened1 p4 #cic4 #ad ,sermon on ,the ,starre in the ,east1 ,gospel ,treas4 pp4 #eb-ed4 ,see also pp4 #ehf-ehg4 ,compare the famous lines of ,angelus ,silesius3 ,had ,christ a thousand times ,been born in ,bethlehem ,but not in thee1 thy sin ,would still thy soul condemn4 ,angelus ,silesius1 edited by ,paul ,carus 7,chicago1 #aiji71 p4 #ajc4 #ae ,gospel ,treas4 pp4 #ei1 #gb1 and #ih4 #af ,ibid4 pp4 #bgj-bga4 #ag ,ibid4 p4 #bhb4 #ah ,ibid4 p4 #ib4 #ai ,ibid4 p4 #bhj #bj ,gospel ,treas4 pp4 #caj-caa4 #ba ,ibid4 p4 #bhf4 #bb ,ibid4 p4 #dfh4 #bc ,ibid4 p4 #cdc4 #bd ,ibid4 p4 #cdd4 #be ,ibid4 p4 #cda4 #bg ,ibid4 p4 #cdd4 #bg ,gospel ,treas4 p4 #ha4 #bh ,ibid4 p4 #fcj4 #bi ,ibid4 pp4 #fcg and #feh4 #cj ,gospel ,treas4 p4 #daa4 #ca ,ibid4 #bnd ed4 ii4 p4 #cde4 #cb ,gospel ,treas4 p4 #gec4 #cc ,ibid4 p4 #dah4 #cd ,ibid4 pp4 #dbc-dbe4 #ce ,ibid4 p4 #bcj4 #cf ,ibid4 p4 #fjj4 #cg ,ibid4 p4 #cjh4 #ch ,gospel ,treas4 p4 #adb4 #ci ,ibid4 p4 #fdh4 #dj ,ibid4 p4 #fdb4 #da ,ibid4 pp4 #ii and #bej4 ,everard's greater contemporary1 ,pascal1 also held the view that what happened to ,christ should take place in every ,christian4 ,he wrote to his sister1 ,madame ,perier1 ,oct4 #ag1 #afea1 on the death of their father3 ,we know that what has been accomplished in ,jesus ,christ should be accomplished also in all ,his members4 #db ,ibid4 pp4 #eee-eef4 #dc ,gospel ,treas4 p4 #cae4 #dd ,ibid4 p4 #eeh4 #de ,ibid4 pp4 #efa-efb4 #df ,ibid4 pp4 #efc-efe4 #dg ,gospel ,treas4 pp4 #caj-cae4 #dh ,ibid4 p4 #cfa4 #di ,ibid4 p4 #cfe4 #ej ,ibid4 p4 #gcf4 #ea ,ibid4 p4 #eeb4 #eb ,it is not possible to tell whether the sermons of ,john ,everard were generally known to the early ,quakers or not4 ,he held similar views to theirs on many points1 and he reiterates1 with as much vigour as does ,fox1 the inadequacy of ,university learning as a preparation for spiritual ministry4 ,one ,quaker at least of the early time read ,everard and appreciated him4 ,that was ,john ,bellers4 ,in his ,epistle to the ,quarterly ,meeting of ,london and ,middlesex1 written in #agah1 ,bellers quotes the substance of an excellent ,discourse of a poor man in ,germany1 above #cjj years ago1 then writ by ,john ,taulerus1 and since printed in ,john ,everard's ,works1 who was a religious dissenter in ,king ,james the ,first's time4 ,he thereupon gives the ,dialogue between a ,learned ,divine and a ,beggar 7which ,everard ascribed to ,tauler7 to add force to his own presentation of the duty of propagating piety1 charity1 and industry among men4 #ec ,foster's ,alumni ,oxonienses 7#aejj-agad71 vol4 iii4 ,early ,series1 p4 #abca4 #ed #eg1 ,savile1 ,probate ,court of ,canterbury1 ,somerset ,house4 #ee ,calendar of ,state ,papers1 ,dom4 ,ser4 ,charles ,i4 #ef ,robert ,baillie's ,anabaptisme1 the true ,fountains of ,independency 7#afdf71 p4 #ajb1 #eg ,thomas ,gataker's ,god's ,eye on ,his ,israel 7#afde71 ,preface4 #eh ,journal of ,commons1 ,august #i1 #afdd1 pp4 #ehd-ehe4 #ei ,gangraena 7#afdf71 part iii4 p4 #be4 #fj ,a ,survey of the ,spiritual ,antichrist 7#afdg71 chap4 xi4 p4 #adc4 #fa ,a ,survey of the ,spiritual ,antichrist1 chap4 lxxvi4 pp4 #afb-afc4 #fb ,a ,brief ,discovery1 etc4 7#afde71 pp4 #a-e4 #fc ,contemporary writers held that the ,giles ,randall who preached in the ,spital was the translator4 ,robert ,baillie1 ,principal of ,glasgow ,university1 in his work on ,anabaptisme1 pp4 #ajb-ajc1 speaks of ,randall who preached in the ,spital1 and refers to his increasing temerity as shown by the fact that he hath lately printed two very dangerous books and set his ,preface before each of them1 composed as he professes long ago by ,popish ,priests1 the one by a ,dutch ,frier and the other by an ,english ,capuchine4 ,baillie further refers to the deadly poison of these books as shown in ,benjamin ,bourne's ,description and ,confutation of ,mysticall ,antichrist1 the ,familists 7#afdf71 where the dangerous books are named1 as ,theologia ,germanica1 the ,bright ,star1 ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected4 ,edward's ,gangraena also identifies ,randall the preacher with the translator of ,popish ,books written by ,priests and ,friers1 citing as an example ,the ,vision of ,god by ,cardinall ,cusanus1 op4 cit4 7#afdf71 part iii4 #fd ,preface4 #fe ,bourne's ,description and ,confutation and ,baillie's ,anabaptisme4 ,it seems likely that there was an earlier edition of the ,theologia than this of #afdh1 as the chapters and pages quoted by ,bourne do not correspond with those of the #afdh edition1 whose title-page has this clause3 ,also a ,treatise of the ,soul and other additions not before printed4 #ff ,gangraena1 part iii4 #fg ,goodwin's ,cretensis 7#afdf74 ,the book1 entitled ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected1 and attributed by implication to ,randall1 was published in ,amsterdam in #afdd1 with the following title-page3 ,divinity ,philosophy ,dissected1 set forth by a mad man4 ,the first ,book divided into #c ,chapters4 ,chap4 ,i4 ,the description of the ,world in man's heart with the ,articles of the ,christian ,faith4 ,chap4 ,,ii4 ,a description of one ,spirit acting in all1 which some affirme is ,god4 ,chap4 ,,iii4 ,a description of the ,scripture according to the history and mystery thereof4 ,amsterdam1 #afdd4 #fh ,survey1 etc41 part ii4 chap4 xlvii4 p4 #ec4 #fi ,the only copy of ,randall's ,bright ,starre which ,i have been able to locate is in the ,lambeth ,palace ,library4 ,a copy of it formerly belonged to the learned ,quaker1 ,benjamin ,furly1 and was sold with his remarkable collection of books in #agad4 #gj ,this term1 ,children of the ,light1 was the name by which ,friends1 or ,quakers1 first called themselves4 ,it was plainly a term current at the time for a ,christian who put the emphasis on inward life and personal experience4 #ga ,preface to ,theologia4 #gb ,preface to ,the ,vision of ,god4 #gc ,ibid4 #gd ,nicholas' ,preface to ,de visione ,dei4 #ge ,the ,vision of ,god1 p4 #aa4 #gf ,ibid4 p4 #ac4 #gg ,ibid4 p4 #ai4 ,compare this passage with ,pascal's saying3 ,thou wouldst not seek me if thou hadst not already found me4 #gh ,ibid4 p4 #cg4 #gi ,ibid4 p4 #acj4 #hj ,ibid4 p4 #ach4 #ha ,ibid4 pp4 #aea-aeb4 #hb ,ibid4 pp4 #agj-agf4 #hc ,there is no author's name or initial in the book1 only the statement that it is put forth by a mad man1 who desires to be in my wits and right minde to ,god1 although a fool and madman to the world4 #hd ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected1 pp4 #ci-dj4 #he ,divinity and ,philosophy ,dissected1 p4 #ag4 #hf ,ibid4 p4 #fb4 #hg ,a ,survey of the ,spiritual ,antichrist1 chap4 xiv4 p4 #afc4 #hh ,life and ,light1 p4 #c4 #hi ,ibid4 pp4 #ii and #aja quoted freely4 #ij ,ibid4 p4 #ai4 ,it should be noted that this use of ,first-day for ,sunday antedates the ,quaker practice4 #ia ,ibid4 pp4 #bf-bg4 #ib ,ibid4 p4 #ce4 #ic ,see ibid4 p4 #cf4 #id ,life and ,light1 p4 #aa4 #ie ,ibid4 p4 #ch4 #if ,ibid4 p4 #cd4 #bff ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,spiritual ,,religion ,,in ,,high ,,places--,,rous1 ,,vane1 ,,and ,,sterry ,the spiritual struggles which culminated in the great upheaval of the ,english ,commonwealth were the normal fruit of the ,reformation spirit1 when once it had penetrated the life of the ,english people and kindled the fire of personal conviction in their hearts4 ,beginning as it did with the simple substitution of royal for papal authority in the government of the ,church1 the ,english ,reformation lacked at its inception the inward depth1 the prophetic vision1 the creative power1 the vigorous articulation of newly awakened personal conscience1 which formed such a commanding feature of the ,reformation movement on the ,continent4 ,it took another hundred years in ,england to cultivate individual conscience1 to ripen religious experience1 to produce the body of dynamic ideas1 and to create the necessary prophetic vision before an intense and popular spirit of ,reform could find its voice and marching power4 ,the contact of ,english exiles and chance visitors with the stream of thought in ,germany1 in ,switzerland1 and in ,holland1 and the filtering in of literature from the ,continent1 together with the occasional coming of living exponents1 sowed the seeds that slowly ripened into that strange and interesting variety of religious thought and practice which forms the inner life of the ,commonwealth4 ,the policy of the throne had always opposed this steadily increasing tide of thought which refused to run in the well-worn channels1 but1 as usual1 the opposition and hindrances only served to #bfg deepen personal conviction1 to sharpen the edge of conscience1 to nourish great and daring spirits1 to formulate the battle-ideas and to win popular support4 ,the inner life and the varied tendencies of the ,commonwealth are too rich and complicated to be adequately treated here4#a ,the purpose of this chapter is to show how the type of inward and spiritual religion1 which the ,reformation in its kindling power everywhere produced1 finds expression in the writings of three men who came to large public prominence in the period of the ,commonwealth1 ,francis ,rous1 ,sir ,harry ,vane1 and ,peter ,sterry4 ,i ,francis ,rous was born in ,cornwall in #aegi4 ,he graduated ,b4,a4 at ,oxford in #aeig and at the ,university of ,leyden in #aeii4 ,he entered the ,middle ,temple in #afja1 with the prospect of a legal and public career before him1 but soon withdrew and retired to ,cornwall1 where in a quiet country retreat he became absorbed in theological studies4 ,his later writings show an intimate acquaintance with the great ,church ,fathers1 especially with ,st4 ,augustine1 ,st4 ,ambrose1 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,origen and the two ,gregorys1 and with the mystics1 especially with the writings of ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 ,st4 ,bernard1 ,thomas a ,kempis1 and ,john ,tauler4 ,he was intensely ,puritan in temper and sympathies in his earlier period of life1 and much of his writing at this stage was for the purpose of promoting the increase of a deeper and more adequate reform in the ,church4 ,he translated the ,psalms into ,english ,meeter1 and his version was approved by the ,westminster ,assembly1 authorized for use by ,parliament1 and adopted by the estates in ,scotland1 whose ,psalms1 ,carlyle says1 the ,northern ,kirks still sing4#b ,he was a member of ,charles ,i4's first and second ,parliaments1 and again of the ,short ,parliament and of #bfh the ,long ,parliament4 ,he was also a member of the ,little ,parliament1 often called ,barebones ,parliament1 of which he was ,speaker1 and of the ,parliaments of #afed and of #afef1 and he was1 too1 a member of ,oliver's ,council of ,state4 ,he was one of many thoughtful men of the time who passed with the rapid development of affairs from the ,presbyterian position to ,independency1 and he served on the ,committee for the propagation of the ,gospel which framed a congregational plan for ,church government4 ,he was a voluminous writer1 but his type of ,christianity can be seen sufficiently in his three little books3 ,mystical ,marriage 7#afce71 ,the ,heavenly ,academy 7#afch71 and ,the ,great ,oracle 7#afda74c ,he1 again1 like so many before him1 influenced by ,plato as well as by the ,new ,testament and ,christian writers1 made the discovery that there is something divine in the soul of man1 and that this something divine in man is always within hail of an inner world of divine splendour4 ,i was first breathed forth from heaven1 he says1 and came from ,god in my creation4 ,i am divine and heavenly in my original1 in my essence1 in my character4 4 4 4 ,i am a spirit1 though a low one1 and ,god is a ,spirit1 even the highest one1 and ,god is the fountaine of this spirit of mine4#d ,the possession of this divine original1 unlost even in the mist and mystery of a world of time and sense1 enables man1 he holds1 to live in that higher world even while he sojourns in this lower world4 ,human reason1 i4e4 reasoning1 is sufficient to guide in the affairs of this life1 but it is blind to the world of the ,spirit from which we came4 ,the soule has two eyes--one human reason1 the other far excelling that1 a divine and spiritual ,light4 4 4 4 ,by it the soule doth see spiritual things as truly as the corporall eye doth corporal things4#e ,human reason acknowledges the sovereignty of this spiritual ,light as a candle acknowledges the greater light of the sun1 and1 #bfi by its in-shining1 the soul passes beyond a speculative and discoursing holiness1 even beyond a forme of godliness and advances to the power of it4#f ,but this inward ,light does not make outward helps unnecessary4 ,the light of the outward word the ,scriptures and the ,light in our soules are twinnes and agree together like brothers1#g and again he says1 ,it is an invaluable inestimable ,loss that men do so much divide the outward ,teacher from the ,inward1 though he insists that the ministry of the ,spirit is above any ministry of the letter4#h ,this eye of the soul which is a part of its original structure and is responsive to the ,light of the spiritual world1 so that soule and ,light become knit together into one1 is also called by ,rous1 as by his predecessors1 ,seed or ,word4 ,sometimes this divine ,seed is thought of as an original part of the soul1 and sometimes1 under the assumption that man has grown wild by the fall of ,adam and is run to weeds1 it is conceived1 as by ,schwenckfeld1 as a saving remedy supernaturally supplied to the soul--,christ entering into our spirits lays in them an immortal seed4#i ,in any case1 whether the ,seed be original1 as is often implied and stated1 or whether it be a supernatural gift of divine ,grace in ,christ1 as is sometimes implied1 it is1 in ,rous' conception1 essential for the attainment of a religious experience or a ,christian life3 ,a ,christian man hath as much need of ,christ's ,spirit called in other passages ,seed or ,word to be a ,christian and to live eternally1 as a natural man hath of a spirit principle of intelligence to be a man and to live temporally1 so ,christ's ,spirit and a man together are a ,christian1 which is a holy1 eternal and happy thing4#aj ,he shows1 as do so many of those who emphasize the inner experience of ,christ as a living presence1 an exalted appreciation of the historical revelation in ,christ4 ,christ is1 he says1 both ,god and man1 and thus being the perfect union of divinity and humanity #bgj can be our ,saviour4#aa ,here in the full light of ,his ,life and ,love we may discover the true nature of ,god1 who was great with love before we loved ,him4#ab ,the outer word answers to the inner ,light as deep calls unto deep1 and the two are knit together not to be sundered4 ,the eye must be on ,christ the ,light1 and the wise soul must watch the winde and tide of the ,spirit1 as the seaman watcheth the naturall winde and tide4 ,when the tide of the ,spirit floweth then put thy hand to the oar1 for then if thou row strongly thou maiest advance mightily4#ac ,he quaintly says that he has written about these spiritual things1 about the world of divine splendour and the soule's inner eye1 because he wants to exhibit some bunches of grapes brought from the land of promise to show that this land is not a meere imagination1 but some have seene it and have brought away parcels1 pledges and ernests of it4 ,in these appears a world above the world1 a love that passeth human love1 a peace that passeth naturall understanding1 a joy unspeakable and glorious1 a taste of the chiefe and soveraigne good4 ,he has1 further1 written because he wanted to provoke others of this nation to bring forth more boxes of this precious ointment4#ad ,his little books are saturated with a devotional spirit rising into words like these3 ,let my love rest in nothing short of thee1 ,o ,god6 ,kindle and enflame and enlarge my love4 ,enlarge the arteries and conduit pipes by which ,thou the head and fountaine of love flows in thy members1 that being abundantly quickened and watered with the ,spirit ,i may abundantly love ,thee4#ae ,they contain bursts of intense prayer--,put thy owne image and beauty more and more on my soule4 ,he went through all the ,parliamentary storms of that great epoch2 he was ,provost of ,eton ,college2 he was ,cromwell's friend2 but his main ambition seems to have been to be knit to ,god by a personal union1 to have the #bga dayspring in his own heart1 and to be taught in the heavenly ,academy--the ,high ,school of ,experience4#af ,,ii ,the story of ,sir ,harry ,vane's life1 adequately told1 would involve the entire history of the great epoch of the ,commonwealth4 ,next to ,cromwell1 he was the most influential shaper of events from the time of the meeting of the ,long ,parliament in #afdj until his retirement on the occasion of the expulsion of the members of ,parliament in #afec4 ,in his views of constitutional government and of human liberty he was one of the most original and one of the most modern men of the seventeenth century4 ,richard ,baxter1 who had no love for ,vane1 is only stating an actual fact when he says3 ,to most of our changes he was that within the ,house that ,cromwell was without4#ag ,clarendon1 who loved him still less1 said of him3 ,he was indeed a man of extraordinary parts1 a pleasant wit1 a great understanding which pierced into and discerned the purposes of men with wonderful sagacity4#ah ,what ,milton thought of him he has told in one of the noblest sonnets that a poet ever wrote on a great statesman3 ,vane1 young in years1 but in sage counsel old1 ,than whom a better senator ne'er held ,the helm of ,rome1 when gowns not arms repelled ,the fierce ,epirot and the ,african bold3 ,whether to settle peace1 or to unfold ,the drift of hollow states hard to be spelled1 ,then to advise how war may best upheld ,move by her two main nerves1 iron and gold1 ,in all her equipage2 besides to know ,both spiritual power and civil1 what each means1 ,what severs each1 thou hast learned1 which few have done3 ,the bounds of either sword to thee we owe2 ,therefore on thy firm hand religion leans ,in peace1 and reckons thee her eldest son4#ai #bgb ,vane was quite naturally selected at the ,restoration as one of the actors in the historical drama who could not be allowed to live any longer4 ,the day after ,vane's trial began1 ,charles ,,ii4 wrote to ,clarendon3 ,he is too dangerous a man to let live1 if we can honestly put him out of the way4#bj ,his death brought out the loftiest traits of his character1 and gave him a touch of beauty and glory of character which for posterity has done much to cover the flaws and defects which were not lacking in him4 ,in all things1 writes ,pepys1 who saw everything in those days1 he appeared the most resolved man that ever died in that manner4#ba ,it is1 however1 not ,vane the statesman1 the maker of covenants with ,scotch armies1 the creator of sinews of war for the battles of ,marston ,moor and ,naseby1 the organizer of a conquering navy1 the man who dared withstand his old friend ,cromwell in the day of the great soldier's power1 that concerns us in this chapter2 it is ,vane1 the religious ,independent1 the exponent of inward religion2 the man whom ,milton calls religion's eldest son4 ,even in his early youth he passed through a decisive experience which altered his entire after-life4 ,about the fourteenth or fifteenth year of my age1 he said in his dying speech1 ,god was pleased to lay the foundation or ground-work of repentance in me1 for the bringing me home to ,himself1 by ,his wonderful rich and free grace1 revealing ,his ,son in me1 that by the knowledge of the only true ,god and ,jesus ,christ whom ,he hath sent1 ,i might1 even whilst here in the body1 be made a partaker of eternal life1 in the first fruits of it4 4 4 4 ,since that foundation of repentance was laid in me1 through grace ,i have been kept steadfast1 desiring to walk in all good conscience toward ,god and toward men1 according to the best light and understanding ,god gave me4 ,from this early period on through his life1 he always emphasized the importance of first-hand experience1 of inward revelation1 and of ,christ's reign in the kingdom of the #bgc human soul4 ,he was still a very young man1 when1 under the impelling guidance of his conscience1 he felt himself called to intermit1 as ,schwenckfeld and others had done1 the practice of the sacraments of the ,church4 ,his attitude toward the sacraments at this time1 and1 apparently ever afterwards1 was that of the ,seekers4 ,he had reached the insight that religion is a spiritual relationship with a spiritual ,god1 and on the basis of this position he questioned the divine commission of those who administered the external ceremonies of the ,church4 ,it is1 however1 perfectly clear that these views were not original with him1 but that he had come under the influence of the teachings of the men whom ,i am calling spiritual ,reformers4 ,how inward and mystical his type of ,christianity really was1 may be gathered from a short passage of an ,epistle which he wrote in #affa3 ,the ,kingdom of ,god is within you and is the dominion of ,god in the conscience and spirit of the mind4 4 4 4 ,this ,kingdom of ,christ is capable of subsisting and being managed inwardly in the minds of ,his people1 in a hidden state concealed from the world4 ,by the power thereof1 the inward senses1 or eyes of the mind are opened and awakened to the drawing of them up to a heavenly converse1 catching and carrying up the soul to the throne of ,god and to the knowledge of the life that is hid with ,christ in ,god4 ,those that are in this ,kingdom1 and in whom the power of it is1 are fitted to fly with the ,church into the wilderness1 and to continue in such a solitary1 dispersed1 desolate condition till ,god call them out of it4 ,they have wells and springs opened to them in this wilderness1 whence they draw the waters of salvation1 without being in bondage to the life of sense4#bb ,he was only twenty-two years of age when1 for conscience' sake and in the sweete peace of ,god1 he left ,england and threw in his lot with the young colony in ,massachusetts ,bay4 ,at twenty-three he was #bgd ,governor of the ,colony and found himself plunged into a maelstrom of politics1 ,indian wars1 and ecclesiastical quarrels which would have tried even a veteran like ,john ,winthrop4 ,it was here in ,massachusetts that the lines of his religious thought first come clearly into view1 if any of ,vane's religious ideas can ever properly be called clear4 ,the controversy in the ,massachusetts ,colony 7#afcf-afch7 was initiated and led by ,anne ,hutchinson1 and was1 in the phraseology of that period1 an issue between a ,covenant of ,works and a ,covenant of ,grace1 which was a seventeenth-century way of stating the contrast between a religion historically revealed and completely expressed in an infallible ,book on the one hand1 and1 on the other1 a religion primarily based on the eternal nature of ,god and man1 and on the fact of immediate revelation and communication between the ,god of ,grace and the needy soul4#bc ,governor ,vane aligned himself with the ,hutchinson party and was in sympathy with this second type of religion1 the religion of inward experience1 the immediate conscious realization of ,god1 which1 in the terminology of the times1 was called the ,covenant of ,grace4#bd ,absorbed as he was for the next fifteen years after his return from ,america in momentous public affairs1 he had no opportunity to give expression to the religious ideas which were forming in his mind4 ,during his retirement after his break with ,cromwell1 he wrote two books which give us the best light we can hope to get on his religious views--,the ,retired ,man's ,meditations 7#afee71 and ,a ,pilgrimage into the ,land of ,promise 7#affd71 written in prison in #affb4 ,baxter complained that his ,doctrines were so clowdily formed and expressed that few could understand them1#be and the modern reader1 however much time and patience he bestows upon ,vane's books1 is forced to agree with ,baxter4 ,vane acknowledges himself that his #bge thought is knotty and abstruce4 ,in religious matters his mind was always labouring1 without success1 to find a clear guiding clue through a maze and confusion of ideas1 which fascinated him1 and he allowed his mind to get lost in what ,sir ,thomas ,browne calls wingy mysteries4 ,he had no sound principle of ,scripture interpretation1 but allowed his untrained and unformed imagination to run wild4 ,texts in profusion from ,genesis to ,revelation lie in undigested masses in his books4 ,he had evidently read ,jacob ,boehme1 but1 if so1 he had only become more dowdy by the reading1 for he has not seized and appreciated ,boehme's constructive thoughts1 and1 at least in his later period and in his last book1 he is floundering under the heavy weight of millenarian ideas1 which do not harmonize well with his occasional spiritual insights of an ever-growing revelation to man through the eternal ,word who in all ages voices ,himself within the soul4 ,he was an extraordinary complex of vague mysticism and astute statesmanship4 ,in one matter he was throughout his life both consistent and clear1 namely1 in the advocacy of freedom of conscience in religion4 ,he put himself squarely on a platform of toleration in his early controversy with ,winthrop4#bf ,his friend ,roger ,williams in later life heard him make a heavenly speech in ,parliament in which he said3 ,why should the labours of any be suppressed1 if sober1 though never so different8 ,we now profess to seek ,god1 we desire to see light6#bg ,throughout his parliamentary career he stood side by side with ,cromwell in the difficult effort1 which only partly succeeded1 to secure scope for all honest religious opinion4 ,finally1 in ,the ,retired ,man's ,meditations1 he wrote3 ,we are bound to understand by this terme the ,rule of ,magistracy the proper sphere1 bounds and limits of that office which is not to intrude itself into the office and proper concerns of ,christ's inward government and rule in the #bgf conscience4 ,after defining the magistrate's proper functions in the affairs of the external life1 he then adds3 ,the more illuminated the ,magistrate's conscience and judgment is1 as to natural justice and right1 by the knowledge of ,god and communications of ,light from ,christ1 the better qualified he is to execute his office4#bh ,the central idea of his religious thought--though it never completely penetrated the fringes of his mind--was the reality of the living ,word of ,god1 the self-revealing character of ,god1 who is an immediate1 inward ,teacher1 who is ,his own evidence and demonstration1 and who has1 ,vane testifies1 experimentally obtained a large entrance and reception in my heart as a seed there sown4#bi ,this living ,word is not to be confused with the ,scriptures1 which are an outward testimony to the inner ,word--an external way to the unveiled and naked beauty of the ,word itself1 who is ,spirit and ,life4#cj ,in the long process of self-revelation through the living ,word a temporal universe has been created by emanations in time1 a universe double in its nature1 first a deeper1 invisible universe of light1 of angels and exalted spirits1 then a visible and material and animalish world1 a shadow of the invisible world4#ca ,at the top of the order1 man was created1 uniting both the visible and the invisible worlds in one being4 ,man thus in himself is in miniature a double world1 a world of light and spirit and a world of shadow4 ,two seeds1 as ,boehme had already taught1 are always working in man1 and his native free-will determines the course of his destiny4 ,in his first test1 man fell1 though the tree of life1 which was a visible type of ,christ1 was before his eyes in ,paradise1 but this event was only the beginning of the long human drama1 and the real history of the race is the story of the stages and dispensations of the living ,word of ,god1 educating1 regenerating1 and spiritualizing man1 and bringing him to the height of his spiritual possibilities4 #bgg ,in the first stage of this divine pedagogy1 man has the ,word of ,god within himself as a lampe or light in his mind1 manifesting itself to inward senses1 assisted by the ministry of angels4 ,this is the period of conditional covenant1 under which man's spiritual life depends on obedience to the inward operations of this ,word1 and those that obey are made ,children of the ,light1 and attain a forward-looking apprehension of the coming ,son4#cb ,the second degree of glory--a more excellent and near approach to the sight of the ,son ,himself--is the training stage under the written word1 which makes wise unto salvation4 ,this is a dispensation of discipline1 reproof1 correction1 instruction in righteousness1 and it culminates in the manifestation of ,grace in ,jesus ,christ1 who is the ,root of a new race4 ,there are two ways of using the ministry of ,grace in ,jesus ,christ--on the lower level as mere restoration-work and on the higher level as re-creation into new life4 ,those who apprehend ,christ on the lower level1 as simply a new law-giver1 do not get beyond the spirit of bondage and do not succeed in attaining an immutable and incorruptible nature4 ,those1 however1 who are born from within by the immortal and incorruptible ,seed of ,god are changed from their wavering unstable power into an inward likeness to ,god1 into a love that binds man's spirit into union with ,god's ,spirit1 into steadfast and unmoveable delight in goodness and fixed and unshaken averseness to sin and evil4#cc ,the third and final stage of glory1 the full dispensation of the ,spirit--when the whole creation will be restored to its primitive purity and to the glorious liberty of sons of ,god--will be the thousand years' reign of ,christ to which1 ,vane believed1 both the outward and inward ,word testify4#cd ,it is not easy to see how a man of ,vane's mental and moral calibre1 who had himself1 as he tells us in his scaffold speech1 been brought home to himself by #bgh ,god's wonderful1 rich and free ,grace1 revealing ,his ,son in me that ,i might be a partaker of eternal life1 and who had all his life held that there is an eternal ,word and ,seed of ,god working both without and within to bring men to their complete spiritual stature1 should be unwilling to trust the operation of this divine ,word to finish what ,he had begun1 and should resort to a cataclysmic event of a new order for the final stage4 ,we of this later and more scientific age must1 however1 speak with some caution of the idealistic dreams and visions and glowing expectations of men1 who in their deepest souls believed that ,god was a living1 acting ,god who1 in ways past finding out1 intervened in the affairs of men and fulfilled ,his purposes of good4 ,god is almighty1 ,vane said once in a ,parliamentary speech4 ,will you not trust ,him with the consequences8 ,he that has unsettled a monarchy of so many descents1 in peaceable times1 and brought you to the top of your liberties1 though ,he drive you for a while into the wilderness1 ,he will bring you back4 ,he is a wiser workman than to reject ,his work4 ,george ,fox1 in #afeg1 was moved of ye ,lord to speake to him of ye true ,light1 having heard that ,henery ,vane has much enquired after mee4 ,fox told him1 in his usual fashion1 howe yt ,christ had promised to his disciples to sende ym ye holy ghoast1 ye spiritt of truth which shoulde leade ym into all truth which wee ,friends witnessed and howe yt ye grace of ,god which brought salvation had appeared unto all men and was ye saintes teacher in ye ,apostles days soe it was nowe4 ,vane's comment on the ,quaker's message was3 ,none of all this doth reach to my experiens1 and ,fox1 in his plain straightforward manner1 said3 ,thou hast knowne somethinge formerly2 but now there is a mountaine of earth imaginations uppe in thee from that rises a smoake which has darkened thy braine3 thou art not ye man as thou wert formerly4 4 4 4 ,i was moved of ye ,lord to sett ye ,seede ,christ ,jesus over his heade6#ce #bgi ,clarendon was more charitable toward ,vane than was ,fox1 who never deals gently with persons who approach his point of view and yet miss it4 ,the former1 declaring that ,vane's writings lack his usual clearness and ratiocination1 and that in a crowd of very easy words the sense was too hard to find out1 yet concludes to give the furnace-tried statesman the benefit of the doubt3 ,i was of opinion that the subject was of so delicate a nature that it required another kind of preparation of mind1 and perhaps another kind of diet1 than men are ordinarily supplied with6#cf ,there can1 at any rate1 be no doubt of ,vane's honesty or of his loyalty to the ,light within him4 ,standing face to face with death1 he told his strange audience that he had put everything that he prized in the world to hazard for the sake of obeying the best ,light which ,god had granted him1 and he added these impressive words3 ,i do earnestly persuade all people rather to suffer the highest contradiction from men1 than disobey ,god by contradicting the ,light of ,god in their own conscience4 ,,iii ,peter ,sterry was born in ,surrey1 early in the seventeenth century1 and entered ,emmanuel ,college1 ,cambridge1 in #afbi1 graduating ,b4,a4 in #afcc and ,m4,a4 in #afcg4 ,emmanuel ,college had been founded during ,elizabeth's reign 7#aehd7 by one of her statesmen1 ,sir ,walter ,mildmay1 for the especial encouragement of ,calvinistic theology1 and it was the most important intellectual nursery of the great ,puritan movement in ,england4 ,during ,sterry's ,university period there was a remarkable group of tutors and fellows gathered in ,emmanuel ,college4 ,foremost among them was ,tuckney1 who was tutor to ,benjamin ,whichcote the founder of the school of ,cambridge ,platonists1 or ,latitude-,men1 and ,whichcote himself was at ,emmanuel ,college #bhj throughout ,sterry's period1 graduating ,m4,a4 the same year that ,sterry graduated ,b4,a4 ,sterry was a thorough-going ,platonist in his type of thought and had much in common with ,henry ,more1 whose writings were divinely pleasant to him and whom he calls a prophet of the spiritual unity of the universe1 and with ,ralph ,cudworth1 the spiritual philosopher1 though he finds somewhat to regret in the work of both these contemporary ,cambridge ,platonists4#cg ,sterry is not usually reckoned among the ,cambridge ,platonists1 but there is no reason why he should not be included in that group4 ,he was trained in the ,university which was the natural home of the movement1 he read the authors most approved by the members of this school1 and his own message is penetrated with the spirit and ideals of these seventeenth-century ,platonists4 ,his writings abound with references to ,plato and ,plotinus1 with occasional references to ,proclus and ,dionysius the ,areopagite2 and the world-conceptions of this composite school of philosophers1 as they were revived by the ,renaissance1 are fundamental to his thought4 ,he was thoroughly acquainted with the writings of ,ficino1 and quotes him among his approved masters4 ,he had also profoundly studied the great mystics and was admirably equipped intellectually to be the interpreter of a far different type of ,christianity from that of the current theologies4 ,he became intimate in his public career with ,sir ,harry ,vane1 and there are signs of mutual influence in their writings1 which gave occasion for ,richard ,baxter's pun on their names3 ,vanity and sterility were never more happily conjoined4#ch ,upon the execution of ,charles ,i41 ,sterry was voted a preacher to the ,council of ,state with a salary of one hundred pounds a year1 which was soon after doubled and lodgings at ,whitehall added4 ,he generally preached before ,cromwell on ,sundays1 and on every other ,thursday at ,whitehall1 frequently before #bha the ,lords and ,commons4 ,a number of his sermons were printed by ,order of the ,house1 and enjoyed a wide popularity1 though their great length would make them impossible sermons to-day4 ,cromwell evidently appreciated his preaching very highly and felt no objection to the mystical strain that runs through all his sermons4 ,he had many points of contact with ,milton1 and may have been for a period his assistant as ,latin ,secretary4#ci ,he was devotedly fond of music1 art1 and poetry1 and he held similar views to ,milton regarding the ,presbyterian system4 ,he naturally fell out of public notice after the ,restoration1 and quietly occupied himself with literary work1 until his death in #afgb4 ,the main material for a study of his message will be found in his three posthumous ,books3 ,a ,discourse of the ,freedom of the ,will 7#afge72 ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty of the ,kingdom of ,god in the ,soul of ,man 7#afhc71 and ,appearance of ,god to ,man in the ,gospel 7#agaj74dj ,his prose style is lofty and often marked with singular beauty1 though he is almost always too prolix for our generation1 and too prone to divide his discourse into heads and sub-heads1 and sub-divisions of sub-heads4 ,here is a specimen passage of his dealing with a topic which ,plato and the great poets have often handled3 ,imagine this ,life as an ,island1 surrounded by a ,sea of ,darkness1 beyond which lies the main ,land of ,eternity4 ,blessed is he who can raise himself to such a ,pitch as to look off this ,island1 beyond that ,darkness to the utmost bound of things4 ,he thus sees his way before and behind him4 ,what shall trouble him on his ,twig of ,life1 on which he is like a bird but now alighted1 from a far ,region1 from whence again he shall immediately take his flight4 ,thou cam'st through a ,darkness hither but yesterday when thou wert born4 ,why then shouldst thou not readily and cheerfully return through the same ,darkness back again to those everlasting ,hills8#da ,i will give one more #bhb specimen passage touching the divine origin and return of the soul3 ,at our ,birth1 which is the morning of life1 our ,soul and ,body are joined to this fleshly ,image as ,horses are put into a ,waggon1 to which they are fastened by their ,harnes and ,traces4#db ,the ,body is as the forehorse1 but the ,soul is the filly which draws most and bears the chief weight4 ,all the day long of this life we draw this ,waggon heavy laden with all sorts of temptations and troubles thorow deep ways of mire and sand4 ,this only is our comfort that the ,divine ,will1 which is ,love itself in its perfection1 as a ,hand put forth from ,heaven thorow a ,cloud1 at our ,birth put us into this ,waggon and governs us all the day4 ,in the evening of our life1 at the end of the day1 ,death is the same ,divine ,will as a naked ,hand of pure ,love1 shining forth from an open ,heaven of clear light and glory1 taking our ,soul and ,body out of the ,waggon and ,traces of this fleshly ,image and leading them immediately into their ,inn4#dc ,everything in the universe1 he believes1 is double4 ,the things that are seen are copies--often faint and shadowy--of ,that which is4 ,every particular thing below corresponds to an eternal reality above4 ,even those things which appear thin and shallow possess an infinite depth1 or we may just as well say an infinite height4 ,didst thou ever descry1 he asks1 a glorious eternity in a winged moment of ,time8 ,didst thou ever see a bright ,infinite in the narrow point of an ,object8 ,then thou knowest what ,spirit means--that spire-top whither all things ascend harmoniously1 where they meet and sit connected in an unfathomed ,depth of ,life4#dd ,and the immense congeries of things and events1 even the jarring and tumultuous contrarieties1 through the whole world1 through the whole compass of time1 through both the bright and the black ,regions of ,life and ,death1 consent and melodize in one celestial music #bhc and perfect harmony of ,divine purpose4#de ,the stops and shakes make music as well as the stroaks and sounds1 even ,death and ,hell are bound by a gold chain with shining links of ,love to the throne of ,god4#df ,he outdoes even the pillar ,quakers1 his contemporaries in later life1 in his proclamation of a ,divine ,root and ,seed in the soul of man4 ,in words almost precisely like those which ,barclay used later in his ,apology1 he says3 ,there is a spiritual man that lies hid under the natural man as seed under the ground1#dg or1 again1 go into thyself beyond thy natural man1 and thou shalt meet the ,spirit of ,god4#dh ,there is something eternal1 a seminal infiniteness1 in the soul1 its native ,root and ,bottom1 consubstantial with it and inseparable from it4 ,it lasts on through all forms1 wearing them out1 casting them off for new forms1 through which it manifests itself1 until it finally brings us back into ,itself and becomes our only clothing4#di ,but though native1 it is not a part or function of the natural1 psychical man1 it is not of the finite creature4 ,it is from above1 a transcendent ,reality2 it belongs to the eternal world and yet it is a ,root of ,god within1 a point in the soul's abyss 7or apex7 unsevered from ,god1 so that one who knew the soul to its depths would know ,god4#ej ,beneath all the wreck and ruin and havoc of sin it is still there1 with its glimpses of immortal ,beauty4 ,the prodigal who would return home must first return to himself1 to that divine ,seed1 hid deep beneath the soil and dung1 beneath the darkness1 deformity and deadness of its ,winter-,season and rise up in its proper ,spring into pleasant flowers and fruits1 as a ,garden of ,god4#ea ,there is thus a golden thread which is always there to guide the soul back home1 through all the mazes of the world1 or1 to use another of his figures1 ,thou hast but to follow the stream of ,love1 the ,fountain of the ,soul1 if thou #bhd wouldst be led to that ,sea which is the confluence of all the waters of ,life1 of all ,truth1 of all ,goodness1 of all ,joy1 of all ,beauty and ,blessedness4#eb ,the ,fullness of the juncture of ,god and ,man is seen only in ,christ4 ,in ,him1 ,god and ,man are one1 one ,love1 one ,life1 one ,likeness4#ec ,he is the ,pattern1 the unspoiled ,image1 the ,eternal ,word1 and ,he is1 too1 the ,head of our race4 ,in ,him the ,divine ,spirit and the human spirit are twined into one4 ,if you want to see ,god1 then see ,christ4#ed ,if you want to see what the ,seed in us can blossom into when it is unhampered by sin1 again1 see ,christ4#ee ,he is a ,life-giving ,spirit who can penetrate other spirits1 who broods over the soul as the creative ,spirit brooded over the waters1 and who1 when received1 makes us radiant with ,love1 which is the only truth of religion4 ,sin is the mark and brand of our failure--it is our aberration from the normal type as it is fully revealed in ,christ4 ,nothing is so unnatural as sin1#ef nothing is so irrational1 nothing so abnormal--it is always a break from the unity of the divine ,life1 a movement towards isolation and self-solitariness1 a pursuit of narrowing desires1 a missing of the potential beauty and harmony of the ,soul4#eg ,but in every case1 whether it be ,adam's or that of the last man who sinned1 it is always an act of free-will--even in its most haggish shapes sin is the act of free-will4 ,some strange contrary principle in us1 something from a root alien to the divine ,root1 makes civil war within us1#eh and though the ,word of ,god's eternal ,love is ringing in our ears and though the gleams of divine ,beauty are shining in our eyes1 we still walk away into the barren dessert of the world and forsake our proper habitation in the paradise of ,god4#ei ,there is no way back from the barren dessert1 without a complete reversal of direction1 a conversion3 ,he that will pass #bhe from the dismal depths of sin to the heights of strength and holiness must make his first motion a conversion1 a change from a descent to an ascent1 from going outward toward the circle to go inward towards the centre2 there must be an awakening so that the soul comes to see all things in the light of their first ,principle2 a ,birth through the ,spirit and a newness of life through the bubbling of the eternal ,spring4#fj ,the mighty event of re-birth is described by ,sterry very much after the manner of ,schwenckfeld4 ,the new ,seed1 ,christ ,jesus1 the divine ,life itself1 comes into operation within the man1 and the new-made man1 raised with ,christ1 is joined in ,spirit with ,him and lives henceforth not after ,adam but after ,christ the ,head of the spiritual ,race4#fa ,the shift of direction1 the complete reversal1 however1 does not mean parting with delights1 or putting on a sad and sour conversation--on the contrary1 it means enlargement of soul and a gainful addition of joy1 the discovery within of another world and a new kingdom4#fb ,like all this group of thinkers to whom he is kindred1 ,sterry makes a sharp contrast between the ,spirit and the letter1 between what happens within the soul and what is external to it4 ,the early stage of religion is characterized by externals1 and only after long processes of tutorship and discipline does the soul learn how to live by the ,seed of life and ,light of truth within4 ,the early stage is legalistic1 during which the person is hedged about with promises and threats1 walled in with laws and ordinances1 living in a perpetual alarm of fears1 shut up to rules1 retirements and forms--but it is far better to serve ,god from fear and by outward rules than not to serve ,him at all4 ,the true way of progress is to move up from fear and law to love and freedom1 and from outward rules to the discovery of a central ,light of ,god1 a ,heavenly ,image1 in the deeps of #bhf one's own spirit--real knowledge comes when the ,day ,star rises in the heart4#fc ,we pass from notions and words to an inward power and a bubbling joy4 ,he calls the period of law and letter a baby-stage1 when we see truth as blear-eyed beholders4 ,legal religion compared with the religion of the ,spirit is like a spark struck from flint at midnight compared with the sun2 it is like drawing the waters of ,grace1 a bucketful at a time1 when we might have the ,spirit gushing as a living and perpetual ,fountain4#fd ,but ,god is so good that ,he speaks to us in a variety of ways1 and ,he lets us spell ,his name with the alphabet1 until we learn to know ,his own ,voice4 ,nature1 in the elements of visible creation1 tells us of ,him2 ,reason compels us to recognize ,one who is ,first and ,best1 the ,all in all2 the written word cries in our ears that ,god is ,love2 but above these voices there is a ,principle within our own souls by which ,god propagates ,his ,life in us1 and he who1 in this love-way1 has become a son knows ,god as ,abba-,father4#fe ,we pray now with power1 when this new ,life of the ,spirit has come into us1 and we pour our spirits out in self-forgetfulness1 as a ,river pours itself into the sea1 where it loseth its own name and is known only as the waters of the ,sea4#ff ,he is always gentle in his account of other religions and other stages of faith1 and he sees good in all types1 if only they help the soul to hunger for the ,eternal and do not cramp it4 ,o that ,i had a hundred mouths1 he writes1 an hundred tongues1 a ,voice like the ,voice of ,god that rends ,rocks1 to cry to all sorts of ,persons and ,spirits in this ,land and in all the ,christian ,world through the whole creation3 ',let all that differ in ,principles1 ,professions1 ,opinions and ,forms1 see the good there is in each other'6#fg ,the world1 busy with action and choosing for its historical study the men who did things1 has allowed #bhg ,peter ,sterry to drop into oblivion and his books to gather dust and cobwebs1 but there was1 ,i think1 a ,seed of ,god in him1 and he had a message for his age4 ,he sincerely endeavoured to hand on the torch which in his youth at ,cambridge had been kindled in him by some other flame4 ,when one candle is lighted1 he beautifully says1 we light many by it1 and when ,god hath kindled the ,life of ,his glory in one man's ,heart he often enkindles many by the flame of that4#fh #a ,i have studied the ,familists1 the ,anabaptists1 the ,seekers1 and ,ranters1 and some of the interesting religious characters1 such as ,john ,saltmarsh1 ,william ,dell1 and ,gerard ,winstanley1 in my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion 7,london1 #aijh74 #b ,oliver ,cromwell's ,letters and ,speeches 7,new ,york1 #aijj71 i4 p4 #ajc4 #c ,these three books were issued together in ,latin under the title1 ,interiora ,regni ,dei1 in #afee and in #afgd1 and in an ,english ,collection of ,rous' ,works under the title1 ,treatises and ,meditations 7#afeg74 #d ,mystical ,marriage1 pp4 #a-b4 #e ,treatises and ,meditations1 pp4 #bcj-bca4 #f ,treatises and ,meditations1 pp4 #bdj and #beh4 #g ,ibid4 p4 #bce4 #h ,the ,heavenly ,academy1 pp4 #aaj-aaa4 #i ,mystical ,marriage1 p4 #aj4 #aj ,treatises and ,meditations1 p4 #dif4 #aa ,mystical ,marriage1 p4 #aj4 #ab ,ibid4 p4 #af4 #ac ,ibid4 p4 #aic4 #ad ,preface to ,mystical ,marriage4 #ae ,mystical ,marriage1 p4 #cbb4 #af ,the ,heavenly ,academy1 ,preface1 and ibid4 p4 #eg4 #ag ,reliquiae ,baxterianae1 i4 p4 #ge4 #ah ,clarendon1 ,history of the ,rebellion and ,civil ,wars 7,oxford1 #ahbg71 p4 #aeha4 #ai ,milton's sonnet ,to ,sir ,henry ,vane the ,younger4 #bj ,burnet1 ,history of his ,own ,times 7,airy ed471 i4 p4 #bhf4 #ba ,pepys1 ,diary 7ed4 by ,h4 ,b4 ,wheatley1 ,london1 #ahic71 ii4 p4 #bdb4 #bb ,an ,epistle to the ,mystical ,body of ,christ on ,earth4 ,the lines which ,i have put in italics in the text clearly show the seeker-attitude4 #bc ,see my ,quakers in the ,american ,colonies 7#aiaa71 pp4 #a-be4 #bd ,in his ,retired ,man's ,meditations he speaks of ,christ's rule in the legal conscience and ,christ's rule in the evangelical conscience1 by which he means to contrast a religion founded on external performances or historical events1 and a religion founded on events transacted in the soul of the man himself4 #be ,reliquiae ,baxterianae1 i4 p4 #ge4 #bf ,see ,vane's ,a ,brief ,answer to a certain ,declaration made of the ,intent and ,equity of the ,order of ,court1 etc41 in ,hutchinson's ,collection of ,original ,papers4 #bg ,preface to ,williams' ,bloudy ,tenet4 #bh ,the ,retired ,man's ,meditations1 p4 #chh4 ,italics mine4 #bi ,ibid4 ,preface #cj ,ibid4 chap4 ii4 #ca ,ibid4 ii4 chaps4 iii4 and iv4 ,see also ,a ,pilgrimage into the ,land of ,promise1 pp4 #a-c4 #cb ,a ,pilgrimage into the ,land of ,promise1 pp4 #ea-eb4 #cc ,ibid4 pp4 #ee-ef4 #cd ,retired ,man's ,meditations1 chap4 xxvi4 #ce ,journal of ,george ,fox 7,cambridge ed471 i4 pp4 #cac-cad4 #cf ,animadversions on ,cressy's ,answer to ,stillingfleet 7#afgc71 p4 #ei4 #cg ,see ,a ,discourse of the ,freedom of the ,will 7#afge71 pp4 #ca-cb4 #ch ,reliquiae ,baxterianae1 i4 p4 #ge4 #ci ,a ,mr4 ,sterry was appointed ,sept4 #h1 #afeg1 to assist ,milton as ,latin ,secretary 7,nat4 ,dict4 of ,biog4 ,art4 ,sterry74 #dj ,besides the above named ,i have also used his ,sermons on ,the ,clouds in which ,christ ,comes 7#afdh7 and ,the ,spirits' ,conviction of ,sinne 7#afde74 #da ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #h4 #db ,there is1 he thinks1 an inner body which is as immortal as the soul and which together with the soul is united to the body of flesh--the fleshly ,image4 #dc ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #dce4 #dd ,ibid4 p4 #bd4 ,see also ibid4 p4 #e1 and ,discourse1 p4 #ee4 #de ,discourse1 pp4 #cj-ce4 ,also p4 #afa4 #df ,ibid4 ,preface1 p4 c #h1 and ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #afd4 #dg ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #abf4 #dh ,ibid4 p4 #if4 #di ,ibid4 pp4 #d1 #e1 #f1 #ah-ai4 #ej ,discourse1 pp4 #fg and #gg4 #ea ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 ,preface1 p4 b #b4 ,see also pp4 #cfb and #eab-eac4 #eb ,discourse1 ,preface1 pp4 a and c #f1 and ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #aja4 #ec ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #gh4 #ed ,ibid4 p4 #fh4 #ee ,ibid4 pp4 #ie and #ahd4 ,also ,appearance of ,god1 pp4 #bci and #bea4 #ef ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #gc4 #eg ,ibid4 pp4 #af-ah and #ada1 and ,discourse1 pp4 #ada-adb4 #eh ,appearance of ,god1 p4 #ia4 #ei ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #cei4 #fj ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 pp4 #b1 #bc1 and #dff4 #fa ,see especially ,appearance of ,god1 pp4 #gd-ge and #dhj4 #fb ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 pp4 #ajg-aji4 #fc ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 pp4 #df-dg and #dfg4 #fd ,ibid4 pp4 #ef-fj4 #fe ,ibid4 pp4 #fc-fg4 #ff ,appearance of ,god1 pp4 #acj-aca4 #fg ,discourse1 ,preface1 p4 a #f4 #fh ,rise1 ,race and ,royalty1 p4 #ci4 #bhh ,,chapter ,,xv ,,benjamin ,,whichcote1 ,,the ,,first ,,of ,,the ,,latitude-,,men#a ,the type of ,christianity which ,i have been calling spiritual religion1 that is1 religion grounded in the nature of ,reason1 finds1 at least in ,england1 its noblest expression in the group of men1 sometimes called ,cambridge ,platonists1 and sometimes ,latitude-,men1 or simply ,latitudinarians4 ,these labels were all given them by their critics and opponents1 and were used to give the impression that the members of this group or school were introducing and advancing a type of ,christianity too broad and humanistic to be safe1 and one grounded on ,greek philosophy rather than on ,scripture and historical ,revelation4#b ,they were1 however1 undertaking to do in their generation precisely what the long line of spiritual interpreters had for more than a century been endeavouring1 through pain and suffering1 misunderstanding and fierce persecution1 to work out for humanity--a religion of life and reality1 a religion rooted in the eternal nature of the ,spirit of ,god and the spirit of man1 a religion as authoritative and unescapable as mathematical demonstration4#c ,it is not possible to establish direct connection between the leaders of this school and the writings of the successive #bhi spiritual ,reformers on the ,continent whom we have been studying in this volume1 though the parallelism of ideas and of spirit is very striking4 ,both groups were powerfully influenced by the humanistic movement1 both groups drew upon that profound searching of the soul which they found in the works of ,plato and ,plotinus1 and both groups read the same mystical writers4 ,these things would partly account for the similarities1 but there was almost certainly a closer and more direct connection1 though we cannot trace it in the case of ,whichcote as we can in that of ,john ,everard of ,clare ,college4 ,there has been a tendency to explain ,whichcote's views through the influence of ,arminius and ,arminians2 but he himself denied that he had been influenced by ,arminius1#d while his disciple1 ,nathaniel ,culverwel1 speaks disapprovingly of ,arminianism4#e ,there are no distinct allusions in ,whichcote to ,jacob ,boehme1 and the former's conception of the ,universe is vastly different from the latter's1 but their vital and ethical view of the way of salvation is almost exactly the same1 and the constant insistence of ,whichcote and his disciples that ,heaven and ,hell are primarily conditions of life in the person himself has1 as we know1 a perfect parallel in ,boehme4 ,the ,cambridge scholars were much better equipped for their task than any of the men whom we have so far studied1 their gravest difficulty being an overweighting of learning which they sometimes failed to fuse with their spiritual vision and to transmute into power4 ,but with all their propension to learning and their love of philosophy1 they were primarily and fundamentally religious--they were disciples of ,christ rather than disciples of ,plato and ,plotinus4 ,bishop ,burnet's testimony to the positive spiritual contribution of this movement1 now under consideration1 and to the genuineness of the religious life of these men is well worth quoting4 ,after describing the arid condition of his time1 the prevailing tendency of ministers to seek pomp and luxury1 and the apparent thinness of the preaching of the day1 he adds3 ,some #bij few exceptions are to be made2 but so few1 that if a new set of men had not appeared of another stamp1 the ,church had quite lost her esteem over the nation4 ,he then designates this group of ,cambridge scholars4 ,speaking particularly of ,whichcote1 he says3 ,being disgusted with the dry systematical way of those times1 he studied to raise those who conversed with him to a nobler set of thoughts1 and to consider religion as a seed of a deiform nature 7to use one of his own phrases74 ,in order to this1 he set young students much on reading the ancient philosophers1 chiefly ,plato1 ,tully and ,plotin1 and on considering the ,christian religion as a doctrine sent from ,god1 both to elevate and sweeten human nature1 in which he was a great example1 as well as a wise and kind instructor4 ,cudworth carried this on with a great strength of genius and a vast compass of learning4#f ,these ,latitude-,men were ,puritan in temper and in intensity of conviction2 they were all trained in the great nursery of ,puritan faith1 ,emmanuel ,college1 and they were on intimate terms with many of the men who were the creators of the outer and inner life of the ,commonwealth1 but in their intellectual sympathies they went neither with the sectaries of the time--the squalid sluttery of fanatic conventicles1 as ,s4 ,p4 puts it--nor with the prevailing ,puritan theology4 ,they read ,calvin and ,beza with diligence1 at least ,whichcote did1 but their thought did not move along the track which the great ,genevan had constructed4 ,they discovered another way of approach which made the old way and the old battles seem to them futile4 ,instead of beginning with the eternal mysteries of the inscrutable divine ,will1 they began with the fundamental nature of man1 always deep and difficult to fathom1 but for ever the ground and basis of all that can be known in the field of religion4 ,their interest was thus psychological rather than theological4 ,it is their constant assertion that nothing is more intrinsically rational than religion1 and they focus all their energies to make this point clear and evident4 #bia ,they came to their intellectual development in the period when ,hobbes was formulating one of the most powerful and subtle types of materialism that has ever been presented4 ,they were1 too1 contemporaries of ,descartes1 and they followed with intense interest the attempt of the great ,frenchman to put philosophy in possession of a method as adequate for its problems as the method of geometry was for the mathematical sciences4 ,none of the ,platonists was possessed of the same rare quality of genius as either of these two great philosophers1 but they saw with clear insight the full bearing of both systems4 ,they heartily disapproved of ,hobbes' materialism and shuddered at its nakedness4 ,they were too much committed to the ideals of ,humanism to be positive opponents of ,descartes' rational formulation of all things outer and inner1 but they never felt at home with the vast clock-like mechanism to which his system reduced the universe1 and they set themselves1 in contrast1 to produce a religious philosophy which would guarantee freedom1 would give wider scope for the inner life1 would show the kinship of ,god and man and put morality and religion--to their mind for ever one and inseparable--on a foundation as immovable as the pillars of the universe4 ,the first of this group1 the pathbreaker of the movement1 was ,benjamin ,whichcote1 though it must not be forgotten that he had noble forerunners in ,john ,hales1 ,william ,chillingworth1 and ,jeremy ,taylor4 ,the biographical details which have survived him are very limited4 ,a great teacher's life is so largely interior and so devoid of outward events that there is usually not much to record4#g ,he was descended from an ancient and honourable family1 and was born at ,whichcote-,hall1 in the parish of ,stoke1 the #aath of ,march1 #afji4 ,he was admitted in #afbf to ,emmanuel ,college--which was looked on from its first foundation as a ,seminary of ,puritans--and was there under the tutorship of two great ,puritan teachers4 ,dr4 ,anthony ,tuckney and ,thomas ,hill1 #bib both of whom were for a time associated with ,john ,cotton1 afterwards the famous preacher of colonial ,boston4 ,he was ordained both deacon and priest in #afcf1 was made ,provost of ,king's ,college1 ,cambridge1 in #afdd1 went-out ,doctor of ,divinity in #afdi1 and for twenty years gave the afternoon ,lecture on ,sundays at ,trinity ,church1 ,cambridge4 ,at the ,restoration he was deprived of the ,provostship by order of the ,king1 which brought his university career to an end4 ,he was made curate of ,st4 ,anne's1 ,blackfriars1 in #affb1 and later received from the ,crown the vicarage of ,st4 ,laurence ,jewry1 where he preached twice each week until his death in #afhc4 ,he once said in one of his sermons3 ,had we a man among us1 that we could produce1 that did live an exact ,gospel life2 had we a man that was really gospelized2 were the ,gospel a life1 a soul1 and a spirit to him 4 4 4 he would be the most lovely and useful person under heaven4 ,christianity would be recommended to the world by his spirit and conversation4#h ,dr4 ,whichcote himself was1 as far as one can judge from the impression which he made on his contemporaries1 such a gospelized man4 ,he recommended religion1 as ,dr4 ,salter says1 by his life and writings1 and showed it in its fairest and truest light as the highest perfection of human nature4#i ,he seemed to be emancipated when he came back to ,cambridge as ,provost of ,king's ,college1 and he devoted himself to spreading and propagating a more generous sett of opinions than those which were generally proclaimed in the sermons of the time1 and the young ,masters of ,arts soon cordially embraced his message4#aj ,this new sett of opinions1 proclaimed in ,trinity ,church with vision and power1 soon disturbed those who were of the older and sterner schools of thought4 ,my heart hath bin much exercised about you1 his old friend and tutor1 ,dr4 ,tuckney1 wrote to him in #afea1 especially since your being ,vice-,chancellour1 ,i have seldom heard you preach1 but that something hath bin delivered #bic by you1 and that so authoritatively and with big words1 sometimes of 'divinest reason' and sometimes of 'more than mathematical demonstration1' that hath much grieved me4#aa ,the novelty of ,dr4 ,whichcote's opinions comes more clearly into view as the letter proceeds3 ,your ,discourse about ,reconciliation that 'it doth not operate on ,god1 but on us' is ,divinity theology that my heart riseth against4 4 4 4 ,to say that the ground of ,god's reconciliation is from anything in us2 and not from ,his free grace1 freely justifying the ungodly1 is to deny one of the fundamental truths of the ,gospel that derives from heaven4#ab ,the correspondence which followed this frank letter supplies us with the clearest light we possess1 or can possess1 upon ,whichcote's inner life and type of religion4 ,he replied to his old friend1 whom he had always held in love1 reverence and esteem1 that he had noticed of late that our hearts have not seemed to be together when our persons have bin1#ac but1 he adds1 your letter meets with no guilt in my conscience4 ,my head hath bin possessed with this truth which ,i am preaching these manie years--,i am not late nor newe in this persuasion4#ad ,he then proceeds to quote from his notes exactly what he had said on the subject of reconciliation in his recent ,discourse4 ,it was as follows3 ,christ doth not save us by onely doing for us without us i4e4 historically3 yea1 we come at that which ,christ hath done for us with ,god1 by what ,he hath done for us within us4 4 4 4 ,with ,god there cannot be reconciliation without our becoming ,god-like4 4 4 4 ,they deceeve and flatter themselves extreamly2 who think of reconciliation with ,god by means of a ,saviour acting upon ,god in their behalfe and not also working in or upon them to make them ,god-like1 and he says that he added in the spoken sermon1 what was not in his notes1 that a theology which taught a salvation without inward moral transformation was ,divinity minted in ,hell4#ae #bid ,dr4 ,tuckney in his second letter becomes still more specific4 ,he admits that ,whichcote's persuasion of truth is not late or newe2 he remembers1 on the latter's first coming to ,cambridge1 ,i thought you then somwhat cloudie and obscure in your expressions4 ,what he now notices with regret is the tendency in his old pupil to cry-up reason rather than faith2 to be too much immersed in ,philosophy and ,metaphysics2 to be devoted to other authours more than ,scripture1 and ,plato and his schollars above others2 to be producing a kinde of moral ,divinitie1 onlie with a little tincture of ,christ added2 to put inherent righteousness above imputed righteousness and love above faith1 and to use some broad expressions as though in this life wee may be above ordinances2 and finally he notices that since ,whichcote has cast his sermons in this mould1 they have become less edifying and less affecting the heart4#af ,he thinks1 too1 that he has discovered the foreign source of the infection3 ,sir1 those whose footsteppes ,i have observed in your sermons were the ,socinians and ,arminians2 the latter whereof1 ,i conceive1 you have bin everie where reading in their workes and most largely in their ,apologie4#ag ,in a thousand guesses1 ,whichcote answers this last charge1 in his second letter1 you could not have bin farther off from the truth of the thing4 ,what is added of ,socinians and ,arminians1 in respect of mee1 is groundless4 ,i may as well be called a ,papist1 or ,mahometan2 ,pagan or ,atheist4 ,and trulie1 ,sir1 you are wholly mistaken in the whole course of my studies4 ,you say you find me largelie in their ,apologia2 to my knowledge ,i never saw or heard of the book before6 4 4 4 ,i have not read manie bookes2 but ,i have studied a fewe3 meditation and invention hath bin my life rather than reading2 and trulie ,i have more read ,calvine and ,perkins and ,beza than all the bookes1 authors and names you mention4 ,i have alwaies expected reason for what men say1 less valuing persons and authorities in the stating and #bie resolving of truth1 therefore have read them most where ,i have found itt4 ,i have not looked at anie thing as more than an opinion which hath not bin underpropt by convincing reason or plaine and satisfactorie ,scripture4#ah ,as to the charge that he has become immersed in philosophy1 ,whichcote modestly replies3 ,i find the ,philosophers that ,i read good as farre as they go3 and it makes me secretlie blush before ,god when ,i find eyther my head1 heart or life challenged by them1 which ,i must confess1 ,i often find4 ,to the criticism that he cries-up reason1 he answers that he has always found in his own experience that that preaching has most commanded my heart which has most illuminated my head4 ,everie ,christian1 he insists1 must think and believe as he finds cause4 ,shall he speak in religion otherwise than he thinks8 ,truth is truth1 whoever hath spoken itt or howsoever itt hath bin abused4 ,if this libertie be not allowed to the ,universitie wherefore do wee study8 ,we have nothing to do butt to get good memories and to learn by heart4#ai ,finally1 to the impression expressed by ,dr4 ,tuckney that his sermons are less edifying and heart-searching1 he replies with dignity and evidently with truth3 ,i am sure ,i have bin all along well understood by persons of honest heartes1 but of mean place and education3 and ,i have had the blessing of the soules of such at their departure out of this world4 ,i thanke ,god1 my conscience tells me1 that ,i have not herein affected worldlie shewe1 but the real service of truth4#bj ,we need not follow further this voluminous correspondence in which two high-minded and absolutely honest men reveal the two diverging lines of their religious faith4 ,to the man whose mind found its spiritual footing alone on the solid ground of ,calvin's unmodified system1 the new persuasion was sure to seem cloudie and obscure2 and no number of letters could convince him that the new message presented a safe way of faith and life4 ,and no amount of criticism or advice could change the other man who found it necessary for him to have #bif reasonable cause for what he was to believe and live by4 ,whichcote closes the friendly debate with some very positive announcements that for him religion must be1 and must remain1 something which guarantees its reality in the soul itself3 ,christ must be inwardlie felt as a principle of divine life within us4#ba ,what is there in man1 again he says1 more considerable than that which declares ,god's law to him1 pleads for the observation of it1 accuseth for the breach and excuseth upon the performance of it8#bb ,and finally he informs his friend that each of them must be left free to follow his own light3 ,if we differ there is no help for it3 ,wee must forbear one another4 4 4 4 ,if you conceeve otherwise of me than as a lover and pursuer after truth1 you think amisse4 4 4 4 ,wherein ,i fall short of your expectation1 ,i fail for truth's sake4#bc ,the central idea in ,whichcote's teaching1 which runs like a gulf-stream through all his writings1 is his absolute certainty that there is something in the very make of man#bd which links the human spirit to the ,divine ,spirit and which thus makes it as natural for man to be religious as it is for him to seek food for his body4 ,there is a seminal principle1 a seed of ,god1 something that comes immediately from ,god1 in the very structure of man's inner nature1#be and this structural possession makes it as natural and proper for man's mind to tend toward ,god1 the centre of immortal souls1 as it is for heavy things to tend toward their centre4#bf ,god1 he elsewhere says1 is more inward to us than our own souls1 and we are more closely related to ,god than to anything in the world4#bg ,the soul is to ,god as the flower is to the sun1 which opens when the sun is there and shuts when the sun is absent1#bh though this figure breaks down1 because1 in ,whichcote's view1 ,god never withdraws and is never absent4 ,this idea that the spiritual life is absolutely rational--a normal function #big of man's truest nature--receives manifold expression in ,whichcote's ,aphorisms1 which constitute a sort of seventeenth-century ,book of ,proverbs1 or collection of ,wisdom-sayings4 ,he had absorbed one great saying from the original ,book of ,proverbs1 which he uses again and again1 and which became the sacred text for all the members of the school--the spirit of man is a candle of the ,lord4#bi ,this ,proverb is for ,whichcote a key that fits every door of life1 and the truth which it expresses is for him the basal truth of religion1 as the following ,aphorisms will sufficiently illustrate3 ,were it not for light we should not know we had such a sense as sight3 ,were it not for ,god we should not know the ,powers of our souls which have an appropriation to ,god4#cj ,god's image is in us and we belong to ,him4#ca ,there is a capacity in man's soul1 larger than can be answered by anything of his own1 or of any fellow-creature4#cb ,there is nothing so intrinsically rational as ,religion is4#cc ,the ,truths of ,god are connatural to the soul of man1 and the soul of man makes no more resistance to them than the air does to light4#cd ,religion makes us live like men4#ce ,we worship ,god best when we resemble ,him most4#cf ,religion is intelligible1 rational and accountable3 ,it is not our burden but our privilege4#cg ,something is always wrong1 he thinks1 if ,religion becomes a burden3 ,it is imperfection in ,religion to drudge in it1 and every man drudges in ,religion if he takes it up as a task and carries it as a burden4#ch ,the moment we follow the divine frame and temper of our inmost nature we find our freedom1 our health1 our power1 and our joy2 as one of the ,aphorisms puts it3 #bih ,when we make nearer approaches to ,god1 we have more use of ourselves4#ci ,this view is beautifully expressed in ,whichcote's ,prayer printed at the end of the ,aphorisms3 ,most ,blessed ,god1 the ,creator and ,governor of the ,world2 the only true ,god1 and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,we thy ,creatures were made to seek and find1 to know and reverence1 to serve and obey1 to honour and glorify1 to imitate and enjoy ,thee2 who art the ,original of our ,beings1 and the ,centre of our ,rest4 ,our ,reasonable ,nature hath a peculiar ,reservation for ,thee2 and our ,happiness consists in our ,assimilation to1 and ,employment about1 ,thee4 ,the nearer we approach unto ,thee1 the more free we are from ,error1 ,sin1 and ,misery2 and the farther off we are from ,thee1 the farther off we are from ,truth1 ,holiness1 and ,felicity4 ,without ,thee1 we are sure of nothing2 we are not sure of ourselves3 but through ,thee1 there is ,self-,enjoyment in the mind1 when there is nothing but ,confusion1 and no ,enjoyment of the ,world4 ,religion is thus thought of as the normal way of life1 as the true fulfilment of human nature and as complete inward health4 ,holiness1 he says1 is our right constitution and temper1 our inward health and strength4#dj ,sin and selfishness carry a man below the noble ,creation which ,god made in him1 and ,religion is the return to the true nature and capacity of ,god's ,creation in man3 ,the ,gospel1 inwardly received1 dyes and colours the soul1 settles the ,temper and ,constitution of it and is restorative of our ,nature4 4 4 4 ,it is the restitution of us to the state of our ,creation1 to the use of our ,principles1 to our healthful ,constitution and to ,acts that are connatural to us4#da ,as soon as man returns to his own healthful ,constitution and to the state of his ,creation1 he finds that ,religion has its evidence and assurance in itself4 ,god made man for moral truths1 before ,he declared #bii them on ,sinai1 or writ them in the ,bible1#db and so soon as the soul comes into conformity to its original1#dc that is into conformity to ,god according to its inward measure and capacity1#dd and lives a kind of life that is self-same with its own ,reason1#de the ,divine ,life manifests itself in that man and kindles his spirit into a blazing candle of the ,lord4 ,those who are spiritual find and feel within themselves ,divine ,suggestions1 ,motions and ,inspirations2 4 4 4 a light comes into the ,mind1 a still ,voice4#df ,this direct and inward revelation is1 however1 for ,whichcote never a revelation of new matter1 never a way to the discovery of truths of a private nature4 ,the revelations which the guidance of the ,divine ,spirit breathes forth within our souls are always truths of universal significance1 truths that are already implicitly revealed in the ,bible1 truths that carry their own self-evidence to any rational mind4 ,but these revelations1 these discoveries of what ,god means and what life may become1 are possible only to those who prepare themselves for inward converse and who centre down to the deeper ,roots of their being3 ,unless a man takes himself sometimes out of the world1 by retirement and self-reflection1 he will be in danger of losing himself in the world4#dg ,where ,god is not discovered1 something is always at fault with man4 ,as soon as he is abstracted from the noise of the world1 withdrawn from the call of the ,body1 having the doors of the senses shut1 the ,divine ,life readily enters and reveals ,itself to the inward ,eye that is prepared for it4#dh ,things that are connatural in the way of ,religion1 he once said1 the ,illapses and ,breakings in of ,god upon us1 require a mind that is not subject to ,passion but is in a serene and quiet ,posture1 where there is no tumult of ,imagination4 4 4 4 ,there is no genuine and proper effect of ,religion where the ,mind is not composed1 sedate and calm4#di #cjj ,there is no tendency in ,whichcote to undervalue ,scripture4 ,inward revelations are for him not a substitute for the ,bible nor an appendix to it4 ,through the ,divine ,light in the soul and through ,scripture1 ,divine communications are imparted to men4 ,these he calls respectively truth of first inscription and truth of after-revelation1#ej and they no more conflict than two luminaries in the physical world conflict4 ,morals1 he says1 are inforced by ,scripture1 but they were before ,scripture3 they were according to the nature of ,god1#ea and1 as he always claims1 according to the deiform nature in man's reason4#eb ,as soon as a person interprets the ,light within him--the candle of the ,lord in his own heart--by the ,light of revelation his inward illumination becomes clearer2 and contrariwise1 as soon as one brings an enlightened spirit to the ,bible its message becomes clarified--the ,spirit within leads to a right apprehension of those things which ,god hath declared4#ec ,but ,truth is always vastly more than ,notions1 or conceptual formulation of doctrine4 ,religion1 as he says in his wisdom-proverbs1 is not a ,system of ,doctrine1 an observance of ,modes or a ,form of ,words--it is a frame and temper of mind2 it shows itself in a ,life and ,action conformable to the ,divine ,will2 it is our resemblance to ,god4#ed ,bare knowledge does not sanctify any man2 ,men of holy ,hearts and ,lives best understand holy ,doctrines4#ee ,we always deceive ourselves if we do not get beyond even such high-sounding words as conversion1 regeneration1 divine illumination1 and mortification2 if we do not get beyond names and notions of every sort1 into a real holiness of life that is a conformity of nature to our original4 ,his most important passage on this point is one which is found in his ,sermon on the text3 ,of this man's seed hath ,god1 according to ,his promise1 raised up unto #cja ,israel a ,saviour1 ,jesus 7,acts xiii4 #bc74 ,religion1 he says in this passage1 is not satisfied in ,notions2 but doth1 in deed and in reality1 come to nothing unless it be in us not only matter of ,knowledge and ,speculation1 but doth establish in us a ,frame and ,temper of ,mind and is productive of a holy and vertuous ,life4 ,therefore let these things take effect in us2 in our ,spirituality and ,heavenly-mindedness2 in our ,conformity to the ,divine ,nature and ,nativity from above4 ,for whoever professes that he believes the ,truth of these things and wants the ,operation of them upon his ,spirit and ,life doth1 in fact1 make void and frustrate what he doth declare as his ,belief4 ,he doth receive the ,grace of ,god in vain unless this ,principle and ,belief doth descend in his ,heart and establish a good ,frame and ,temper of ,mind and govern in all ,actions of his ,life and ,conversation4#ef ,this translation of ,light and ,truth and ,insight into the flesh and blood of action is a necessary law of the spiritual life3 ,good men spiritualize their bodies2 bad men incarnate their souls2#eg or1 as he expresses it in one of his ,sermons3 ,to be spiritually well and unactive do not consist together4 ,no man is well without action4#eh ,religion is1 thus1 with him always a dynamic principle of ,life1 working itself out in the frame and temper of the man and producing its characteristic effects in his actions4 ,it does not operate like a charm or spell--it operates only as a vital principle#ei and we become eternally the self which we ourselves form4 ,we naturalize ourselves1 to use his striking phrase1 to the employment of eternity4#fj ,we are lost1 not by ,adam's sin1 but by our own2 and we are saved1 not by ,christ's historical death1 but by our own obedience to the law of the ,spirit of ,life revealed in ,him and by our own death to sin2#fa and the beginning of ,heaven is one with the beginning of conformity to the will of ,god and to our nativity from above4 ,heaven is a temper of spirit1 before it is a place4#fb #cjb ,there is a ,heaven this side of ,heaven and there is as certainly a ,hell this side of ,hell4 ,the most impressive expression of this truth is given in one of his ,sermons3 ,all misery arises out of ourselves4 ,it is a most gross mistake1 and men are of dull and stupid spirits who think that the state which we call ,hell is an incommodious place only2 and that ,god by ,his sovereignty throws men therein4 ,hell ariseth out of a man's self4 ,and ,hell's fewel is the guilt of a man's conscience4 ,it is impossible that any should be so miserable as ,hell makes a man and as there a man is miserable by his own condemning of himself3 ,and on the other side1 when they think that ,heaven arises from any place1 or any nearness to ,god or ,angels1 that is not principally so2 but ,heaven lies in a refined ,temper1 in an inward ,reconciliation to the ,nature of ,god4 ,so that both ,hell and ,heaven have their ,foundation within ,men4#fc ,the evil and punishment which follow sin are consequential and inseparable from sin1 and so1 too1 eternal life is nothing but spiritual life fulfilling itself in ways that are consequential and necessary in the deepest nature of things3 ,that which is our best employment here will be our only employment in eternity4#fd ,the good old ,puritan1 ,tuckney1 suspected that ,whichcote was promulgating a type of ,christianity which could dispense with ordinances--as though in this life wee may be above ordinances1--and it must be confessed that there was some ground for this suspicion4 ,he was no enthusiast and he in no way shared the radical anti-sacramentarian spirit of the small sects of the ,commonwealth1 but it belonged to the very essence of this type of religion1 as we have seen in every varied instance of it1 to hold lightly to externals4 ,the ,spirit1 as ,whichcote once said1 makes men consider the ,inwards of things1#fe and almost of necessity the grasp slackens on outward #cjc forms1 as the vision focusses more intently upon inward and eternal realities4 ,it is one of his foundation principles that we worship ,god best when we resemble ,him most1#ff and if that is true1 then the whole energy of one's being should concentrate upon the cultivation of the deiform nature1 the nativity from ,above4 ,the real matters of religion1 as he keeps insisting1 are matters of life and inner being1 the formation of disposition and the right set of will4 ,but these vital things have been notoriously slighted1 and men's zeal is employed in usages1 modes and rites of parties2 in matters that are divisive and controversial rather than in things that are lovely in the eyes of all who have the ,principles of ,reason for their rule4#fg ,the great differences in religion have never been over necessary and indispensable ,truth2 on the contrary the disturbing differences have always been and still are either over ,points of curious and nice ,speculation1 or about arbitrary modes of worship4#fh ,just as fast as men see that religion is a way to fullness of life1 a method of attaining likeness to ,god1 and just as soon as they realize that ,god can be truly worshipped only by acts and attitudes that are moral and spiritual1 i4e4 acts and attitudes that attach to the deliberate consent of the inner spirit1 ,whichcote thinks that rites and types and ceremonies1 which are all veils1 will drop away and religion will become one with a rich and intelligent life4#fi ,we can well understand how this presentation of ,christianity as a culture and discipline of the whole man--an education and consecration of all his higher activities#gj--would seem1 to those accustomed to dualistic theologies1 clowdie and obscure4 ,it was1 however1 no newe persuasion4 ,in all essential particulars it is four-square with the type of religion with which the spiritual ,reformers of ,germany and ,holland had for more than a century made the world acquainted4 ,but1 #cjd in the words of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 somewhat adapted3 all these1 having had the witness borne to them through their faith1 received not the promise in full1 ,god having provided some better1 i4e4 fuller1 thing1 that they should not be made complete1 apart from those who succeeded them and fulfilled their hopes4 #a ,this interesting phrase occurs in ,a ,brief ,account of the ,new ,sect of ,latitude-,men1 by ,s4 ,p4 7probably ,simon ,patrick71 #affb4 #b ,s4 ,p4 in his ,sect of ,latitude-,men says3 ,a ,latitude-,man is an image of ,clouts a man of straw that men set up to encounter with1 for want of a real enemy2 it is a convenient name to reproach a man that you owe a spite to4 #c ,letters of ,tuckney and ,whichcote in the ,appendix to ,whichcote's ,aphorisms 7,london1 #agec71 p4 #b4 #d ,aphorisms1 ,appendix1 p4 #ec4 #e ,culverwel1 ,elegant ,discourses 7#afed71 p4 #f4 #f ,burnet1 ,history of ,his ,own ,times 7,london1 #ahej71 p4 #abg4 #g ,we are dependent1 for the few facts which we possess concerning ,whichcote's life1 on the ,sketch of him written by ,dr4 ,samuel ,salter1 as a ,preface to his edition of ,whichcote's ,aphorisms1 published in #agec4 #h ,select ,sermons 7#afih71 p4 #cj4 #i ,salter's ,preface1 pp4 xxii-xxiii4 #aj ,ibid4 p4 xx4 #aa ,appendix to ,aphorisms 7#agec71 p4 #b4 #ab ,ibid4 p4 #d4 #ac ,ibid4 p4 #g4 #ad ,ibid4 pp4 #h and #ac4 #ae ,ibid4 pp4 #ac and #ad4 #af ,appendix to ,aphorisms1 pp4 #cg-ch4 #ag ,ibid4 p4 #bg4 #ah ,appendix to ,aphorisms1 pp4 #ec-ed4 #ai ,ibid4 p4 #eg4 #bj ,ibid4 p4 #fj4 #ba ,appendix to ,aphorisms1 p4 #abe4 #bb ,ibid4 p4 #abg4 #bc ,ibid4 pp4 #acc-acd4 #bd ,select ,sermons 7#afih71 p4 #adi4 #be ,ibid4 pp4 #aca-acc4 #bf ,ibid4 p4 #hh4 #bg ,ibid4 p4 #aji4 #bh ,ibid4 p4 #gd4 #bi ,proverbs xx4 #bg4 #cj ,aphorism #hfa4 #ca ,aphorism #icd4 #cb ,aphorism #hdg4 #cc ,aphorism #deg4 #cd ,aphorism #ddd4 #ce ,aphorism #hg4 #cf ,aphorism #bdh4 #cg ,aphorism #bbj4 #ch ,several ,discourses 7#agjg71 iv4 p4 #bei4 #ci ,aphorism #gji4 #dj ,several ,discourses1 iv4 p4 #aib4 #da ,select ,sermons1 pp4 #ee and #fb #db ,select ,sermons1 p4 #g4 #dc ,discourses1 iv4 p4 #aia4 #dd ,ibid4 p4 #aga4 #de ,ibid4 p4 #bei4 #df ,select ,sermons1 p4 in #dg ,aphorism #cjb4 #dh ,quoted almost literally from ,select ,sermons1 p4 #gb4 #di ,ibid4 pp4 #cb-cc4 #ej ,select ,sermons1 p4 #f4 ,he also says in ,aphorism ,no4 #aji1 ,god hath set up two ,lights to enlighten us in our ,way3 the ,light of ,reason1 which is the ,light of ,his ,creation2 and the ,light of ,scripture which is ,after-,revelation from ,him4 #ea ,aphorism #ehg4 #eb ,see ,several ,discourses1 iv4 p4 #agc4 #ec ,ibid4 ii4 p4 #bge4 #ed ,aphorisms #aabg1 #hec1 and #ajbh4 #ee ,select ,sermons1 p4 #gi2 and ,aphorism #bhe4 #ef ,select ,sermons1 p4 #cej4 #eg ,aphorism #cfg4 #eh ,select ,sermons1 p4 #ga4 #ei ,aphorisms #bdc and #fbe4 #fj ,aphorism #bij4 #fa ,aphorisms #ebe1 #fab4 #fb ,aphorism #dfd4 #fc ,select ,sermons1 p4 #hf4 ,this will be recognized as in perfect parallelism with ,jacob ,boehme's teaching1 and the parallel is even more striking in the passage where ,whichcote says that ,religion must inform the ,judgment with ,truth and reform the ,heart and ,life by the ,tincture of it4 7,select ,sermons1 p4 #aeg74 #fd ,aphorism #ea4 #fe ,select ,sermons1 p4 #db4 #ff ,aphorism #bdh4 #fg ,select ,sermons1 p4 #aec4 #fh ,ibid4 p4 #ba4 #fi ,several ,discourses1 ii4 p4 #cbi4 #gj ,john ,tulloch's ,rational ,theology in the ,seventeenth ,century1 ii4 p4 #aae4 #cje ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,john ,,smith1 ,,platonist--,,an ,,interpreter ,,of ,,the ,,spirit#a ,principal ,tulloch1 in his admirable study of the ,cambridge ,platonists1 declares that ,john ,smith was the richest and most beautiful mind and certainly by far the best writer of them all4#b ,there can be no doubt1 in the thought of any one who has come into close contact with him1 of the richness and beauty of his spirit4 ,he leaves the impression1 even after the lapse of more than two hundred and fifty years1 of having been a saint of a rare type4 ,those who were nearest to him in fellowship called him a good man1 a ,godlike man1 a servant and friend of ,god1 a serious practicer of the ,sermon on the ,mount2 and we who know him only afar off and at second hand feel sure nevertheless that these lofty words were rightly given to him4 ,his scholarship was wide--he had a vastness of learning1 as ,patrick says2 but his main contribution was not to philosophy nor to theology1 it consisted rather of an exhibition of religion wrought out in the attractive form of a beautiful spiritual life3 ,he was an ,exemplar of true ,christian ,vertue of so poized and even a life that by his ,wisdom and ,conscience one might live almost at a venture1 walking blindfold through the world4#c ,the details of his life are very meagre4 ,we are in the #cjf main dependent on the literary portraits of him drawn by two of his affectionate friends--,john ,worthington who edited his ,discourses1 and ,simon ,patrick who delivered the remarkable sermon on the occasion of his funeral4#d ,from these sources we learn that ,john ,smith was born at ,achurch near ,oundle about the year #afah1 of parents who had long been childless and were grown aged4 ,it appears incidentally that his parents were poor1 and that ,benjamin ,whichcote1 who was ,smith's college ,tutor1 made provision for his support and maintenance in his early student days4#e ,he entered ,emmanuel ,college in #afcf1 and here he came under the profound religious and intellectual influence of ,whichcote1 for whom he did ever express a great and singular regard4 ,he became a ,master of ,arts in #afdd1 and that same year was elected ,fellow of ,queens' ,college4 ,it was about this time that ,whichcote returned to ,cambridge1 spreading and propagating a nobler1 freer and more generous sett of opinions1 which the young ,masters of ,arts soon cordially embraced4 ,among those who formed this group of awakened and kindled students ,smith was an enthusiastic member1 and he himself soon became a powerful exponent in the ,chapel of ,queens' ,college of a similar message1 which1 a contemporary writer says1 contributed to raise new thoughts and a sublime style in the members of the ,university4 ,he was smitten1 while still young1 with a painful lingering illness1 which he bore without murmuring or complaining1 resting quietly satisfied in the ,infinite1 ,unbounded ,goodness and ,tenderness of his ,father1 hoping only that he might learn that for which ,god sent the suffering1#f and he died ,august #g1 #afeb1 after ,god had lent him to the world for about five and thirty years4#g ,i was desirous1 his friend ,patrick says at the opening of his funeral sermon1 that ,i might have stai'd the wheels of that ,triumphant ,chariot wherein he seemed to be carried2 that we might have #cjg kept him a little longer in this world1 till by his holy breathing into our souls1 and the ,grace of ,god1 we had been made meet to have some share in that inheritance of the saints in light2 but now1 he adds1 we are orphans1 left without a father4#h ,patrick adapts to his own departed teacher the beautiful words which ,gregory ,thaumaturgus used of his great instructor1 ,origen3 ,he hath entangled and bound up my soul in such fetters of love1 he hath so tyed and knit me to him1 that if ,i would be disengaged1 ,i cannot quit myself4 ,no1 though ,i depart out of the world1 our love cannot die1 for ,i love him even as my own soul1 and so my affection must remain forever4#i ,the whole sermon throbs with intense love1 and while it is somewhat overweighted with quotations and learned allusions1 it yet expresses in an impressive way the sincere affection of a disciple for a noble master who has begot another shape in his scholar and has made another man of him4#aj ,such men1 he says1 ,god hath alwaies in the world1 men of greater height and stature than others1 whom ,he sets up as torches on an hill to give light to all the regions round about4#aa ,such men are the guard and defense of the towns where they reside1 yea of the country whereof they are members2 they are the keepers and life-guards of the world2 the walls and bulwarks of the ,nation1#ab and when they leave the world everybody soon feels that a glory has departed--when ,elijah goes away you shall have fifty men go three days to seek him6#ac ,this disciple1 who declared that whatever heavenly life there was in himself had been hatched by the fostering care1 the nurturing love and the brave conduct of his teacher1 has left a few very clear traits for the creation of a true portrait of this saintly interpreter of the ,spirit3 ,he was a ,fountain running over1 ,worthington says1 an ever bountifull and bubbling ,fountain4#ad ,love was bubbling and springing up in his soul and flowing out to all4 ,he would have emptied his soul into others4 ,he #cjh was dipped into ,justice as it were over head and ears2 he had not a slight tincture but was dyed and coloured quite through with it4 ,he cared only for those substantial and solid things of a ,divine and ,immortal ,nature1 which he might carry out of the world with him4 ,he was a living library1 a walking study1 a whole college in himself1 that carried his learning about with him2 a man of great industry1 indefatigable pains1 and herculean labours4 ,his learning was so concocted that it lay not in notions in his head1 but was wrought out and formed in his very soul so that a man came away always better after converse with him4 ,his faith did not busy itself about fine notions1 subtilties1 and curiosities1 but it was firmly set and fixed in an experience of the mercy and goodness of ,god1 seen in ,jesus ,christ4 ,he lived in a continuous enjoyment of ,god and perpetually drew nearer to the ,centre of his soul's rest and always stayed ,god's time of advancement4 ,his spirit was absorbed in the business and employment of becoming perfect in his art and profession--which was the art of being a good man4#ae ,the devoted scholar's highest wish1 as he closes his glowing account of his beloved master1 who enshrined so much ,divinity that everything about him had a kind of sacredness1 was that those who had enjoyed his presence and inspiration and had formed their lives under his instruction might so express his life in theirs1 that men would say as they saw these disciples of his1 ,there walks at least a shadow of ,mr4 ,smith6#af ,it would be difficult to find any one1 in the long list of those who have interpreted ,christianity1 who has been more insistent than was ,john ,smith that religion is the normal function of the soul and the surest evidence of its health and sanity4 ,but religion of this normal and spiritual type must be sharply differentiated both from superstition and from legalistic religion4 ,the mark of superstition in his mind is the apprehension of ,god as capricious1 a hard ,master1 and of such a character that his #cji favour can be gained only by servile flattery or bribery or by spells of magic4 ,superstition is a brat of darkness born in a heart of fear and consternation4 ,it produces invariably a forced and jejune devotion2 it makes forms of worship which are grievous and burdensome to the life2 it chills or destroys all free and joyous converse with ,god2 it kills out love and inward peace1 and instead of inspiring1 heightening1 and purifying man's soul1 it bends all its energies in the vain attempt to alter the capricious attitude of the superior ,being who scares and terrifies men4 ,it is1 however1 a very subtle spirit and one hard to eradicate4 ,it invades our religion even when we are least aware of it3 it enters into our chambers1 creeps into our clothes1 twines about our secret devotions1 and actuates our forms of belief and orthodox opinions4#ag ,legalistic religion1 or the covenant of works1 is much of a piece with superstition4 ,it1 again1 is always a burden to be borne4 ,its mark is drudgery and servility4 ,it is a lean and lifeless form of external performances4 ,its law is always something outside the soul itself4 ,it is a way of acquiring merit1 of getting reckoned among heaven's darlings1 but it is not a way of life or expansion or power or joy4#ah ,this dead legalistic form of religion is1 however1 not merely a thing of antiquity1 of some early dispensation in the long stretch of years called ,b4,c4 ,like superstition1 legalistic religion also has crept into our clothes and twined about our secret devotions4 ,the gospel can be made1 and has often enough been made1 as legal as ever the religion of the ,jews was4 ,the gospel becomes legal1 in ,smith's sense1 wherever it is treated as something onely without us1 as a meer historical story or account1 or as a collection of book-facts1 or as credenda propounded for us to believe1 or when we attempt to make ,christ's righteousness serve onely as our outward covering4#ai ,some of our #caj ,dogmata1 he thinks1 and ,notions of ,justification puff us up in far higher and goodlier conceits of ourselves than ,god hath of us2 and we profanely make the unspotted righteousness of ,christ serve only as a covering to wrap up our foul deformities and filthy vices in4#bj ,this tendency1 wherever it appears1 is but legal religion4 ,men adopt it because it does not pinch their sins4 ,it gives them a sluggish and drowsie ,belief1 a lazy ,lethargy to hugg their supposed acceptation with ,god2 it enables them to grow big and swell with a mighty bulk with airy fancies and presumptions of being in favour with ,heaven1 and it fans up a pertinacious ,imagination that their ,names are enrolled in the ,book of ,life1 or crossed off in the ,debt-,book of ,heaven4 ,but it is all a meer ,conceit or ,opinion1 for such men are never the better in reality in themselves and ,god judges all things as they are4 ,while men continue in their wickedness1 they do but vainly dream of a device to tie the hands of ,almighty ,vengeance4#ba ,true religion1 on the other hand1 is absolutely another thing1 sundered by the width of the sky from either superstition or legalistic religion4 ,it is a reception and assimilation of the ,life of ,god within the soul of man which is predisposed by its fundamental nature to the influx and formative influence of the ,spirit of ,god1 who is the environing ,life and inner atmosphere of all human spirits3 ,spiritual ,life comes from ,god's breath within us and from the formation of ,christ within the soul4#bb ,like all of his kind1 ,smith begins with what to him is an axiomatic fact1 that the human soul has a royal pedigree and noble extraction1 that1 as the best philosophers have alwaies taught1 we must enquire for ,god within ourselves1 that ,principles of ,divine ,truth have been engraven on man's ,heart by the finger of ,god1 that we can find a clear impression of some ,eternal ,nature and ,perfect ,being stamped upon our own souls1 that there are ,radical ,principles of ,divine ,knowledge #caa and ,seeds of ,divine ,nature hidden within us and that a ,divine ,spirit blows and breathes upon men's hearts1 assisting the soul to participate in the ,life of ,god4#bc ,in one of his bold sayings this position is summed up as follows3 ,religion is a ,heaven-born thing1 the ,seed of ,god in the spirits of men1 whereby they are formed to a similitude and likeness of ,himself4 ,a true ,christian is every way of a most noble extraction1 of an heavenly and divine pedigree4#bd ,he finds the mark of man's excelling dignity in the inexhaustible depth of his nature and in his noble discontent with every finite and mutable thing4 ,the soul of man is too big for earthly designs and interests4 ,there is forever a restless appetite within man for some infinite ,good without which he can never be satisfied4 ,everything which he attains or achieves still leaves him in pinching penury1 unsatiated with the thin and spare diet which he finds in his finite home4 ,his soul1 like the daughters of the ,horseleach is always crying3 ',give1 give4' ,no happiness worth having ever arises1 nor through a whole eternity could arise1 for any soul sequestered like a hermit in the narrow confines of its own private cell1 sundered from the ,fountain-,goodness1 for which it was created4 ,the immortal ,principle within forever drives it to seek its ,original1 and it lives only when it lives above itself1 and follows its own proper motion upward4#be ,the real ,gospel in contrast to the legal gospel1 is the formation of a ,christlike ,nature in a man's soul by the mighty power of the ,divine ,spirit4#bf ,it is no new set of opinions2 no body of ,notions about ,truth2 no system of saving ,divinity1 cast in a ,pedagogical mould2 it is1 from its ,alpha to its ,omega1 ,spirit and ,life1 or1 to put it in ,smith's own words1 it is a vital or energetical ,spirit or ,power of ,righteousness1 a ,principle of ,life working in man's spirit1 a quickening ministration1 a ,seed of ,god1 a vital ,influx1 spreading through all #cab the powers of the soul and bringing it into a ,divine ,life4#bg ,there are many close imitations of this real ,gospel which on the outside look exactly like it1 but they only assume the garish dress and attire of religion1 they put on the specious and seemingly-spiritual ,forms without the inward ,life and ,power which are always the mark of true religion4 ,these mimical ,christians reform their looks1 instruct their tongues1 take up the fitting set of duties and system of opinions1 underprop their religion with sacred performances2 chameleon-like1 they even turn their insides to whatever hue and colour is demanded of religion2 they furnish this domestick ,scene of theirs with any kind of matter which the history of religion affords them--only1 however they cunningly fashion out their religion by ,book-skill1 they cannot get the true and living thing1 which creates a new spirit and produces a new inward joy3 ,true ,religion is no piece of artifice2 it is no boiling up of our ,imaginative powers nor the glowing heats of ,passion2 though these are too often mistaken for it1 when in our jugglings in ,religion we cast a mist before our eyes4 ,but it is a new ,nature informing the souls of ,men2 it is a ,godlike frame of ,spirit1 discovering it self most of all in serene and clear ,minds1 in deep ,humility1 ,meekness1 ,self-denial1 ,universal ,love of ,god and all true ,goodness1 without ,partiality and without ,hypocrisie2 whereby we are taught to know ,god1 and knowing ,him to love ,him and conform ourselves as much as may be to all that ,perfection which shines forth in ,him4#bh ,heaven and ,hell for ,john ,smith1 as for ,boehme and for ,whichcote1 have their foundation laid in ,men's own souls4#bi ,they are rather something within us than something without us4 ,sin and hell have the same origin1 the same lineage and descent4 ,the ,devil is not only the name of one particular thing1 but a nature4 ,he is not so much a particular ,being designed to torture wicked men in the world to come as a hellish and diabolical #cac nature seated in the minds of men4 4 4 4 ,could the ,devil change his foul and impure nature1 he would neither be a ,devil nor miserable4 4 4 4 ,all ,sin and ,wickedness in man's spirit hath the ,central force and energy of ,hell in it1 and is perpetually pressing down towards it as towards its own place4 ,there needs no fatal necessity or ,astral influences to tumble wicked men down forcibly into ,hell3 ,no1 ,sin itself1 hastened by the mighty weight of its own nature1 carries them down thither with the most swift and headlong motion4#cj ,would wicked men dwell a little more at home1 and descend into the bottom of their own ,hearts they would soon find ,hell opening her mouth wide upon them1 and those secret fires of inward fury and displeasure breaking out upon them4#ca ,so1 too1 the ,kingdom of ,heaven is within4 ,it lies not so much in external things1 golden streets and crowns1 as in the quality and disposition of a man's mind4 ,the enjoying of ,god consists not so much in a change of place as in participation in the nature of ,god and in assimilation to ,god4 ,nothing can stand firm and sure1 nothing can have eternal establishment and abiding permanence that hath not the everlasting arms of true ,goodness under it4#cb ,in a very fine passage1 in the noble discourse on ,true ,religion1 ,smith says3 ,i wish there be not among some such a light and poor esteem of ,heaven1 as makes them more to seek after ,assurance of ,heaven onely in the ,idea of it as a thing to come than after ,heaven it self2 which indeed we can never be well assured of untill we find it rising up within ourselves and glorifying our own souls4 ,when true ,assurance comes1 ,heaven it self will appear upon the ,horizon of our souls1 like a morning light chasing away all our dark and gloomy doublings before it4 ,we shall not then need to light up our ,candles to seek for it in corners2 no1 it will display its own lustre and brightness so before us that we may see it in its own light1 and our souls the true possessours of it4 ,should a man hear a ,voice from ,heaven or see a ,vision from the ,almighty to testifie unto him the ,love of ,god towards him and the #cad ,assurance of his ,salvation2 yet methinks it were more desirable to find a ,revelation of all from within1 arising up from the ,bottome and centre of a man's own soul1 in the ,reall and ,internal impressions of a ,godlike nature upon his own spirit2 and thus to find the ,foundation and ,beginning of ,heaven and ,happiness within himself2 it were more desirable to see the crucifying of our own ,will1 the mortifying of the meer ,animal life and to see a ,divine life rising up in the room of it1 as a sure ,pledge and ,inchoation of ,immortality and ,happiness1 the very ,essence of which consists in a perfect conformity and cheerful compliance of all the ,powers of our ,souls with the ,will of ,god4#cc ,the consciousness of ,immortality rises or falls with the moral and spiritual height of the soul4 ,nothing makes men doubt or question the ,immortality of their souls so much as their own base and earthly loves1 and so1 too1 inward goodness breeds a sense of the ,soul's ,immortality3 ,goodness and vertue make men know and love1 believe and delight in their ,immortality4 ,when the soul is purged and enlightened by true sanctity it is more capable of those ,divine irradiations whereby it feels it self in conjunction with ,god4 ,it knows that ,almighty ,love1 by which it lives1 is stronger than death4 ,it knows that ,god will never forsake ,his own life which ,he has quickened in the soul4 ,those breathings and gaspings after an ,eternal participation of ,him are but the energy of ,his own breath within us4#cd ,smith finds the world in which he lives a fair world1 everywhere full of the ,prints and ,footsteps of ,god1 the finite creatures of which are ,glasses wherein ,god reflects ,his glory4 ,there are many golden links that unite the world to ,god1 and good men1 conversing with this lower world and viewing the invisible things of ,god in the things that are made in the outward ,creation1 may many times find ,god secretly flowing into their souls and leading them silently out of the ,court of the ,temple into the ,holy ,place4#ce #cae ,the outward world is thus not something stubbornly foreign to the spirit2 it is not the enemy's country1 but every finite good and everything of beauty is a ,blossom of the ,first ,goodness1 a ,beam from the ,father of ,lights4 ,the spiritual person discovers that the whole creation is spiritual4 ,he learns to love all things in ,god and ,god in all things1 and he sees that ,god is ,all in all1 the ,beginning and ,original of ,being1 the ,perfect ,idea of their goodness and the end of their motion4 ,in the calming illumination of this clarified vision1 the good man1 in whose soul religion has flowered1 is no longer solicitous whether this or that good thing be mine1 or whether my perfections exceed the measure of this or that particular ,creature1 for whatever good he beholds anywhere he enjoys and delights in as much as if it were his own1 and whatever he beholds in himself he looks upon not as his property but as a common good2 for all these ,beams come from one and the same ,fountain and ,ocean of ,light in whom he loves them all with an universal ,love4 ,when his affections run along the stream of any created excellencies1 whether his own or any one's else1 yet they stay not here but run on until they fall into the ,ocean2 they do not settle into a fond love and admiration either of himself or any other's excellencies1 but he owns them as so many ,pure ,effluxes and ,emanations from ,god1 and in any particular ,being loves the ,universal ,goodness4 ,thus a good man may walk up and down the world as in a ,garden of ,spices and suck a ,divine ,sweetness out of every flower4 ,there is a twofold meaning in every ,creature3 a ,literal and ,mystical2 a good man says of everything that his ,senses offer to him3 it speaks to his lower part but it points out something above to his ,mind and ,spirit4 4 4 4 ,true ,religion never finds it self out of the ,infinite ,sphere of ,divinity and wherever it finds ,beauty1 ,harmony1 ,goodness1 ,love1 ,ingenuity1 ,wisdom1 ,holiness1 ,justice1 and the like1 it is ready to say3 ,here is ,god4 ,wheresoever any such ,perfections shine out1 an holy ,mind climbs up by these ,sunbeams and raises up it self to ,god4 4 4 4 ,a good man finds every place he #caf treads upon ,holy ,ground2 to him the world is ,god's ,temple4#cf ,the supreme instance of the revelation of the ,universal through the particular1 of the invisible through the visible1 the ,divine through the human1 is seen in ,christ4 ,it was precisely such an event as might have been expected1 for the ,divine ,bounty and ,fulness has always been manifesting ,itself to the spirits of men4 ,those who have lived by inward insight have perpetually found themselves hanging upon the arms of ,immortal ,goodness4 ,at length1 in this ,one ,life the ,divine ,goodness blossomed into perfect flower and revealed its ,nature to men4 ,in ,him divinity and humanity are absolutely united in one ,person4 ,in ,christ we have a clear manifestation of ,god and in ,him1 too1 we may see with open face what human nature can attain to4#cg ,this stupendous event1 however1 was no gracious contrivance1 no scheme to restore lapsed men in order that ,god might have a ,quire of ,souls to sing eternal ,hallelujahs to ,him2 it was just the overflowing fountain and efflux of ,almighty ,love bestowing itself upon men and crowning ,itself by communicating ,itself4#ch ,the ,christ who is thus divine ,grace become visible and vocal is also at the same time the irresistible attraction1 strongly and forcibly moving the souls of men into a conjunction with ,divine ,goodness1 which is what ,smith always means by the great word1 ,faith4 ,it is something in the hearts of men which by experience feels the mighty insinuations of ,divine ,goodness2 complies with it2 perpetually rises into co-operation with it1 and attains its true life and vivacity by partaking of it4#ci ,christ is thus the ,node1 or ,centre1 of both ,grace and ,faith4 ,with this apprehension of ,faith as a vital thing--a new and living way--,smith thinks very lightly of notions and what he calls a knowledge of ,divinity ,theology which appears in systems and models4#dj ,this is but a poor way1 he thinks1 to the ,land of ,truth4 #cag ,it is but a thin and aiery knowledge that is got by meer speculation4 ,this is but spider-like to spin a worthless web out of one's own bowels4 ,jejune and barren speculations may unfold the ,plicatures of ,truth's garment1 but they cannot discover her lovely ,face4 ,to find ,truth1 he says in another figure1 we must break through the outward shell of words and phrases which house it1 and by experience and practice discover the inward beauty1 life and loveliness of ,truth4#da ,this hard shell of words and phrases which must be broken before ,truth is found1 is one of ,sebastian ,franck's favourite sayings1 and we find ,smith also repeating ,franck's vivid accounts of the weakness of ,scripture when it is treated only as external history1 or as words1 texts1 and phrases4 ,scripture1 he says1 in the exact words and figures of the ,german ,humanist1 is a ,sealed ,book which the greatest ,sophist may be most acquainted with4 ,it is like the ,pillar of fire and cloud that parted between the ,israelites and ,egyptians1 giving a clear and comfortable light to all those that are under the manuduction and guidance thereof i4e4 those who have the inner experience but being full of darkness and obscurity to those that rebel against it4#db ,the dead letter1 he says1 is a sandy foundation for religion1 because it is never in books and writings but rather in the human soul that men must seek for ,god4#dc ,action and not words2 life and not motions2 heart and not brain1 hold the key to ,truth3 ,they cannot be good at ,theorie that are bad at ,practice4#dd ,our ,saviour1 he says1 would not draw ,truth up into any ,system1 nor would ,he lay it out into ,canons or ,articles of ,faith1 because ,he was not so careful to stock the world with ,opinions and ,notions as to make it thrive with true piety1 ,godlike purity and spiritual understanding2 and in a very happy passage1 he reminds us that there are other ways of propagating religion besides writing books3 ,they are not alwaies the best ,men who blot the most paper2 ,truth is not so #cah voluminous nor swells into such a mighty bulk as our ,bookes doe4 ,those minds are not alwaies the most chaste that are the most parturient with learned ,discourses4#de ,i have1 ,i believe1 now given a true account of ,smith's type of ,christianity1 ,it was no new message4 ,it was a re-expression of ideas and ideals that had already been often proclaimed to the dull ears of the world4 ,he1 however1 is never a repeater of other men's ideas4 ,what he offers is always as much his own as was the life-blood which coursed through his heart4 ,he fed upon the literature which was kindred to his growing spirit1 and his books helped him find the road which he was seeking2 but he was nobly true to his own theory that the way of ,life is discovered by spiritual experience rather than by verbal description1 and this quiet1 sincere scholar and prophet of the soul found it thus4 ,he once said that ,truth is content1 when it comes into the world1 to wear our mantles1 to learn our language and to conform itself as it were to our dress and fashions2#df that is to say1 prophets speak in their own dialect and use the modes of their own culture1 but they are prophets through their own temporal experience of that one eternal ,reality which shines into their souls in its own ,light4#dg ,what impressed his contemporary friends most was the beauty of his spirit1 and that is what still most impresses the reader of his ,discourses4 ,he has succeeded in preserving some of the strong elixir of his life in the words which survive him1 and we know him as a valiant soldier in that great army of soldier-saints who have fought with spiritual weapons4 ,this fight and contest1 he himself has told us1 with ,sin and ,satan is not to be known by the rattling of ,chariots or the sound of an alarm3 it is indeed alone transacted upon the inner stage of men's souls and spirits--but it never consists in a sluggish kind of doing nothing that so ,god might do all4#dh ,a ,life is always battle1 and the true ,christian is always a ,champion of ,god clad in the armour of ,light for the defeat of #cai darkness and the seed of ,satan4 ,in this battle of ,armageddon ,john ,smith took a man's part1 and his affectionate disciple ,simon ,patrick was quite right in saying1 as the master passed away1 ,my father1 my father1 ,the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof4 ,the other members of this impressive group of ,cambridge ,platonists1 especially ,ralph ,cudworth1 ,henry ,more1 ,nathaniel ,culverwel and ,john ,norris1 might well be studied1 and they would furnish some additional aspects of religious thought1 but the teachings of the two exponents whom ,i have selected as representative of the school have brought the central ideas and the underlying spirit of this seventeenth century religious movement sufficiently into view4 ,their intimate connection with the currents of thought which preceded them has also been made adequately clear4 ,this volume does not pretend to be exhaustive1 and it cannot follow out all the interesting ramifications of the complicated historical development which ,i have been tracing4 ,i have been compelled to limit myself to the presentation of typical specimens and examples of this continuously advancing spiritual movement which found one of its noblest figures in ,john ,smith4 #a ,simon ,patrick uses this phrase in his funeral sermon on his friend ,john ,smith4 ,select ,discourses 7#afgc71 p4 #dgb4 #b ,rational ,theology1 ii4 p4 #abb4 #c ,patrick's ,sermon1 ,select ,discourses1 p4 #dif4 #d ,worthington's ,sketch is given in the ,preface to the ,reader in ,select ,discourses1 pp4 iii-xxx1 and ,patrick's ,sermon is given as an ,appendix to the same volume1 pp4 #dga-eab4 #e ,preface1 p4 vi4 #f ,patrick1 op4 cit4 p4 #dih4 #g ,preface1 p4 xxviii4 #h ,patrick1 op4 cit4 pp4 #dga and #dgb4 #i ,ibid4 p4 #dhd4 #aj ,ibid4 p4 #dgg4 #aa ,ibid4 p4 #dgd4 #ab ,ibid4 pp4 #dhj-dha4 #ac ,ibid4 p4 #dhf4 #ad ,preface1 p4 iii4 #ae ,this portrait is made up entirely of passages gathered out of ,patrick's ,sermon1 and but slightly altered4 #af ,op4 cit4 p4 #eji4 #ag ,a ,short ,discourse on ,superstition1 in ,select ,discourses1 pp4 #bd-cf4 #ah ,discourse on ,legal ,righteousness1 etc41 ibid4 pp4 #bgc-cch4 #ai ,smith uses this phrase in precisely the same manner as ,jacob ,boehme4 #bj ,select ,discourses1 p4 #caf4 #ba ,ibid4 pp4 #cai-cba1 quoted freely4 #bb ,ibid4 p4 #ba1 quoted freely4 #bc ,select ,discourses1 pp4 #ac1 #ad1 #eg1 #fa1 and #aah4 #bd ,ibid4 p4 #cgj4 #be ,ibid4 pp4 #cge1 #cic1 #cie1 #djc1 #djg-djh4 #bf ,ibid4 p4 #caa4 #bg ,select ,discourses1 pp4 #cjc1 #cje1 and #cae4 #bi ,ibid4 p4 #cfd4 ,for ,smith's view of mimical ,christians see pp4 #cei-cfd4 #bi ,ibid4 p4 #add4 #cj ,select ,discourses1 p4 #deb4 #ca ,ibid4 p4 #def4 #cb ,ibid4 pp4 #deb and #dde4 #cc ,select ,discourses1 p4 #daf4 #cd ,ibid4 pp4 #ig-ih4 ,quoted freely4 #ce ,ibid4 pp4 #dai-dbj4 #cf ,select ,discourses1 pp4 #dba-dbc4 #cg ,ibid4 pp4 #ccb and #ccf4 #ch ,ibid4 p4 #cih4 #ci ,ibid4 p4 #cbe4 #dj ,ibid4 p4 #b4 #da ,select ,discourses1 pp4 #d1 #g1 and #h4 #db ,ibid4 p4 #bgh4 #dc ,ibid4 pp4 #c and #bhh4 #dd ,ibid4 p4 #ab4 #de ,select ,discourses1 p4 #ab4 #df ,ibid4 p4 #afe4 #dg ,ibid4 p4 #bfj4 #dh ,ibid4 pp4 #dfa and #deh4 #cbj ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,thomas ,,traherne ,,and ,,the ,,spiritual ,,poets ,,of ,,the ,,seventeenth ,,century ,i ,the powerful religious upheaval in ,england which reached its culmination during the two middle decades of the seventeenth century1 profoundly stirred both the upper and lower intellectual strata of society4 ,it fused and organized men on the one hand1 and carried them beyond themselves2 and on the other hand it broke up settled habits of thought1 swept away many customs and practices which had become almost irresistible subconscious influences1 and left those who were in any way morally and intellectually defective at the mercy of chance currents and eddies4 ,as a result there appeared a strange medley of tiny sects4 ,these groups1 seething with enthusiasm1 scattered pretty much over ,england1 unorganized or loosely organized1 generally gathered about some influential psychopathic leader1 were lumped together in the public mind and named ,ranters4#a ,they are by no means a negligible phenomenon of the period4 ,they reveal the back-wash of the spiritual movement1 which in the main went steadily onward4 ,they exhibit1 in their loose and unmoralized freedom1 the inherent dangers which attach to the proclamation of spiritual liberty1 and they furnish a clear historical illustration of the truth that progress toward a religion grounded upon the inner life of man can only be slowly and painfully achieved4 #cba ,the religious poets of this period1 on the other hand1 furnish clear evidence of the constructive1 organizing and fusing power of these newly dawning spiritual insights1 as they worked upon the minds of highly gifted and endowed persons4 ,poets are not ,reformers4 ,they do not consider themselves commissioned to reconstruct old systems of thought1 old forms of faith and old types of church-organization1 or to re-interpret the ,gospel1 the way of salvation and the communion of saints4 ,their mission is a different one1 though it is no less spiritual and1 in the best sense of the word1 no less practical4 ,the poets are always among the first to feel the direction of spiritual currents1 and they are very sure voices of the deeper hopes and aspirations of their epoch4 ,all the religious poets of this particular period reveal very clearly the influence of the ideas which were central in the teaching of the spiritual leaders whom we have been studying4 ,the reader of ,milton needs no argument to convince him of the fact that1 however far removed the great poet was in most points of view from the contemporary ,quakers1 he nevertheless insisted emphatically1 as they did1 on the illumination of the soul by a ,light within2 a celestial ,light1 he calls it in ,paradise ,lost1 which shines inward and irradiates the mind through all her powers1 and supplies an inward sight of things invisible to sense#b--;a ,light which steadily increases as it is used by the obedient soul4#c ,the origin of this inward ,light1 according to ,milton's thought1 is the eternal ,word of ,god1 who is before all worlds and who is the source of all revelation1 whether inward or outward3 the ,spirit that prefers ,before all temples the upright heart and pure4#d ,the minor religious poets of the period had not1 however1 formed their intellectual outlook under the imperial sway of theological systems of thought in anything like #cbb the degree that ,milton had4 ,they reflect the freer and less rigidly formulated currents of thought4 ,all divinity is love1 or wonder1 ,john ,donne wrote in one of his poems4 ,no phrase could better express the intense religious life of the group of spiritual poets in ,england who interpreted in beautiful1 often immortal1 form this religion of the spirit1 this glowing consciousness that the world and all its fulness is ,god's and that eternity is set within the soul of man1 who never is himself until he finds his ,life in ,god4 ,e'en like two little bank-dividing brooks1 ,that wash the pebbles with their wanton streams1 ,and having rang'd and search'd a thousand nooks1 ,meet both at length in silver-breasted ,thames1 ,where in a greater current they conjoin3 ,so ,i my best beloved's am2 so ,he is mine4 ,e'en so we met3 and after long pursuit1 ,e'en so we joined2 we both became entire3 ,no need for either to renew a suit1 ,for ,i was flax and ,he was flames of fire4 ,our firm united souls did more than twine2 ,so ,i my best beloved's am2 so ,he is mine4#e ,whatever these poets1 ,herbert1 ,vaughan1 ,traherne1 ,crashaw1 ,quarles1 say of the soul and its fuller life1 they say quite naturally in terms of love and wonder4 ,religion has become for them the flowering of the soul2 the flooding of the whole being with health and joy2 the consummation of life2 and they tell of it as lovers tell of their discovery and their joy4 ,oh mightie love6 man is one world and hath ,another to attend him4#f ,we have here in these poets1 as in the writings of ,whichcote and ,smith1 a type of religion which is primarily concerned with the liberation and winning of the whole of life1 a thing which1 they all tell us1 can be done only in conscious parallelism with the set of eternal currents4 ,these minor prophets of seventeenth century ,english literature have often been treated as mystics1 and there #cbc is in all of them1 except ,george ,herbert1 a rich strand of mystical religion1 but their mysticism is only an element1 a single aspect1 of a very much wider and completer type of religion which includes all the strands that compose what ,i have been calling spiritual religion--an inner flooding of the life with a consciousness of ,god1 a rational apprehension of the soul's inherent relation to the ,divine1 and a transforming discovery of the meaning of life through the revelation in ,christ1 which sets all one's being athrob with love and wonder4 ,eternal ,god6 ,o thou that only art ,the sacred fountain of eternal light1 ,and blessed loadstone of my better part1 ,o thou1 my heart's desire1 my soul's delight1 ,reflect upon my soul and touch my heart1 ,and then my heart shall prize no good above thee2 ,and then my soul shall know thee2 knowing1 love thee4#g ,,ii ,thomas ,traherne is one of the best and most adequate representatives1 in this literary group1 of this type of religion4 ,he was profoundly influenced by the revival of ,plato and ,plotinus1 and by the writings of the religious ,humanists and he had absorbed1 consciously or unconsciously1 the ideas and ideals which appear and reappear in the widespread movement which ,i have been tracing4 ,he was a pure and noble soul1 a man of deep experience and fruitful meditation1 the master of a rare and wonderful style1 and we shall find in his writings a glowing appreciation and a luminous expression of this type of inner1 spiritual religion4 ,he was born about the year #afcf1 probably at ,hereford1 the son of a poor shoemaker1 but of a notable and well-endowed family line4 ,he took no pains to inform the world of his outward history and we are left with guesses as to most of the details of his earthly career1 but he has himself supplied us with an unusually full account of his #cbd inward life during the early years of it4 ,once ,i remember1 he says1 ,i think ,i was about four years old when ,i thus reasoned with myself1 sitting in a little obscure room of my father's poor house3 ,if there be a ,god certainly ,he must be infinite in ,goodness1 and ,i was prompted to this by a real whispering instinct of ,nature4#h ,whereupon the child wonders why1 if ,god is so rich1 he himself is so poor1 possessed of so scanty and narrow a fortune1 enjoying few and obscure comforts1 but he tells us that as soon as he was old enough to discover the glory of the world he was in1 and old enough for his soul to have sudden returns into itself1 there was no more questioning about poverty and narrow fortunes4 ,all the wealth of ,god was his-- ,i nothing in the world did know ,but 'twas divine4#i ,as nobody has better caught the infinite glory of being a child1 and as nobody in literature has more successfully set the little child in the midst1 than has ,traherne1 it may be well to let him tell us here in his splendid enthusiasm what it is to be a child and what the eyes of a child can see4 ,he shall do it1 first in his magnificent prose and then in his fine and simple verse4 ,certainly ,adam in ,paradise had not more sweet and curious apprehensions of the world1 than ,i when ,i was a child4 ,all appeared new1 and strange at first1 inexpressibly rare and delightful and beautiful4 ,i was a little stranger1 which at my entrance into the world was saluted and surrounded with innumerable joys4 ,my knowledge was ,divine4 4 4 4 ,my very ignorance was advantageous4 ,i seemed as one brought into the ,estate of ,innocence4 ,all things were spotless and pure and glorious3 yea1 and infinitely mine1 and joyful and precious4 ,i knew not that there were any sins1 or complaints or laws4 ,i dreamed not of poverties1 contentions or vices4 ,all tears #cbe and quarrels were hidden from mine eyes4 ,everything was at rest1 free and immortal4 ,i knew nothing of sickness or death or rents or exaction1 either for tribute or bread4 ,in the absence of these ,i was entertained like an ,angel with the works of ,god in their splendour and glory1 ,i saw all the peace of ,eden2 ,heaven and ,earth did sing my ,creator's praises1 and could not make more melody to ,adam1 than to me4 ,all ,time was ,eternity1 and a perpetual ,sabbath4 ,is it not strange1 that an infant should be heir of the whole ,world1 and see those mysteries which the books of the learned never unfold8 ,the corn was orient and immortal wheat1 which never should be reaped1 nor was ever sown4 ,i thought it had stood from everlasting to everlasting4 ,the dust and stones of the street were as precious as gold2 the gates were at first the end of the world4 ,the green trees when ,i saw them first through one of the gates transported and ravished me1 their sweetness and unusual beauty made my heart to leap1 and almost mad with ecstasy1 they were such strange and wonderful things4 ,the ,men6 ,o what venerable and reverend creatures did the aged seem6 ,immortal ,cherubims6 ,and young men glittering and sparkling ,angels1 and maids strange seraphic pieces of life and beauty6 ,boys and girls tumbling in the street1 and playing1 were moving jewels4 ,i knew not that they were born or should die4 ,but all things abided eternally as they were in their proper places4 ,eternity was manifest in the ,light of the ,day1 and something infinite behind everything appeared2 which talked with my expectation and moved my desire4 ,the city seemed to stand in ,eden1 or to be built in ,heaven4 ,the streets were mine1 the temple was mine1 the people were mine1 their clothes and gold and silver were mine1 as much as their sparkling eyes1 fair skins and ruddy faces4 ,the skies were mine1 and so were the sun and moon and stars1 and all the ,world was mine2 and ,i the only spectator and enjoyer of it4 4 4 4 ,so that with much ado ,i was corrupted1 and made to learn the dirty devices of this world4 ,which #cbf now ,i unlearn1 and become1 as it were1 a little child again that ,i may enter into the ,kingdom of ,god4#aj ,how like an ,angel came ,i down6 ,how bright are all things here6 ,when first among ,his works ,i did appear ,o how their ,glory did me crown6 ,the ,world resembled ,his ,eternity ,in which my soul did walk2 ,and everything that ,i did see ,did with me talk4#aa ,long time before ,i in my mother's womb was born1 ,a ,god preparing did this glorious store1 ,the world1 for me adorne4 ,into this ,eden so divine and fair ,so wide and bright1 ,i come ,his son and heir4#ab ,like ,vaughan1 who1 in his angel-infancy1 could ,in these weaker glories spy ,some shadows of eternity1 and who ,felt through all this fleshly dress ,bright shoots of everlastingness1#ac ,traherne not only saw1 in his paradise-innocence1 the glory of the earth and sky--the streets paved with golden stones1 and boys and girls with lovely shining faces--but he also felt that he was part of a deeper world which lay about his infancy and wooed him with love4 ,o ,lord ,i wonder at ,thy ,love1 ,which did my ,infancy so early move4#ad ,and out of this childhood experience1 which many a meditative child can match1 he insists that ,god visited him4 ,he did ,approach1 ,he did me woo2 ,i wonder that my ,god this thing would do4 ,he in our childhood with us walks1 ,and with our thoughts ,mysteriously ,he talks2 ,he often visiteth our ,minds4#ae #cbg ,i know of no one who has borne a louder testimony than ,traherne to the divine inheritances and spiritual possibilities of the new-born child1 or who has more emphatically denied the fiction of total depravity3 ,i speak it in the presence of ,god1 he says1 and of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ2 in my pure primitive ,virgin ,light1 while my apprehensions were natural and unmixed1 ,i cannot remember but that ,i was ten thousand times more prone to good and excellent things than to evil4#af ,and he adds this impressive word on the doctrine of inheritance3 ,it is not our parents' loins1 so much as our parents' lives1 that enthrals and blinds us4#ag ,after a happy childhood1 during which ,the ,earth did undertake the office of a ,priest1#ah and when his soul was ,a living endless eye ,just bounded with the sky1 ,whose power1 whose act1 whose essence was to see1#ai he entered ,brasenose ,college1 ,oxford1 in the year #afeb1 being made ,b4,a4 in #afef1 ,m4,a4 in #affa1 and ,bachelor of ,divinity in #affi4 ,he was admitted in #afeg to the ,rectory of ,credenhill1 near ,hereford1 where he remained for about ten years1 and in #affg he was made chaplain to ,sir ,orlando ,bridgman1 in whose service he died in #afgd1 and was buried under the reading-desk in the church at ,teddington near ,hampton ,court4 ,during his lifetime he published ,roman ,forgeries 7#afgc71 an unimportant work1 and had begun the publication of his ,christian ,ethics1 which appeared1 after his death1 in #afge4 ,his ,poems and his ,centuries of ,meditations remained in ,,ms4 unknown until they were discovered in a ,london bookstall about the year #ahig1 and their authorship was proved by ,bertram ,dobell who published the ,poems in #aijc1 and the ,centuries of ,meditations in #aijh4 ,there still remains in ,,ms4 an octavo volume of meditations and devotions4 ,traherne's poems show that he always dwelt near the #cbh gate of ,heaven and was easily aware of the ancient ,light of ,eden4 ,an accidental bit of gossip1 reported in ,john ,aubrey's ,miscellanies1 indicates that he was subject to psychical experiences of an unusual sort1 and the poet himself has reported an impressive crisis-experience when he chose his destiny and settled his preference for inward treasures1 even though it meant1 as with ,george ,fox1 the wearing of a leather suit4 ,when ,i came into the country1 and being seated among silent trees1 and meads and hills1 had all my time in mine own hands1 ,i resolved to spend it all1 whatever it cost me1 in the search of happiness1 and to satiate that burning thirst which ,nature had enkindled in me from my youth4 ,in which ,i was so resolute1 that ,i chose rather to live upon ten pounds a year1 and to go in leather clothes1 and feed upon bread and water1 so that ,i might have all my time clearly to myself1 than to keep many thousands per annum in an estate of life where my time would be devoured in care and labour4 ,and ,god was so pleased to accept of that desire1 that from that time to this1 ,i have had all things plentifully provided for me1 without any care at all1 my very study of ,felicity making me more to prosper1 than all the care in the whole world4 ,so that through ,his blessing ,i live a free and a kingly life as if the world were turned again into ,eden1 or much more1 as it is at this day4#bj ,like his predecessors in this faith1 ,traherne is never tired of declaring the infiniteness of the human soul4 ,eternity is in the human heart1 if only the way of the open door is taken1 if only the eyes are opened to see4 ,god1 he says1 has made our spirits centres in eternity1 opening upon innumerable infinities4 ,the ,ocean is but a drop of a bucket to the immensity of the soul1 with its abysmal deeps and its immeasurable capacities4 ,it is the very essence and being of the soul to feel infinity1 for ,god is ever more near to us than we are to ourselves1 so that we cannot feel our own souls without feeling ,him4#ba ,you are never1 he says1 your true self1 till you live #cbi by your soul more than by your body1 and you never live by your soul until you feel its incomparable excellence4#bb ,its nobility is revealed by its insatiable hungers1 its surpassing dignity is declared by its endless wants1 its inability to live by bread alone4 ,as by the seed we conjecture what plant will arise1 and know by the acorn what tree will grow forth1 or by the eagle's egg what kind of bird2 so do we by the powers of the soul upon earth1 know what kind of ,being1 ,person1 and ,glory will be in the ,heavens1 where its latent powers shall be turned into ,act1 its inclinations shall be completed1 and its capacities filled4#bc ,not only in a primitive ,eden1 but in the world as we know it1 with its black and white1 man always bears within himself the mark of a heavenly origin1 and has the quickening ,seed of ,god in the depth of his soul3 ,the ,image of ,god is seated in the lineaments of the soul4 ,man is the greatest of all miracles2 he is a mirror of all ,eternity4#bd ,his thoughts run out to everlasting2 he is made for spiritual supremacy and has within himself an inner1 hidden life greater than anything else in the universe4#be ,we are nigh of kin to ,god and nigh of kin ,to those pure things we find ,in ,his great mind ,who made the world4#bf ,there is ,a ,spiritual ,world standing within ,an ,universe enclosed in ,skin4#bg ,with the same enthusiasm with which he proclaims the divine origin and the heavenly connections of the soul1 ,traherne also proclaims the glory and beauty of the visible world as a revelation of ,god4 ,eternity stooped down to nought ,and in the earth its likeness sought4#bh ,the world is not ,god1 for ,he is ,spirit1 but the world is a glorious mirror in which the verities of religion are #ccj revealed and in which the face of ,god is at least partially unveiled4#bi ,it is here in this mirror that the clairvoyant eye discovers ,god's being1 perceives ,his wisdom1 goodness1 and power1 guesses out the footsteps of ,his love1 and finds promises and pledges of the larger fulfilment of that love4 ,here in the world1 which is full of remainders of ,paradise1 is surely the visible porch or gate of ,eternity4#cj ,it is easy to believe that ,god has given us ,his ,son when once we have seen the richness of the world which ,he has given us4#ca ,but the world is never ours until we learn how to see it and enjoy it in its beauty1 even in the most common things1 and until we discover that all its service and all its excellency are spiritual3 ,pigs eat acorns1 but neither consider the sun that gave them life1 nor the influences of the heavens by which they were nourished1 nor the very root of the tree from whence they came4 ,this being the work of ,angels who in a wide and clear light see even the sea that gave them the acorns moisture3 ,and feed upon that acorn spiritually while they know the ends for which it was created1 and feast upon all these as upon a ,world of ,joys within it3 while to ignorant swine that eat the shell it is an empty husk of no taste nor delightful savour4#cb ,men1 as well as angels1 can learn to use the world spiritually--can learn to see how rough1 common things are part of the divine exchequer2 how a grain of sand exhibiteth the wisdom of ,god and manifesteth ,his glory4#cc ,with this prelude1 ,traherne gives his glowing account of the true1 spiritual way to enjoy the world4 ,your enjoyment of the world is never right1 till every morning you awake in ,heaven2 see yourself in your ,father's ,palace2 and look upon the skies1 the earth1 and the air as ,celestial ,joys3 having such a reverend esteem of all1 as if you were among the ,angels4 ,the bride of a monarch1 in her husband's chamber1 hath no such causes of delight as you4 ,you never enjoy the world aright1 till the ,sea itself #cca floweth in your veins1 till you are clothed with the heavens1 and crowned with the stars3 and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world1 and more than so1 because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you4 ,till you can sing and rejoice and delight in ,god1 as misers do in gold1 and ,kings in sceptres1 you never enjoy the world4 ,till your spirit filleth the whole world1 and the stars are your jewels2 till you are as familiar with the ways of ,god in all ,ages as with your walk and table2 till you are intimately acquainted with that shady nothing out of which the world was made2 till you love men so as to desire their happiness with a thirst equal to the zeal of your own2 till you delight in ,god for being good to all2 you never enjoy the world4 ,till you more feel it than your private estate1 and are more present in the hemisphere1 considering the glories and the beauties there1 than in your own house2 till you remember how lately you were made1 and how wonderful it was when you came into it3 and more rejoice in the palace of your glory1 than if it had been made but to-day morning4 ,yet further1 you never enjoy the world aright1 till you so love the beauty of enjoying it1 that you are covetous and earnest to persuade others to enjoy it4 ,and so perfectly hate the abominable corruption of men in despising it1 that you had rather suffer the flames of ,hell than willingly be guilty of their error4 4 4 4 ,the world is a mirror of infinite beauty1 yet no man sees it4 ,it is a ,temple of ,majesty1 yet no man regards it4 ,it is a region of ,light and ,peace1 did not men disquiet it4 ,it is the ,paradise of ,god4 ,it is more to man since he is fallen than it was before4 ,it is the place of ,angels and the ,gate of ,heaven4 ,when ,jacob waked out of his dream1 he said1 ',god is here1 and ,i wist it not4 ,how dreadful is this place6 ,this is none other than the ,house of ,god1 and the ,gate of ,heaven4'#cd ,but notwithstanding his exuberant and overflowing joy in creation1 ,traherne is conscious that the world has #ccb its dreggy parts1 that it has been muddied by man's misuse of it1 and that the havoc of sin is apparent4 ,the light which shined in infancy becomes eclipsed as the customs and manners of life close down over it and cover it4 ,men's mouths are full of talk of fleeting1 vulgar1 and worthless things1 and they speak no syllable of those celestial and stable treasures which form the only wealth of life4 ,the emphasis in education is on the wrong things4 ,so with much ado the innocent child is corrupted and made to learn the dirty devices of the world1 which he must again unlearn and become a little child once more in the ,kingdom of ,god4#ce ,the taint1 however1 is not in the native structure of the soul1 it is not through a biological transmission1 it is due to false training--it is from the parents' lives rather than their loins4 ,let parents1 he says1 who desire holy children learn to make them possessors of divine things betimes4 ,it is deadly barbarous and uncouth to put grubs and worms into little children's minds1 to teach them to say this house is mine1 this bauble is a jewel1 this gew-gaw is a fine thing1 this rattle makes music1 when they ought to be made instead to see the spiritual glory of the earth and sky1 the beauty of life1 the sweetness and nobility of ,nature1 and to live joyously1 like birds1 in union and communion with ,god4 ,i am sure1 he concludes1 that barbarous people that go naked come nearer to ,adam1 ,god1 and the ,angels1 in the simplicity of their wealth1 than do many among us who partake of what we nick-name civility and mode4#cf ,the entire work of redemption is1 thus1 to restore man to himself1 to bring him once more to the ,tree of ,life1 to enable him to discover the glory all about him1 to reveal to him the real values of things1 and to bring to birth within him an immortal love4 ,the true healing of the soul is always through the birth of love4 ,before a soul loves1 it lives only to itself2 as soon as love is born it lives beyond itself and finds its life in the object of its love4 ,it is ,christ who first reveals the full measure of love1 who makes us see the one adequate ,object of love1 and who #ccc forges within our human spirits the invisible bonds of a love that binds us forever to ,him who so loved us4 ,here in ,him--a ,man loving all the world1 a ,god dying for mankind#cg--we see that we are infinitely beloved1 that the foundations of an eternal ,friendship are laid1 that ,god is infinitely prone to love1 and that true love spares nothing for the sake of what it loves--,o miraculous and eternal ,godhead suffering on a ,cross for me6#ch ,that ,cross is a tree set on fire with invisible flame which illuminateth all the world4 ,the flame is love3 the love in ,his bosom that died upon it4#ci ,but there is no salvation for us in the ,cross until it kindles the same flame of love in us1 until that immeasurable love of ,his becomes an irresistible power in us1 so that we henceforth live unto ,him that loved us4 ,it must1 if it is to be efficacious1 shift all our values and set us to loving as ,he loved--,he who would not in the same cases do the same things ,jesus ,christ hath done can never be saved1 for love is never timorous4#dj ,the love of ,christ is to dwell within us and every man is to be the object of it4 ,god and we are to become one spirit1 that is1 one in will and one in desire4 ,christ must live within us4 ,we must be filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 which is the ,god of ,love2 we must be of the same mind with ,christ ,jesus and led by ,his ,spirit1 and we must henceforth treat every man in respect to the greatness of ,christ's love--this is salvation in ,traherne's conception of it1 and holiness and happiness are the same thing4#da ,the ,cross has not done its complete work for us until we can say3 ,o ,christ1 ,i see thy crown of thorns in every eye2 thy bleeding1 naked1 wounded body in every soul2 thy death liveth in every memory2 thy crucified person is embalmed in every affection2 thy pierced feet are bathed in every one's tears and it is my privilege to enter with thee into every soul4#db ,however contemplative and mystical the bent of ,traherne's mind may have been1 he always finds the #ccd terminus of spiritual life in action1 indeed1 in brotherly service1 in what he calls blessed operations4 ,speaking apparently of himself1 he finely says3 ,he thought it a vain thing to see glorious principles buried in books1 unless he did remove them into his understanding2 and a vain thing to remove them into his understanding unless he did revive them and raise them up with continual exercise4 ,let this therefore be the first principle of your soul--that to have no principles or to live beside them is equally miserable4 ,philosophers are not those that speak but do great things4#dc ,it is1 he writes in words which sound like those of his contemporary ,winstanley1 it is an indelible principle of ,eternal truth1 that practice and exercise is the ,life of all4 ,should ,god give you worlds and laws and treasures1 and worlds upon worlds1 and ,himself also in the ,divinest manner1 if you will be lazy you lose all4 ,the soul is made for action and cannot rest till it be employed4 4 4 4 ,if therefore you would be happy1 your life must be as full of operation as ,god of treasure4#dd ,love1 once kindled in the soul1 is the mother of all heroic actions2 love knows how to abound and overflow--the man who has lighted his life from ,christ's love is constant in trials1 patient in sufferings1 courageous in assaults1 prudent in difficulties1 victorious and triumphant in action4#de ,traherne shares with ,boehme and with the ,cambridge ,platonists the view that ,eternity is as much here as anywhere4 ,those ,christians1 he thinks1 who put off felicity and defer their enjoyment with long delays are to be much suspected4#df ',tis not1 so he states his law1 change of place1 but glorious principles well practised that establish ,heaven in the life and soul4 ,an angel will be happy anywhere and a devil miserable1 because the principles of the one are always good1 of the other1 bad4 ,from the centre to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills all is ,heaven before ,god1 and full of #cce treasure2 and he that walks like ,god in the midst of them is blessed4#dg ,you are in ,heaven everywhere4#dh ,the real business of life1 as he elsewhere declares1 is to piece this life with the life of ,heaven1 to see it as one with all ,eternity1 a part of it1 a life within it1#di which reminds us of ,vaughan's great words3 ,i saw ,eternity the other night ,like a great ring of pure and endless light1 ,as calm as it was bright3 ,and round beneath it1 ,time in hours1 days1 years1 ,driv'n by the spheres1 ,like a vast shadow mov'd2 in which the world ,and all her train were hurl'd4#ej ,and with much penetration ,traherne tells us that ,eternity is not an endless addition of times --a weak infinite series of durations1 but rather a ,reality in which all true realities abide1 and which retains in a present now all beginnings and all endings4#ea ,eternity is just the real world for which we were made and which we enter through the door of love4 ,it is a spiritual world within1 ,a living world and nearer far of kin ,to ,god than that which first ,he made4 ,while that doth fade ,this therefore ever shall endure ,within the soul as more divine and pure4#eb #a ,see my ,studies in ,mystical ,religion1 chap4 xix4 #b ,book ,,iii4 lines #ea-ee4 #c ,book ,,iii4 lines #aid-aig4 #d ,book ,i4 line #ah4 ,since this chapter was written1 ,alden ,sampson's ,studies in ,milton 7,new ,york1 #aiac7 has been published4 ,his valuable chapter on ,milton's ,confession of ,faith reveals in ,milton a very wide acquaintance with the ideas which ,i have been tracing1 and shows by a vast number of quotations how frequently the poet used these ideas sympathetically4 #e ,francis ,quarles' ,my ,beloved is ,mine4 #f ,george ,herbert's poem ,man4 #g ,francis ,quarles' ,light4 #h ,centuries of ,meditations 7,london1 #aijh71 iii4 #af4 ,for details of his life and for the story of the discovery of his writings1 see the ,introduction to ,the ,poetical ,works of ,thomas ,traherne 7#aijc7 by ,bertram ,dobell4 #i ,traherne's pom ,wonder1 iii4 #aj ,centuries of ,meditations1 iii4 #a1 #b and #c4 #aa ,wonder1 i4 #ab ,the ,salutation #ac ,vaughan's ,the ,retreat4 #ad ,traherne's ,the ,approach4 #ae ,ibid4 #af ,centuries of ,meditations1 iii4 #h4 #ag ,ibid4 #ah ,dumbness4 #ai ,the ,preparative4 #bj ,centuries of ,meditations1 iii4 #df4 #ba ,ibid4 ii4 #ha4 ,see also ii4 #gj and #hc4 #bb ,centuries of ,meditations1 ii4 #ib4 #bc ,ibid4 iv4 #gj4 #bd ,ibid4 i4 #ai1 and iv4 #ha4 #be ,ibid4 ii4 #bc4 #bf ,my ,spirit4 #bg ,fullness4 #bh ,the ,choice4 #bi ,centuries of ,meditations1 ii4 #ag4 #cj ,ibid4 ii4 #a and #ag4 #ca ,ibid4 ii4 #f4 #cb ,ibid4 i4 #bf4 #cc ,ibid4 i4 #be and #bg4 #cd ,centuries of ,meditations1 i4 #bh-ca4 #ce ,centuries of ,meditations1 iii4 #g and #c4 #cf ,ibid4 iii4 #aa-ac4 #cg ,centuries of ,meditations1 i4 #ei4 #ch ,ibid4 i4 #fg and #fb4 #ci ,ibid4 i4 #fj4 #dj ,ibid4 iv4 #ei4 #da ,ibid4 iv4 #bh4 ,see also iv4 #ca4 #db ,ibid4 i4 #hf4 #dc ,centuries of ,meditations1 iv4 #b4 #dd ,ibid4 iv4 #ie4 #de ,christian ,ethics1 chapter on ,charity4 #df ,centuries of ,meditations1 iv4 #i4 #dg ,centuries of ,meditations1 iv4 #cg4 #dh ,ibid4 iv4 #ch4 #di ,ibid4 iv4 #ic4 #ej ,vaughan's poem1 ,the ,world4 #ea ,centuries of ,meditations1 v4 #g-h4 #eb ,traherne's poem1 ,thoughts4 #ccf ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,conclusion ,few words are needed in conclusion to point out the historical significance of the movement which we have been studying1 and to indicate its connection with the rise and development of seventeenth century ,quakerism4 ,these chapters have presented sufficient historical evidence to show that from the very beginning of the ,reformation there appeared a group of men who felt themselves commissioned1 like the prophets of old1 to challenge the theological systems of the ,reformers1 and to cry against what proved to be an irresistible tendency toward the exaltation of form and letter in religion4 ,they were men of intense religious faith1 of marked mystical type1 characterized by interior depth of experience1 but at the same time they were men of scholarship1 breadth and balance4 ,their central loyalty was to the invisible ,church which in their conception was the ,body of ,christ1 forever growing and expanding through the ages under the guidance of the ever-present ,spirit2 and they esteemed but lightly the established ,churches which seemed to them formed not after the pattern in the mount but after very earthly and political models4 ,challenging1 as they did1 the formulated doctrines of the ,reformation1 the type of ,church which was being substituted for the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 and the entire body of ceremonial and sacramental practices which were being put in place of the ancient sacraments of the ,church1 these prophets found themselves compelled to discover the foundations #ccg for a new type of ,church altogether1 and to feel their way down to a new and fundamental basis of religious authority4 ,that would be a momentous task for any age1 or for any spiritual leaders1 and we must not demand the impossible of these sixteenth century pathbreakers4 ,what they did do consistently and well was to proclaim the spiritual character of ,god as revealed in ,christ1 the native capacity of the human soul for ,god1 the intimate and inherent relationship of the divine and human1 the progressive revelation of ,god in history1 the priority of the inward ,word1 the august ethical aspect which must attach to any religion adequate for the growing race1 and the folly of losing the heart and spirit of ,christianity in contentions over external1 temporal1 and pictorial features of it4 ,they themselves were not founders of sects or churches4 ,their sole mission was the propagation of a message1 of a body of truth and of spiritual ideals4 ,they were from the nature of the case destined to be voices crying in a wilderness-world1 and they were obliged to trust their precious cause to the contagion of their word and life and truth4 ,the ,quakers of the seventeenth century are obviously one of the great historical results of this slowly maturing spiritual movement1 and they first gave the unorganized and inarticulate movement a concrete body and organism to express itself through4 ,the modern student1 who goes to the original expositions of ,quakerism to find what the leaders of this movement conceived their message and their mission to be1 quickly discovers that they were not radical innovators setting forth novel and strange ideas1 but that they were on the contrary the bearers1 the interpreters1 the living embodiment of ideas which have now become familiar to the reader of these chapters4 ,no one has given us a clearer statement of ,george ,fox's mission and of the creation of the new ,society than has the writer of the ,epistle to the ,reader in ,fox's strange book ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore 7#afei74 ,this ,epistle to the ,reader was #cch written by ,edward ,burrough and was printed1 also under the same title1 in ,burrough's ,works in #afgb4a ,in this striking document the writer gives his account of the existing ,church1 and over against this dark background he sets ,god's new ,reformation that is just beginning1 of which he feels himself to be the divinely sent herald and prophet4 ,as our minds became turned1 and our hearts inclined to the ,light which shined in every one of us1 he writes1 we came to know the perfect estate of the ,church2 her estate before the apostles' days1 and in the apostles' days and since the days of the apostles4 ,and her present estate we found to be as a woman who had once been clothed with the sun1 and the moon under her feet1 who brought forth ,him that was to rule the nations2 but she the ,church was fled into the wilderness1 and there sitting desolate1 in her place that was prepared of ,god for such a season1 in the very end of which season1 when the time of her sojourning was towards a full end1 then we ,friends were brought forth4#b ,in the ,light which broke in upon them1 he says1 they saw that the world was in darkness and that anti-,christ was set up in the temple of ,god1 ruling over all1 having brought nations under his power1 and having set up his government over all for many ages2 even since the days of the apostles and true churches hath he reigned4444 ,as for the ministry1 first1 looking upon it with a single eye in the ,light of the ,spirit of ,god which had anointed us1 we beheld it clearly not to be of ,christ1 nor sent of ,him1 nor having the commission1 power1 and authority of ,christ1 as ,his ministry had in the days of true churches2 but in all things1 as in call1 practice1 maintenance1 #cci and in everything else1 in fruits and effects we found it to disagree1 and to be wholly contrary to the true ministry of ,christ in the days of the apostles4#c ,his charge against the ministers of his day is one now very familiar to us3 ,you preach to people what you have studied out of books and old authors1 and what you have noted down you preach by an hour-glass and not as the ,spirit of ,god gives you utterance4 ,you preach other men's words which you have collected4#d ,the call to ministry1 he urges1 is based upon learning acquired in schools1 colleges1 and universities1 and is not of the ,spirit1 and ministers' lives are obvious signs that they are not in the true apostolic succession4#e ,as for all churches 7so called71 he continues1 we beheld you all in the apostasy and degeneration from the true ,church1 not being gathered by the ,spirit of the ,lord1 nor anointed thereby as the true members of ,christ ever were1 but to be in forms of righteousness without power1 and imitations without life4 ,all the practices of religion we beheld to be without power and life4444 ,we beheld all professions of religion to be but as coverings of fig-leaves1 while the inner nature stood uncondemned and not crucified4#f ,he insists that no true and radical reformation of the ,church has taken place1 that the churches of his day still bear the marks of apostasy as did the churches before the ,reformation occurred3 ,do not professors and sects of people have the form without the power of godliness8 ,are not all people still covetous and earthly-minded1 and given to the world1 and proud and vain1 even such as profess religion8 ,are not professors as covetous and proud as such as do not profess8 ,are they not given to the world1 and doth it not show that they are not changed nor translated8 ,and is it not manifest that they have taken up the form of the apostles' and ,christ's words and practices1 and are without the #cdj life1 and not guided by the ,spirit of ,christ and the apostles in their praying and preaching8#g ,here1 with an air of prophet-like boldness and infallibility1 we have once again an announcement of the inadequacy of the ,reformation1 the formal and external character of prevailing types of religion1 and the unapostolic nature of the existing churches4 ,the language describing the visible church is throughout the language of a ,seeker4 ,we ceased1 he says in words that exactly describe the ,seeker1 from the teachings of all men1 and their words and their worships1 and their temples1 and all their baptisms and churches1 and we ceased from our own words and professions and practices in religion4444 ,we met together often1 and waited upon the ,lord in pure silence from our own words1 and harkened to the voice of the ,lord and felt ,his ,word in our hearts4#h ,the striking difference between him and the contemporary ,seeker lies in the fact that he profoundly believed1 that the time of apostasy was now at an end1 that a new commission had come1 that a real ,reformation was being set into operation1 and that the apostolic ,church--the ,church of ,christ1 the ,church of the ,spirit--had appeared as though let down from heaven4 ,he relates how the ,lord raised us ,friends up and opened our mouths in this ,his ,spirit1 and how the ,light of ,christ revealed and made known to us all things that pertain to salvation1 redemption1 and eternal life1 needful for man to know1 and how through the outpouring and anointing of the ,spirit the true ,church1 the true worship1 the true ministry have come again to the world4 ,he makes such exalted claims as these3 we received the pouring out of the spirit upon us2 the gift of ,god's eternal ,spirit was bestowed upon us as in the days of old2 the deep things of ,god were revealed to us2 the ,lord ,almighty brought us out of captivity and bondage and put an end to sin and death2 #cda the babe of glory was born in us2 we entered into ever-lasting union1 fellowship1 and covenant with the ,lord1 and we were raised from death to ,life4 ,and1 finally1 he announces the new commission in positive words of glowing faith3 ,then having armed us with power1 strength1 and wisdom and dominion1 according to ,his mind1 and having taught us in all things1 and having chosen us unto ,his work1 ,god put ,his sword into our and and gave us a perfect commission to go forth in ,his name and authority1 giving us the ,word from ,his mouth what to cut down and what to preserve1 and giving us the everlasting gospel to preach4#i ,in the absolute certainty of his divine commission1 he challenges the ,churches which are defending their authority with jails and prisons and whips and stocks and inquisitions--all ,cain's weapons--to a trial of faith and spirit and power1 like that on ,mount ,carmel in the days of ,elijah1 whether it be they or we that are of the true faith and true worship of ,god that the apostles were in4#aj ,there can be no doubt1 ,i think1 that the writer of this ,epistle to the ,reader in ,the ,great ,mystery1 has come out of the ,seeker movement1 or that he has come out of it only because he believes that he with others have found what they sought1 and are the seed and nucleus of the true1 restored1 apostolic ,church of ,god4 ,they refuse absolutely to be called a sect2 and they assume in all their early writings that they are the restored ,church of ,christ1 though they seldom use that word ,church because in their thought it was a name associated with the apostasy1 and they preferred to call themselves the ,seed1 or the ,children of the ,light4 ,these were1 as ,i have sufficiently shown1 names already in use4 ,it is an interesting fact that this ,epistle dates the beginning of the new era as #afeb--;it is now #cdb about seven years since the ,lord raised us up in the ,north of ,england and opened our mouths in this ,his ,spirit#aa--;and that it locates the springing forth of the ,seed in the ,north of ,england4 ,it was1 we are now well aware1 out of the ,seeker-groups of the northern counties of ,england that the new ,society was actually born1 and it grew1 like a rolling snowball1 as it gathered in the prepared groups of ,seekers1 both north and south in ,england1 and a little later in ,america4#ab ,the creation of the ,quaker ,society was not the work of any man2 the groups were there before the formative leader appeared on the scene4 ,in fact the very term ,quaker1 which was soon fixed upon the new movement as the popular name for it1 had already been in use--at least as far back as #afdf--;for the members of some of these highly emotional communities4 ,as soon as these groups--intense in their expectations--found a leader who was already raised to an impelling conviction of immediate contact with ,god and of definite illumination by the living ,christ1 and possessed of an overmastering sense of mission1 the effect was extraordinary4 ,the account of what happened is1 we may be sure1 none too strong3 ,the gift of ,god's eternal ,spirit was poured upon us as in days of old1 our hearts were made glad1 our tongues were loosed1 and we spake with new tongues as the ,lord gave us utterance and as ,his ,spirit led us4#ac ,profound psychological experiences occurred2 they felt themselves baptized together1 fused and formed into one group-spirit1 swept into trembling as by a mighty rushing wind1 and carried beyond their common ordinary range of thought and power and utterance4 ,their group-experiences of a common divine ,spirit coming upon their lives from beyond themselves1 their discovery that ,god was in their midst1 that gifts were conferred upon them1 and1 above all1 ,fox's compelling sense of apostolic mission--a conviction which was1 as it always is1 contagious--were #cdc grounds enough to change these ,seeker-groups into the seed and nucleus of a ,body possessed of the faith that the long-expected ,church of the ,spirit had at last come4 ,they rose to the group-consciousness that they were the beginners1 in modern times1 of a ,church of the spiritual order1 and a community-loyalty was born which gave the movement great conquering power and an amazing capacity for endurance and suffering4 ,in ,fox we have a person of extraordinary psychical experiences and of dynamic leadership1 and in him the prophetical and enthusiast traits of the movement are strikingly in evidence4 ,he reveals in a variety of ways his connections with the great body of spiritual ideas that had been accumulating for more than a century before his time1 but for the most part these influences worked upon him in sub-conscious ways as an atmosphere and climate of his spirit1 rather than as a clearly conceived body of truth which he got by reading authors and which he apprehended through clear intellectual processes4 ,he can be rightly appreciated only as he is seen to be a potent member of an organic group-life which formed him as much as he formed it4 ,the expositions1 however1 of the more trained and scholarly ,quakers show an explicit acquaintance with the writings of these men whom we have been studying1 and they cannot be adequately understood in isolation4 ,the fruits of reading and of contact with a wider intellectual world are clearly in evidence1 and the ideas and the peculiar phrases of the spiritual reformers pass and come again in their voluminous works4 ,robert ,barclay is the chief literary exponent of ,quakerism4 ,his range of familiarity with religious and theological literature is very extensive1 and he shows intimate acquaintance with contemporary thought4 ,for him1 as for his spiritual predecessors1 the existing ,church is in apostasy2 it has departed from the simplicity and purity of the gospel as it was in the apostles' days4 ,christian faith has become burdened with manifold inventions and traditions1 with various notions and opinions which #cdd have been substituted instead of the true religion of ,christ4#ad ,the ,quaker interpreters all unite in treating notions and opinions--or1 to use their sweeping phrase1 notional religion--as barren substitutes for a true religion of spiritual reality1 which for them is always born in a first-hand experience of ,christ as the inner spirit and life and power of one's entire being and activity4 ,a good specimen instance of this position is found in ,william ,penn's ,tract1 ,a ,key opening the ,way to every ,capacity1 etc4#ae ,he says3 ,it is not ,opinion1 or ,speculation1 or ,notions of what is true2 or ,assent to or ,subscription of ,articles or ,propositions1 tho' never so soundly worded1 that makes a ,man a true ,believer or a true ,christian4 ,phrases of ,schoolmen1 notions of ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 conceptions of man's meer ,wit1 superfining interpretations of ,scripture texts1 he declares to be very chaffy substitutes for a consciousness of ,christ's ,life and ,light within1 conformity of mind and practice to the will of ,god1 and the actual formation of ,christ in the inner self4#af ,the further ,reformation1 upon the necessity of which he insists1 is one that will take ,christianity not only beyond and beneath outward ceremonies1 but beyond and beneath all formulations of creed and doctrine1 and that will ground and establish it in the experience and attitude and verifying power of the person's life4#ag ,this is precisely what all these teachers of spiritual religion have all the time been demanding4 ,the ,quaker view of the moral and dynamic character of saving faith1 the view that justification is a vital process and not merely a forensic scheme1 is1 in heart and essence1 indistinguishable from the central teaching of these spiritual predecessors of the ,quakers4 ,no ,quaker has presented this view in a more compact1 and at the same time adequate way than has ,barclay in one of his #cde important early ,tracts3 ,the manner and way whereby ,christ's righteousness and obedience1 death and sufferings1 become profitable unto us and are made ours1 is by receiving ,him1 and becoming one with ,him in our hearts1 embracing and entertaining that holy ,seed1 which as it is embraced and entertained1 becometh a holy birth in us444 by which the body of sin and death is done away1 and we cleansed1 and washed1 and purged from our sins1 not imaginarily1 but really2 and we are really and truly made righteous4444 ,christ ,himself revealed in us1 indwelling in us4 ,his life and spirit covering us--that is the ground of our justification4#ah ,the root principle of ,quakerism is belief in a divine ,light1 or ,seed of ,god1 in the soul of man4 ,all of the multitudinous ,quaker books and tracts bear unvarying testimony to that1 and all their contemporary accounts make that faith1 that principle1 their organizing idea4 ,what they all say is that there is a ,light in man which shines into his darkness1 reveals his condition to him1 makes him aware of evil and checks him when he is in the pursuit of it2 gives him a vision of righteousness1 attracts him toward goodness1 and points him infallibly toward ,christ from whom the ,light shines4 ,this ,light is pure1 immediate1 and spiritual4 ,it is of ,god1 in fact is ,god immanently revealed4#ai ,then1 again1 the figure is changed and what was called ,light is now called ,seed1 and it is thought of as a resident germ of divine ,life which1 through the active co-operation of the individual1 produces a new creation within1 and makes the person through and through of a new nature like itself4#bj ,it is also frequently called the ,word of ,god1 or ,grace of ,god1 or ,that of ,god in you1 or ,christ within1 or the ,spirit1 or the ,kingdom within you4 ,by this ,seed1 ,grace1 and ,word of ,god1 and ,light wherewith every one is enlightened1 #cdf ,barclay says1 ,we understand a spiritual1 heavenly1 and invisible ,principle in which ,god1 as ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,spirit1 dwells2 a measure i4e4 a portion of which divine and glorious ,life is in all men as a ,seed1 which of its own nature draws1 invites1 and inclines to ,god4 ,this some call vehiculum dei1 or the spiritual ,body of ,christ1 the flesh and blood of ,christ1 which came down from heaven1 of which all saints do feed and are thereby nourished unto eternal life4#ba ,but under whatever name it goes1 it is always thought of as a saving ,principle4 ,he who says yes responds1 obeys1 co-operates1 and allows this resident ,seed of ,god1 or ,christ-,light1 to have full sway in him becomes transformed thereby and re-created into likeness to ,christ1 by whom the inner ,seed was planted and of whose nature it is4 ,the spiritual predecessors of the ,quakers1 as we have seen1 all held this view with individual variations of phrase and experience4 ,all the ,quaker terms for the ,principle were used by ,sebastian ,franck and by ,caspar ,schwenckfeld2 and all the men who taught the dynamic process of salvation presuppose that something of the divine nature1 as ,light or ,seed or ,spirit1 or the resurrected ,christ1 is directly operative upon or within the human soul4 ,that is1 salvation is for them more than a moral change1 it is a birth-and-life-process1 initiated and carried through by the real presence of the ,divine in the human4#bb ,the ,quakers are perhaps somewhat more emphatic than were their spiritual forerunners1 with the exception #cdg of ,schwenckfeld1 in their declarations that this ,seed1 this ,light1 is not natural4 ,we assert1 ,william ,penn wrote1 the ,light of ,christ not to be a ,natural ,light1 otherwise than as all men born into the world have a ,measure of ,christ's ,light1 and so in a sense it may be called ,natural to all ,men4 ,but this ,light is something else than the bare ,understanding which ,man hath as a ,rational ,creature4#bc ,what man does naturally have1 in ,william ,penn's view1 is a capacity for the ,light1 but the ,light itself is from a source wholly heavenly and divine4 ,barclay1 in quite ,cartesian fashion1 interprets it to be a real spiritual ,substance1 a substantial ,seed from another world1 hidden away within man's soul at birth1 lying there like naked grain in stony ground1 until the child is old enough to feel its stirrings and to determine by his own free choices of obedience or disobedience to its movings whether it shall grow and develop or not4#bd ,we plainly have here a double world4 ,the once-born man is natural1 though he carries buried deep in the subsoil of his nature a ,seed of ,god1 a germ of ,life drawn from the higher1 spiritual world4 ,he may live in and under the dominion of either world1 but he must choose which it shall be4 ,by response to and participation with the divine ,seed of radio-active spiritual energy1 he can become transformed--utterly and completely--into a new nature1 and can belong here and now to the spiritual ,world which ,christ by ,his victorious ,life has brought across the chasm and planted in our soil4 ,on the other hand1 by negligence or by disobedience he can live a mere empirical1 natural life1 and keep his inestimable ,seed of ,god buried and forgotten in a region of himself which he seldom or never visits4 ,the ,quakers1 however1 as a consequence of their heightened group-consciousness1 and as a result of the intense experiences enjoyed in their gatherings1 exhibited a far greater degree of enthusiasm than had appeared in the earlier exponents of the inner ,word2 and they showed a heightened element of prophetism1 both in their faith #cdh and practice4 ,they devoutly believed that in them the prophecy of ,jeremiah had found fulfilment3 ,god had written ,his ,word in their hearts1 so that they were recipients of ,his will and ,his message4 ,the more sure ,word of prophecy1 announced by ,peter1 had come and the ,day ,star had risen in their hearts4 ,their ,light was to them not only a principle of connection with a higher world1 a germ of a new nativity1 it was also a principle and basis for continuous revelation1 and for definite openings of light and guidance on all matters that concern present-day life and practice4 ,the inward command1 ,barclay says1 is never wanting in the due season to any duty4#be ,like their predecessors1 they did not slight the importance of the outward word1 the ,scriptures4 ,they had an immense reverence for them and were diligent in the study and skilful in the use of them1 though of course they used them in a thoroughly uncritical and unhistorical way1 as did also their opponents4 ,but they would never allow the ,scriptures to be called the ,word of ,god or to be treated as ,god's only revelation of ,himself to man without a challenge4 ,the ,word of ,god1 ,barclay says1 is1 like unto ,himself1 spiritual1 yea1 ,spirit and ,life1 and therefore cannot be heard and read with the natural external senses as the ,scriptures can4 ,our ,master1 he adds1 is always with us4 ,his letter is writ in our hearts and there we find it4#bf ,there is1 ,william ,penn declares1 something nearer to us than ,scriptures1 to wit1 the ,word in the heart from which all ,scriptures came1 though he is very emphatic in his claim that ,friends never slight the ,scriptures and believe in their divine authority4#bg ,it is not necessary to prolong the exposition of early ,quakerism farther4 ,the similarity of its fundamental position with that of the preceding spiritual reformers is perfectly clear4 ,quakerism is1 thus1 no isolated or sporadic religious phenomenon4 ,it is deeply rooted and embedded in a far wider movement that had been #cdi accumulating volume and power for more than a century before ,george ,fox became a prophet of it to the ,english people4 ,and both in its new ,english1 and in its earlier continental form1 it was a serious attempt to achieve a more complete ,reformation1 to restore primitive ,christianity1 and to change the basis of authority from external things1 of any sort whatever1 to the interior life and spirit of man4 ,that the formulation of this vast spiritual ,reformation1 as presented by the men who are studied in this volume1 was adequate1 ,i do not for a moment assert4 ,the views here expounded in their historical setting are plainly hampered by inadequate philosophical and psychological presuppositions4 ,they need reconstructive interpretation and a fresh re-reading1 in terms of our richer experience1 our larger historical perspective1 and our truer psychological conceptions4 ,that work of reexamination and reinterpretation1 especially of the ,quaker movement and the ,quaker message1 is a part of the task undertaken in the historical volumes which follow this one in this series4 ,it must suffice for the present to have reviewed here the story and the struggles of these brave1 sincere men and their heroic endeavours to proclaim a spiritual ,christianity4 ,it has been a privilege to live for a little while with this succession of high-minded men1 to review for our time their type of spiritual religion1 and to retrace their apostolic efforts to bring the world1 with its sins and its tragedies and its inner hungers1 back to the ,father's ,love and to the real presence of the eternal ,christ4 ,they may have failed in their intellectual formulation1 but at least they succeeded in finding a living ,god1 warm and tender and near at hand1 the ,life of their lives1 the ,day ,star in their hearts2 and their travail of soul1 their brave endurance1 and their loyal obedience to vision have helped to make our modern world4 #a ,this document1 though1 as stated above1 not written by ,fox1 had his approval1 and may be taken as exactly expressing his views and his position4 ,many of the early ,quaker books show how remarkable was the corporate character and the group-spirit of the ,society at this period4 ,whatever any individual could contribute was given for the common cause and went into the life of the whole4 ,i have given the passages1 which ,i have quoted from this ,epistle1 in modern ,english4 #b ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore 7,london1 #afei71 p4 ,b#a4 ,jacob ,boehme had already set ,fox the example of calling the existing ,church by this opprobrious name4 ,see ,the ,threefold ,life of ,man1 vii41 #ef-eh4 #c ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore1 p4 ,b#c4 #d ,ibid4 p4 ,a#f4 #e ,ibid4 pp4 ,a#e-;,a#g4 #f ,ibid4 p4 ,b#d4 ,this is almost word for word ,boehme's view4 #g ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore1 p4 ,c#c4 #h ,ibid4 p4 ,b#a4 #i ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore1 p4 ,b#b4 ,i have taken some liberty in correcting the grammatical form of the passage quoted1 but the original sense is preserved4 #aj ,ibid4 p4 ,c#b4 #aa ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore1 p4 ,b4 #ab ,for evidence of ,seeker-groups in ,america1 see my ,quakers in the ,american ,colonies4 #ac ,the ,great ,mystery of the ,great ,whore1 pp4 ,b#a-;,b#b4 #ad ,preface to ,a ,catechism and ,confession of ,faith4 #ae ,works 7,london1 #agbf71 ii4 p4 #gha4 #af ,ibid4 ii4 pp4 #gha-ghc4 #ag ,salvation lieth not in literal but in experimental knowledge4--,barclay's ,apology1 ,props4 ,v4 and ,,vi4 sec4 #be4 #ah ,barclay1 ,truth cleared of ,calumnies1 ,works 7,london1 #afia71 i4 pp4 #a-dh4 #ai ,this view appears passim in the works of ,isaac ,penington4 #bj ,see ,penington's ,tract1 ,concerning the ,seed of ,god1 ,works 7edition of #agfa71 ii4 pp4 #eic-fjg4 #ba ,apology1 ,props4 ,v4 and ,,vi4 sec4 #ac4 ,this passage could be exactly paralleled in the writings of ,schwenckfeld4 #bb ,it is interesting to see how closely ,william ,law1 the great exponent of ,spiritual ,christianity in the eighteenth century1 carrying on this train of thought in another channel1 approaches the ,quaker position3 ,thou needest not run here or there saying1 ',where is ,christ8' ,thou needest not say1 ',who shall ascend into heaven1 that is1 to bring ,christ down from above8' or1 ',who shall descend into the deep1 to bring up ,christ from the dead8' ,for1 behold1 the ,word1 which is the ,wisdom of ,god1 is in thy heart4 ,it is there as a bruiser of ,thy serpent1 as a ,light unto thy feet and ,lanthorn unto thy paths2 it is there as an ,holy ,oil1 to soften and overcome the wrathful fiery properties of thy nature1 and change them into the humble meekness of ,light and ,love2 it is there as a speaking ,word of ,god in thy soul2 as soon as thou art ready to hear1 this eternal1 speaking ,word will speak wisdom and peace in thy inward parts1 and bring forth the birth of ,christ1 with all ,his holy nature1 spirit1 and temper within thee4--,spirit of ,prayer1 ,works1 vii4 p4 #fi4 #bc ,works1 ii4 p4 #ghj4 #bd ,apology1 ,props4 ,v4 and ,,vi4 sec4 #ac4 #be ,truth ,cleared of ,calumnies1 ,works1 i4 p4 #ac4 #bf ,ibid4 i4 pp4 #ac-ae4 #bg ,works1 ii4 p4 #ghb4 #cea ,,index ,abrahams1 ,galenus1 #aah1 #abj-aba and ,george ,fox1 #abb-abc discussion with ,penn and ,keith1 #abb ,acontius1 ,j41 #aae ,agrippa of ,nettesheim1 ,cornelius1 #ee n41 #acf-acg ,althamer1 ,a41 #dh ,ambrose1 ,saint1 #bfg ,anabaptism-- characteristics of1 #ag-ah1 #bh1 #ca1 #ha n41 #aab1 #bfg n4 attacked by ,franck1 #dh ,schwenckfeld and1 #hj ,coornhert and1 #aab ,giles ,randall and1 #bed ,anabaptists1 xv divisions among1 #cc ,anderdon1 ,john-- on ,behmenists1 #bbg1 #bca-bcb ,antinomianism1 #bch1 #bda1 #bed1 #bfc ,antinomians1 xv ,aristotle1 #baa ,arminius1 ,j4-- controversy over views of1 #aad and ,coornhert1 #ajg and ,whichcote1 #bhi1 #bid and ,culverwel1 #bhi ,arnold1 ,gottfried-- on ,entfelder1 #ci on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 on ,arminius1 #ajg n4 on ,boreel1 #aah n4 ,astrology1 #acd1 #acg as used by ,weigel1 #adh-aej as used by ,tentzel1 #aej n4 ,aubrey1 ,john-- on ,traherne1 #cbh ,augsburg-- ,anabaptist ,synod in1 #bj1 #cc ,augustine1 ,saint1 #f1 #i1 #bdf1 #bfg theology of1 #bb1 #bjd ,automatism-- of ,jacob ,boehme1 #afb1 #bjg ,baader1 ,f4 von-- on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #aec n4 ,baillie1 ,robert-- on ,anabaptism1 #bed n4 on ,giles ,randall1 #bef n42 #bfb ,balling1 ,peter1 #abc-abd1 #abh influence of ,cartesianism on1 #abd1 #abh1 #acj ,barclay1 ,robert 7of ,ury71 #abc influence of ,cartesianism on1 #abd1 #cdg on divine ,seed in man1 #bhc1 #cde-cdf1 #cdg teaching of1 #cdc1 #cdd-cde1 #cdh ,barclay1 ,robert-- on ,boehme's influence on ,quakers1 #bbj n4 ,barneveldt1 ,john of1 #aad n4 ,baxter1 ,richard-- on ,behmenists1 #bbg on ,vane1 #bga1 #bgd on ,sterry1 #bhj ,behmen1 ,jacob1 #aee n4 7see ,boehme7 ,behmenists1 #bbg-bcd and ,quakers1 #bca-bcc ,bellers1 ,john-- on ,john ,everard1 #bec n4 ,bellius1 ,martinus1 #ic1 #ie ,bernard1 ,saint1 #f1 #bfg ,bewman1 ,jacob1 #bbj ,beza1 ,t41 #ie1 #bij1 #bid ,bible1 translations from-- by ,denck1 #ba by ,castellio1 #ij1 #ib by de ,valdes1 #bcg by ,rous1 #bfg ,boehme1 ,jacob1 #dc n41 #aci life and character of1 #aea-aga1 #bjh vision of1 #adh n41 #aeh1 #aei-afa mysticism of1 #aed1 #aei1 #bja-bjf automatism of1 #afb1 #bjg symbolism of1 #agc view of man1 xxx view of ,god1 xli n41 #ce n2 #agd-agg views on salvation1 #agj1 #aij-aih1 #bhi1 #cji views on the universe1 #aej n41 #aei-afj1 #agb-ahi writings of1 #aea n41 #afa1 #afe n4 in ,england1 #bjh-bbj influence on-- ,george ,fox1 #afe n41 #agj n42 #bba-bbg1 #cch n41 #cci n4 ,quakers1 #bbj1 #bcc ,seekers1 #bbj ,isaac ,newton1 #aha n41 #bcd ,john ,milton1 #bcd ,william ,law1 #aec n41 #agi1 #bcd ,sir ,harry ,vane1 #bge and the ,behmenists1 #bbg-bcd and ,b4 ,whichcote1 #bhi1 #cjb n4 ,boethius1 #aje ,boreel1 ,adam1 #aag-abj ,borellists-- views of1 #aai-abj ,bosanquet1 ,bernard1 xxxi n4 ,bourne1 ,benjamin-- on ,randall1 #bef n2 #beg ,boutroux1 ,emile-- on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #ahc n4 ,breen1 ,daniel van1 #aag ,brooks1 ,thomas-- on ,everard1 #bda ,brothers of the ,common ,life1 #d ,broussoux1 ,emile-- on ,castellio1 #hh n4 ,browne1 ,sir ,thomas1 #bge ,browning1 ,robert-- on ,paracelsus1 #ach ,bucer1 ,martin1 #dg ,buisson1 ,f4-- on ,castellio1 #hh n4 ,buenderlin1 ,johann-- life of1 #cb-cd1 #dj teaching of1 #cd-ci1 #fi1 #gf1 #afi1 #aij writings of1 #cd n4 a mystic1 #ce ,franck's opinion of1 #dh ,buonarotti1 ,michael ,angelo1 #bcg ,burnet1 ,bishop ,g4-- on ,vane1 #bgb on ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bhi-bij ,burrough1 ,edward-- on mission of the ,children of ,light1 #ccg-cda ,cabala1 the-- teaching of1 #acd-acf ,caird1 ,edward-- on ,cartesianism1 #abe n4 ,calvin1 xlix1 #aba relations with ,castellio1 #hi-ia1 #ic1 #if influence on ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bij1 #bid1 #bie ,calvinism-- in ,holland1 #ajf in ,england1 #bgi and ,arminianism1 #aad ,campanus1 ,johann1 #dh1 #ei ,carlyle1 ,thomas-- on ,rous1 #bfg ,castellio1 ,sebastian-- life1 #hh-ic1 #ig teachings of1 #ij1 #ia1 #ic-ajb1 #ajg writings1 #ij1 #ib-id1 #if1 #ig1 #ih1 #ii n41 #aja1 #ajc n4 nom-de-plume of1 #ic1 #ajc n4 as a ,reformer1 #ajc influence in ,england1 #ajc n41 #bdc on ,van der ,kodde brothers1 #aae on ,boreel1 #aah ,caton1 ,william-- on ,castellio1 #ajc n4 ,charles ,,ii4-- on ,vane1 #bgb ,children of the ,light1 #acb1 #bba1 #bfj1 #bgg1 #cda ,chillingworth1 ,william1 #bia ,christ-- in a ,faith religion1 xxxix-xliv as viewed by-- ,denck1 #be ,buenderlin1 #cg ,entfelder1 #da1 #db ,spiritual ,reformers1 #dd1 #ccg ,franck1 #ed1 #fa ,schwenckfeld1 #fe1 #fi1 #gj ,castellio1 #ii-aja teachers of ,nature ,mysticism1 #acd ,weigel1 #adb-add ,boehme1 #ahc1 #ahe n41 #aia1 #aic-aid ,john ,sparrow1 #baf ,john ,everard1 #bdd1 #bej ,pascal1 #bej n4 ,francis ,rous1 #bfi-bgj ,peter ,sterry1 #bhd ,john ,smith1 #caf ,thomas ,traherne1 #ccb ,chrypffs1 ,nicolaus 7see ,cusa7 ,church1 the-- historical conception of1 xlix as conceived by-- ,montanists1 the1 xiii ,protestant ,reformers1 l ,luther1 #h1 #aba ,denck1 #ch ,buenderlin1 #ch ,entfelder1 #da ,spiritual ,reformers1 l1 #de ,franck1 #eh-ei1 #ade1 #aii ,schwenckfeld1 #gh-hj1 #he ,seekers1 #hd1 #hf1 #cdj ,collegiants1 #hd ,borellists1 #abj ,abrahams1 #abj-aba1 #abb ,weigel1 #ade1 #adg ,boehme1 #afi-agj1 #aii-bja1 #bbf ,george ,fox1 #bjj1 #bbf1 #cci-cdj ,church1 interim1 7see also ,sttilstand7-- ,coornhert and1 #aac ,cicero1 #aje ,clarendon1 ,earl of-- on ,vane1 #bga1 #bgi ,clement of ,alexandria1 xxxix1 #bfg ,colet1 ,john1 #bcf ,collegiants1 the-- and the ,stillstand1 #fh n4 ,schwenckfeld and1 #hd history of1 #aac-abd influence of ,descartes and ,spinoza on1 #abc seq4 ,colonna1 ,vittoria1 #bcg ,comans1 ,michael1 #aag ,commonwealth1 ,english-- ,reformation in1 #bff ,rous in1 #bfh ,vane in1 #bga-bgb ,puritans in1 #bij ,conscience1 liberty of-- taught by-- ,castellio1 #ic-if ,coornhert1 #ajf ,boreel1 #aah ,vane1 #bgc1 #bge ,sterry1 #bhf ,william ,caton on1 #ajc n4 in ,holland1 #ajd dangers of1 #cbj ,coornhert1 ,d4 ,v4-- life1 #aje-ajh writings1 #aje1 #ajf teachings1 #ajf1 #ajh-aac and ,calvinism1 #ajf1 #aaa and ,van der ,kodde brothers1 #aae and ,adam ,boreel1 #aah ,cotton1 ,john1 #bib ,covenant of ,grace1 #bgd ,covenant of ,works1 #bgd1 #cji ,crashaw1 ,richard1 #cbb ,crautwald1 ,valentine1 #fg n41 #ha ,cromwell1 ,oliver1 #bfh1 #bga1 #bgb1 #bgd1 #bge1 #bhj ,cudworth1 ,ralph1 #bhj1 #bij ,culverwel1 ,nathaniel1 #cai on ,arminius1 #bhi ,cunitz1 ,m41 #dg n4 ,curio1 ,valentin1 #ah ,cusa1 ,nicholas of1 #c1 #d translated into ,english by ,everard1 #bdc1 #bef1 #bfj published by ,randall1 #bef1 #bfj ,dante1 xxiii1 #aga1 #agd ,dell1 ,william1 l1 #bfg n4 ,denck1 ,hans1 #dh life of1 #ah-ba writings of1 #bb n4 teaching of1 xxx1 #ba-cj1 #fi1 #gf1 #bdb-bdc not an ,anabaptist1 #ah begins ,spiritualist movement1 #acb1 #aci1 #afi1 #aij ,everard's translation of1 #bdb ,denqui1 ,john1 #bdb n4 ,descartes1 ,r4-- philosophy of1 #aag1 #abc-abe1 #abh and ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bia ,deussen1 ,paul-- on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #aec n4 ,dilthey1 ,wilhelm-- on justification1 #h n4 ,dionysius1 the ,areopagite1 #bcf1 #bci his conception of ,god1 xxvii1 #bdg translation of1 by ,everard1 #bdc influence on ,rous1 #bfg on ,sterry1 #bhj ,dobell1 ,bertram-- on ,traherne1 #cbd n42 #cbg ,doellinger1 ,johann-- on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 ,dompeldoop1 #aaf ,donne1 ,john1 #cbb ,dort1 ,synod of1 #aad ,duerer1 ,albrecht1 #dh ,ecke1 ,karl-- on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 ,eckhart1 ,meister1 #c1 #d1 #bci1 #bdc his conception of ,god1 xxvi1 xxvii1 #bdg ,ederheimer1 ,edgar-- on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #aec n4 ,edward ,,vi4 of ,england1 #ib ,ellington1 ,francis-- on ,boehme1 #bba ,ellistone1 ,john1 #bac translates ,boehme into ,english1 #bac1 #bag1 #bba1 #bcd n4 views of1 #bag-bbj1 #bbb ,emmanuel ,college1 #bgi1 #bij1 #bia1 #cjf ,endern1 ,carl von1 #afb n41 #afe ,england-- influence in-- of ,castellio1 #ajc n4 of ,schwenckfeld1 #hd1 #hg1 #ajc n4 of ,weigel1 #aci1 #ada1 #adf1 #adh1 #aej of ,boehme1 #bjh-bcd of ,spiritual ,reformers1 #bce1 #bea1 #beb1 #bfg1 #bhh of de ,valdes1 #bcg-bch ,quakers in1 #acb1 #bba1 #bbg1 #ccg ,reformation spirit in1 #bff-bfg religious upheaval in1 #cbj ,entfelder1 ,christian-- life of1 #ci1 #dj writings1 #dj teaching1 #dj-dc1 #fi1 #afi1 #aij ,enthusiasm1 #bch ,enthusiasts1 xv1 #ca1 #dh ,erasmus1 #cd1 #ea1 #ee n41 #ib1 #aje ,christian ,humanist1 #a n41 #c1 #dg quoted on toleration1 #ic ,erbkam1 ,h4 ,w4-- on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 ,erigena1 #c ,etherington1 ,john-- on ,randall1 #bee ,everard1 ,john-- life of1 #bci-bda1 #bhi translations by1 #bda-bdc1 #bej n41 #bef1 #bfj ,sermons1 #bda teaching1 #bdc-beb and ,randall1 #bdc n41 #bef1 #bfj ,evil 7see ,sin7 ,faith-- definition of1 xxxix in spiritual religion1 xv as an approach to religion1 xxxviii-xlv magic reliance on1 #ge ,confessions of1 #aah ,confessions of1 source of divisions1 #aae view of1 held by-- ,luther1 xxxix1 #e-aa1 #ge ,schwenckfeld1 #ge1 #gg-gh ,castellio1 #ajj ,coornhert1 #aji-aaj ,weigel1 #adf ,boehme1 #aie-aih de ,valdes1 #bcf1 #bcg ,john ,smith1 #caf ,quakers1 #cdd ,familism1 #bch1 #bda1 #bed1 #bee1 #bef n441 #beh1 #bfc1 #bfg n4 ,faust1 xxiii ,ferrar1 ,nicholas1 #bcg1 #bch ,ficino1 ,marsilius1 #acd1 #bce-bcf influence on ,sterry1 #bhj ,fox1 ,george1 #cbh mission of1 #ccg-cdl1 #cdi character1 #cdc conception of the ,church1 #bjj1 #bbf1 #cci-cda and ,abrahams1 #abb-abc and ,boehme1 #afe n41 #agj n41 #bba-bbg1 #cch n41 #cci n4 and ,justice ,hotham1 #baj and ,henry ,vane1 #bgh ,france-- ,castellio on conditions in1 #aja-ajb ,francis of ,assisi-- and ,schwenckfeld1 #fe ,franck1 ,sebastian1 #aci ,humanist and ,mystic1 #df1 #ee1 #aje life of1 #dg-eb1 #ib writings1 #di1 #ea teachings1 #di1 #ej1 #eb-fc1 #fi1 #ic1 #aii1 #bdb1 #bdc1 #bdg1 #cdf on the ,stillstand1 #hf quoted by ,william ,caton1 #ajc n4 translated by ,everard1 #bdb1 #bdc influence on-- ,coornhert1 #ajg ,boreel1 #aah ,weigel1 #ade1 #adf n41 #adh ,boehme1 #aed1 #afi1 #aij ,franckenberg1 ,abraham von-- on ,boehme1 #aef1 #afe ,frecht1 ,martin1 #dg ,freedom-- views on1 of-- ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlix ,hans ,denck1 #bb1 #bc ,buenderlin1 #ce ,luther1 #gj ,schwenckfeld1 #gj1 #gb ,castellio1 #ic-if1 #ajg ,coornhert1 #ajf1 #aac ,randall1 #beh-bei ,vane1 #bgc1 #bge ,freedom of conscience in ,holland1 #ajd ,frettwell1 ,ralph1 #bcb1 #bcc ,furley1 ,benjamin1 #abh n4 collection of books1 #beh n4 ,gairdner1 ,w4 ,h4 ,j41 xxvii n4 ,gangraena1 ,edwards'-- on ,giles ,randall1 #bed1 #bef n41 #beg1 #bfb ,gataker1 ,thomas-- on ,giles ,randall1 #bed ft4 ,gerson1 #f ,gichtel1 ,j4 ,g4-- on ,boehme1 #aec n4 ,gnosticism-- view of man in1 xii1 xiii seven qualities in1 #ahj n4 ,god-- as conceived-- in a ,faith religion1 xliv by ,reason1 xxxv-xxxviii by ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlvii1 #dd by ,mystics1 xxiv1 xxvii-xxviii1 #bdg by ,luther1 #aj1 #aa by ,denck1 #bb-bf by ,buenderlin1 #ce-cg by ,entfelder1 #dj by ,castellio1 #ii by ,descartes1 #abe by ,spinoza1 xxviii1 #abf-abg by ,boehme1 #ce n41 #agd-agg in ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 #acj in the ,cabala1 #acd-ace by ,justice ,hotham1 #baj by ,everard1 #bdf-bdh by ,randall1 #bfj-bfa1 #bfb ,goeters1 ,w4-- on ,collegiants1 etc41 #ajd n4 ,gomarists1 #aad ,gonzaga1 ,giulia1 #bcg ,goodwin1 ,john-- on ,randall1 #beg ,grace-- salvation by1 #ge1 #ii ,covenant of1 the1 #bgd as conceived by-- the ,remonstrants1 #aad ,boehme1 #agj1 #aia ,gregory of ,nazianzen1 #bfg ,gregory of ,nyssa1 #bfg ,gregory ,thaumaturgus1 #cjg ,grocyn1 #bcf ,grotius1 ,hugo1 #aad n4 ,gruetzmacher1 ,r4 ,h4-- on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 on ,boehme1 #afh ,hagen1 ,carl-- on ,buenderlin1 #cd n4 ,haldane1 ,e4 ,s4-- on ,descartes1 #abd n4 ,hales1 ,john1 #bia ,harford1 ,rapha-- on ,everard1 #bdj1 #bda ,harless1 von-- on ,boehme1 #aea n4 ,harnack1 ,a4-- on ,luther1 #ae on ,irenaeus1 #ga n4 ,hartmann1 ,franz-- on ,boehme1 #aea n4 ,hartranft1 ,c4 ,d4-- editor of ,corpus ,schwenchfeldianorum1 #fd n4 ,heaven-- as conceived by-- ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlviii ,weigel1 #adg ,boehme1 #agi1 #ahf-ahh1 #bhi1 #cjb n41 #cab1 #ccd ,milton1 #ahg n4 ,everard1 #beb ,whichcote1 #bhi1 #cja-cjb1 #cab ,john ,smith1 #cab-cac ,thomas ,traherne1 #ccd-cce ,heberle-- on ,denck1 #ag n4 ,hegel1 ,g4 ,w4 ,f4-- on nature of consciousness1 xxxii on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #aie n4 ,hegler1 ,a4-- on ,franck1 #dh n4 ,hell-- as conceived by-- ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlviii ,weigel1 #adg ,boehme1 #agi1 #ahf-ahh1 #bhi1 #cjb n41 #cab1 #ccd ,milton1 #ahg n4 ,whichcote1 #bhi1 #cja-cjb1 #cab ,john ,smith1 #cab-cac ,thomas ,traherne1 #ccd-cce ,heppe1 ,h4-- on ,collegiants1 #ajd n4 ,heraclitus1 #fc ,herbert1 ,george1 #bcg1 #cbb ,hermes ,trismegistus1 #ec1 #acf n41 #baj translated by ,everard1 #bdc ,hetzer1 ,ludwig1 #ai1 #ba ,hill1 ,thomas1 #bia ,hinkelmann1 ,dr41 #afg ,hobbes1 ,thomas1 #bia ,hoffman1 ,melchior1 #cc ,holland-- ,collegiants in1 #fh n41 #hd1 #hf1 #aac-abd ,william ,caton in1 #ajc n4 disciples of ,castellio in1 #ajb1 #ajc religious liberty in1 #ajd ,calvinism in1 #ajf ,hotham1 ,charles-- on ,boehme1 #bji1 #baa1 #bba ,hotham1 ,durant-- on ,boehme1 #bji-baj1 #baa1 #bba1 #bbb and ,george ,fox1 #baj views of1 #baa-bab ,howgil1 ,francis1 #bca ,huebmaier1 ,balthasar1 #dj ,huegel1 ,friedrich von1 xlii ,humanists-- finding a new world1 #a-c view of man1 #b1 #d1 #ai1 #fi view of ,hermes ,trismegistus1 #bdc in ,england1 #bce-bcf influence on-- ,spiritual ,reformers1 xxx1 #bhi ,denck1 #ah1 #ai ,franck1 #df1 #dg ,castellio1 #hi ,coornhert1 #aje-ajf ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bhi ,thomas ,traherne1 #cbc ,hutchinson1 ,anne1 #bgd ,hutten1 ,ulrich von1 #dg ,hylkema1 ,c4 ,b4-- on ,collegiants1 #ajd n4 on ,boreel1 #aah n4 ,imitation of ,christ1 ,the1 #d1 #bfg ,immortality-- ,john ,smith on1 #cad ,independency1 #bfh ,inquisition1 ,spanish1 #ajf ,irenaeus1 #ga ,israel1 ,a4-- on ,weigel1 #adj n4 ,jarrin1 ,charles-- on ,castellio1 #hh n4 ,job1 xxiii ,joris1 ,david1 #ajh ,justification-- mediaeval conception of1 #h n4 as conceived by-- ,luther1 #h n41 #ai1 #gd ,schwenckfeld1 #ge1 #gg ,john ,smith1 #caj the ,quakers1 #cdd ,keith1 ,george1 #abb1 #bcc ,keller1 ,l4-- on ,denck1 #ag n41 #ah n4 ,kempis1 ,thomas a1 #bfg ,kessler1 ,j41 #ah n4 ,kober1 ,dr4 ,tobias1 #afe ,kodde1 ,giesbert ,van der-- founder of ,collegiants1 #aae-aaf ,kodde1 ,john ,van der1 #aae1 #aag ,kodde1 ,william ,van der1 #aae ,kolde1 ,th41 #bj n4 ,ladders1 mystical1 xxiii n4 ,langcake1 ,thomas1 #bcd n4 ,latitude-men1 #bgi1 #bhh-bia ,law1 ,william-- on ,boehme1 #aec n41 #agi1 #bcd on ,inner ,word1 #cdf n4 ,leade1 ,jane1 #bbh1 #bcj1 #bcb n41 #bcc ,lee1 ,francis1 #bcj-bca1 #bcc ,letter1 the-- versus the ,spirit in-- ,denck1 #bh-bi ,buenderlin1 #cf-ci ,entfelder1 #da-dc ,schwenckfeld1 #gb-gd ,franck1 #fj-fb1 #aed1 #bde1 #cag ,castellio1 #aja ,coornhert1 #ajh-aji ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 #acj ,weigel1 #adh ,boehme1 #afi-agj1 #bja ,john ,ellistone1 #bag-bah ,everard1 #bda1 #bde-bdf1 #bea ,randall1 #bfc ,rous1 #bfi ,vane1 #bgf ,sterry1 #bhe ,john ,smith1 #caf-cah ,liegnitz ,pastors1 #fg n4 ,life and ,light of a ,man in ,christ ,jesus1 ,the1 #bfc-bfe ,light1 ,children of the1 #acb1 #bba1 #bfj1 #bgg1 #cda ,light1 ,inward1 #abi-acb 7see ,inward ,word7 ,light on the ,candlestick1 ,the1 #abc1 #abh teaching of1 #abh-acb circulated as ,quaker ,tract1 #abh ,linacre1 ,thomas1 #bcf ,loofs1 ,f4-- on ,luther1 #ac ,lucifer1 #agh1 #ahe1 #aib1 #bcd ,luther1 ,martin-- child of the people1 #d1 #i influence of mystics on1 #f1 #g1 #i influence of ,humanists on1 #g1 #h discovers way of ,faith1 xxxix1 #e-h1 #ae theology of1 #i-ad1 #ai1 #gj1 #gf as a ,reformer1 #ad-af1 #abl quoted on ,toleration1 #ic influence on-- ,franck1 #dg ,schwenckfeld1 #fe-fi ,boehme1 #aed ,magic-- in use of words1 xi as an aspect of-- the ,sacraments1 #ac ,justification1 #ge ,sacerdotalism1 #gi ,superstition1 #cji in the ,cabala1 #ace in ,agrippa of ,nettesheim1 #acf in ,paracelsus1 #acg ,man-- as conceived by-- ,gnostics1 xii1 xiii the psychologist1 xvii the mystics1 xxvi1 #gj the ,spiritual ,reformers1 xxx-xxxii1 xlviii1 #ccg the ,humanists1 #b1 #d1 #ai1 #fi ,luther1 #i1 #aa-ab1 #gj ,denck1 xxx1 #ba-bc ,buenderlin1 #ce1 #cf ,franck1 #ec-ee ,schwenckfeld1 #ed1 #gj1 #gg1 #bfi ,castellio1 #ii ,coornhert1 #ajf ,remonstrants1 #aad ,descartes1 #abd-abe ,spinoza1 #abg author of ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 #acj-aca exponents of ,nature ,mysticism1 #acc ,agrippa of ,nettesheim1 #acg ,paracelsus1 #ach ,weigel1 #adb-ade ,boehme1 xxx1 #ahd-ahf1 #ahh1 #aij-aia ,charles ,hotham1 #baa ,john ,ellistone1 #bah1 #bai ,john ,sparrow1 #bah1 #bai ,everard1 #bdh-bej ,rous1 #bfh ,vane1 #bgf-bgg ,sterry1 xxx1 #bhc ,robert ,barclay1 #bhc1 #cdg ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bij ,whichcote1 #bif-big ,john ,smith1 #caj-caa ,english poets1 #cbb1 #cbc ,traherne1 #cbg1 #cbh-cbi the ,quakers1 #cdg ,mann1 ,edward1 #bcc n4 ,martensen1 ,h4 ,l4-- on ,boehme1 #aea n4 ,martyr1 ,peter1 #bcf ,massachusetts-- religious controversies in1 #bgc-bgd ,mc,giffert1 ,a4 ,c4-- on ,luther1 #ae ,mennonites1 #aae views of1 #aaf and ,collegiants1 #aaf1 #abj ,mildmay1 ,sir ,walter1 #bgi ,millennium1 the-- ,vane on1 #bge1 #bgg-bgh ,milton1 ,john-- on heaven and hell1 #ahg n4 on strange sects1 #bad on ,vane1 #bga on ,inward ,word1 #cba influence of ,boehme on1 #bcd and ,sterry1 #bha and ,quakers1 #cba ,ministry-- must be divinely ordained1 #gi in interim-,church1 #aac among ,mennonites1 #aaf among ,collegiants1 #aae1 #aag as conceived by-- ,weigel1 #adf-adg de ,valdes1 #bcg ,george ,fox1 #bbf1 #cch-cci ,montanists establish a spiritual church1 xiii ,montfort1 ,basil1 #ic ,more1 ,henry1 #aah1 #bhj1 #cai ,more1 ,sir ,thomas1 #bcf ,morning ,meeting1 the1 of ,london ,friends1 #bcb-bcc ,muenzer1 ,thomas-- views on ,inward ,word1 #ai ,mysticism-- characteristics of1 xix-xxi1 #bbc limitations of1 xxii-xxix negative way of1 xxv-xxviii in spiritual religion1 xv the basis of life1 #c1 #d a pathway to ,god1 #acc of ,buenderlin1 #ce of ,entfelder1 #da of ,franck1 #df1 #ee1 #fb1 #aee of ,coornhert1 #ajh of ,spinoza1 #abc1 #abe of ,ficino1 #acd of ,paracelsus1 #ach of ,weigel1 #ada1 #aee of ,boehme1 #aed-aee1 #aei1 #bja-bjf of ,randall1 #beh of ,vane1 #bgc of ,english poets1 #cbc of ,traherne1 #ccc-ccd ,mysticism1 ,nature1 #acc-aci1 #adh1 #aed1 #ahj n4 ,mystics-- conception of-- man1 #gj salvation1 #ge the universe1 #aee ,god1 xxiv1 xxvii-xxviii1 #bdf-bdg influence on-- ,luther1 #f1 #g1 #i new views1 #acf n4 ,coornhert1 #ajh ,boreel1 #aah ,everard1 #bdg ,rous1 #bfg ,sterry1 #bhj ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bhi ,nature ,mysticism1 #acc-aci1 #adh1 #aed1 #ahj n4 ,neo-,platonism1 #acd1 #acf n4 ,neo-,pythagoreanism1 #acd ,newton1 ,sir ,isaac-- influence of ,boehme on1 #aha n41 #bcd ,nicholas1 ,henry1 #ajh ,nicoladoni1 ,a41 #ba on ,buenderlin1 #cc n4 ,norris1 ,john1 #cai ,novalis-- on ,boehme1 #aec n4 ,oaths-- views on-- of ,mennonites1 #aaf of ,collegiants1 #aaf ,ochino1 ,bernardino1 #bcf1 #bcg1 #bch ,o,ecolampadius1 #ah1 #ba1 #cd1 #acg ,oporin1 ,humanist printer1 #ib ,origen1 #bfg1 #cjg ,paracelsus1 #acg-aci teaching of1 #aei n41 #ahd symbolism of1 #agc n4 influence on-- ,weigel1 #adh1 #aej n4 ,tentzel1 #aej n4 ,boehme1 #aed1 #agd1 #age n4 ,parker1 ,alexander1 #bcc n4 ,pascal1 xxx n41 #id1 #bej n41 #bfa n4 ,patrick1 ,simon 7,s4 ,p47-- on ,latitude-,men1 #bhh n41 #bij on ,john ,smith1 #cje n41 #cjf-cjh1 #cai ,paul ,st4-- use of word spiritual1 xi ,penington1 ,isaac1 xix1 xxi1 #cde n4 ,penn1 ,william-- and ,abrahams1 #abb teaching of1 #cdd1 #cdg1 #cdh ,pennsylvania-- migration of ,schwenckfelders to1 #hc ,penny1 ,a4 ,j4-- on ,boehme1 #aea n4 ,pepys1 ,samuel-- on ,vane1 #bgb ,perfection1 doctrine of-- ,john ,sparrow on1 #baf-bag ,randall on1 #bed1 #bee1 #bei ,perkins1 #bid ,personality1 xlix1 #h ,pfeiffer1 ,f4-- on ,eckhart1 xxvi n41 xxvii n4 ,pflug1 ,julius1 #cd ,philadelphian ,society1 the1 #bcj1 #bcl1 #bcc ,philosophy-- ,greek1 #acd in ,england1 #bce-bcf1 #bhh1 #bie ,arabian1 #acd ,pico of ,mirandola1 #acd ,pirkheimer1 #dg ,plato1 xxxiv1 #ec1 #acd1 #baa1 #bfh influence on-- ,ficino1 #bce-bcf ,peter ,sterry1 #bhj ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bhi1 #bij ,traherne1 #cbc ,platonists1 ,cambridge1 #bgi1 #bhj1 #bhh-bia1 #cai1 #ccd ,plotinus1 #c1 #ec1 #baa1 #bcf1 #bci1 #bhj1 #bhi1 #bij1 #cbc ,poiret1 ,peter-- on ,boehme1 #aec n4 ,pordage1 ,john1 #bbg-bcj on ,quakers1 #bcj n4 ,pordage1 ,samuel-- on ,john ,sparrow1 #bag n4 ,predestination1 #ii as viewed by-- ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlix ,coornhert1 #aaa ,remonstrants1 #aad ,boehme1 #afd1 #bjd ,presbyterianism1 #bfh1 #bhl ,principles1 ,three-- in ,boehme's universe1 #ahc ,proclus1 #bhj ,psalms1 translated by ,rous1 #bfg ,puritans1 #bgi1 #bij1 #bia ,pythagoras1 #baj ,quakers1 the-- precursors of1 xxxii1 #ca1 #hc1 #aaf1 #abc1 #acb1 #adf1 #bfc1 #bfd n41 #bhc1 #ccg1 #cdf1 #cdh circulate ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 #abh influence of ,boehme on1 #bbj-bbg1 #bcc n41 #cch n4 influence of ,everard on1 #beb n4 and the ,behmenists1 #bca-bcc mission of1 #ccg-cda organization of1 #cda-cdc views of1 #cdc-cdh ,qualities1 ,seven-- in ,jacob ,boehme1 #ahj-ahc1 #aia in ,gnosticism1 alchemy1 etc41 #ahj n4 ,quarles1 ,francis1 #cbb1 #cbc ,randall1 ,giles-- and ,everard1 #bdc n41 #bef1 #bfj life of1 #bec-bed teaching1 #bed1 #bee1 #bfj-bfc translations1 #bee-bef1 #beh1 #bfj1 #bfa ,randall1 ,john1 #bec ,ranterism1 #ca1 #baj1 #bda1 #bfg n4 among ,anabaptists1 #cc ,ranters1 #cbj ,raphael1 #agf ,reason-- in spiritual religion1 xv as an approach to religion1 xxxii-xxxviii use of1 for-- ,luther1 #ab ,franck1 #ee ,castellio1 #ih1 #aja ,coornhert1 #ajh ,ficino1 #bce-bcf ,rous1 #bfh ,durant ,hotham1 #baj1 #baa ,whichcote1 #bie1 #cjj n4 ,reformation1 the-- divisions in1 #a1 #ca1 #di1 #hh1 #ih-ii1 #afi character of1 #dc-dd1 #ff-fg how to be carried out1 #hb1 #aab false course of1 #ig1 #aba in ,england1 #bff-bfg ,spiritual ,reformers and1 xiv-xv1 xlvi1 #ccf-ccg1 #cdi ,reformer1 a-- types of1 #ad-af ,denck as1 #bi ,buenderlin as1 #dc-de ,entfelder as1 #dc-de ,franck as1 #df ,schwenckfeld1 #fd1 #fe1 #ge1 #aci ,castellio as1 #ajc ,reformers1 ,spiritual-- type of religion1 xxix-xxxii1 xlvi-li views of early1 #dc-de1 #gf1 #acc views brought into ,england1 #bce mission of1 #ccf-ccg1 #cdi and ,spinoza1 #abg and ,weigel1 #aci1 #adh and the ,cambridge ,platonists1 #bhh-bij influence of1 on-- ,coornhert1 #ajg ,everard1 #bci1 #bea-beb ,randall1 #bee ,vane1 #bgc ,milton1 #cba ,traherne1 #cbc ,quakerism1 #ccf-ccg1 #cdh-cdi ,reforms1 ,economic and ,social1 #d ,religion1 ,first-hand-- ,faith as1 xlv in ,covenant of ,grace1 #bgd as taught by-- ,denck1 #bf-bg ,buenderlin1 #cg-ci ,entfelder1 #db ,franck1 #de1 #eh ,schwenckfeld1 #ga-gb ,spiritual ,reformers1 #gf ,castellio1 #ij1 #ajj ,coornhert1 #aji ,weigel1 #ada ,boehme1 #aed1 #agj-aga1 #aib seq4 ,durant ,hotham1 #bab ,john ,ellistone1 #bag-bah de ,valdes1 #bcg ,everard1 #bdd ,rous1 #bfg ,vane1 #bgb1 #bgd ,whichcote1 #bif1 #big-bii1 #cjj-cja1 #cbb ,john ,smith1 #cjh1 #caj1 #caa-cab1 #cah1 #cbb ,english poets1 #cbb-cbc ,religion of lay type-- ,humanism and1 #c1 #d1 #h found in ,schwenckfeld ,societies1 #hb-hc in ,collegiant ,societies1 #aae-aag1 #abj in ,congregational ,church government1 #bfh ,religion1 rational type of1 xxxii-xxxviii ,religion1 spiritual1 xlvi in ,montanism1 xiii in ,gnostic sects1 xii during ,reformation period1 xiv-xv three tendencies in1 xv1 xxix1 xlv-xlvi ,religion1 study of1 xv-xix ,remonstrants1 the-- views of1 #aad ,reuchlin1 ,j41 #dg forerunner of ,reformation1 #acd ,richter1 ,gregorius-- and ,boehme1 #afb-afd1 #aff-afg1 #afh ,rieuwertz1 ,john1 #abh ,roehrich1 ,gustave-- on ,denck1 #ag n4 ,roth1 ,f4-- on ,schwenckfeld ,societies1 #hc n4 ,rous1 ,francis-- life1 #bfg-bfh1 #bgj writings1 #bfh teaching1 #bfh-bga ,rues1 ,s4 ,f4-- on ,collegiants1 #abc n4 ,rutherford1 ,samuel-- on ,schwenckfeld1 #hg on de ,valdes1 #bch on ,randall1 #bed1 #beh1 #bfb1 #bfc ,rynsburgers1 #aad 7see ,collegiants7 ,sabbath1 the-- names for1 #bfd n4 true1 for ,coornhert1 #aaa ,sachs1 ,hans1 #dg ,sacraments1 the use of-- as taught by-- ,luther1 #ab-ad1 #ai ,denck1 #bg ,buenderlin1 #cg1 #ci ,entfelder1 #da-dc ,franck1 #ei ,schwenckfeld1 #fg-fi1 #hj-hb1 #hf1 #bgj ,castellio1 #aja ,coornhert1 #aaj-aab ,collegiants1 #aaf ,borellists1 #abj ,weigel1 #adb1 #adg ,boehme1 #bja ,behmenists1 #bcb-bcc ,jane ,leade1 #bcb n4 ,everard1 #bea ,randall1 #bed1 #bee ,vane1 #bgc ,seekers1 #bgc ,whichcote1 #cjb-cjc ,salter1 ,dr4 ,samuel-- on ,whichcote1 #bia n4 ,saltmarsh1 ,john1 #bfg n4 ,salvation-- by ,faith1 xlii-xliv by works1 xlvi1 #ge view of1 as held by-- ,protestant ,reformers1 xlvi ,spiritual ,reformers1 xlvii-xlix1 #dd1 #gf historic ,church1 #ge1 #ii ,mystics1 #ge ,luther1 #aj-ab1 #gf ,denck1 #be-bg1 #bh1 #bdc ,buenderlin1 #cf-ch ,entfelder1 #db ,franck1 #ed-ee ,schwenckfeld1 #gj-gb1 #gd-gh1 #bhe ,irenaeus1 #gj ,castellio1 #ih1 #ajj ,coornhert1 #aaj ,remonstrants1 #aad ,weigel1 #ada ,boehme1 #agj1 #aij-aih1 #bhi de ,valdes1 #bcf1 #bcg ,everard1 #bej ,sterry1 #bhe ,whichcote1 #bhi1 #bic1 #cja ,john ,smith1 #caa-cab ,traherne1 #ccb-ccc ,quakers1 #cde1 #cdf-cdg ,sampson1 ,alden-- on ,milton1 #cba n4 ,schellhorn1 ,j4 ,g41 #ff n4 ,schleiermacher1 ,friedrich1 xxxii ,schmalkald ,league1 #fi ,schneider1 ,walter-- on ,adam ,boreel1 #aah n4 ,schweinitz1 ,sigismund von1 #afg1 #afh ,schweizer1 ,a4-- on ,castellio1 #hh n4 ,schwenckfeld1 ,caspar1 #dh as a ,reformer1 #fd1 #fe1 #ge1 #aci life1 #fe-fi teaching1 #ed1 #ff1 #fg1 #fi-hg1 #aed1 #bfi1 #bhe1 #cdf1 #cdg writings1 #fd n41 #gj n4 organizes ,societies1 #hb-hc appearance of views in ,england1 #hd1 #hg1 #ajc n4 influence on-- ,weigel1 #adb1 #adh ,boehme1 #aed1 #aef n41 #aij ,scriptures1 the-- views on1 as held by-- ,luther1 #ab ,denck1 #bh1 #bi1 #bdb ,buenderlin1 #cf ,entfelder1 #db ,spiritual ,reformers1 #dd1 #bea ,franck1 #eh1 #fj1 #fl1 #bdc ,schwenckfeld1 #gc ,castellio1 #aja ,coornhert1 #ajh ,borellists1 #abj ,boehme1 #afi1 #agj1 #bbe ,john ,sparrow1 #bae1 #baf1 #bbe ,george ,fox1 #bbe ,everard1 #bde1 #bea ,randall1 #bee ,rous1 #bfi ,whichcote1 #cjj ,john ,smith1 #cag ,quakers1 #cdh ,scultetus1 ,b41 #afc n4 ,seekers1 the-- and the ,stillstand1 #fh n4 view of the ,church1 #hd1 #hf1 #cdj view of sacraments1 #bgc ,schwenckfeld and1 #hd among the ,collegiants1 #aag1 #abj1 #abb in ,england1 #abb1 #bfg n4 ,boehme of the type of1 #aei ,boehme's influence on1 #bbj-bba ,vane one of the1 #bgc and the ,quakers1 #cdj-cdb ,seidemann1 ,j4 ,r4-- on ,muenzer1 #ai n4 ,servetus1 #ic1 #if ,sewel1 ,william-- on ,abrahams1 #abb n4 ,signature1 #agd1 #ahc1 #bbb1 #bbc ,silesius1 ,angelus1 #bdd n4 ,simons1 ,menno1 #aab1 #aba ,sin-- views of1 as held by-- ,franck1 #fb ,schwenckfeld1 #gj ,castellio1 #ii ,remonstrants1 #aad ,boehme1 #aed1 #aee1 #agg-agi1 #ahh-ahi1 #aia ,john ,sparrow1 #baf1 #bag ,sterry1 #bhd ,whichcote1 #cja-cjb ,john ,smith1 #cab-cac ,traherne1 #cca-ccb ,slee1 ,j4 ,c4 ,van-- on ,collegiants1 #aad n4 ,smith1 ,john-- life1 #cje-cjf character1 #cje1 #cjf-cjh1 #cah teaching1 #cjh-cah1 #cbb ,societies-- organized by ,schwenckfeld1 #hb-hc of ,collegiants1 #aae-aag1 #aai-abj1 #abc ,society of ,friends-- organized by ,george ,fox1 #ccg1 #cda-cdc ,socrates1 xxxiii n41 #baa ,sopingius1 ,g41 #aad ,sparrow1 ,john-- translates ,boehme into ,english1 #bac-bba1 #bbb1 #bcd n4 views of1 #bad-bag1 #bbe ,spinoza1 ,b4-- mysticism of1 xxviii1 #abc1 #abe ,philosophy of1 #abe and the ,spiritual ,reformers1 #abg and the ,collegiants1 #abc1 #abh ,spiritual1 the word-- ,paul's use of1 xi in ,johannine writings1 xii among ,gnostics1 xii ,montanists1 xiii ,spiritual ,reformers1 xiv-xv ,spiritualists1 #ab1 #ca1 #dh ,spruyt1 ,david1 #abj ,steiner1 ,r4-- on ,boehme1 #aea n4 ,sterry1 ,peter-- life1 #bgi-bha writings1 #bha teachings1 xxx1 xxxiv1 #bha-bhg ,stillstand1 the-- ,schwenckfeld and1 #fg1 #hf1 #bgc ,franck and1 #hf revived by ,collegiants and ,seekers1 #fh n4 ,vane adopts type of1 #bgc ,stoddart1 ,a4 ,m4-- on ,paracelsus1 #acg n4 ,stoicism1 #acd ,stoupe-- on ,collegiants1 #aai ,strobel1 ,g4 ,t4-- on ,muenzer1 #ai n4 ,sub-conscious1 the1 xxviii-xxix ,swinburne1 ,a4 ,c41 #agc ,tauler1 xxvi1 #c1 #d1 #f1 #ai1 #ada1 #bci1 #bdc1 #bec n41 #bfg his conception of ,god1 #bdg ,taylor1 ,jeremy1 #bia ,taylor1 ,thomas-- on ,boehme1 #bbj ,temperature1 #agh1 #aha1 #ahe ,tentzel1 ,a41 #bdb use of astrology by1 #aej n4 ,theologia ,germanica1 xxvi n41 #d1 #f1 #bci1 #bfc translated by-- ,john ,theophilus 7,castellio71 #ajc n41 #bdc1 #bef ,everard1 #bdc ,randall1 #bef-beg1 #beh influence on ,weigel1 #ada ,theophilus1 ,john 7,castellio71 #ajc n41 #bdc ,thornton1 ,william1 #bbj ,tilken1 ,balthazar1 #agj ,traherne1 ,thomas-- life1 #cbc-cbd1 #cbg1 #cbh writings1 #cbg teaching1 #cbb1 #cbd-cbg1 #cbh-cce ,trithemius1 #acg ,troeltsch1 ,e4-- on ,luther1 #ae n4 on ,franck1 #dg n4 on ,schwenckfeld1 #fd n4 ,tuckney1 ,dr4 ,anthony1 #bgi1 #bia correspondence with ,whichcote1 #bib-bif1 #cjb ,tulloch1 ,john-- on ,cambridge ,platonists1 #cjc n41 #cje ,tully1 #bij ,turner1 ,wyllyam1 #hd ,underhill1 ,evelyn1 x ,universe1 the-- as conceived-- in a rational religion1 xxxii-xxxviii by ,buenderlin1 #ce by ,entfelder1 #dj in ,nature ,mysticism1 #acc in the ,cabala1 #ace by ,agrippa of ,nettesheim1 #acg by ,paracelsus1 #ach-aci by ,weigel1 #adh by ,boehme1 #aej n41 #aei-afj1 #agb-ahi by ,john ,sparrow1 #bad by ,john ,ellistone1 #bai by ,everard1 #bdh by ,vane1 #bgf-bgh by ,sterry1 #bhb by ,john ,smith1 #cad-caf by ,traherne1 #cbi-cca ,vadian1 #ba ,valdes1 ,alfonso de1 #bcf ,valdes1 ,juan de-- life1 #bcf-bcg teaching1 #bcg influence in ,england1 #bcg-bch ,vane1 ,sir ,harry-- life1 #bga-bgd teaching1 #bgd and ,george ,fox1 #bgh and ,sterry1 #bhj ,vaughan1 ,henry1 #cbb1 #cbf1 #cce ,veesenmeyer-- on ,buenderlin1 #cc n4 on ,entfelder1 #dj ,vermigli1 ,pietro ,martire1 #bcf1 #bcg1 #bch ,wallace1 ,william1 xxxvii ,walther1 ,dr4 ,b41 #afe ,walton1 ,christopher-- on ,boehme1 #aea n41 #agi n4 on ,jane ,leade1 #bcj ,war-- views of ,collegiants on1 #aag views of ,boehme on1 #aii ,ward1 ,george-- on ,boehme1 #bcd n4 ,ward1 ,james1 xxxvi ,warmund1 ,church of1 #aae-aaf ,weigel1 ,valentine-- life1 #aci-adj1 #adh n4 teaching1 #ada-aej writings1 #ada1 #ade1 #adh influence on ,boehme1 #aci1 #adh1 #aej n41 #aed1 #aef n41 #afi1 #aij influence in ,england1 #aci1 #ada1 #adf1 #adh1 #aej ,weissner1 ,dr4 ,cornelius1 #afc1 #afe ,whichcote1 ,benjamin-- life1 #bgi1 #bhi1 #bia-bic teaching1 #bic-cjd and ,dr4 ,tuckney1 #bib-bie and ,john ,smith1 #cjf ,whitaker1 ,richard-- on ,boehme1 #bjh n4 ,wilcox1 ,ella ,wheeler1 xxxviii ,williams1 ,roger-- on ,vane1 #bge ,winstanley1 ,gerard1 #bfg n41 #ccd ,winthrop1 ,john1 #bgd1 #bge ,word of ,god1 ,inward-- as taught by-- the ,spiritual ,reformers1 xxx1 xxxviii1 li1 #cb1 #dd1 #ccg ,thomas ,muenzer1 #ai ,ludwig ,hetzer1 #ai ,denck1 #bd1 #bg1 #bh-cj1 #bdc ,buenderlin1 #cf-ci ,entfelder1 #da ,franck1 #ec1 #ef-eh1 #cdf ,schwenckfeld1 #ff1 #gb1 #cdf1 #cdg ,castellio1 #aja ,coornhert1 #ajh-aji ,the ,light on the ,candlestick1 #abi-acb ,weigel1 #adg ,boehme1 #afi ,john ,sparrow1 #bad-baf ,george ,fox1 #bae ,john ,ellistone1 #bah de ,valdes1 #bch ,everard1 #bdf1 #bea-beb ,randall1 #bfc ,rous1 #bfh-bfi ,vane1 #bgf1 #bgi ,milton1 #cba ,william ,law1 #cdf n4 root principle of ,quakerism1 #cde1 #cdh ,wordsworth1 ,william1 xxiii1 xxxv ,worthington1 ,john-- on ,john ,smith1 #cjf1 #cjg ,zwickau ,prophets1 #ab ,zwingli1 #aba