A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume II (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson

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[Footnote 8: John 3:34]

[Footnote 9: Col. 2:9]

After Jesus Christ came the Evangelists and Apostles. Of the same spirit
which he had possessed _immeasurably_, these had their several portions;
and though these were[10] limited, and differed in degree front one
another, they were sufficient to enable them to do their duty to God and
men, to enjoy the presence of the Almighty, and to promote the purposes
designed by him in the propagation of his gospel.

[Footnote 10: 2 Cor. 10. 18.]

CHAP. II.

_Except a man has a portion of the same spirit, which Jesus and the
prophets and the apostles had, he can have no knowledge of God or
spiritual things--Doctrine of St. Paul on this subject--This confirms
the history of the human and divine spirit in man--These spirits
distinct in their kind--This distinction farther elucidated by a
comparison between the faculties of men and brutes--Sentiments of
Augustin--Luther--Calvin--Smith--Taylor--Cudworth._

The Quakers believe, that there can be no spiritual knowledge of God,
but through the medium of his holy spirit; or, in other words, that if
men have not a portion of the same spirit which the holy men of old, and
which the Evangelists and Apostles, and which Jesus himself had, they
can have no true or vital religion.

In favour of this proposition, they usually quote those remarkable words
of the Apostle Paul;[11] "for what man knoweth the things of a man, save
the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth
no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God." And again--"but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned."

[Footnote 11: 1 Cor. 2.11, &c.]

By these expressions the Quakers conceive that the history of man, as
explained in the last chapter, is confirmed; or that the Almighty not
only gave to man reason, which was to assist him in his temporal, but
also superadded a portion of his own spirit, which was to assist him in
his spiritual concerns. They conceive it also to be still farther
confirmed by other expressions of the same Apostle. In his first letter
to the Corinthians, he says,[12] "Know ye not that your body is the
_temple of the Holy Ghost_, which _is in you_, which ye have of God;"
and in his letter to Timothy he desires him[13] "to hold fast that good
thing which was committed to him by means of the _holy_ Ghost, which
_dwelled in him_" Now these expressions can only be accurate on a
supposition of the truth of the history of man, as explained in the
former chapter. If this history be true, then they are considered as
words of course: for if there be a communication between the supreme
Being and his creature man, or if the Almighty has afforded to man an
emanation of his own spirit, which is to act for a time in his mortal
body, and then to return to him that gave it, we may say, with great
consistency, that the divinity resides in him, or that his body is the
temple of the holy spirit.

[Footnote 12: 1 Cor. 6. 19.]

[Footnote 13: 2 Tim. 1. 14.]

The Quakers conceive again from these expressions of the Apostle, that
these two principles in man are different from each other; they are
mentioned under the distinct names of the spirit of man, and of the
spirit of God. The former they suppose to relate to the understanding:
the latter conjointly to the understanding and to the heart. The former
can be brought into use at all times, if the body of a man be in health.
The latter is not at his own disposal. Man must wait for its
inspirations. Like the wind, it bloweth when it listeth. Man also, when
he feels this divine influence, feels that it is distinct from his
reason. When it is gone, he feels the loss of it, though all his
rational faculties be alive. "Those, says Alexander Arscott, who have
this experience, certainly know that as at times, in their silent
retirements and humble waitings upon God, they receive an understanding
of his will, relating to their present duty, in such a clear light as
leaves no doubt or hesitation, so at other times, when this is withdrawn
from them, they are at a loss again, and see themselves, as they really
are, ignorant and destitute."

The Quakers again understand by these expressions of the Apostle, which
is the point insisted upon in this chapter, that human reason, or the
spirit of man which is within him, and the divine principle of life and
light which is the spirit of God residing in his body or temple, are so
different in their powers, that the former cannot enter into the
province of the latter. As water cannot penetrate the same bodies, which
fire can, so neither can reason the same subjects as the spiritual
faculty.

The Quakers, however, do not deny, that human reason is powerful within
its own province. It may discover in the beautiful structure of the
Universe, and in the harmony and fitness of all its parts, the hand of a
great contriver. It may conclude upon attributes, as belonging to the
same. It may see the fitness of virtue, and deduce from thence a
speculative morality. They only say that it, is incompetent to spiritual
discernment. But though they believe the two spirits to be thus distinct
in their powers, they believe them, I apprehend, to be so far connected
in religion that the spirit of God can only act upon a reasonable being.
Thus light and the power of sight are distinct things. Yet the power of
sight is nothing without light, nor can light operate upon any other
organ than the eye to produce vision.

This proposition may be farther elucidated by making a comparison
between the powers of men, and those of the brute-creation. An animal is
compounded of body and instinct. If we were to endeavour to cultivate
this instinct, we might make the animal tame and obedient. We might
impress his sensitive powers, so that he might stop or go forward at our
voice. We might bring him in some instances, to an imitation of outward
gestures and sounds. Bat all the years of his life, and centuries of
life in his progeny would pass away, and we should never be able so to
improve his instinct into intellect, as to make him comprehend the
affairs of a man. He would never understand the meaning of his goings
in, or of his goings out, or of his pursuits in life, or of his progress
in science. So neither could any education so improve the reason of man
into the divine principle of light within him, as that he should
understand spiritual things; for the things of God are only discernible
by the spirit of God.

This doctrine, that there is no understanding of divine things except
through the medium of the divine principle, which dwells in the temple
of man, was no particular notion of George Fox, or of the succeeding
Quakers, though undoubtedly they have founded more upon it than other
Christians. Those, who had the earliest access to the writings of the
evangelists and apostles, believed the proposition. All the ancient
fathers of the church considered it as the corner stone of the Christian
fabric. The most celebrated of the reformers held it in the same light.
The divines, who followed these, adopted it as their creed also; and by
these it has been handed down to other Christian communities, and is
retained as an essential doctrine by the church of England, at the
present day.

The Quakers adduce many authorities in behalf of this proposition, but
the following may suffice.

"It is the inward master, says St. Augustine, that teacheth. Where this
inspiration is wanting, it is in vain that words from without are beaten
in."

Luther says, "no man can rightly know God, unless he immediately
receives it from his holy spirit, except he finds it by experience in
himself; and in this experience the holy spirit teacheth as in his
proper school, out of which school nothing is taught but mere talk."

Calvin, on Luke 10. 21. says, "Here the natural wisdom of man is so
puzzled, and is at such a loss, that the first step of profiting in the
school of Christ is to give it up or renounce it. For by this natural
wisdom, as by a veil before our eyes, we are hindered from attaining the
mysteries of God, which are not revealed but unto babes and little ones.
For neither do flesh and blood reveal, nor doth the natural man
perceive, the things that are of the spirit. But the doctrine of God is
rather foolishness to him, because it can only be spiritually judged.
The assistance therefore of the holy spirit is in this case necessary,
or rather, his power alone is efficacious."

Dr. Smith observes, in his select discourses, "besides the outward
Revelation of God's will to men, there is also an inward impression of
it in their minds and spirits, which is in a more especial manner
attributed to God. We cannot see divine things but in a divine light.
God only, who is the true light, and in whom there is no darkness at
all, can so shine out of himself upon our glossy understandings, as to
beget in them a picture of himself, his own will and pleasure, and turn
the soul (as the phrase is in Job) like wax or clay to the seal of his
own light and love. He that made our souls in his own image and
likeness, can easily find a way into them. The word that God speaks,
having found a way into the soul, imprints itself there, as with the
point of a diamond, and becomes (to borrow Plato's expression) 'a word
written in the Soul of the learner.' Men may teach the grammar and
rhetoric; but God teaches the divinity. Thus it is God alone that
acquaints the soul with the truths of revelation."

The learned Jeremy Taylor, bishop of Down and Connor, speaks in a
similar manner in his sermon de Via Intelligentiae. "Now in this
inquiry, says he, I must take one thing for granted, which is, that
every good man is taught of God. And indeed, unless he teach us, we
shall make but ill scholars ourselves, and worse guides to others. No
man can know God, says Irenaeus, except he be taught of God. If God
teaches us, then all is well; but if we do not learn wisdom at his feet,
from whence should we have it? It can come from no other spring."

Again--"those who perfect holiness in the fear of God, have a degree of
divine knowledge more than we can discourse of, and more certain than
the demonstration of Geometry; brighter than the sun, and indeficient as
the light of heaven--A good man is united to God--As flame touches
flame, and combines into splendour and into glory, so is the spirit of a
man united to Christ by the spirit of God. Our light, on the other hand,
is like a candle; every word of doctrine blows it out, or spends the
wax, and makes the light tremulous. But the lights of heaven are fixed
and bright and shine for ever."

Cudworth, in his intellectual system, is wholly of the same opinion:
"All the books and writings which we converse with, they can but
represent spiritual objects to our understanding, which yet we can never
see in their own true figure, colour, and proportion, until we have a
divine light within to irradiate and shine upon them. Though there be
never such excellent truths concerning Christ and his Gospel, set down
in words and letters, yet they will be but unknown characters to us,
until we have a living spirit within us, that can decypher them, until
the same spirit, by secret whispers in our hearts, do comment upon them,
which did at first indite them. There be many that understand the Greek
and Hebrew of the scripture, the original languages in which the text
was written, that never understood the language of the spirit."

CHAP. III.

_Neither can a man, except he has a portion of the same spirit which
Jesus and the Apostles and the Prophets had, know spiritualty that the
scriptures are of divine authority, or spiritually understand
them--Explanation of these tenets--Objection, that these tenets set
aside human reason--Reply of the Quakers--Observations of
Luther--Calvin--Owen--Archbishop Usher--Archbishop Sandys--Milton
--Bishop Taylor._

As a man cannot know spiritual things but through the medium of the
spirit of God; or except he has a portion of the same spirit, which
Jesus and the Prophets and the Apostles had, so neither can he, except
he has a portion of the same spirit, either spiritually know that the
writings or sayings of these holy persons are of divine authority, or
read or understand them, to the promotion of his spiritual interests.

These two tenets are but deductions from that in the former chapter, and
may be thus explained.

A man, the Quakers say, may examine the holy scriptures, and may deduce
their divine origin from the prophecies they contain, of which many have
been since accomplished; from the superiority of their doctrines beyond
those in any other book which is the work of man; from the miraculous
preservation of them for so many ages; from the harmony of all their
parts, and from many other circumstances which might be mentioned. But
this, after all, will be but an historical, literal, or outward proof of
their origin, resulting from his reason or his judgment. It will be no
spiritual proof, having a spiritual influence on his heart; for this
proof of the divine origin of the scriptures can only be had from the
spirit of God. Thus, when the Apostle Paul preached to several women by
the river side near Philippi, it is said of Lydia only,[14] "the Lord
opened her heart, that she attended to the things that were spoken by
Paul." The other women undoubtedly heard the gospel of Paul with their
outward ears, but it does not appear that their hearts were in such a
spiritual state, that they felt its divine authority; for it is not said
of them, as of Lydia, that their hearts were opened to understand
spiritually that this gospel was of God. Again,[15] when Jesus Christ
preached to the Jews in the temple, many believed on him, but others
believed not, but were so enraged that they took up stones to cast at
him. It appears that they all heard his doctrine with their outward
ears, in which he particularly stated that he was from above; but they
did not receive the truth of his origin in their hearts, because they
were not in a state to receive that faith which cometh from the spirit
of God. In the same manner persons hear sermon after sermon at the
present day, but find no spiritual benefit in their hearts.

[Footnote 14: Acts 16.13]

[Footnote 15: John 8.30.45.59.]

Again--a man, by comparing passages of scripture with other passages,
and by considering the use and acceptation of words in these, may arrive
at a knowledge of their literal meaning. He may obtain also, by perusing
the scriptures, a knowledge of some of the attributes of God. He may
discover a part of the plan of his providence. He may collect purer
moral truths than from any other source. But no literal reading of the
scriptures can give him that spiritual knowledge of divine things, which
leads to eternal life. The scriptures, if literally read, will give him
a literal or corresponding knowledge, but it is only the spiritual
monitor within, who can apply them to his feelings; who can tell him
"thou art the man; this is thy state: this is that which thou oughtest
or oughtest not to have done;" so that he sees spiritually, (the spirit
of God bearing witness with his own spirit) that his own situation has
been described. Indeed, if the scriptures were sufficient of themselves
for this latter purpose, the Quakers say that the knowledge of spiritual
things would consist in the knowledge of words. They, who were to get
most of the divine writings by heart, would know spiritually the most
of divine truths. The man of the best understanding, or of the most
cultivated mind, would be the best proficient in vital religion. But
this is contrary to fact. For men of deep learning know frequently less
of spiritual Christianity, than those of the poor, who are scarcely able
to read the scriptures. They contend also, that if the scriptures were
the most vitally understood by those of the most learning, then the
dispensations of God would be partial, inasmuch as he would have
excluded the poor from the highest enjoyments of which the nature of man
is susceptible, and from the means of their eternal salvation.

These tenets, which are thus adopted by the Quakers, are considered by
many of the moderns as objectionable, inasmuch as they make reason, at
least in theology, a useless gift. The Quakers, however, contend that
they consider reason as one of the inestimable gifts of God. They value
it highly in its proper province. They do not exclude it from religion.
Men, by means of it, may correct literal errors in the scriptures; may
restore texts, may refute doctrines inconsistent with the attributes of
the Almighty. The apology of Robert Barclay, which is a chain of
reasoning of this kind from the begining to the end, is a proof that
they do not undervalue the powers of the mind. But they dare not ascribe
to human reason that power, which they believe to be exclusively vested
in the spirit of God.

They say, moreover, that these tenets are neither new nor peculiar to
themselves as a society. They were the doctrines of the primitive
Fathers. They. were the doctrines also of the protestant reformers. And
though many at the present day consider that scripture, interpreted by
reason, is the religion of protestants, yet it was the general belief of
these reformers, that the teaching of the Holy spirit was necessary to
the spiritual understanding of the scriptures, as well as to the
spiritual establishment of their divine origin.

Luther observes--"It is not human reason, or wisdom, nor the law of God,
but the work of divine grace freely bestowed upon me, that teacheth me
and showeth me the gospel: and this gift of God I receive by faith
alone."

"The scriptures are not to be understood but by the same spirit by which
they were written."

"No man sees one jot or tittle in the scriptures, unless he has the
spirit of God."

"Profane men, says Calvin, desire to have it proved to them by reason,
that Moses and the prophets spoke from God. And to such I answer, that
the testimony of the spirit exceeds all reason. For as God alone is a
sufficient witness of himself in his word, so will his word not find
credit in the hearts of men, until it is sealed by the inward testimony
of his spirit. It is therefore necessary, that the same spirit which
spake by the mouth of the prophets, enter into our hearts to persuade
us, that they faithfully declared what was commanded them by God."

Again--"Unless we have the assurance which is better and more valid than
any judgment of man, it will be in vain to go about to establish the
authority of scripture, either by argument or the consent of the church;
for except the foundation be laid, namely, that the certainty of its
divine authority depends entirely upon the testimony of the spirit, it
remains in perpetual suspense." Again--"The spirit of God, from whom the
doctrine of the Gospel proceeds, is the only true interpreter to open it
to us."

"Divines, says the learned Owen, at the first reformation, did generally
resolve our faith of the divine authority of the scriptures, into the
testimony of the Holy Spirit;" in which belief he joins himself, by
stating that "it is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe
the scripture to be the word of God."

In another place he says, "our Divines have long since laid it down,
that the only public, authentic, and infallible interpreter of the holy
scriptures, is the author of them, from whose inspiration they receive
all their truth, clearness, and authority. This author is the Holy
Spirit."

Archbishop Sandys, in one of his Sermons, preached before Queen
Elizabeth, has the following observations:

"The outward reading of the word, without the inward working of the
spirit, is nothing. The precise Pharisees, and the learned Scribes, read
the scriptures over and over again. They not only read them in books,
but wore them on their garments. They were not only taught, but were
able themselves to teach others. But because this heavenly teacher had
not instructed them, their understanding was darkened, and their
knowledge was but vanity. They were ignorant altogether in that saving
truth, which the prophet David was so desirous to learn. The mysteries
of salvation were so hard to be conceived by the very apostles of Christ
Jesus, that he was forced many times to rebuke them for their dulness,
which unless he had removed by opening the eyes of their minds, they
could never have attained to the knowledge of salvation in Christ Jesus.
The ears of that woman Lydia would have been as close shut against the
preaching of Paul, as any others, if the finger of God had not touched
and opened her heart. As many as learn, they are taught of God."

Archbishop Usher, in his sum and substance of the Christian Religion,
observes, "that it is required that we have the spirit of God, as well
to open our eyes to see the light, as to seal up fully in our hearts
that truth, which we can see with our eyes: for the same Holy Spirit
that inspired the scripture, inclineth the hearts of God's children to
believe what is revealed in them, and inwardly assureth them, above all
reasons and arguments, that these are the scriptures of God." And
farther on in the same work, he says, "the spirit of God alone is the
certain interpreter of his word written by his Spirit; for no man
knoweth the things pertaining to God, but the Spirit of God."

Our great Milton also gives us a similar opinion in the following words,
which are taken from his Paradise Lost:

----"but in their room----
Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves,
Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven
To their own vile advantages shall turn
Of lucre and ambition, and the truth
With superstition's and tradition's taint,
Left only in those written records pure,
Though not but by the spirit understood."

Of the same mind was the learned bishop Taylor, as we collect from his
sermon de Via Intelligentiae. "For although the scriptures, says he, are
written by the spirit of God, yet they are written within and without.
And besides the light that shines upon the face of them, unless there be
a light shining within our hearts, unfolding the leaves, and
interpreting the mysterious sense of the spirit, convincing our
consciences, and preaching to our hearts; to look for Christ in the
leaves of the gospel, is to look for the living among the dead. There is
a life in them; but that life is, according to St. Paul's expression,
'hid with Christ in God;' and unless the spirit of God first draw it, we
shall never draw it forth."

"Human learning brings excellent ministeries towards this. It is
admirably useful for the reproof of heresies, for the detection of
fallacies, for the letter of the scripture, for collateral testimonies,
for exterior advantages; but there is something beyond this that human
learning, without the addition of divine, can never reach. Moses was
learned in all the learning of the Egyptians; and the holy men of God
contemplated the glories of God in the admirable order, motion, and
influences of the heaven; but, besides all this, they were taught
something far beyond these prettinesses. Pythagoras read Moses' books,
and so did Plato, and yet they became not proselytes of the religion,
though they were the learned scholars of such a master."

CHAP. IV.

_The spirit of God which has been thus given to man in different
degrees, was given him as a spiritual teacher, or guide, in his
spiritual concerns--It performs this office, the Quakers say, by
internal monitions--Sentiments of Taylor--and of Monro--and, if
encouraged, it teaches even by the external objects of the
creation--William Wordsworth._

The Quakers believe that the spirit of God, which has been thus given to
man in different degrees or measures, and without which it is impossible
to know spiritual things, or even to understand the divine writings
spiritually, or to be assured of their divine origin, was given to him,
among other purposes, as a teacher of good and evil, or to serve him as
a guide in his spiritual concerns. By this the Quakers mean, that if any
man will give himself up to the directions of the spiritual principle
that resides within him, he will attain a knowledge sufficient to enable
him to discover the path of his duty both to God and his fellow-man.

That the spirit of God was given to man as a spiritual instructor, the
Quakers conceive to be plain, from a number of passages, which are to be
found in the sacred writings.

They say, in the first place, that it was the language of the holy men
of old. [16] "I said, says Elihu, days should speak, and multitude of
years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit (or the spirit itself
is) in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him
understanding." The Levites are found also making an acknowledgment to
God; [17] "That he gave also their forefathers his good spirit to
instruct them." The Psalms of David are also full of the same language,
such as of [18] "Shew me thy ways, O Lord; lead me in the truth." [19] "I
know, says Jeremiah, that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps." The martyr Stephen acknowledges
the teachings of the spirit, both in his own time and in that of his
ancestors. [20] "Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye
do always resist the holy spirit. As your fathers did, so do ye." The
Quakers also conceive it to be a doctrine of the gospel. Jesus himself
said, [21] "No man can come to me except the Father, which sent me, draw
him--It is written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God."
[22]St. John says, "That was the true light, (namely, the word or
spirit) which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." St. Paul,
in his first letter to the Corinthians, asserts, [23]that "the
manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal."
And, in his letter to Titus, he asserts the same thing, though in
different words: [24] "For the grace of God, says he, which bringeth
salvation, hath appeared unto all men."

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