Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th CenturiesJones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew)
Religion
Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew)
Mysticism; Reformers
incarnate their souls";[57] or, as he expresses it in one of his Sermons:
"To be [spiritually] well and unactive do not consist together. No man
is well without action."[58]
Religion is, thus, with him always a dynamic principle of Life, working
itself out in the frame and temper of the man and producing its
characteristic effects in his actions. It does not operate "like a charm
or spell"--it operates only as a vital principle[59] and we become
eternally the self which we ourselves form. "We naturalize ourselves,"
to use his striking phrase, "to the employment of eternity."[60] We are
lost, not by Adam's sin, but by our own; and we are saved, not by
Christ's historical death, but by our own obedience to the law of the
Spirit of Life revealed in Him and by our own death to sin;[61] and the
beginning of Heaven is one with the beginning of conformity to the will
of God and to our nativity from above. "Heaven is a temper of spirit,
before it is a place."[62] {302} There is a Heaven this side of Heaven
and there is as certainly a Hell this side of Hell. The most impressive
expression of this truth is given in one of his Sermons: "All misery
arises out of _ourselves_. It is a most gross mistake, and men are of
dull and stupid spirits who think that the state which we call Hell is an
incommodious place only; and that God by His sovereignty throws men
therein. Hell ariseth out of a man's self. And Hell's fewel is the
guilt of a man's conscience. 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 himself: And on the other side, when they think that Heaven
arises from any place, or any nearness to God or Angels, that is not
principally so; but Heaven lies in a refined Temper, in an inward
Reconciliation to the Nature of God. So that both Hell and Heaven have
their Foundation within Men."[63] The evil and punishment which follow
sin are "consequential" and inseparable from sin, and so, too, eternal
life is nothing but spiritual life fulfilling itself in ways that are
consequential and necessary in the deepest nature of things: "That which
is our best employment here will be our only employment in eternity."[64]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account