The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth: As Revealed in the Writings of Gerrard Winstanley, the Digger, Mystic and Rationalist, Communist and Social ReformerBerens, Lewis Henry
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The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth: As Revealed in the Writings of Gerrard Winstanley, the Digger, Mystic and Rationalist, Communist and Social Reformer
Berens, Lewis Henry
Communism; Land use; Winstanley, Gerrard, 1609-
"The world is mankind; and every particular man and woman is a
perfect creation of himself, a perfect created world. If a
particular branch of mankind desire to know what the nature of
other men and women are, let him not look abroad, but into his own
heart, and he shall see. So that I say, man is the world, a perfect
creation, from whose poisoned flesh proceeds the lust of the eye,
the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life: these are not of the
Father. Now _light is come into the world_; that is, the Spirit of
Right Understanding hath taken up his dwelling in this flesh. Hence
man is called a reasonable creature, which is a name given to no
other creature but man, because the Spirit of Reason appears acting
in him, which if men did submit themselves unto, they would act
righteously continually: and so man would become lord of all other
creatures in righteousness.... But the masculine powers of the
poisoned flesh stand it out against the King of Glory till He cast
them into the lake of fire, into His own spirit, by which they are
tried, and, being found but chaff and not able to endure, are
burned and consumed to nothing in the flame."
"No man or woman, however, need be troubled at this," Winstanley
contends, "for let every man cleanse himself of these wicked powers that
rule in him, and there speedily will be a harmony of love in the great
creation, even among all creatures. Therefore let no man look without
himself, and say, other men will not obey this light that is come into
mankind; but let him look into his own heart, and he shall find that the
powers in his heart are those very men of the world that will not submit
to that Light of Reason that is come into it."[60:1]
Winstanley then proceeds to explain his conception of the resurrection
of Christ, as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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