The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits and Immortality of the Soul, Title page – Preface
THE CERTAINTY OF THE WORLDS of SPIRITS And Consequently, Of the Immortality of Souls. Of the Malice and Misery of the Devils, and the Damned. And of the Blessedness of the Justified Fully evinced by the unquestionable Hist…ries of Apparitions, Operations, Witchcrafts Voices, &c.
Written as an Addition to many other Treatises, for the Conviction of Sadduces and Infidels. By RICHARD BAXTER.
Eph 6.12.
We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood, but against Principalities, against Powers, against the Rulers of the Darkness of this World, against spiritual Wickednesses in high Places (in Celestials)
Matth 8. 31, 32.
The Devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the Herd of Swine. And he said, Go.
Luk. 10. 18, 20.
I beheld Satan, as Lightning, fall from Heaven: But in this rejoyce not, that the Spirits are subject to you: But rather rejoyce because your Names are written in Heaven.
Heb. 2. 14.
Are they not all (the Angels) ministring Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation?
LONDON, Printed for T. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside and I. Salisbury at the Rising Sun near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, 1601.
THE PREFACE
It seemeth hard to unruly Minds, that God should keep Intellectual Souls, so strange to the unseen World of Spirits; that we know so little of them, and that our Knowledge of them, is no more by the way of …ente: But there is in it, much of Gods …rbitrary Soveraign Power, and much of his Wisdom, and much of his Justice, and also of his Love.
1. It pleased him to make Variety of Creatures: What harmony would there be without Variety? were there nothing but Unity, there would be nothing but God. And various Creatures, must have a various Scituation, Reception and Operations: The Fishes must not dwell in our Cities, nor be acquainted with our Affairs.
2. We here dwell in Flesh, in Bodies organized for the Souls Receptions and Perceptions, and Operations: And the Wisdom of God doth suitably dispose of his Communications, and give us that measure of Light, which is agreeable to our State: The Sun must not shine on the Infant in the Womb, nor must he there see our Buildings and Tradings, and Business in the World.
3. We have Light here, that is proportionable to our work and interest: So much as is necessary to our knowing of our selves, and our God and Governour, and our Duty, and all those hopes that are our necessary Motives thereto. Men that will but observe the Operations of their Souls, may competently know what a Soul or Spirit is: And Men that will but open their Eyes, and considerately look about them, may as certainly know that there is a God, as they can know that there is any Being: And Men that cannot but difference Moral Good and Evil, and that know the Duty of Children to Parents, Subjects to Rulers, and Neighbours to Neighbours, may know their Duty to God, and that the performance of it shall not be in vain: And if Men will not know all this which they may know, it is just with God to leave them to their chosen darkness, and not to know that which further might be known. It is a dismal case to havea Soul that will not know it self, to be what it is, till utter Misery convince him.
4. And the God of Love maketh Advantage of our not-seeing the World of Spirits, for our Exercise of our higher Intellectual Faculties, by a Life of Faith; And Intuition (a Nobler sort than our present Eye-sight) will be seasonable, and soon enough when ripeness hath made us ready for it. We shall not need all the Organical parts of the Eye, which Galen admiringly describeth, for our Glorious sight. And to see Devils and other Spirits ordinari…y, would not be enough to bring our Atheists to the saving Knowledge of God, without which all other Knowledge is vain. They that doubt of a God (the most perfect, eternal, infinite Being) while they see the Sun and Moon, and Stars, the Sea and Land, would not know him by seeing Created …pir…ts.
As to the Originals of this Collection, it had its rise from my own, and other Mens need. When God fir… a…akened me, to think with preparing seriousness of my Condition after Death, I had not any observed Doubts of the Reality of Spirits, or the Immortality of the Soul, or of the Truth of the Gospel: But all my doubts were about my own Renovation and Title to that Blessed Life. But when God had given me peace of Conscience, Satan Assaulted me with those worse Temptations: Yet through Gods Grace, they never prevailed against my Faith: Nor did he ever raise in me the least doubt of the Being, and …erfection of God; nor of my Duty to Love, Honour, Obey, and Trust him: For I still saw that to be an Atheist was to be …ad.
But I fou…d tha… my Fai…h of Supernat…ral Revela…ion, …st be more than a Believing Man, and that if it had …ot a firm Foundation, and rooting, even sure Evidence of Verity, Surely Apprehended, it was not like to do those great works that Faith had to do, and to overcome the World, the Flesh and the Devil, and to make my Death to be safe and comfortable. Therefore I found that all confirming helps were useful; and among those of the lower sort, Apparitions, and other sensible Manifestations of the certain existence of Spirits of themselves Invisible, was a means that might do much with such as are prone to judge by Sense. The uses hereof I mention before the Book, that the Reader may know that I write it for Practice, and not to please Men with the Strangeness and Novelty of useless Stories.
It is no small number of Writers on such Subjects that I have read, it's near threescore years time from the fi…st occasion: And finding that almost all the Ath…ists, Sadduces and Infidels, did seem to profess, that were they but sure of the Reality of the Apparitions and Operations of Spirits, it would cure them, I thought this the most suitable help for them, that have sinned themselves into an incapacity of more Rational and Excellent Arguments. And I have long feared, lest secr…t unobserved defectiveness in their Belief of the Immortality of the Soul, …nd the truth of the Scripture, is the great cause of all Mens other defects: There lieth usually the unsoundness of Woridly Hypocrites, where it is prev…iling, and thence is the weakness of Gra…e in the best, though it prevail not against their Sincerity.
By which Motives I did (though it displeased some) make it the Second Fart of my Book called the Saints Rest: And aft…rward… provoked by Clement Writer, I did it mu…h more fully in a Book called the Unreasonableness of Infidelity: And after that provoked by the Copy of a paper dispersed in Oxford, (said to be Dr. Walkers) questioning the certainty of our Religion, and seeing no answer to it come from the Univ…rsity Men, I wrote yet more Methodically of all, in a Book called the Reasons of the Christian Religion: And after added a small Discourse called More Reasons for it, provoked by one that called himself Herbert, in which also I answered the Lord Herbert, de veritate: And since then, a nameless Sadduce hath drawn me to publish an Answer to him: And in my Life of Faith, and other Books, I have handled the same Subject: All which I tell the Reader, that he may see why I have taken this Subject as so necessary, why I am ending my Life with the publication of these Historical Letters and Collections: Which I dare say have such Evidence, as will leave every Sadduce that readeth them, either convinced, or utterly without excuse.
Surely the certainty of so great a change of our place, State, Company and Works, as Death will certainly and quickly make, should possess every Man that hath the use of Reason, with such serious Thoughts. Affections and Diligence, as is quite contrary to a Diverted, Careless, Sloathful, Worldly, Sensual and stupid Mind and Life.
How speedily shall I see the World that I have read of, and Preached, and talkt and written of? O! What a difference will there be between my now hearing of frightful Apparitions, and prodigious Acts of Spirits, and that sight or knowledge of all their State and Affairs; which I shall have, and now am going to. The sight of Devils and Damned Diveses, and unholy Souls, will hereafter be no Rarity; and if my Soul must pass through the airy inferior Region, where these Miserable Spirits now inhabit, it will not be as dangerously Assaulted by them, but in Triumph: For I know whom I have trusted, and into the hands of him do I commit my Spirit, who hath conquerred Death and Devils, and is now the Glorified Lord of all, and can use them at his pleasure. And those Angels that rejoice at the Repentance of of a Lazarus, and now are Ministring Spirits for his safety, will be ready in Obedience to our Lord, to convey his Soul to Abrahams bosom: Yea, to be that day with Christ in Paradise.
He that chaineth up these Devils, that they molest us no more as their Malice doth desire, will make our passage safe through all their envy and defiled Regions.
But seeing it is the free will of Man that giveth the Devils their hurting power, and they can do us no harm, nor ma…e us sin, without our own consent or yielding: O! With how careful and constant and resolved watchfulness should we live? And how deservedly may every prayerless ungodly Family and person, b… left for a prey to this devourer. And indeed he hath already hurt them more by blind…ng and hardening their Hearts, than a thousand haunting Apparitions could of themselves have done.
And when Excellent Zanchy hath said so much to pro…e, that it is by h…s very contig…ous Substance, that the Devil doth work on Soul and Body, how dreadful should Temptations and Sin be to us, if we would not have the very substance of Devils dwell in us? And why do any think it strange to read so much of Possessions and Dispossessions in the Gospel.
Lord Iesus let me Finish my Course with joy: And then receive my Spirit. Amen.
Iuly, 20. 1691. Richard Baxter.