The True Christians T est, Part 2 · Meditation 2
MEDITAT. II. Of the Falſe Deſpiſers of Pleaſures, and of the Votaries of Virginity.
IF any one love the Pleaſures of the World, the Love of the Father is not in him. Fleſhly Pleaſures are the Bane of the Soul, they are deadly Enemies to it; they do, in an eſpecial manner, war againſt in, ſays the Apoſtle, yea, and they kill it too: For he or ſhe that lives in them, is dead whil'ſt they live. He that Travels or Negotiates in a ſtrange Countrey, had need to take heed of Enemies, eſpecially the Natives of the place: And ſo had this Pilgrim Soul that ſojourns here in the Fleſh, need to beware of the Pleaſures of the Fleſh, which are, as it were, the Indigence, or Natives; for they do moſt endanger and enſnare. The Poet could tell us that the wiſe Wanderer ſtopt his ears againſt the inchanting Syrens: And the holy Text tells us how ill the Pilgrim Sons of Jacob fared, for not abſtaining from the Wine and Women of Moab; theſe did them more hurt, than all the oppoſition they had met within all their March What if we reckon with our ſelves, that we are ſo many Ʋlyſſes's wandring homeward in many Uncertainties; like ſo many Iſraelites, trying our Fortune to find the Canaan out of which ſometimes we came; ſo many younger Brethren that have taken our Journey into a far Countrey, where now we are: Should we not, with ardent contention of Soul, pant and breathe after our Home, our own Countrey, our Father's Houſe, and conſequently beware of the inchanting Syrens, and Circes, the Cozbi's, the Harlots; I mean all the Fleſhly Pleaſures that obſtruct our return, and war againſt our Souls.
Agreed, cry the Votaries of Virginity and Penance, we are the onelyonly Deſpiſers of the World, we have ſtopt our Ears and all our Senſes againſt the Inchantments of it. In compariſon of us, Samſ…n was as weak as the new Cords that himſelf broke off his Arms; and Solomon himſelf void of underſtanding. We have made our ſelves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens ſake. We will pluck out our Right Eye if it look upon a Maid, and cut off our Right Hand if it chance to ſuffer a Kiſs of a Female. We keep under our Bodies, and chaſten our Rebellious Fleſh, till we make it crouch as obſequiouſly as any Spaniel. We perſecute our own Fleſh as ſeverely as we would do an Heretick: And though the Apoſtle will not allow us to hate it, yet we we cannot but be aſham'd of it. We are true Followers of that holy Doctor of the Gentiles, whoſe many Journeyings we match, if not over-do, in our long and frequent Pilgrimages, and his Self-Caſtigations by our Penances. Theſe are high Pretenſions indeed. But its worth the while for the Pretenders to inquire, Whether they be juſt, and whether they be concluſive of a Contempt of the World?
For certainly all Single Life does not deſerve the Honourable Name of Virginity. One may allude to the Proph…'s Riddle, and apply it here with a little pardonable Ab…onancy: The Children of the Barren are more than of her that bore. The Scripture deſcribes Marriage by the Coalition of two into one; They two ſhall be one Fleſh. If this Metonymical Marriage muſt paſs for currant, I doubt the Votaries of Virginity will be diminiſh'd by this Teſt, as much as the Soldiers of Gideon's Army, who, at the firſt Tryal, ſhrunk from Thirty two Thouſand, to Ten Thouſand. But further, Chriſt, the firſt Diſcerner of Purity, …lls us, That there may be many No-Virgins, whoſe Bodies are yet untouch'd; as if it were not ſo much the Conjunction of two Bodies, as of two Minds, that made a Marriage, or worſe. It's not enough not to have known a Man: Virginity is a tender thing, and may be ſpoil'd, even by ſome kind of ſeeing a Man▪ He that looks upon a Woman to luſt after her, defiles himſelf; and She that looks upon a Man, violates her Virginity: And now I wiſh our Virgins, both Males and Females, be not ſhrunk again, as much as the fore-named Captains Soldiers at the ſecond Tryal, who fell from Ten Thouſand, to Three Hundred. Yea, and it is further to be wiſht, that of this little Number that is left, of thoſe that have not known, nor ſeen any one of the other Sex, the reſt have not, at ſome time or other heard of them, read of them, or thought of them, otherwiſe than becomes them, and ſo be not like the Three Hundred Soldiers even now nam'd, that carry'd Lamps within their Veſſels, I mean, that burn, though they marry not.
And now, methinks, I could find in my heart to grant, that if the Claim to this pure, perfect, unſpotted, unſullied Virginity be juſt, it is concluſive, becauſe I am very confident it's not juſt.
But yet it will not be amiſs to inquire, Whether this unſpotted Chaſtity be accompany'd with the profound Self-Examination, and entire Self-Reſignation, and eſpecially with that Divine Charity that it ought? The true Virgin is the Soul that chaſtely adheres to God the bleſſed Being, whoſe Name is Love. And ſhe is an Adulterous Soul that cheriſhes Wicked Hatred, as well as ſhe that allows Wanton Love. What if I do not burn in unlawful Love, if I burn in Hatred, and be inflam'd with Revenge, I have defiled my Soul, and loſt my Purity in the ſight of God. The High Prieſts would not defile themſelves by the Judgment Hall, but with Envy and Murder they would: Or what if this pure Virgin flie from all Mortal Embraces, yea, and loath the ſight and thoughts of any man, if ſhe ſettle into a Self-admiration, fondly doting upon her own Beauty or Virginity, or Wantonly dallying with her own Fortitude or Perfections, ſhe has play'd the Whore from God, (who alone ought to be Supreme in the Soul) and is become unchaſte in her Amours.
It may be very pertinent to examine, Whether a great part of the Virginity that is found in the World; be not meerly Conſtitutional; it's no thanks to them not to Burn, who are not Combuſtible: Another great part Political, when People live ſingle, meerly that they may live. It was accounted bad Devotion in Saul, when he forced himſelf, and offered a Sacrifice. And how ſhall ſhe be accounted an acceptable Virgin, who, though ſhe flies from other men, forces her ſelf.
Pure Virginity is indeed a Delicate and Divine Thing, if it be any where to be found; but this does not at all diſparage Conjugal Love juſtly placed, and purely exerciſed and obſerved: Nay, I do verily think that there is as much or more Chaſtity to be found in a Conjugal ſtate, as in a Single. To the Conjugal Bed it is that the Apoſtle gives the Epithete of undefiled: I wiſh the Virgins can any of them ſay as much of theirs, more, I'm ſure, they cannot. I will allow a pure Virgin ſtate to be excellent, perhaps more excellent than a Conjugal; but it's enough for the Conjugal to be accounted Honourable, and that is in plain terms by the holy Author of it, God himſelf. But whatever excellencies in ſome ſenſe or other may be found in the Virgin ſtate, yet I hope its Virgin modeſty is ſuch, as will forbid it to vie with the Conjugal for uſefulneſs, which I'm ſure is one famous ſpecies of excellency: And indeed for goodneſs, or excellency in general, I cannot ſee how that can be bad now, which even in the ſtate of Innocency it ſelf was declared to be good, Gen. 2. It is good for man to have a wife.