Satan at Noon, Animadversion 11
Animad. 11.
As to the Phraſe and Language uſed by the Doctor, as for example:
The fiery Deity burning in the center of the Soule, the Godhead mingling it ſelfe with our fleſh, the divine union, the divine transportation into the glory of the Majeſty, p. 76. the eſſentiall eſſence of love, fixation in the love of the holy Ghoſt, divine tincturation, eyes fixed upon the being of love, the pure life of virginity, with many more. We deſire the Reader to obſerve, that this hath been the guiſe of Blaſphemers and Familiſts old and new.
Valentinus in his*Mens in… b…lis magn… … …e in. b l…bilibus …nominatorum ſuperſaleſtium. & Epiph l. 1. Tom. 2. Hae…. 3…. Epiſtle begins high with ſwelling unintelligible words, thus: The unaboliſhable mind to the in magnitude unaboliſhable, of unnameable ſuperceleſtiall ſecrets I will make mention to you, with a fardell of nonſenſicall ſtuffe of his males and females, and his triginta ſaecula. This Blaſphemer was as errant too at Allegorizing as our Doctor; he proves his thirty Ages or Worlds moſt clearly by the Parable of the Labourers ſent into the Vineyard, thus: Some were ſent at the firſt houre, foreign, Theſe they called wonderfull ineffable Myſteri…s.ſome at the third, ſome about the ſixt hour, others at the ninth, ſome at the eleventh houre. Now compute 1. 3 6. 9. 11. and theſe houres put together make thirty, and this among his Sect was as cleare as the Sun to prove his triginta ſaecula. Juſt as R. Higgs (one of the Doctors Diſciples and Witneſſes) when one told him he could not beleeve Abrahams family in that Text to be his Family in him, viz. his will and affections, Oh ſaid Higgs to him, It is cleare as the day, ſo that Pontius Pilate muſt condemne Chriſt in us, and the Jews put him to death in us all very cleare. This Allegorizing and Quakeriſme bids faire to drive the Scriptures out of the world, the very hopes whereof will make the damned Fiends keep Holyday in Hell, when men thus abuſe the Scripture, and bewitch the ſimple. It calls to our mind a ſaying of an Ancient, Whoſoever speaks the Scriptures in another ſenſe than he that wrote it, that man*Auſtin de Doct. Chr. lib. 1. cap. 37. ſpeaks a lie, though he speak the Scripture.
And againe, for this frothy language of Seducers: What*Idem de Doct. Chr: lib. 4 c x. profit (ſaith he) is there in the ſublimity of words, which are not underſtandable by the hearers? when there is no other cauſe of ſpeaking, if they underſtand not what we ſpeak, for whoſe ſake we ſpeak that they may underſtand; He that teacheth, ſhould avoid all words that doe not teach.
Quintiniſtae peregrina, &c. the†Velut cerculatores & errones ex Bohemia. Cornicantur. Quintiniſts uſe a ſtrange and uncouth language, with which they doe ſo chough it, that there is no more perſpicuity in their words, than in the chanting of birds, and this they doe a malitiouſly to circumvent novices,…in adv. … cap. 7. …. 516. for they reveale not the myſteries of their abominations, which lay under the covert of their ſwollen language, but to their own, who are bound to them by Oath of Secreſie, under theſe they lay hid like theeves in a thicket, their novices ſtand amazed at the ſublimity of their words, which Peter and Jude compare to bubbles and froth. See more.
So H. Nicholas, thus, H. bRutherfords Survey Antichriſt, cap. 9. pag. 56.Nicholai, through the holy spirit of the love of Jeſus raiſed by the higheſt God from the dead, anointed by the holy Ghoſt, in the old age of the holy underſtanding of Jeſus Chriſt, illuminated with the ſpirit of heavenly truth, the true light of perfect being godded with God, or the ſpirit of his love.
cJohn Knewſtubb in his confutation of H. N.This form of writing is an evident note of a ſeducing ſpirit.
There are Quakers at Bodenham, who ſuffer extreme tortures of body, viſible to the reporter, and many others, very often ſo extreme, that if God did not limit the Devill, their inwards would burſt out, trembling and quaking in their agonies, as though their fleſh would part from their bones, and ligatures, they call theſedThe Quakers blazing ſtar, by Edmund Skippe, teacher at Bodenham. pag. 22. agonies the fiery triall, and they ſay it is the power of the Holy Ghoſt burning up and deſtroying their corruptions, purifying them as gold tryed by the fire ſeven times.
They tell you how much joy and pleaſure they have mixed with their torment that they could wiſh to be in it even for ever and ever.
This they call the drinking of the Cup, the undergoing the wrath and curſe of God, as Chriſt did, moſt blaſphemouſly, and ſay they muſt be brought to ſuffer as Chriſt did, untill there is nothing left them but the pure ſeed of God. Thus reckoning as far as I can determine (ſaith he) by their words, that upon this account they muſt beeJuſt like the Doctor, not by the ſapleſſe righteouſneſſe of another, but the fiery deity burning in the center of the ſoul: juſtified before the Lord. This teſtimony is unqueſtionable, becauſe of an eye-witneſſe and eare-witneſſe, Like to be ſeduced into this way by Sathan, but delivered out of it by the Lord Chriſt.
The Quakers at Reding had the ſame language of Chriſt ſuffering death from the eternall Love, and the holy Ghoſt burning up their luſts, and what were theſe but Blaſphemers, ſaying,
1. Your Miniſters tell you, that Chriſt died for your ſins, if ſo, then you may live in them.
2. That the Scriptures were not the Word of God.
3. That Solomon was a foole, for ſaying, To every thing there is a ſeaſon, Eccleſ. 3.1, 2.
And this is their common principle, but the times wil not yet bear it.
ThuseCal. ad Lib. cap. 9. pag. 519. Quintinus, Porcus ille unumquemque Apoſtolorum aliquo ſcommate notavit vacans, Paulum vas fractum, Joannem juvenem ſtolidum, Petrum abnegatorem Domini, Matthaeum foeneratorem. We are loth to Engliſh it.