R. B. Unto the Friendly Reader wisheth Salvation.
Forasmuch as that, which above all Things I propose to myself, is to declare and defend the Truth; for the Service whereof I have given up and devoted myself, and all that is mine; therefore there is nothing which for its Sake (by the Help and Assistance of God) I may not attempt. And in this Confidence, I did sometime ago publish certain Propositions of Divinity, comprehending briefly the chief Principles and Doctrines of Truth; which appearing not unprofitable to some, and being beyond my Expectation well received by many, though also opposed by some envious Ones, did so far prevail, as in some Part to remove that false and monstrous Opinion, which lying Fame, and the Malice of our Adversaries, had implanted in the Minds of some, concerning us and our Doctrines.
In this Respect it seemed to me not fit to spare my Pains and Labour; and therefore, being actuated by the same Divine Spirit, and the like Intention of propagating the Truth, by which I published the Propositions themselves, I judged it meet to explain them somewhat more largely at this Time, and defend them by certain Arguments.
Perhaps my Method of Writing may seem not only different, but even contrary, to that which is commonly used by the Men called Divines, with which I am not concerned: Inasmuch as I confess myself to be not only no Imitator and Admirer of the School-men, but an Opposer and Despiser of them as such, by whose Labour I judge the Christian Religion to be so far from being bettered, that it is rather destroyed. Neither have I sought to accommodate this my Work to itching Ears, who desire rather to comprehend in their Heads the sublime Notions of Truth, than to embrace it in their Hearts: For what I have written comes more from my Heart than from my Head; what I have heard with the Ears of my Soul, and seen with my inward Eyes, and my Hands have handled of the Word of Life, and what hath been inwardly manifested to me of the Things of God, that do I declare; not so much regarding the Eloquence and Excellency of Speech, as desiring to demonstrate the Efficacy and Operation of Truth; and if I err sometimes in the former, it is no great Matter; for I act not here the Grammarian, or the Orator, but the Christian; and therefore in this I have followed the certain Rule of the Divine Light, and of the Holy Scriptures.
And to make an End; What I have written, is written not to feed the Wisdom and Knowledge, or rather vain Pride of this World, but to starve and oppose it, as the little Preface prefixed to the Propositions doth shew; which, with the Title of them, is as followeth.
THESES THEOLOGICÆ.
TO THE
CLERGY,
Of what Sort soever, Unto whose Hands these may come; But more particularly
To the Doctors, Professors, and Students of Divinity, in the Universities and Schools of Great Britain, whether Prelatical, Presbyterian, or any other;
ROBERT BARCLAY,
A Servant of the Lord God, and one of those who in Derision are called Quakers, wisheth unfeigned Repentance, unto the Acknowledgment of the Truth.
FRIENDS,
Unto You these following Propositions are offered; in which, they being read and considered in the Fear of the Lord, you may perceive that simple, naked Truth, which Man by his Wisdom hath rendered so obscure and mysterious, that the World is even burthened with the great and voluminous Tractates which are made about it, and by their vain Jangling and Commentaries, by which it is rendered a Hundred-fold more dark and intricate than of itself it is: Which great Learning (so accounted of) to wit, your School-divinity(which taketh up almost a Man’s whole Life-time to learn) brings not a Whit nearer to God, neither makes any Man less wicked, or more righteous than he was. Therefore hath God laid aside the Wise and Learned, and the Disputers of this World; and hath chosen a few despicable and unlearned Instruments (as to Letter-learning) as he did Fishermen of old, to publish his pure and naked Truth, and to free it of those Mists and Fogs wherewith the Clergyhath clouded it, that the People might admire and maintain them. And among several others, whom God hath chosen to make known these Things (seeing I also have received, in Measure, Grace to be a Dispenser of the same Gospel) it seemed good unto me, according to my Duty, to offer unto you these Propositions; which though short, yet are weighty, comprehending much, and declaring what the true Ground of Knowledge is, even of that Knowledge which leads to Life Eternal; which is here witnessed of, and the Testimony thereof left unto the Light of Christ in all your Consciences.
Farewel.
R. B.
The First Proposition.
Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge.
Seeing the Height of all Happiness is placed in the true Knowledge of God ([1]This is Life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent) the true and right understanding of this Foundation and Ground of Knowledge is that which is most necessary to be known and believed in the first Place.
[1] John 17. 3.
The Second Proposition.
Concerning Immediate Revelation.
Seeing [2]no Man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the Revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the Testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true Knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he converted the Chaos of this World into that wonderful Order wherein it was in the Beginning, and created Man a living Soul, to rule and govern it, so by the Revelation of the same Spirit he hath manifested himself all along unto the Sons of Men, both Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles; which Revelations of God by the Spirit, whether by outward Voices and Appearances, Dreams, or inward objective Manifestations in the Heart, were of old the formal Object of their Faith, and remain yet so to be; since the Object of the Saints’ Faith is the same in all Ages, though set forth under divers Administrations. Moreover, these divine inward Revelations, which we make absolutely necessary for the building up of true Faith, neither do nor can ever contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures, or right and sound Reason. Yet from hence it will not follow, that these divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Examination, either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures, or of the natural Reason of Man, as to a more noble or certain Rule or Touchstone: For this divine Revelation, and inward Illumination, is that which is evident and clear of itself; forcing, by its own Evidence and Clearness, the well-disposed Understanding to assent, irresistibly moving the same thereunto; even as the common Principles of natural Truths move and incline the Mind to a natural Assent: As, That the Whole is greater than its Part; That two contradictory Sayings cannot be both true, nor both false: Which is also manifest, according to our Adversaries Principle, who (supposing the Possibility of inward divine Revelations) will nevertheless confess with us, that neither Scripture nor sound Reason will contradict it: And yet it will not follow, according to them, that the Scripture, or sound Reason, should be subjected to the Examination of the divine Revelations in the Heart.
[2] Mat. 11. 27.
The Third Proposition.
Concerning the Scriptures.