An Apology for the True Christian Divinity / Being an explanation and vindication of the principles and doctrines of the people called Quakers

by Robert Barclay

§. XVI.

Immediate Revelation the Immoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith.That which all Professors of Christianity, of what Kind soever, are forced ultimately to recur unto, when pressed to the last; That for and because of which all other Foundations are recommended, and accounted worthy to be Believed, and without which they are granted to be of no Weight at all, must needs be the only most true, certain, and unmoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith.

But Inward, Immediate, Objective Revelation by the Spirit, is that which all Professors of Christianity, of what Kind soever, are forced ultimately to recur unto, &c.

Therefore, &c.

The Proposition is so evident, that it will not be denied: The Assumption shall be proved by Parts.

Papists Foundation, their Church and Tradition, Why?And First, As to the Papists, they place their Foundation in the Judgment of the Church and Tradition. If we press them to say, Why they believe as the Church doth? Their answer is, Because the Church is always led by the infallible Spirit. So here the Leading of the Spirit is the utmost Foundation. Again, if we ask them, Why we ought to trust Tradition? They answer, Because these Traditions were delivered us by the Doctors and Fathers of the Church; which Doctors and Fathers, by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost, commanded the Church to observe them. Here again all ends in the Revelation of the Spirit.

Protestants and Socinians make the Scriptures their Ground and Foundation, Why?And for the Protestants and Socinians, both which acknowledge the Scriptures to be the Foundation and Rule of their Faith; the one as subjectively influenced by the Spirit of God to use them; the other, as managing them with and by their own Reason; ask both, or either of them, Why they trust in the Scriptures, and take them to be their Rule? Their Answer is, Because we have in them the Mind of God delivered unto us by those to whom these Things were inwardly, immediately, and objectively Revealed by the Spirit of God; and not because this or that Man wrote them, but because the Spirit of God dictated them.

Christians by Name, and not by Nature, hold Revelation ceased, contrary to Scripture.It is strange then that Men should render that so uncertain and dangerous to follow, upon which alone the certain Ground and Foundation of their own Faith is built; or that they should shut themselves out from that Holy Fellowship with God, which only is enjoyed in the Spirit, in which we are commanded both to Walk and Live.

If any who read these Things find themselves moved, by the Strength of these Scripture-Arguments, to assent, and believe such Revelations necessary; and yet find themselves Strangers to them, which, as I observed in the Beginning, is the Cause that this is so much gainsaid and contradicted, let them know, that it is not because it is ceased to become the Privilege of every true Christian that they do not feel it, but rather because they are not so much Christians by Nature as by Name; and let such know, that the secret Light which shines in the Heart, and reproves Unrighteousness, is the small Beginning of the Revelation of God’s Spirit, which was first sent into the World to reprove it of Sin, John xvi. 8. And as by forsaking Iniquity, thou comest to be acquainted with that Heavenly Voice in thy Heart, thou shalt feel, as the Old Man, or the Natural Man, that savoureth not the Things of God’s Kingdom, is put off, with his evil and corrupt Affections and Lusts; I say, thou shalt feel the New Man, or the Spiritual Birth and Babe raised, which hath its Spiritual Senses, and can see, feel, taste, handle, and smell the Things of the Spirit; but till then the Knowledge of Things Spiritual is but as an Historical Faith. Who wants his Sight sees not the Light.But as the Description of the Light of the Sun, or of curious Colours to a blind Man, who, though of the largest Capacity, cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively Description, as a Child can by seeing them; so neither can the Natural Man, of the largest Capacity, by the best Words, even Scripture-words, so well understand the Mysteries of God’s Kingdom, as the least and weakest Child who tasteth them, by having them Revealed inwardly and objectively by the Spirit.

Wait then for this in the small Revelation of that pure Light, which first reveals Things more known; and as thou becomest fitted for it, thou shalt receive more and more, and by a Living Experience easily refute their Ignorance, who ask, How dost thou know that thou art actuated by the Spirit of God? Which will appear to thee a Question no less ridiculous, than to ask one whose Eyes are open, How he knows the Sun shines at Noon-day? And though this be the surest and most certain Way to answer all Objections; yet by what is above written it may appear, that the Mouths of all such Opposers as deny this Doctrine may be shut, by unquestionable and unanswerable Reasons.

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PROPOSITION III.

Concerning the Scriptures.

From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth, which contain,

I. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God’s People in divers Ages; with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them.

II. A Prophetical Account of several Things, whereof some are already past, and some yet to come.

III. A full and ample Account of all the chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, held forth in divers precious Declarations, Exhortations, and Sentences, which, by the moving of God’s Spirit, were at several Times, and upon sundry Occasions, spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors.

Nevertheless, because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain, and not the Fountain itself, therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledge, nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners. Yet because they give a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation, they are and may be esteemed a Secondary Rule, subordinate to the Spirit, from which they have all their Excellency and Certainty: For, as by the inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them, so they testify, That the Spirit is that Guide by which the Saints are led into all Truth; therefore, according to the Scriptures, the Spirit is the First and Principal Leader.[45] Seeing then that we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit, so the very same Reason is the Spirit more Originally and Principally the Rule, according to the received Maxim in the Schools, Propter quod unumquodque est tale, illud ipsum est magis tale: That for which a Thing is such, that Thing itself is more such.

[45] John 16. 13. Rom. 8. 14.