א
into
ת
, solemnly referred the difficulty to the Almighty: this was poor earnest.
I am glad I did not notice, in time to insert it in the Athenæum, a very remarkable paradoxer brought forward by Mr. Thom, his friend Mr. Wapshare[[373]]: it is a little too strong for the general public. In the Athenæum they would have seen and read it: but this book will be avoided by the weaker brethren. It is as follows:
"God, the Elohim, was six days in creating all things, and having made MAN he entered into his rest. He is no more seen as a Creator, as Elohim, but as Jehovah, the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Spirit of life in Man, which Spirit worketh sin in the flesh; for the Spirit of Love, in all flesh, is Lust, or the spirit of a beast, So Rom. vii. And which Spirit is crucified in the flesh. He then, as Jehovah—as the power of the Law, in and over all flesh, John viii. 44—increases that which he has made as the Elohim, and his power shall last for 6 days, or 6 periods of time, computed at a millennium of years; and at the end of which six days, he who is the Spirit of all flesh shall manifest himself as the Holy Spirit of Almighty Love, and of all truth; and so shall the Church have her Sabbath of Rest—all contention being at an end. This is, as well as I may now express it, my solution of the mystery in Hebrew, and in Greek, and also in Latin, IHS. For he that was lifted up is King of the Jews, and is the Lord of all Life, working in us, both to will and to do; as is manifest in the Jews—they slaying him that his blood might be good for the healing of the nations, of all people and tongues. As the Father of all natural flesh, he is the Spirit of Lust, as in all beasts; as the Father, or King of the Jews, he is the Devil, as he himself witnesseth in John viii., already referred to. As lifted up, he is transformed into the Spirit of Love, a light to the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel.... For there is but ONE God, ONE Lord, ONE Spirit, ONE body, etc. and he who was Satan, the Spirit of life in that body, is, in
Christ crucified, seen in the Spirit that is in all, and through all and over all, God blessed for ever."
All this seems well meant, and Mr. Thom prints it as convinced of its piety, and "pronounces no opinion." Mystics of all sorts! see what you may come to, or what may come to you! I have inserted the above for your good.
There is nothing in this world so steady as some of the paradoxers. They are like the spiders who go on spinning after they have web enough to catch all the flies in the neighborhood, if the flies would but come. They are like the wild bees who go on making honey which they never can eat, proving sic vos non vobis to be a physical necessity of their own contriving. But nobody robs their hives: no, unlike the bees, they go about offering their ware to any who will take it as a gift. I had just written the last sentence (Oct. 30, 1866, 8.45 A.M.) when in comes the second note received this morning from Dr. Thorn: at 1.30 P.M. came in a third. These arise out of the above account of the Rev. D. Thom, published Oct. 27: three notes had arrived before.