ward work of the Spirit, which all Christians acknowledge, by which the soul is enabled to know " the things of the Spirit '* as they are revealed in the Scriptures, and without which there can be no saving faith, and no holiness of heart or life. This spiritual illumination is peculiar to the true people of God ; the inward light, in which the Quakers believe, is common to all men. The design and effect of the " inward light " are the communication of new truth, or of truth not objectively revealed, as well as the spiritual discernment of the truths of Scripture. The design and eft'ect of spiritual illumination are the proper apprehension of truth already speculatively known.
Secondly. By the inner light the orthodox Quakers understand the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit, concerning which they teach, — (1.) That it is given to all men. (2.) That it not only convinces of sin, and enables the soul to apprehend aright the truths of Scripture, but also communicates a knowledge of " the mysteries of salvation." " A manifestation of this Spirit they believe is given to every man to profit withal ; that it convicts of sin, and, as attended to, gives power to the soul to overcome and forsake it ; it opens the mind to the mysteries of salvation, enables it savingly to understand the truths recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and gives it the living, practical, and heartfelt experience of those things which pertain to its everlasting welfare." " He hath communicated a measure of the light of his own Son, a measure of the grace of the Holy Spirit — by which he invites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every man, in order to save him ; which light or grace, as it is received and not resisted, works the salvation of all, even of those who ai'e ignorant of Adam's fall, and of the death and sufferings of Christ ; both by bringing them to a sense of their own misery, and to be sharers of the sufferings of Christ, inwardly ; and by making them partakers of his resurrection, in becoming holy, pure, and righteous,- and recovered out of their sins." ^
Thirdly. The orthodox Friends teach concerning this inward light, as has been ah'eady shown, that it is subordinate to the Holy Scriptux'es, inasmuch as the Scriptures are the infallible rule of faith and practice, and everything contrary thereto is to be rejected as false and destructive.
Barclay's Vieivs. While such are the views of the orthodox Friends, it must be admitted that many hold a different doctrine. This is true not
94 INTRODUCTION. [Ch. IV.— Mysticism.
only of those whom the Society has disowned, but of many men most prominent in their history. This difference relates both to what this light is, and to its authority. As to the former of these points the language employed is so diverse, and so figurative, that it is difficult to determine its real meaning. Some of the eax^ly Quakers spoke as though they adopted the doctrine of the earlier Mystics, that this inward principle was God himself, the divine substance. Others speak of it as Christ, or even the body of Christ, or his life. Others as " a seed," which is declared to be no part of the nature of man ; no remains of the image of God in which Adam was cre- ated ; neither is it the substance of God. Nevertheless, it is de- clared to be " a spiritual substance," in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are present. This seed comes from Christ, and is communicated to every man. In some it lies as a seed upon a rock, which never shows any sign of life. But when the soul re- ceives a visitation of the Spirit, if his influence be not resisted, that seed is vivified, and develops into holiness of heart and hfe ; by which the soul is purified and justified. We are not justified by our works. Everything is due to Christ. He is both " the giver and the gift." Nevertheless our justification consists in this sub- jective change.i A distinction is made between a twofold re- demption ; the one " performed and accomplished by Christ for us in his crucified body without us ; the other is the redemption wrought by Christ in us." " The first is that whereby a man, as he stands in the fall, is put in a capacity of salvation, and hath con- veyed unto him a measure of that power, virtue, spirit, life, and grace that was in Christ Jesus, which, as the free gift of God, is able to counterbalance, overcome, and root out the evil seed, where- with we are naturally, as in the fall, leavened. The second is that whereby we witness and know this pure and perfect redemption in ourselves, purifying, cleansing, and redeeming us from the power of corruption, and bringing us into unity, favour, and friendship with God." 2
With regard to the authority of this inward light, while the orthodox make it subordinate to the Scriptures, many of the early Friends made the written, subordinate to the inner, word ; and others, as Barclay himself, make the two coordinate. Although in this matter he is hardly consistent with himself. He ex- pressly denies that the Scriptures are to us " the fountain " of truth ; that they are " the principal ground of all truth and knowledge, or yet the adequate primary rule of faith and man-
1 See Barclay's Apology, Philadelphia edition, pp. 152, 153. 2 ji^d., p. 218.