lust and vanity demnation.

surely great will be thy con

Against which snare, as well as the temptation of those that may or do feed thee, and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent and prevalent remedy will be, to apply thyself to that Light of Christ, which shineth in thy conscience, which neither can nor will flatter thee, nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins; but doth and will deal plainly and faithfully with thee, as those that are followers thereof have also done.

GOD Almighty, who hath so signally hitherto visited thee with his love, so touch and reach thy heart, ere the day of thy visitation be expired, that thou mayest effectually turn to him, so as to improve thy place and station for his So wisheth, so prayeth,

name.

Thy faithful friend and subject,

ROBERT BARCLAY,

From Ury, in my native country of Scotland, the 25th of the month called November, in the year M DC LXXV,

R. B.

UNTO THE FRIENDLY READER WISHETH

I

SALVATION.

FORASMUCH as that, which above all things 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 some time 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 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.

eyes,

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 show; which, with the title of them, is as followeth.

To the Boctors, 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

B

of) to wit, your school divinity (which taketh up almost a man's whole lifetime 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 clergy hath 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.

FAREWELL,

R. B.