A26888:495
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls…
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadducees and infidels, by Richard Baxter.The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadduces and infidels, by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst, 1691
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The sad Bewdley-Story, before related, is an Instance that was sad to me. The African Story, before-mentioned, is more tremendous; of the Bishops whose Tongues were cut out by Hunnerichus the Arian King's Command, and they spake well when their Tongues were cut out: Victor Uticensis, Gazaeus and Procopius, that all then lived, witness it; and some, if not all of them, I remember, say, that they saw and heard them: And yet (say some of them) the Devil after overcame some of these same Bishops to commit Fornication with Women, and then the Miracle ceased, and they could speak no more.
The sad Bewdley-Story, before related, is an Instance that was sad to me. The African Story, before-mentioned, is more tremendous; of the Bishops whose Tongues were cut out by Hunnerichus the Arrian King's Command, and they spake well when their Tongues were cut out: Victor Vticensis, Gazaeus and Procopius, that all then lived, witness it; and some, if not all of them, I remember, say, that they saw and heard them: And yet (say some of them) the Devil after overcame some of these same Bishops to commit Fornication with Women, and then the Miracle ceased, and they could speak no more.
Oh, how amiable would a holy and heavenly Life appear, were it not conspurcated with the Mixture of its Contraries? How beautiful would the Wisdom of a Saint appear, were it not dishonoured by the Mixture of Ignorance and Error? How joyfully and thankfully could I review all the Wonders of Mercy that have filled up my Life, to this present Hour, had I not mixed those many Transgressions that must not be remembered without Grief and Sha•e, ⟨p. 243⟩though through Christ they be forgiven? Though I can say that Pride, Ambition, and Covetousness, and Worldly Preferments, have not been strong enough to cloud my Comforts, yet, alas! what a multitude of Faults; by Carelessness, Incogitancy, Rashness, Passion, and Want of due Watchfulness and Tenderness of Conscience, have done it! Oh, with what joyful Praise to God could I peruse all the History of my Pilgrimage, did not this woeful Mixture of my Sins damp and allay my Comforts; and by Indignation against my self, abate my Peace! I believe Forgiveness and Safety from Hell: But if (besides my near sixty Years Castigatory Pains) I did suspect, with Augustine, that there were a Purgatory hereafter, I should fear it; not out of any Doubt of the Sufficiency of Christ's Satisfaction, Righteousness and Merits to their proper Ends, but because I believe that he is my Governor, though by a Law of Grace and Faith, and that he is a Judge, and that he is not indifferent whether we obey him, or disobey him. If I believe not Christ, I am no Christian: And if I believe Christ's constant Doctrine, particularly,