A30122:363
The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor showing…The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor shewing…
The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor showing that the day of grace may be past with him long before his life is ended : the signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known / by John Bunyan ; to which is added his Exhortation to peace and unity among all that fear God.The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor shewing that the day of grace may be past with him long before his life is ended : the signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known / by John Bunyan ; to which is added his Exhortation to peace and unity among all that fear God.
London: printed for J. Robinson, 1688
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
We learn by Reason what great things may be done in worldly Achievements where Unity is: And shall not Reason (assisted with the Motives of Religion) teach us, that Unity among Christians may enable them to enterprise greater Things for Christ? would not this make Satan fall from Heaven like Lightning? For as Unity built literal Babel, it's Unity that must pull down mystical Babel. And on the other hand, where Divisions ⟨p. 32⟩are, there is Confusion; by this means a Babel hath been built in every Age. It hath been observed by a Learned Man, and I wish I could not say truly observed, That there is most of Babel and confusion among those that cry out most against it.
We learn by Reason what great things may be done in worldly Atchievements where Unity is: And shall not Reason (assisted with the Motives of Religion) teach us, that Unity among Christians may enable them to enterprize greater Things for Christ? would not this make Satan fall from Heaven like Lightning? For as Unity built literal Babel, it's Unity that must pull down mystical Babel. And on the other hand, where Divisions ⟨p. 32⟩are, there is Confusion; by this means a Babel hath been built in every Age. It hath been observed by a Learned Man, and I wish I could not say truly observed, That there is most of Babel and confusion among those that cry out most against it.
Would we have a Hand to destroy Babylon, let's have a Heart to unite one among another.
Our English Histories tell us, that after Austin the Monk had been some time in England, that he heard of some of the Remains of the British Christians, which he convened to a place, which Camden in his Britannia calls Austin's Oak; here they met to consult about Matters of Religion; but such was their Division, by reason of Austin's imposing Spirit, that our Stories tell us, That Synod was only famous for this, that they only met and did Nothing. This is the mischief of Divisions, they hinder the doing of much good; and if Christians, that are divided, be ever famous for any thing, it will be, that they have often met together, and talked of this and the other thing, but they did nothing.