[Footnote 14: Acts 16.13]
[Footnote 15: John 8.30.45.59.]
Again--a man, by comparing passages of scripture with other passages,
and by considering the use and acceptation of words in these, may arrive
at a knowledge of their literal meaning. He may obtain also, by perusing
the scriptures, a knowledge of some of the attributes of God. He may
discover a part of the plan of his providence. He may collect purer
moral truths than from any other source. But no literal reading of the
scriptures can give him that spiritual knowledge of divine things, which
leads to eternal life. The scriptures, if literally read, will give him
a literal or corresponding knowledge, but it is only the spiritual
monitor within, who can apply them to his feelings; who can tell him
"thou art the man; this is thy state: this is that which thou oughtest
or oughtest not to have done;" so that he sees spiritually, (the spirit
of God bearing witness with his own spirit) that his own situation has
been described. Indeed, if the scriptures were sufficient of themselves
for this latter purpose, the Quakers say that the knowledge of spiritual
things would consist in the knowledge of words. They, who were to get
most of the divine writings by heart, would know spiritually the most
of divine truths. The man of the best understanding, or of the most
cultivated mind, would be the best proficient in vital religion.
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