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| The Spiritualists Vindicated from the Charge of Novelty.
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Chapter II.—The
Spiritualists Vindicated from the Charge of Novelty.
And so they upbraid the discipline of monogamy
with being a heresy; nor is there any other cause whence they find
themselves compelled to deny the Paraclete more than the fact that they
esteem Him to be the institutor of a novel discipline, and a discipline
which they find most harsh: so that this is already the first
ground on which we must join issue in a general handling (of the
subject), whether there is room for maintaining that the Paraclete has
taught any such thing as can either be charged with novelty, in
opposition to catholic tradition,581
| 581 Comp. 1 Cor. xi. 2; 2 Thess. ii. 15; iii.
6. Comp. the Gr. text
and the Vulg. in locis. | or with
burdensomeness, in opposition to the “light
burden”582
of the
Lord.
Now concerning each point the Lord Himself has
pronounced. For in saying, “I still have many things to say
unto you, but ye are not yet able to bear them: when the Holy
Spirit shall be come, He will lead you into all truth,”583
He sufficiently, of course, sets before us
that He will bring such (teachings) as may be esteemed alike
novel, as having never before been published, and finally
burdensome, as if that were the reason why they were not
published. “It follows,” you say, “that by this
line of argument, anything you please which is novel and burdensome may
be ascribed to the Paraclete, even if it have come from the adversary
spirit.” No, of course. For the adversary spirit
would be apparent from the diversity of his preaching, beginning by
adulterating the rule
of faith, and so (going on to) adulterating the order of discipline;
because the corruption of that which holds the first grade, (that is,
of faith, which is prior to discipline,) comes first. A man must
of necessity hold heretical views of God first, and then of His
institution. But the Paraclete, having many things to teach fully
which the Lord deferred till He came, (according to the
pre-definition,) will begin by bearing emphatic witness to Christ, (as
being) such as we believe (Him to be), together with the whole order of
God the Creator, and will glorify Him,584
and
will “bring to remembrance” concerning Him. And when
He has thus been recognised (as the promised Comforter), on the ground
of the cardinal rule, He will reveal those “many things”
which appertain to disciplines; while the integrity of His preaching
commands credit for these (revelations), albeit they be
“novel,” inasmuch as they are now in course of revelation,
albeit they be “burdensome,” inasmuch as not even
now are they found bearable: (revelations), however, of
none other Christ than (the One) who said that He had withal
“other many things” which were to be fully taught by the
Paraclete, no less burdensome to men of our own day than to them, by
whom they were then “not yet able to be
borne.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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