DOCSLIB.ORG

William Law, on a Devout and Holy Life

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
William Law, on a Devout and Holy Life GROOMEGroome UNITED United METHODIST Methodist CHURCH Church AUGUSTSeptember-SEPTEMBER-October 2016 2015 William Law, On a Devout and Holy Life William Law lived from 1686 to 1761. He was an English divine and fellow at Emmanuel College. Most notably, he was the tutor of Edward Gibbon, the father of the famous historian and author of, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”. Law, as influenced by John Wesley and subsequently wrote his most famous work, “A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. The following is an excerpt from this work and defines Law’s vision for a faithful life, well lived. Devotion is neither private nor public prayer, but a life given to God. He is the devout man, therefore, who considers and serves God in everything and who makes all of his life an act of devotion by doing everything in the name of God and under such rules as are conformable to his glory. If contempt for the temporal and concern for the eternal are necessary attitudes for Christians, it is nec- essary that these attitudes appear in the whole course of their lives. If self-denial be a condition of salvation, all who would be saved must make self-denial a part of their everyday life. If humility be a Christian duty, then the everyday life of a Christian is to be a constant course of humility. If we are to relieve the naked, the sick, and the prisoner, such expression of love must be the constant effort of our lives. If we are to love our enemies, we must make our common life a visible exercise and demonstration of that love. If contentment and thankfulness be duties to God, they are the duties of every day and in every circumstance of our lives. If we are to be wise and holy as the newborn sons of God, we must renounce everything that is foolish and vain in every part of our daily life. If we are to be new creatures in Christ, we must show that we are so by new ways of living in the world. If we are to follow Christ, it must be in the way we spend each day. It was this general intention that made the primitive Christians such eminent examples of devotion, that made the goodly fellowship of the saints and that made all the glorious army of martyrs and confessors. And if you will stop here and ask yourself why you are not so devoted as the primitive Christians, your own heart will tell you that it is neither through ignorance nor inability but purely because you never thoroughly intended it. While William Law clearly set the bar very high, his assessment of the devout and holy life pretty much identifies why the modern church is nothing at all like the early church. These thoughts might be worth some reflection. Blessings, Will SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2016 THE SEINE PAGE 2 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Methodist Men Groome United Methodist Men are gear- Richard and Connie Todd ing up for their monthly breakfast get to- 30454 Park Pavilion Way gether. The first meeting is scheduled for The Ridings Monday, Sept. 12, at Ocean Grille located Lewes, DE 19958 in the Food Lion shopping center at Five SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER Points. Irene Hazzard 10/11 William & Judy Hoffman The men meet the first Monday of the Gisela McCafferty 09/16 19803 Shirling Lane month at 8:00 a.m. unless it falls on a holi- Gerry Frampton 10/26 Lewes, DE 19958 day; then they meet on the second Mon- Bernie Welsh 09/29 day. Meetings are held September thru Barbara Willin 10/24 May. After breakfast is ordered, there is a Yvonne Martz 09/30 short spiritual message before orders are Tom Pierson 10/11 served, followed by a brief business meet- Ceil Pierson 10/13 ing which includes a treasurer’s report and Peg Stewart 09/03 discussion of any projects they might like Bob Stewart 09/17 to pursue. Darlene Charles 09/06 Mid-Week Gathering In 2011, the men voted to assess them- Don Dieringer 10/08 selves $60 in yearly dues to pay for items Lorraine Messitt 09/15 The fall Mid-Week that come up not covered by the church Tracy Mitchell 09/25 Gathering will begin, budget. Gregory Woodward 09/11 September 22 from As a nice gesture by Ocean Grille, their Michelle Phillips 09/20 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. wait staff offers all in attendance separate Ashleigh Martz 09/22 Note the day and time change for checks, and 10% of proceeds of the bill are John Beauchamp 10/16 the gathering and Bible study. given to Groome each month when MaryKaitlyn Elias 10/01 Groome UMC is written on the check. Ben Ashby 09/24 Lunch with soup and sandwiches Please join them and get to know a little Barry Dietz 09/06 will be served at 11:30 a.m. fol- better the men you see in church every Joan Dietz 09/27 lowed by Bible study from noon Sunday until 1:00 p.m. Jack Welsh, President/Treasurer, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER Groome Men’s Club FINANCIAL CORNER Groome has been holding it’s own, trimming the sails, and offering many prayers that all aspects of the Church con- tinue to run well. The last two months were good to us, and we ended in the black, but the year is still down as a whole. Norm & Jennie Hansen 10/15 (61) We are receiving new members, seeing new faces and continuing to Yvonne & Ron Martz 10/29 (56) spread God’s word and his love in the community. Jeff & Sherry Mitchell 09/12 (53) Bob & EleanorCordrey 10/30 (46) Thinking “outside the box” , as an example, instead of thinking of Lent Dave &Sue Woodward 10/15 (40) just at Easter, maybe give up that ice cream cone and place that extra $5 in Bob & Peg Stewart 09/18 (34) the collection plate. All of us can come up with an "out of the box" way of Dale & Ann Truitt 10/29 (33) helping with stewardship and getting an even greater reward in return. Tim & Lisa Martz 10/09 (17) Remember that life is not about what you do, or have, or keep for yourself, but about the memories you make by helping others. They are truly the greatest and most rewarding in sharing God’s love. Prayerfully consider what the Lord would ask you to do to continue the Please notify the church secretary of any work for His kingdom. changes or additions to birthdays or anniversaries. Blessings in Christ, Sue Lehman, Finance Chair PAGE 3 THE SEINE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2016 MONDAY MORNING PRAYER WALK TO END ALZHEIMER’S The Monday morning prayer group con- tinues to meet every Monday at 10:00 a.m. On October 22 Debbie Foxx will be walking to end Alz- at the home of Jennie and Norm Hansen. heimer’s in memory of her mother and mother-in-law and Ten to twelve people gather to worship and many loved ones who have been affected by this disease study the scriptures. They begin with open- or some sort of dementia and is asking for your sup- ing prayer and lifting up prayers of the peo- port. More information will be placed in the church bulletin in October. ple to the Lord. If Debbie can count on your support, please make check payable to: After sharing in the Word, they close by standing in a circle holding hands with a ALZ-DVC, and in the memo place her name (Debbie Foxx) or her team prayer and a song. Afterwards, everyone name, Liz's Lads & Lassies. This is the 14th year Debbie has been joins in Christian fellowship and refresh- walking and raising funds for those affected by this disease. ments. The door is open for everyone to join them each Monday morning and lift up their Stewardship Message prayers, concerns, and praises to the Lord. The Church is more than paying bills. It supplies spiritual THERE IS NO ONE WAY enlightenment to the entire church family. Christian stew- TO PRAY AND WE ardship is the practice of systematic and proportionate giv- KNOW THIS FROM THE ing of time. Abilities and material possessions are a trust EXAMPLE OF JESUS from God to be used in his service for the benefit of all hu- HIMSELF. mankind in grateful acknowledgement of Christ’s redeem- PRAYER WAS THE ing love. The oldest system of religious giving on record is tithing. In the NATURAL ATMOSPHERE OF HIS DAILY LIFE, THE Old Testament we see evidence of tithing as far back as Abraham. Jesus BREATH OF HIS SOUL, AS WE LEARN also approved of FROM ALMOST EVERY PAGE OF THE tithing. GOSPELS, WHERE IT IS RECORDED THAT When we give one-tenth of our income to the church, then the church JESUS PRAYED. becomes responsible to God for the wise use of our gifts. May we all set a goal to eventually tithe and begin working towards that goal? Lighthouse Historical Cruise “Think of us in this way as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s myster- ies.” I Corinthians 4:1-2. Cape Water Taxi and Tours When new people are received as new members into the church, they are The historical cruise around the East asked to profess their faith and their intentions. They are asked for a com- End Lighthouse was a beautiful ride on mitment to support our church spiritually and financially and use their the Cape Water Taxi and a wonderful talents to volunteer in the ministry of the church.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Wesleyan Enlightenment
    The Wesleyan Enlightenment: Closing the gap between heart religion and reason in Eighteenth Century England by Timothy Wayne Holgerson B.M.E., Oral Roberts University, 1984 M.M.E., Wichita State University, 1986 M.A., Asbury Theological Seminary, 1999 M.A., Kansas State University, 2011 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2017 Abstract John Wesley (1703-1791) was an Anglican priest who became the leader of Wesleyan Methodism, a renewal movement within the Church of England that began in the late 1730s. Although Wesley was not isolated from his enlightened age, historians of the Enlightenment and theologians of John Wesley have only recently begun to consider Wesley in the historical context of the Enlightenment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between a man, John Wesley, and an intellectual movement, the Enlightenment. As a comparative history, this study will analyze the juxtaposition of two historiographies, Wesley studies and Enlightenment studies. Surprisingly, Wesley scholars did not study John Wesley as an important theologian until the mid-1960s. Moreover, because social historians in the 1970s began to explore the unique ways people experienced the Enlightenment in different local, regional and national contexts, the plausibility of an English Enlightenment emerged for the first time in the early 1980s. As a result, in the late 1980s, scholars began to integrate the study of John Wesley and the Enlightenment. In other words, historians and theologians began to consider Wesley as a serious thinker in the context of an English Enlightenment that was not hostile to Christianity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spirituality and Theology of William Law (1686-1761)
    Introduction Spirituality is a phenomenon that has touched both the Protestant and Catholic branches1 of Christianity. Spirituality is hard to define accurately,2 but in both Protestant and Catholic circles particular characteristics are common. The characteristics of prayer, meditation, contemplation, mysticism, asceticism, and a drive for perfection accompany all forms of Christian spirituality. Protestant spirituality can be generally categorized into mystical or “meditative”spirituality, and energetic or “missionary” spirituality.3 This essay will inspect eighteenth century English meditative spirituality, as found in the works of the greatest writer of this tradition, William Law (1686-1761).4 In doing so I will first give a brief sketch of William Law‟s life; then, secondly, explain and review his doctrine of the atonement and union with God. I must point out that these two doctrines are ultimate to all forms spirituality because they configure the paradigm for their doctrine of the Christian life; a life of disciplined self sacrifice, which was epitomized by Jesus on the cross, and a life of the here-and-now experience of complete love in oneness with God. The Life of William Law (1686-1761) 1 There are numerous schools of spirituality within Roman Catholicism today. Cistercian, Carmelite, Marian and Jesuit spirituality make up the majority of the Roman Catholic preoccupation with spirituality. 2 Many equate pietism with spirituality, and to some degree this is justified, particularly in Protestantism where the term has been widely used. However, one must keep in mind the difference between “pietism” and “piety”. Pietism in Protestantism is associated with meditative mystical spirituality.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relation of William Law to John
    THE RELATION OF WILLIAM LAW TO JOHN \YESLEY AND THE BEGINNINGS OF METHODISM, BY ERIC W. BAKER, M.A. (Cantab.). A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DIVINITY FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, 1941. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page INTRODUCTION i PART I. HISTORICAL SURVEY. Chapter I, Before 1738 1 Chapter II. 1738 19 Chapter III. 1738 to 1756 36 Chapter IV. 1756 and After 60 PART II. WESLEY'S INDEBTEDNESS TO LAW. Chapter V. The Ethical Ideal 82 Chapter VI. Practical Outworkings 110 PART III. WESLEY'S DISAGREEMENT WITH LAW. Chapter VII. Wesley's Objection to Mysticism 130 Chapter VIII. The Fundamental Doctrinal Issue 150 Chapter IX. The 1756 Letter 182 PART IV. LAW AND THE BEGINNINGS OF METHODISM. Chapter X. The Testimony of Christopher Walton 206 Chapter XI. The Influence of Law on Methodist Belief and Practice. 225 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 238 BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 INTRODUCTION. No one could tell the story of John Wesley and the beginnings of Methodism without referring to the influence exerted by the writings of William Law at one particular period of Wesley's life. When it comes, however, to assessing the permanence and importance of that influence we find a considerable disparity. Scores of volumes have been devoted to expositions of Wesley's life and work, and in many of these the references to Law are of a cursory nature and confined to one of the early chapters. Such treatment would suggest that the relationship of the two men was an episode, important enough indeed, at the time of its occurrence, but of temporary interest, which can safely be forgotten v/hen the reader passes on to Wesley's later adventures.
    [Show full text]
  • Like a Dog Walking on Its Hind Legs: Samuel Johnson and Quakers Paul A
    Quaker Studies Volume 6 | Issue 2 Article 3 2002 Like a dog Walking on its Hind Legs: Samuel Johnson and Quakers Paul A. Lacey Earlham College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerstudies Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Lacey, Paul A. (2002) "Like a dog Walking on its Hind Legs: Samuel Johnson and Quakers," Quaker Studies: Vol. 6: Iss. 2, Article 3. Available at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/quakerstudies/vol6/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quaker Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. QUAKERSTUDIES 6/2 (2002) [159-174] ISSN 1363-013X LIKE ADOG WALKING ON ITS HIND LEGS: SAMUEL JOHNSON AND QUAKERS Paul A. Lacey Earlham College, USA ABSTRACT Samuel Johnson liked some individual Quakers but disliked the sect; an examination of his encounters with them, as reported in Boswell's Life,along with reminiscences of the Lloyd family, Mary Knowles and Anna Seward, throws significantlight on both Johnson's religious and social views and on some aspects of the Quakerism of his time. The commonly-held view of Quakerism in the Quietist period is, in W. C. Braithwaite's phrase, that these were 'years of outward respectability and inward spiritual decline'. He adds that 'religion as a whole was suffering from the lassitude of Dissent and the devastations of Deism'.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Jacob Boehme
    This companion will prove an invaluable resource for all those engaged in research or teaching on Jacob Boehme and his readers, as historians, philos- ophers, literary scholars or theologians. Boehme is “on the radar” of many researchers, but often avoided as there are relatively few aids to understand- ing his thought, its context and subsequent appeal. This book includes a fi ne spread of topics and specialists. Cyril O’Regan, University of Notre Dame, USA 66244-139-0FM-2pass-r02.indd244-139-0FM-2pass-r02.indd i 55/31/2013/31/2013 88:46:56:46:56 AAMM 66244-139-0FM-2pass-r02.indd244-139-0FM-2pass-r02.indd iiii 55/31/2013/31/2013 88:48:14:48:14 AAMM An Introduction to Jacob Boehme This volume brings together for the fi rst time some of the world’s leading authorities on the German mystic Jacob Boehme to illuminate his thought and its reception over four centuries for the benefi t of students and advanced scholars alike. Boehme’s theosophical works have infl uenced Western culture in profound ways since their dissemination in the early seventeenth century, and these interdisciplinary essays trace the social and cultural networks as well as the intellectual pathways involved in Boehme’s enduring impact. The chapters range from situating Boehme in the sixteenth-century Radical Reformation to discussions of his signifi cance in modern theology. They explore the major contexts for Boehme’s reception, including the Pietist movement, Russian religious thought, and Western esotericism. In addition, they focus more closely on important readers, including the religious rad- icals of the English Civil Wars and the later English Behmenists, literary fi gures such as Goethe and Blake, and great philosophers of the modern age such as Schelling and Hegel.
    [Show full text]
  • JOHN WESLEY's INTRODUCTION to WILLIAM LAW HERE Is Not the Slightest Doubt About John Wesley's Spiritual Indebtedness to William Law
    78 PROCEEDINGS OF THE WESLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOHN WESLEY'S INTRODUCTION TO WILLIAM LAW HERE is not the slightest doubt about John Wesley's spiritual indebtedness to William Law. There is very serious doubt, Thowever, about the beginnings of that debt. Wesley lived so swiftly that he made frequent errors over quotations and dates, and seems seldom to have attempted any research to verify a point of this kind. In this instance there is strong reason to believe that, contrary to his own statements, he did not read Law's two best­ known works until long after their original appearance, and that he read them in reverse order of their publication. In the well-known account of his spiritual pilgrimage leading to the" warmed heart" of 24th May 1738 the fifth paragraph reads: 5. Removing soon after to another College ... I began to see more and more the value of time. I applied myself closer to study . But meeting now with Mr. Law's Christian Perfection and Serious Call (although I was much offended at many parts of both, yet) they con­ vinced me more than ever of the exceeding height and breadth and depth of the law of God. The light flowed in so mightily upon my soul, that everything appeared in a new view. I cried to God for help, and resolved not to prolong the time of obeying Him as I had never done before. And by my continued endeavour to keep His whole law, in­ ward and outward, to the utmost of my power, I was persuaded that I should be accepted of Him, and that I was even then in a state of salvation.1 These words are heavily charged with remembered emotion.
    [Show full text]
  • Apocalyptic Thought in John Henry Newman
    APOCALYPTIC THOUGHT IN JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: DISCERNING ANTICHRIST IN MODERNITY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Damon McGraw Cyril J. O’Regan, Director Graduate Program in Theology Notre Dame, Indiana March 2014 © Copyright 2014 Damon McGraw APOCALYPTIC THOUGHT IN JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: DISCERNING ANTICHRIST IN MODERNITY Abstract by Damon McGraw This dissertation is the first full-length study of the apocalyptic thought of John Henry Newman (1801-1890). As such it fills lacunae in the fields of Newman scholarship and apocalyptic studies simply by showing that there is a significant amount of apocalyptic thought to be found in Newman’s writings and that he deserves to be recognized as an important figure in this Christian theological tradition. The dissertation also makes three larger contributions to scholarship. It addresses the perennial and unresolved question of Newman’s intellectual coherence and theological identity. It argues that attending to the role of apocalyptic narrative in his thought reveals a unique integrity and consistency in what otherwise appears to be a highly eclectic set of writings. It explains how apocalyptic thought provided a master narrative that oriented his life and work, the varied path of his religious and literary career, as well as the development of his mature mind. To scholars of apocalyptic thought this dissertation demonstrates that Newman was a fervent inheritor of the British Protestant apocalyptic tradition and that his efforts to renew and extend its narrative led to his realization of a distinctively modern Catholic apocalyptic perspective Damon McGraw as well as a profound conviction of the “secularizing” effects of the classically Protestant identification of the Pope as Antichrist.
    [Show full text]
  • Oliver Smith Studies in Russian and Slavic Literatures, Cultures and History
    Oliver Smith Studies in Russian and Slavic Literatures, Cultures and History Series Editor: Lazar Fleishman (Stanford Universtity) Oliver Smith Boston 2011 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smith, Oliver, Ph. D. Vladimir Soloviev and the spiritualization of matter / Oliver Smith. p. cm. -- (Studies in Russian and Slavic literatures, cultures, and history) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-1-936235-17-9 (hardback) 1. Solovyov, Vladimir Sergeyevich, 1853-1900. 2. Matter. 3. Spirit. I. Title. B4268.M35S65 2010 197--dc22 2010047543 Copyright © 2011 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved ISBN 978-1-936235-17-9 Book design by Ivan Grave On the cover: Th e Portrait of Vladimir Soliviev, by Ivan Kramskoy (a fragment). 1885 Published by Academic Studies Press in 2011 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com Effective December 12th, 2017, this book will be subject to a CC-BY-NC license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Other than as provided by these licenses, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or displayed by any electronic or mechanical means without permission from the publisher or as permitted by law. The open access publication of this volume is made possible by: This open access publication is part of a project supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book initiative, which includes the open access release of several Academic Studies Press volumes. To view more titles available as free ebooks and to learn more about this project, please visit borderlinesfoundation.org/open.
    [Show full text]
  • William Law, Behmenism, and Counter Enlightenment Author(S): C
    Harvard Divinity School William Law, Behmenism, and Counter Enlightenment Author(s): C. D. A. Leighton Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 91, No. 3 (Jul., 1998), pp. 301-320 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1509986 Accessed: 26-10-2017 08:06 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Cambridge University Press, Harvard Divinity School are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Harvard Theological Review This content downloaded from 139.179.72.198 on Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:06:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms William Law, Behmenism, and Counter Enlightenment C. D. A. Leighton Department of History, Bilkent University, Ankara The importance of William Law has never been in doubt. Scholars have regarded him as an extremely effective High Church apologist by virtue of his replies to Bishop Benjamin Hoadly on ecclesiology and eucharistic theology, and as an influential pastoral guide by virtue of the success of his Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. He is also considered the most notable post-Refor- mation English mystic by virtue of his later works, written under the influence of the early seventeenth-century Silesian theosophist, Jacob Bohme.
    [Show full text]
  • Jane Lead and Her Transnational Legacy
    Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500–1800 Jane Lead and her Transnational Legacy edited by Ariel Hessayon Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500–1800 Series Editors Professor Crawford Gribben, Queen’s University Belfast , UK Dr R. Scott Spurlock, University of Glasgow, UK Building upon the recent recovery of interest in religion in the early modern trans-Atlantic world, this series offers fresh, lively and inter- disciplinary perspectives on the broad view of its subject. Books in the series will work strategically and systematically to address major but under- studied or overly simplifi ed themes in the religious and cultural history of the early modern trans-Atlantic. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14892 Lady Mico’s almshouses near St Dunstan’s church, Stepney (nineteenth-century watercolour by an unknown artist); reproduced by courtesy of the Mercers’ Company. Ariel Hessayon Editor Jane Lead and her Transnational Legacy Editor Ariel Hessayon Department of History Goldsmiths, University of London London , United Kingdom Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World, 1500–1800 ISBN 978-1-137-39613-6 ISBN 978-1-137-39614-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-39614-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944988 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
    [Show full text]
  • Jacob Boehme, Emanuel Swedenborg and Their Readers
    Jacob Boehme, Emanuel Swedenborg and their readers Jacob Boehme, Emanuel Swedenborg and their readers Ariel Hessayon Behmen and Swedenborg saw that things were representative. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men (1850) n his lecture series on six European ‘great men’ who served as the strongest lenses I ‘through which we read our own minds’, the American author and Transcen- dentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) chose Swedenborg to represent the mystic—that class of persons concerned with ‘the world of morals’. Emerson attached great importance to the ‘moral sentiment’ believing it, rather than institutional Christi- anity which he rejected, to be the basis of true religious thought. According to Emerson, Swedenborg’s ‘moral insight’, ‘correction of popular errors’ and ‘announcement of ethical laws’ placed him among the ‘lawgivers of mankind’. Boehme by contrast, he regarded as a poet, sage and mystic who, ‘tremulous with emotion’, listened ‘awestruck with the gentlest humanity to the Teacher’ whose lessons he conveyed. In his estimation, however, Swedenborg and Boehme both failed ‘by attaching themselves to the Christian symbol, instead of to the moral sentiment, which carries innumerable christianities, humanities, divinities in its bosom’. But whereas Boehme was ‘healthily and beautifully wise’—‘not- withstanding the mystical narrowness and incommunicableness’, Swedenborg was ‘disagreeably wise’ and for all his ‘accumulated gifts’ paralysed and repelled because he 17 Essays on Swedenborg and Mysticism lacked poetic expression. 1 Though Emerson sometimes lumped them with Plato, Plotinus, George Fox, Madame Guyon and others, his occasional coupling of Swedenborg with Boehme is instructive. Both were raised in northern Europe as Lutherans, the sons of devout men.
    [Show full text]
  • Samuel Johnson's Sermons: Consolations for the Vacuity of Life
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1988 Samuel Johnson's Sermons: Consolations for the Vacuity of Life Thomas George Kass Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Kass, Thomas George, "Samuel Johnson's Sermons: Consolations for the Vacuity of Life" (1988). Dissertations. 2627. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2627 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1988 Thomas George Kass SAMUEL JOHNSON'S SERMONS: CONSOLATIONS FOR THE VACUITY OF LIFE by Thomas George Kass, c.s.v. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 1988 (c) 1988, Thomas George Kass ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is a pleasure to thank those who helped me in the research and writing of this dissertation. I am indebted to Professor David Loewenstein for his scholarly preci­ sion. I am indebted to Professor Douglas White for his careful reading of my chapters in draft form; his percep­ tive suggestions for revision prevented the stylistic deficiencies which otherwise would have impaired the persuasiveness of the argument. My major debt of thanks goes to the Director of this dissertation, Professor Thomas Kaminski, for his sound guidance and sensible advice at all stages of the writing.
    [Show full text]