Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries (1914)
by Rufus M. Jones
The Light upon the Candlestick, to which we shall now turn for the ripest ideas of this little sect, was written while Spinoza was living among the Collegiants in Rynsburg. It was very quickly discovered by the Quakers, who immediately recognized it as ''bone of their bone,'' and circulated it as a Quaker Tract. It was translated into English in 1663 by B. F. (Benjamin Furley, a Quaker merchant of Colchester, then living in Rotterdam), who published it with this curious title page:
The Light upon the Candlestick. Serving for Observation of the Principal things in the Book called, The Mystery of the Kingdom of God, &c. Against several Professors, Treated of, and written by Will Ames. Printed in Low Dutch for the Author, 1662, and translated into English by B. F.
The Collegiant author, quite in the spirit and style of Spinoza, urges the importance of discovering a central love for ''things which are durable and uncorruptible,'' ''knowing thereby better things than those to which the multitude are link't so fast with love.'' We have outgrown the ''toyes with which we played as children,'' ''there is now ''no desire of moving thereunto, because we have found better things for our minds''; so, too, ''all those things in men, even to old age, so much delight'' would seem like ''toyes'' if they discovered the true Light ''which abides forever unchangeable,' and if through it they got a sight of ''those things which are alone worthy to be known.'' This ''true and lasting change,'' from ''toyes'' to "things which are durable and eternal,'' can some only through an inward conversion.
When a new vision begins from within, then the outward action follows of itself, but no man will part with what he judges best till he sees something better, and then the weaker yields to the stronger without any forcing. This whole work of conversion, of transformation, of ''lasting change,'' must have its origin in something within ourselves. We cannot turn from the baubles and ''toyes'' and our ''desire for that which is high in the world'' until a Light from some source plainly shows us an eternal reality for which we may ''highly adventure the tryal.''
There is, our author insists, only one place where such a guiding Light could arise, and that is within the soul itself, as an inward and immediate knowledge: '''Tis not far to seek. We direct thee to within thyself. Thou oughtest to turn into, to mind and have regard unto, that which is within thee, to wit, the Light of Truth, the true Light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world. Here 'tis that thou must be not without thee, Here thou shalt find a Principle certain and infallible, through which increasing and going on into, thou mayest at length arrive unto a happy condition. Of this thou mayest highly adventure the tryal. And if thou happenest to be one of those that would know all things before thou dost begin. . . know this, Thou dost therein just as those that would learn to read without knowing the Letters. He that will not adventure till he be fully satisfied, shall never begin, much less finish his own salvation. We say then, that we exhort every one turn unto the Light that's in him.''
In true Cartesian fashion, he demonstrates why this Light must have its locus within the soul and not in some external means or medium. All knowledge that God is being revealed in external signs, or through external means, already presupposes a prior knowledge of God. We can judge no doctrine, no Book to be Divine except by some inward and immediate knowledge of what really is Divine. Without this Light the Scriptures are only Words and Letters. But ''if we experience that the Book called the Bible in regard to the Divine doctrine therein comprised hath such a harmony with That [in us] by which God is known, that He must needs have been the Author of it, there cannot rationally be any more powerful demonstration.''
The same principle is true with regard to every conceivable form of revelation which could be made to our outward senses, whether by words, or by miracles, or by any other visible ''operations.'' No finite thing can bring us a knowledge of God unless we already have within us a sufficient knowledge of Him to make us able to appreciate and judge the Divine character of the particular revelation; that is to say, we must already have God in order either to seek Him or to find Him;
or, as Balling puts it, ''Unless the knowledge of God precedes, no man can discern Him.'' God is, therefore, the prius of all knowledge: ''The knowledge of God must first be, before there can be knowledge of any particular things,'' and God must be assumed as present in the soul before any basis of truth or of religion can be found. ''The Light is the first Principle of Religion; for, seeing there can be no true Religion without the knowledge of God, and no knowledge of God without this Light, Religion must necessarily have this Light for its first Principle.''
''Without thyself, O Man,'' he concludes, ''thou hast no means to look for, by which thou mayest know God. Thou must abide within thyself; to the Light that is in thee thou must turn thee; there thou wilt find it and nowhere else. God is nearest unto thee and to every man. He that goes forth of himself to any creature, thereby to know God, departs from God. God is nearer unto every man than himself, because He penetrates the most inward and intimate parts of man and is the Life of the inmost spirit. Mind, therefore, the Light that is in thee.''
This Light -- the first Principle of all Religion -- is also called in this little Book by many other names. It is ''the living Word,'' ''the Truth of God,'' ''the Light of Truth''; it is ''Christ''; it is the ''Spirit.''
As a Divine Light, it reproves man of sin, shows him that he has strayed from God, accuses him of the evil he commits.
It leads man into Truth, ''even though he has never heard or read of Scripture'';
it shows him the way to God, it gives him peace of conscience in well-doing; and,
if followed and obeyed, it brings him into union with God, ''wherein all happiness and salvation doth consist.''
It operates in all men, though in many men there are serious ''impediments'' which hinder its operations -- ''the lets to it are manifold'' -- but as soon as a man turns to it and cleanses his inner eye -- removes the ''lets'' -- he discovers ''a firm foundation upon which he may build stable and enduring things: A Principle whereby he may, without ever erring, guide the whole course of his life, how he is to carry himself toward God, his Neighbour and himself.''
The writer, having thus delivered his message, wishes to have it distinctly understood that he is not trying to draw his readers to any new sect, or to any outward and visible church.
''Go to, then, O Man,'' he says, ''whoever thou art, we will not draw thee off from one heap of men to carry thee over unto another, 'tis somewhat else we invite thee to! We invite thee to Something which may be a means to attain thy own salvation and well-being'' -- a membership in the invisible Church.
Such is the teaching of this strange little book, written by the friend of Spinoza, and revealing the maturest expression of this slowly developing spiritual movement, which began with Hans Denck and flowed uninterruptedly through many lives and along many channels and burst out full flood in England in ''the Children of the Light,'' who were known to the world as Quakers.
The Light upon the Candlestick, to which we shall now turn for the ripest ideas of this little sect, was written while Spinoza was living among the Collegiants in Rynsburg. It was very quickly discovered by the Quakers, who immediately recognized it as ''bone of their bone,'' and circulated it as a Quaker Tract. It was translated into English in 1663 by B. F. (Benjamin Furley, a Quaker merchant of Colchester, then living in Rotterdam), who published it with this curious title page:
The Light upon the Candlestick. Serving for Observation of the Principal things in the Book called, The Mystery of the Kingdom of God, &c. Against several Professors, Treated of, and written by Will Ames. Printed in Low Dutch for the Author, 1662, and translated into English by B. F.
The Collegiant author, quite in the spirit and style of Spinoza, urges the importance of discovering a central love for ''things which are durable and uncorruptible,'' ''knowing thereby better things than those to which the multitude are link't so fast with love.'' We have outgrown the ''toyes with which we played as children,'' ''there is now ''no desire of moving thereunto, because we have found better things for our minds''; so, too, ''all those things in men, even to old age, so much delight'' would seem like ''toyes'' if they discovered the true Light ''which abides forever unchangeable,' and if through it they got a sight of ''those things which are alone worthy to be known.'' This ''true and lasting change,'' from ''toyes'' to "things which are durable and eternal,'' can some only through an inward conversion.
When a new vision begins from within, then the outward action follows of itself, but no man will part with what he judges best till he sees something better, and then the weaker yields to the stronger without any forcing. This whole work of conversion, of transformation, of ''lasting change,'' must have its origin in something within ourselves. We cannot turn from the baubles and ''toyes'' and our ''desire for that which is high in the world'' until a Light from some source plainly shows us an eternal reality for which we may ''highly adventure the tryal.''
There is, our author insists, only one place where such a guiding Light could arise, and that is within the soul itself, as an inward and immediate knowledge: '''Tis not far to seek. We direct thee to within thyself. Thou oughtest to turn into, to mind and have regard unto, that which is within thee, to wit, the Light of Truth, the true Light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world. Here 'tis that thou must be not without thee, Here thou shalt find a Principle certain and infallible, through which increasing and going on into, thou mayest at length arrive unto a happy condition. Of this thou mayest highly adventure the tryal. And if thou happenest to be one of those that would know all things before thou dost begin. . . know this, Thou dost therein just as those that would learn to read without knowing the Letters. He that will not adventure till he be fully satisfied, shall never begin, much less finish his own salvation. We say then, that we exhort every one turn unto the Light that's in him.''
In true Cartesian fashion, he demonstrates why this Light must have its locus within the soul and not in some external means or medium. All knowledge that God is being revealed in external signs, or through external means, already presupposes a prior knowledge of God. We can judge no doctrine, no Book to be Divine except by some inward and immediate knowledge of what really is Divine. Without this Light the Scriptures are only Words and Letters. But ''if we experience that the Book called the Bible in regard to the Divine doctrine therein comprised hath such a harmony with That [in us] by which God is known, that He must needs have been the Author of it, there cannot rationally be any more powerful demonstration.''
The same principle is true with regard to every conceivable form of revelation which could be made to our outward senses, whether by words, or by miracles, or by any other visible ''operations.'' No finite thing can bring us a knowledge of God unless we already have within us a sufficient knowledge of Him to make us able to appreciate and judge the Divine character of the particular revelation; that is to say, we must already have God in order either to seek Him or to find Him;
or, as Balling puts it, ''Unless the knowledge of God precedes, no man can discern Him.'' God is, therefore, the prius of all knowledge: ''The knowledge of God must first be, before there can be knowledge of any particular things,'' and God must be assumed as present in the soul before any basis of truth or of religion can be found. ''The Light is the first Principle of Religion; for, seeing there can be no true Religion without the knowledge of God, and no knowledge of God without this Light, Religion must necessarily have this Light for its first Principle.''
''Without thyself, O Man,'' he concludes, ''thou hast no means to look for, by which thou mayest know God. Thou must abide within thyself; to the Light that is in thee thou must turn thee; there thou wilt find it and nowhere else. God is nearest unto thee and to every man. He that goes forth of himself to any creature, thereby to know God, departs from God. God is nearer unto every man than himself, because He penetrates the most inward and intimate parts of man and is the Life of the inmost spirit. Mind, therefore, the Light that is in thee.''
This Light -- the first Principle of all Religion -- is also called in this little Book by many other names. It is ''the living Word,'' ''the Truth of God,'' ''the Light of Truth''; it is ''Christ''; it is the ''Spirit.''
As a Divine Light, it reproves man of sin, shows him that he has strayed from God, accuses him of the evil he commits.
It leads man into Truth, ''even though he has never heard or read of Scripture'';
it shows him the way to God, it gives him peace of conscience in well-doing; and,
if followed and obeyed, it brings him into union with God, ''wherein all happiness and salvation doth consist.''
It operates in all men, though in many men there are serious ''impediments'' which hinder its operations -- ''the lets to it are manifold'' -- but as soon as a man turns to it and cleanses his inner eye -- removes the ''lets'' -- he discovers ''a firm foundation upon which he may build stable and enduring things: A Principle whereby he may, without ever erring, guide the whole course of his life, how he is to carry himself toward God, his Neighbour and himself.''
The writer, having thus delivered his message, wishes to have it distinctly understood that he is not trying to draw his readers to any new sect, or to any outward and visible church.
''Go to, then, O Man,'' he says, ''whoever thou art, we will not draw thee off from one heap of men to carry thee over unto another, 'tis somewhat else we invite thee to! We invite thee to Something which may be a means to attain thy own salvation and well-being'' -- a membership in the invisible Church.
Such is the teaching of this strange little book, written by the friend of Spinoza, and revealing the maturest expression of this slowly developing spiritual movement, which began with Hans Denck and flowed uninterruptedly through many lives and along many channels and burst out full flood in England in ''the Children of the Light,'' who were known to the world as Quakers.
