CONCERNING CONSCIENCE, WHAT IT IS; And what estate it was in before transgression. AND HOW IT BECAME DARKENED, Defiled and CORRUPTED. AND HOW AGAIN IT MAY BE ENLIGHTENED, CLEANSED, PURIFIED, AND SET AT LIBERTY, AS IT WAS BEFORE SIN ENTERED. INTERMIXED WITH A FEW WORDS CONCERNING PERSECUTION AMONG THE DIVERS SECTS IN BY WILLIAM SHEWEN. PHILADELPHIA: MARCUS T. C. GOULD, No. 6, NORTH EIGHTH STREET. NEW YORK: ISAAC T. HOPPER, No. 420, PEARL STREET. READER-I would have thee seriously weigh and consider what thou readest in this small treatise, and with the measure of divine light, which shines in thy mind, heart, and conscience, (whether thou be darkness or light, a believer or an infidel,) take a perfect view of thyself, and thou mayst by the light thereof infallibly perceive and know, whether thou art a member of the holy catholic church,* or whether thou art of some private opinion or sect, which only calls itself so; and whether thy mind, heart, and conscience are cleansed, and set at liberty from all that did defile and imbondage them, or whether thou art corrupted and defiled, captivated and bound under with the chains of darkness, superstitious education, corrupt tradition, and selfish opinions, kindling thy sacrifices with coals from thy own altar, and walking in the light of thy own sparks. By the eye or light of God, which runs to and fro through the earth, and searcheth thy heart, tryeth thy reins, and showeth unto thee thy thoughts, thou mayst see thy state and condition, how thou standest in the sight of the Lord: and if thy mind be spiritual, thou hast life and peace. If thy heart be pure, thou seest the Lord; if thy conscience be purged from dead works, thou art a servant of the living God, and findest acceptance with him, being alive to righteousness, and dead to sin. But if thou dost evil, sin lies at thy door, and he that saves his people from their sins thou art ignorant of, and death, the wages thereof, attends thee, profess what thou wilt, and let thy notion or opinion be what it will, let thy form and fashion of worship and religion be what it will, whether thou art a Jew, Mahometan, Papist, or Protestant. This is the word of truth to thee, whether thou wilt hear or forbear; thou shalt find it sealed upon thee in the day of the Lord. * None can be of the holy catholic church, further than they walk in the light, learn of the grace, and profit by the manifestation of the spirit of God, given to them, and is present with them, convincing, reproving, and judging all and every appearance of evil, and ready to teach and lead into all good; and it is those only that are led and guided by the spirit of God, that are his sons and daughters, and members of the holy church, which is in God: he that can receive it let him. A FEW WORDS CONCERNING CONSCIENCE, WHAT IT IS, &c. Conscience is generally to be understood to be such a being, subject, faculty or capacity in mankind, which is wanting in all the beasts of the field, fish of the sea, and fowls of the air.* And in this capacity, mankind differs from and excels them all; being created in and endued with such a capacity, wherein and whereby he is enabled to participate of the divine nature, and to partake of the beams of its glory, to meditate, contemplate, consolate, delight, and refresh himself in the light, law, and glory of his maker; which capacity is not to be found in all the elements of this world, but only in mankind. Now, in the beginning man's mind, heart, and consciencet were a heavenly and pure receptacle, tabernacle, and dwelling place for the Almighty; his power, wisdom, light, and glory were displayed therein, and mankind was highly exalted thereby, above all the works of his hands. And while mankind stood here in this high and heavenly estate, he lived in the paradise of God, enjoying the light of his countenance, and had unity with his maker, and could behold his face with joy, and receive the reflections of the beams of divine glory shining in his conscience with delight, living in dominion over all the creation. His conscience being pure, he held the mystery of faith in it, eyeing the invisible God through, above, and beyond all things, visible and invisible. This was the state of mankind before the fall, while his conscience was pure and undefiled. While he remained in that estate God made him and placed him in, who was a pure, innocent subject, holy in his being, and harmless in his nature, all within him and without him was good, yea, very good. Now the wisdom is to understand, how that which was holy and harmless, innocent, pure, and undefiled, did become evil and corrupted; seeing in this state and time evil had not a being, whence could, or did, the temptations arise? The wisdom of all บ Which capacity is as a book, capable to contain what is written or imprinted therein; and may be not only opened and shut, but blotted and stained also. †These three are so inseparable, that that which defiles the one, defiles the other, and that which purifies the one, purifies the other. The blessed estate of man before the fall. men living in the fallen defiled estate, cannot find out nor search into the depth of these things; they are only revealed and made known by the shining of the same light which was in the beginning, and gives the children thereof to see the same.* Therefore to the same light and spirit of God, which moved upon the face of the waters, in the beginning, before the sun, moon, and stars were created, or the mountains formed, which light now shineth in the heart of mankind (though darkness,) which light also God hath caused to shine out of darkness in the hearts of thousands in this our day and age; I say, to this light I chiefly refer and commend thee, being indeed the key of the mysteries of God and godliness: yet a few words for the sake of the captivated, and for the opening of that eye that is blinded, that such may come to see and discern the things of God, and that the enlightened may by seeing perceive how mankind at first came to make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, and avoid doing the like. Moses, or the author of Genesis, was endued with an excellent spirit of wisdom and discerning, when he comprised the history of the creation, and the state of mankind therein; and indeed I must tell my reader, that nothing short of a measure of the same spirit and divine wisdom can lead thee into a true discerning and understanding of the same. He hath exposed the shell, but hath locked up the kernel from the prudent wit and comprehension of man under divers similitudes and hieroglyphics. Thou mayst read the history, and walk in the field of the creation; yet if thou diggest not deep, and findest the pearl and purchasest it, and like a wise merchant-man, sellest all for it, thou wilt be ignorant of the mystery, and remain poor, blind, and miserable: for I intend not to throw pearls before swine, neither dare I, like Hezekiah, show the treasures of the Lord's house to the Babylonians, lest both I and it are carried into captivity therefor. Now it is said, "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." There was then no cause of shame in being, no temptation entered into, no sin committed, which is the cause of shame. And it is also said, "The serpent was more subtile than all the beasts of the field which God had made." Now God made nothing but what was good, which keeping in its state and bounds, wherein God had set • The mysteries of God are hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. Nothing short of the inspiration of the Almighty, gives a true understanding of the things of his kingdom. Many carnal conceits and imaginations are, and have been, at work among men to understand these things, but they have not come to the opening of the seals, nor to the key of the mysteries of God, and so have divulged their own carnal and Luciferian conceptions, comprehensions, and notions, for the divine knowledge of God; and many have thereby grown rich, tall and great in brain and head-knowledge; but poor, low, and small in experimental heart understanding, and of the work of God therein. M and appointed it, would so have remained. But there being a possibility to break those bounds, and disobey that law that God had set over him, God gave man a warning thereof, and acquainted him with the penalty thereof also, that in the day he did eat it, he should die the death. Now, mankind had faith in his Maker, and in his conscience found himself bound to obey the command given him, and had strength to resist the temptation, till the woman, (the weaker vessel,) believed a lie, and looked upon the beauty of the thing presented, and let up a desire to be wise, and to know good and evil, and to be as God's ;* so in this hope of gaining and bettering their estate, became subject unto vanity, and hereby the light that shined in the heart and conscience, became veiled, and the image and glory of God that appeared therein, became lost. As the image of the selfish will and desire rose up and became prevalent, the image of God declined and departed. And when man lost his faith which was held in the pure conscience, which faith was an anchor, by which conscience, as a ship in a storm, was stayed for a while, from being made a wreck: I say, when he lost this faith in the word and command of God, and believed the serpent's lies, he soon made shipwreck of both. And no sooner were their own eyes opened, but the eye and light of God which shined in them, became stopped and veiled, and they lost the glory and benefit of it. No sooner their own wisdom and knowledge sprung up, but the wisdom of God departed, and innocency, the heavenly clothing, became lost, and nakedness appeared, faith and a good conscience destroyed, shame, guilt, fear, and hiding, the effects of it, succeeded. So, though conscience, in its primitive estate, was pure, clean, and undefiled, yet was liable and capable to be corrupted, darkened, and defiled,|| even as the mind departed from a due regard and obedience of the law and command of God, and slighted his light and glory, which shined, and illuminated his heart and conscience, Then clouds of error, and mists, and fogs of self-will, thoughts, and imaginations soon arose, and darkened the pure air, and eclipsed the glory of that sun that before shined in him, and These things are to be seen and known in the light and wisdom of God, beyond what words can express. † Rom. viii. 20. Every particular within themselves must come to know the loss and fall, crucifixion and death of the one, and the life and resurrection of the other, before restoration can be known. § The same befalls mankind at this day when they loose their anchor. The same danger is still, even among such as are presented as a chaste virgin to Christ, and have attained to an innocent sinless estate, and a dwelling-place in paradise. Therefore the duty of all such is to watch and pray, that they enter not into temptation, and are beguiled as the serpent did Eve. |