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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B10083	Tracts theological. I. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and vertue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites. II. The life of St. Antony out of the Greek of Sr. Athanasius. III. The antiquity and tradition of mystical divinity among the Gentiles. IV. Of the guidance of the spirit of God, upon a discourse of Sir Matthew Hale's concerning it. V. An invitation to the Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and virtue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Life of St. Antony.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Antiquity, tradition, and succession of mystical divinity among the Gentiles.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Enthusiasmus divinus: the guidance of the spirit of God.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Apology for, and an invitation to, the people call'd Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	1697 (1697)	Wing S5444E; Wing S5444E; ESTC R184630	221,170	486

Noble saying of the Apostle on which we should oft meditate 1 Cor. 15.31 I die daily for if we so live as those who consider they may die every day we shall not sin Whence we learn every Day when we rise not to reckon upon our stay till the Evening and again when we lye down to sleep to suppose we shall not rise because our Life is uncertain by Nature which Providence daily measures out to us By being thus dispos'd and living so every day we shall not offend nor lust after any forbidden Object or be angry with any one or lay up treasure on Earth But thus dying every day we shall be possessing nothing and forgive all Offences being freed from all desire of filthy Pleasure reputing it as transeunt always striving and having the Day of Judgment in our Eye for a great fear of Eternal Torments takes off the Appetite from excess of Pleasure and rears up the Soul when it begins to stoop Wherefore having set foot in the path of Vertue let us advance faster and faster and that we may be Masters of all Opportunities before us let none of us look back as did Lot's Wife for our Lord hath positively said that No one that puts his hand to the Plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven Now by the Expression look back is meant nothing else but to change our Thoughts and to relish the Things of this World Be not startled when ye hear any thing of Vertue neither think strange of the Name for 't is not far from us nor without us but the work is in our Power and an easie matter if we have but an hearty Resolution The Greeks travel and cross the Seas to learn Letters but we need not travel for the Kingdom of Heaven or to cross the Seas for Vertue for our Lord has told us before hand Luk. 17.21 The Kingdom of Heaven is within you Wherefore Vertue stands only in need of the Will since 't is within us and built up out of us For Vertue consists of a Soul which has a primitive Natural Temper Now the Mind is so when it has that Temper wherein it was created 'T was created very beautiful and upright for which reason Jesus the Son of Nave bid the People Joshua 24.23 Incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel as John also Make strait your paths for the Soul 's being strait or upright does consist in its having its intellectual Faculty in that posture in which it was created Again When the Soul bends or is crooked from Nature's posture then the Soul has Evil imputed to it Wherefore the Business is not so difficult as some make it for if we continue as we were made we are in a State of Vertue But if we purpose things that are wicked we are arraigned before God for wicked Persons If this Accomplishment were such as that it must necessarily be procur'd from without us it would be difficult But since 't is within us let us keep our selves from evil filthy Purposes and having received so great a Trust from God let us keep our selves for God that he may own his Work when he sees it such as he made it Let us contend earnestly lest Wrath tyrannize or Lust domineer over it for 't is written The Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God But Lust when it hath conceived brings forth Sin and Sin when it is finished brings forth Death But since the Case is so with us let us be sincerely sober and as 't is written Keep our Hearts with all Diligence for we have shrewd and subtile Enemies even wicked Devils To which I add with the Apostle We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities and Powers against the Rulers of this World against Spiritual Wickednesses in high places for there is a vast rout of them in the Air against us Nor are they far from us But there is a great difference in Devils But to speak of their Nature and Diversity would take up too much time A Narrative of that kind must be the work of greater Abilities That which lies upon us as necessary to be known is their various Subtilties against us And here be it known that the Devils were not by Nature what they are by Name For God made nothing Evil But they were created Fair and Good But having fall'n from an Heavenly Prudence and now wheeling about the Earth they deceived the Gentiles with their Phantasies And now that they envy us Christians they leave no stone unturn'd to hinder us from Entring into the Kingdom of Heaven lest we should get thither whence they fell Wherefore we stand in need of much Prayer and Exercise till we obtain the Gift of discerning of Spirits for when once a Man has obtain'd that he may be able to know which of them is more and which less Wicked and whither their different Endeavours mostly tend and by what Means every one of them may be conquered and cast out For they have several Wiles and Stratagems Hence came that Saying of the Apostle and his Followers For we are not ignorant of his Devices 2 Cor. 2.11 Since therefore we are tempted by them we should be setting one another's Souls to rights Wherefore I having partly experienced their Wiles do now but as a Child speak something to you about them Well then If they observe any Christians especially Monks labouring hard to make a considerable Progress in Vertue they assault and tempt them by laying continual obstacles in their way viz. evil Thoughts But however we should not be afraid of their Threats for by Prayer and Fasting and Faith in God they quickly fall But after they have been thrown they don't desist but presently come again subtlely and deceitfully for if they cann't cheat our Hearts by gross Pleasures they will assault us another way striving to terrifie us by false Appearances and transforming themselves into the Shapes of Women Beasts Serpents Bulky Bodies and Armies of Souldiers Even then our Hearts should not mis-give us for they are nothing and presently dis-appear especially if the Christian immures and fortifies himself with the Faith and the Sign of the Cross But still they are very bold and impudent for when they have been thus vanquished they set upon us another way and pretend to Prophecy and foretell things to come Also to scare us they will represent themselves so Tall as to touch the Cieling and proportionably Broad that they may steal those away by such Delusions whom they could not deceive by their Sophistry But if they find a Soul so secur'd with Faith and that Hope which attends true Repentance as to resist them still at last they bring the Prince of the Devils 16. He said also that the Devil often appeared just as he is described in Job 41.18 19 20. His Eyes are like the Eye-lids of the Morning Out of his Mouth go burning Lamps and sparks of Fire

they add that if he be put in Authority over others he never will abuse it to the Prejudice of those who are under him and neither exceed the rest in Apparel nor any other ambitious Pomp that he will always love the Truth and severely reprove Lyars and that he will keep his Hands and Soul pure from all Theft and unjust Gain and that he will not conceal any Mysteries or Secrets of their Religion from his Companions nor reveal them to any Strangers although he should be threaten'd thereto by Death Adding moreover that he will never deliver any Doctrin save that which he hath received and diligently preserve the Books as well as the Names of those from whom they received it These Protestations they oblige those to take solemnly who enter into their Order to the end to fortifie them against all Vices Those of the Society who transgress notoriously they thrust out of their Company And who-ever is so punished for the most part dieth a miserable Death for it being not lawful for him to eat with any Stranger he is reduced to feed on Grass like Beasts and so he perisheth through Famine For which cause oftentimes they are moved with Compassion to receive many into their Order again when ready by Famine to yield up the Ghost judging them to have endured Penance enough for their Offences who with Famine were almost brought to Death's door They are very severe and just in their Judgments and to decide any Matter there is never fewer of them than an Hundred and that which is by them agreed upon is irrevocable Next after God they reverence their Law-giver insomuch that if any one revile him they forthwith condemn him to Death They take it for a great Duty to obey their Elders and what is appointed by many so that if Ten of them sit together no Man of them must speak without he be licensed thereto by ●●●e of the Company They account it a great ●●●ivility to be in the midst of the Assembly or on their right hand And they are more severe than any other Jews in observing the Sabbath for they do not only abstain from dressing Meat which they dress the Evening before that Day but also they may not remove any Vessel out of its place nor satisfie the Necessities of Nature Upon other Days they dig a Pit a foot deep in the Ground with the Hatchet which as we before said every one at his Entrance into their Order hath given him and then covering themselves diligently with their Garment as if they feared to be Irreverent to the Light of Heaven in that Pit they ease themselves and then cover their Ordure with the Earth they took out of the Pit and this they do in the most secret places And though this purging of their Bodies be natural yet do they by washing purifie themselves after it as after great Uncleanness Furthermore amongst themselves they are divided into Four Orders according to the time which they have continu'd this Exercise of Life and they that are Juniors bear such respect to their Seniors that if they do but touch one of them they are obliged to purifie themselves as though they had touched a Stranger They are long liv'd so that most of them live an Hundred Years which I judge is by reason of their well-ordered Diet and their Temperance They contemn Adversity and by Constancy and Fortitude triumph over Torments They preferr an honourable Death before Life The Wars which the Jews made against the Romans shew'd what invinsible Courage and Hardiness they have in all things for they suffered the Breaking of the Members of their Bodies Fire and Sword and all kind of Tortures rather than be brought to speak the least Word against their Law-giver or to eat Meats forbidden They could not be forced to any of these neither would they entreat the Torturers nor shew any Sorrow amidst their Torments Yea in the midst of their Pains they scoffed at their Tormentors and joyfully yielded up their Souls as though they hoped to pass to a better Life For it is an Opinion amongst them That the Body is mortal and corruptible but the Souls remain ever immortal and being of a most pure and etherial Substance wrap themselves in Bodies as in Prisons being drawn thereunto by some natural Inclination But when they are delivered out of these carnal Bonds then presently as freed from a long Bondage they joyfully mount into the Air. And of the Good Souls they say as did the Grecians that they live beyond the Ocean in a place of Pleasure where they are never molested with Rain nor Snow nor Heat but have always a sweet and pleasant Air. But the Wicked Souls as they say go into a Place very tempestuous where there is always Winter Weather always Lamentations of those who for ever are to be punished For I judge that the Greeks are of this Opinion when they say there is an Isle for the Virtuous whom they call Heroes and Half-Gods and that the Souls of the Wicked go to a Place in Hell where it is feigned that some are tormented as Sysiphus Tantalus Ixion and Titius Those Esseans also believe that they are created Immortal that they may be induced to Vertue and averted from Vice that the Good are rendred better in this Life by the Hope of being Happy after Death and that the Wicked who imagin they can hide their Evil Actions in this World are punished for them in the other with Eternal Torments This is the Esseans Opinion touching the Excellence of the Soul from which we see very few of those depart who have once embraced it There are also some among them who promise to foretell things to come which Faculty is obtained as well by the Study of Holy Books and Ancient Prophecies as by the Care they take of sanctifying themselves And their Predictions seldom fail They are at least Four Thousand in Number who have neither Wives nor Slaves supposing that Women are the occasion of Injustice and Slaves do cause Insurrections and living apart by themselves they serve one another and chuse out certain upright Men among the Priests to gather the Fruits and Revenues of the Land to the end they may be maintained and nourished thereby In a Word they follow the same Course of Life that they do who are called Plisti among the Danes There is another sort of Esseans agreeing with the former both in Apparel Diet and kind of Life and Observance of the same Laws and Ordinances only they differ in the Matter of Marriage Affirming that to abstain from Marriage tends to abolish Man-kind For say they if all Men should follow this Opinion presently all Man-kind would perish Notwithstanding these People use such Moderation that for Three Years space they observe the Women they intend to Marry and then if they appear sound enough to bear Children they Marry them None of them lye with their Wives when they are with Child to shew

his Learning by Books nor external Wisdom nor any Art But Antony was renown'd purely for his Devotion to God No one can deny that this was the Gift of God How came he who was hid and sat in a Mountain to be heard of in Spain France Rome and Africa unless God had made his Name known every where who promis'd this to Antony at first for although such Heroes act secretly and are willing to lye conceal'd yet the Lord shews them as Lamps to all that they may know that his Commands which he has given to reform us are practicable and thence may derive a Zeal for the ways of Vertue 62. Read ye this to others that they may know what sort of Life the Life of Monks should be and may be perswaded that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will glorifie those who glorifie Him and serve Him unto the End not only bringing them to the Kingdom of Heaven but making them notwithstanding they hide and retire celebrated here for their Vertue to the Benefit of others And if there be a Necessity read it to the Heathens that they may know not only that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Son of God but that those Christians who serve Him truly and believe in Him piously reprove those Spirits whom they account Gods and tread upon them and chase them as those who are the Deceivers and Corrupters of Men and this they do by the Grace and Strength of Christ Jesus our Lord to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Theologia Mystica TWO DISCOURSES CONCERNING DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS To Souls duly disposed I. The Antiquity Tradition and Succession of Mystical Divinity among the Gentiles with Notes and Observations to distinguish Illusions and Directions of Spiritual Writers concerning Prayer II. Of the Guidance of the Spirit of GOD The Doctrine of the H. Scriptures of the Catholick Church and of the Church of England in particular upon a Discourse of Sr. Matthew Hale concerning it LONDON Printed for the Author for the Use and Benefit of a Religious Society 1697. ADVERTISEMENT ASCETICKS or The Heroick Piety and Virtue of the Ancient Christian Anchorets and Coenobites wherein the Beginning and Progress of Contemplative Living and Religious Societies is briefly discoursed and a true Account of the Esseans Therapeuts and ancient Egyptian and other Monks collected out of the most Authentick Records Also the LIFE of the Famous Saint ANTONY written in Greek by St. Athanasius faithfully Translated into English All Printed for the Author for the Use and Benefit of the Society afore-said THE PREFACE THE latter of these Discourses was Printed as part of a Preface to that Book of Sr. Matthew Hale's from whence the beginning of the Discourse is now taken but why it was not Published with it I know no reason unless that which is the Vniversal primary Obstacle to all Good that Satan hindered it And that I make no question was the principal moving Cause which set the others on work That wicked envious Spirit who had raised up all the Evil he could both against him and against me in our several Families in his Life-time hath not ceased to do so still since his Death By what he got such Advantage against my self I know very well and intend to declare it But by what he got such Advantage against that good Man is a Secret I know nothing of But this I know that he hath been Vnhappy in his Family both in his Life-time and since his Death and particularly in what I am now saying I long looked upon him as a Man raised up by the Special Providence of God to be an Illustrious Example of Vertue and Piety in this degenerate Age And therefore that People might not be deprived of the Benefit of such an Example by their Ignorance of his Principles as I found by Experience many were I did in his Life-time publish a Volume of his Contemplations even after I had earnestly pressed him to consent to it and he refused Indeed I knew him and he knew me so well that I did not fear any misconstruction from him and after his Death I desired to have done Honour to his Memory for the same purpose by the Publication of such of his Writings as were most necessary and seasonable that the Benefit of his Labours as well as of his Example while yet fresh in Memory might be communicated as much as might be to all and they might mutually recommend each other for the greater Benefit of all But alas that wicked Spirit which had so prevailed in his Family in his Life-time as made him tell some of them That Satan or the Devil did ride them as an Ape would do a Mastiff-Dog hath likewise prevailed hitherto upon such as vainly gloried in their Relation to him to obstruct that good Design for Twenty years together without due regard either to that Service of God those Benefits to Men the true Honour of his Memory in which they vainly gloried or the Performance of his Will according to his Mind For though he had not expressly ordered the Publication of one or other in particular yet had he made this Provision in a Codicil concerning the Publication of any of them that he had nominated the Bookseller who should have the Printing of them paying as much as another would in reason for them and of the Profits appointed one part to one for his Care and Pains in overseeing and ordering the Publication another part to another for Writing and Correcting and the rest among his Servants and told them what he had done for them so that besides the Injury done to their Country they have done a double Injury to his Memory not only by hindering the Honour due to it but by Dishonouring it and giving occasion to a Blemish and Reproach to it provoking some not only to think but to speak hardly of him as if he had abused them in some of the last Acts of his Life and all this out of a sordid Humour to get or keep what he had otherwise disposed of And though thus they exercised their Malice and Spight against the Memory of the Good Man yet was not this the chief part of their Work and Triumph that they had raised this Injury against his Memory and besides had deprived his Country of the Benefit of much of his Labours in his own Profession But there is a greater matter in the bottom and of greater concern to them which these Wicked Subtile Agents had a principal regard to The Good Man had taken great Pains in examining and considering the Grounds and Evidences of Religion both Natural and Revealed And he was excellently well qualified for it both by Natural Sagacity by Exercise of his Parts in his own Profession which affords as much and good Exercise for such a purpose as any and by Freedom from Prejudice either of Education or of Temporal Interest For though he had a Religious Education yet it is certain