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A43678
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The spirit of enthusiasm exorcised in a sermon preached before the University of Oxford, on Act-Sunday, July 11, 1680 / by George Hickes.
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Hickes, George, 1642-1715.
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1680
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Wing H1871; ESTC R10947
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39,266
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rational soul which is a Spiritual substance and as near a-kin in nature to the Father of Spirits as the Angels his eldest Sons can be Such gifts and endowments as these are Memory Fancy Wit Eloquence and all Organical powers which are commonly known by the name of Natural parts but more especially the pure intellectual powers of Apprehending and Judging Comparing Ordering and Discoursing many or all of both which kinds some happy Souls possess in such abundance and perfection as gives them according to Aristotles observation a natural kind of Superiority over their companions and fits them to govern or instruct the world But then how much soever some men may transcend others in their intellectual capacities and improvements we must not like the Poets ascribe their extraordinary gifts to an higher principle than the nature of man For the tallest Trees are natural as well as the lowest shrubs and Gigantick Souls as well as bodies how prodigious soever their stature may be yet like Saul among his brethren they are but men though worthy to be Princes and differ as much from persons gifted by inspiration as Goliah from Samson Praxiteles and Phidias from Bezaliel and Aholiab or studied Linguists from the Apostles who were inspired with the gift of tongues Indeed all our parts and abilities are the gifts of God who is the original Author of our nature and by consequence of all that belongs thereunto but the Gifts of which the Apostle speaks in this Chapter are wholly Supernatural and immediately proceed from the Spirit of God Gifts that were given to advance humane nature above it self to raise all its Springs above their Fountain and enable the blessed persons affected with them to speak and write and act such things and in such a peculiar manner as was impossible for men not inspired to do These are the Gifts or Graces which the Apostle treats of in this Chapter as may be proved from the first verse which is an Introduction to his whole discourse Now Brethren saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning Spiritual gifts I would not have you ignorant Spiritual gifts not so called from the soul or spirit of man wherein they were as in their subject for if this had been his meaning he must not have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the author from whom they came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit of God whom our Saviour promised to send to his Disciples after he ascended into Heaven which he first of all did on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost came down upon them in a mighty rushing wind to signifie the plentiful Inspiration of the Spirit and sat upon them all in the shape of fiery cloven tongues as so many visible Symbols of the most * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 29. in 1 ep ad Cor. cap. 12. wonderful act of Inspiration which was the gift of tongues But then there being Two sorts of Spiritual gifts common and special we must further proceed to enquire which kind of the Two is meant here By the common gifts of the Spirit I mean all those that all Christians are bound to pray for and expect and that are given by God in common to all those who sincerely desire them and labour after them and that are necessary for the Salvation of the Soul By Special gifs I understand those which men are not ordinarily bound to expect and which unless it be in some few circumstances that seldom happen would be vanity and presumption to beg of God and which by consequence are not necessary for the Salvation of the Soul Of the former sort are all the saving Gifts and Graces of the Spirit called in the Schools gratiae gratum facientes which the Spirit helps to work in mens hearts as Faith Hope Charity Purity Humility and all other gracious habits of mind which the Apostle calls the fruit of the Spirit and wherein the image of God the Power of Godliness and the Spirit of Christianity truly do consist Of the latter sort are all the Miraculous Unctions of the Holy Ghost called by the Schoolmen gratiae gratis datae such as the gift of tongues power of working miracles signs and wonders the spirit of Prophecy and the like which are not necessary for the Church but in certain cases of special exigence and which when they are necessary are not given like the other joyntly to all but severally to some Such wonderful gifts and graces were those which Elias sent down with his Mantle upon Elisha when he ascended into Heaven thereby prefiguring the liberal effusion of the Spirit from Christ upon his Disciples after his Ascension for as the Apostle writes in the 4th Chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians When he ascended up on high and led Captivity that is Satan Sin and death captive he gave in like manner gifts unto men Both these sorts of gifts agree in this that they are Supernatural and freely given by God to men and therefore both of them are called gratiae in the vulgar Latin and Graces in all the modern tongues though for distinction sake the former are commonly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the latter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Divines But though both proceed from the same Spirit and spring from the same Fountain of Grace yet as I have already hinted they differ in their nature extent and use First in their Nature for the former are nothing but moral vertues insensibly wrought in our hearts by the Holy Ghost we our selves co-operating therewith And their proper effect is to sanctifie our nature and make us like and acceptable unto God But the latter are not of a moral nature nor capable of moral consideration as being either pure intellectual habits as the gift of Tongues discerning of Spirits c. or else bodily virtues and powers as the power of Curing diseases c. to which the affected person contributed nothing himself and by which though he were made a more eminent man or Minister yet was he not made a * Non omnes Christiani boni daemones ejiciunt omnium tamen nomina scripta sunt in Coelo August in Ps 130. better Christian than he was before Therefore they did not sanctifie the nature of the person on whom they were bestow'd nor render him in the least more acceptable unto God though they were some of them more especially often given to sanctified persons and so might declare but not make a man good I say they were often but not always given to sanctified persons for at a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl in 1 Cor. 12.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Epist ad Rom. cap. 8. Hom. 14. first the Holy Ghost fell upon all that were Baptized and Confirmed the Spirit of Prophecy was given to Balaam the Power of working Signs and Wonders and of casting out Devils was given to b Hieronym
READER THere is newly published a Volume of LXI Sermons Preached by the same Author Printed for Rich. Marriott and Sold by most Book-Sellers in London THE Spirit of Enthusiasm EXORCISED IN A SERMON PREACHED Before the UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD on ACT-SUNDAY July 11. 1680. By George Hickes D. D. Prebendary of Worcester and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Lauderdale Printed at the request of Mr. Vice-Chancellor and many others who heard it Preached Diserti sunt multi inter illos magnae linguae flumina linguarum nunquid Angelicè loquuntur omnia illa nihil iis prosunt quia conscindunt unitatem Paulus loquitur si sciam omnia sacramenta c. Nemo ergo vobis fabulas vendat Pontius fecit miraculum Donatus oravit Deus ei respondit de Coelo Crederem si non divisisset unitatem nam contra istos ut sic loquar mirabiliarios cautum me fecit Deus meus dicens in novissimis temporibus teneamus ergo unitatem fratres mei prater unitatem qui facit miracula nihil est Proinde fratres mei nemo vos fallat nemo vos seducat amate pacem Christi c. August exp in Evang. Johan tract 13. LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXX To the Reverend Doctor TIMOTHY HALTON Provost of QVEENS-COLLEDGE and VICE-CHANCELLOR Of the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD SIR THIS Discourse which was so acceptable to You from the Pulpit comes now in all Humility from the Press to offer it self to your further Acceptance and Protection and to the Perusal of all those Learned and Orthodox men who desired me to Publish it as containing some Sober and wholsom doctrines which they judged seasonable for the age I had a mind to satisfie my self in this Subject and having by Gods blessing upon my enquiries attained to satisfaction in them I framed my Observations on purpose into a Sermon to see if happily I could satisfie other mens reasons by the same Arguments by which I had convinced my own And because the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets I chose to Preach it in that Audience where are always so many Competent and able Judges of Truth and Error and what I said on that obscure Subject as Chrysostom calls it having been approved therein I am encouraged to hope that it will find the like Entertainment in other places especially among all ingenuous spirits who are wont to read with unprejudiced minds But lest any should think that the Scheme by which I go in this Discourse were an Hypothesis of my own inventing I have confirmed the passages in it which I thought would be most surprizing with good Authorities because how plausible soever any Notions in Divinity may be yet they may reasonably pass for suspected unless they appear to be agreeable to the Sentiments of the Writers of the Oecumenical Church To write all things consonantly to Catholick Antiquity is a safe and excellent rule and it is for adhering to it in her Doctrine and Discipline that the Church of England and Her Clergy have been always persecuted by the Papists those Pseudo-Catholicks on one hand and their Instruments the Anti-Prelatical Sects on the other and because under God the Vniversities are the support of the Church therefore have they been decryed for want of Learning by those and want of Virtue and Religion by these although they have been and are as fruitful Seminaries of both as any Schools or Vniversities that are or ever were in the world And now having occasion to speak of the Vniversities it would be real injustice to your Merits not to let the world know how happy ours is in Your Government I might justly speak great things of Your Severity in punishing of Vice of the great encouragement you give to Virtue and Learning and of your Care and Vigilance both over your own Colledge and the Vniversity particularly in giving life to the Publick Exercises in the Schools of which you are in all Arts and Faculties so great a Judge It is under such Governours as You that the Muses will flourish in Oxford and that true Learning and Sound Religion will always be taught therein And therefore that there may never want a Succession of such Vice-Chancellours as You to Govern that Famous Vniversity nor of such Learned Masters and Scholars as now adorn it is the hearty prayer of SIR Your most Obliged and Humble Servant GEORGE HICKES THE SPIRIT OF Enthusiasm EXORCISED 1 COR. xii 4. Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit THE Discourse which I intend to make upon this Verse will oblige me to explain the most obscure and difficult passages of this Chapter from the misunderstanding of which and most other places of the Gospel which speak of the Spirit and Spiritual gifts Impostors on one hand and Enthusiasts on the other have raised such absurd and exorbitant doctrines as are utterly inconsistent not only with the use and Authority of the Scriptures but the Tradition of the Universal Church the Orders of the Ministery and the Study of Divinity and by consequence render the Christian Religion which consists of such Sober and Rational Doctrines the most wild uncertain and unintelligible institution that ever was in the world But how groundless and unwarrantable the Enthusiastical Interpretations of this and other like places of Scripture are will appear from the process of this Discourse in which I intend to treat so particularly of the Gifts of the Spirit as to leave out nothing which may be said in such a short Discourse to illustrate such an excellent Subject the knowledge of which is a most Soveraign Antidote against the poison of Enthusiasm which is the Spiritual drunkenness or Lunacy of this Schismatical age and so distempers the minds of men of the other Communions with extravagant phancies as to make them more or less affect the extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit and then conceit like Poets in Religion that they have them and are inspired Thus much I thought convenient to premise concerning the matter and design of this Discourse in which I shall proceed according to this familiar method First I intend to speak of the several kinds of Spiritual gifts and shew which sort is mentioned in my Text. Secondly I shall treat of the number and variety of them and explain the nature of each particular gift Thirdly I shall discourse of the true use of them and shew the reasons why they were given by God to the Primitive Church and not to the Churches of latter times And Lastly I shall make some Practical improvement of the whole discourse First then as to the kinds of these Spiritual gifts I know my Text is often misapplyed by way of accommodation to signifie the natural or acquired gifts of mans mind which in a Physical sense indeed may be called Spiritual because they transcend the Mechanical powers of matter and proceed more or less from the