The certainty of the world of spirits fully evinced. By Richard Baxter. To which is added The wonders of the invisible world by Cotton Mather. The former taken from the edition published by Mr. Baxter, 1691 ... The latter from the 'Ecclesiastical history of New England', published 1702 / [Richard Baxter].

  • Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.
Date:
1834
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The certainty of the world of spirits fully evinced. By Richard Baxter. To which is added The wonders of the invisible world by Cotton Mather. The former taken from the edition published by Mr. Baxter, 1691 ... The latter from the 'Ecclesiastical history of New England', published 1702 / [Richard Baxter]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    published of them, and read to the people in the churches; some of these are said to have been done before many witnesses, some in the public assemblies, and some in his own .presence. It is useless to descend farther. In no age hath God left himself without witnesses ; but seeing the ignorance of men, “ ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth, livetted in their af- fections to the earth, and foolishly inclined to at- tribute every thing to second causes, he permits, ordains, or operates, in every age, such strange and unnatural effects as shall awaken their dull and grovelling minds to the contemplation of a super- intending power and providence, and to a sensible* conviction of the world of spirits. It would carry us beyond the limits of a preface, were we to at- tempt to exhibit to our readers a view of the ac- cumulated evidence furnished by the dark ages. Passing by these, as well as the testimonies of the Reformers and early Protestant writers, we shall comedown at once to the 17tli century: an age abounding in every variety of learning, and full of the most surprising wonders ; nor need we stop long even here, as these are amply displayed in the works before us. We shall therefore merely add, to the facts already collected, a few which, though alluded to by our authors, do not appear to have come under their immediate and personal observation ; we mean the extraordinary cures effected by the royal touch, and those produced by the hands of Mr. Valentine Greatarick. With re- gard to the former, we might multiply proofs to any extent; the fact is so well attested, that to * “ Many can apprehend these arguments from sense, who cannot yet reach, and will not be con- vinced by other demonstrations.—Saints' Rest, part 2, chap. 7.