In favour of this proposition, they usually quote those remarkable words of the Apostle Paul;[11] “for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him?  Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”  And again—­“but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

[Footnote 11:  1 Cor. 2.11, &c.]

By these expressions the Quakers conceive that the history of man, as explained in the last chapter, is confirmed; or that the Almighty not only gave to man reason, which was to assist him in his temporal, but also superadded a portion of his own spirit, which was to assist him in his spiritual concerns.  They conceive it also to be still farther confirmed by other expressions of the same Apostle.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, he says,[12] “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God;” and in his letter to Timothy he desires him[13] “to hold fast that good thing which was committed to him by means of the holy Ghost, which dwelled in him” Now these expressions can only be accurate on a supposition of the truth of the history of man, as explained in the former chapter.  If this history be true, then they are considered as words of course:  for if there be a communication between the supreme Being and his creature man, or if the Almighty has afforded to man an emanation of his own spirit, which is to act for a time in his mortal body, and then to return to him that gave it, we may say, with great consistency, that the divinity resides in him, or that his body is the temple of the holy spirit.

[Footnote 12:  1 Cor. 6. 19.]

[Footnote 13:  2 Tim. 1. 14.]

The Quakers conceive again from these expressions of the Apostle, that these two principles in man are different from each other; they are mentioned under the distinct names of the spirit of man, and of the spirit of God.  The former they suppose to relate to the understanding:  the latter conjointly to the understanding and to the heart.  The former can be brought into use at all times, if the body of a man be in health.  The latter is not at his own disposal.  Man must wait for its inspirations.  Like the wind, it bloweth when it listeth.  Man also, when he feels this divine influence, feels that it is distinct from his reason.  When it is gone, he feels the loss of it, though all his rational faculties be alive.  “Those, says Alexander Arscott, who have this experience, certainly know that as at times, in their silent retirements and humble waitings upon God, they receive an understanding of his will, relating to their present duty, in such a clear light as leaves no doubt or hesitation, so at other times, when this is withdrawn from them, they are at a loss again, and see themselves, as they really are, ignorant and destitute.”