Thus to Winstanley, as to Tolstoy, the
Kingdom of Heaven, as well as the kingdom of hell, is within men's
minds, and "there is no other."[48:1] Everything that happens, however,
is ordained, or rather permitted, by God the Father, "the Ruling Spirit
of the Whole Creation," for His own ends. He controls the Spirits or
Powers we call evil, as well as those we call good: all work in
accordance with His commands, to further His ends. In Winstanley's
philosophy, unlike that of Luther, there was no room for an independent
Devil. Though in our blindness we may attribute our sufferings to such a
personage, yet whatever happens to a man is somehow or other for his own
good, though in an unregenerate state we may not realise this. All
suffering, in truth, does but tend to purify the soul from the lust of
the flesh, to enable the Inward Light to overcome the inward darkness,
to enable Reason to overcome Self-Love, good to overcome evil: and thus
to lead men to God. In the end, in the day of Judgement, the good will
triumph, Reason will cast out Covetousness, Universal Love will cast out
Self Love, meekness will cast out pride, righteousness will cast out
unrighteousness: and all men made perfect by the Inward Light, the
Spirit of Christ within them, will rejoice in the knowledge and glory of
God.
It is almost impossible to read Winstanley's earlier theological
pamphlets without being struck by the similarity in thought and doctrine
with those to-day still held by the Society of Friends, or Quakers,
whose original name amongst themselves, be it remembered, was the
Children of Light.
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