Conjectura cabbalistica

To your second demand, I answer; That though I call this Interpretation of mine Cabbala, yet I must confess I received it neither from Man nor Angel. Nor came it to me by divine Inspiration, unless you will be so wise as to call the seasonable suggestions of that divine Life and Sense that vigorously resides in the Rational Spirit of free and well meaning Christians, by the name of Inspiration. But such Inspiration as this is no distracter from, but an accomplisher and an enlarger of human faculties. And I may add, that this is the great mystery of Christianity, that we are called to partake of, namely: The perfecting of the human nature by participation of the divine. Which cannot be understood so properly of this gross flesh and external senses, as of the inward humanity, namely our Intellect, Reason, and Fancy. But to exclude the use of Reason in the search of divine truth, is no dictate of the Spirit, but of headstrong Melancholy and blind Enthusiasm religious frenzy, that religious frenzy men run into, by lying passive for the reception of such impresses as have no proportion with their faculties. Which mistake and irregularity, if they can once away with, they put themselves in a posture of promiscuously admitting anything, and so in due time of growing either moped or mad, and under pretence of being highly Christians, (the right mystery whereof they understand not) of working themselves lower than the lowest of men.

But for mine own part, Reason seems to me to be so far from being any contemptible Principle in man, that it must be acknowledged in some sort to be in God himself.

himself. For what is the divine wisdom, but that steady comprehension of the Ideas eternal forms of all things, with their mutual respects one to another, congruities and incongruities, dependences and independences; which respects do necessarily arise from the natures of the Ideas themselves, both which the divine Intellect looks through at once, discerning thus the order and coherence of all things. And what is this but Ratio stabilis original: "stable reason", a kind of steady and immovable reason discovering the connection of all things at once? But that in us is Ratio mobilis original: "moving reason", or reason in evolution, we being able to apprehend things only in a successive manner one after another. But so many as we can comprehend at a time, while we plainly perceive and carefully view their Ideas, we know how well they fit, or how much they disagree one with another, and so prove or disprove one thing by another; which is really a participation of that divine reason in God, and is a true and faithful principle in man, when it is perfected and polished by the holy Spirit. But before, very earthly and obscure, especially in spiritual things.

But now seeing the Logos the Divine Word or Reason or steady comprehensive wisdom of God, in which all Ideas and their respects are contained, is but universal stable reason, how can there be any pretence of being so highly inspired as to be blown above reason itself, unless men will fancy themselves wiser than God, or their understandings above the natures and reasons of things themselves.

Wherefore to frame a brief answer to your second demand; I say, this threefold Cabbala you enquire after,