Selected Prose by John Donne

Author:John Donne [Donne, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241206201
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2015-05-06T23:00:00+00:00

1. PART

First then, this first word, But, excludes a temporall Kingdome; the Apostles had filld themselves with an expectation, with an ambition of it; but that was not intended them. It was no wonder, that a woman could conceive such an expectation, and such an ambition, as to have her two sonnes sit at Christs right hand, and at his left, in his Kingdome, when the Apostles expected such a Kingdome, as might affoord them honours and preferment upon Earth. More than once they were in that disputation, in which Christ deprehended them, Which of them should bee the greatest in his Kingdome. Neither hath the Bishop of Rome, any thing, wherein he may so properly call himselfe Apostolicall, as this error of the Apostles, this their infirmitie, that he is evermore too conversant upon the contemplation of temporall Kingdomes. They did it all the way, when Christ was with them, and now at his last step, Cum actu ascendisset, when Christ was not Ascending, but in part ascended, when one foot was upon the Earth, and the other in the cloud that tooke him up, they aske him now, wilt thou at this time, restore the Kingdome? So women put their husbands, and men their fathers, and friends, upon their torture, at their last gaspe, and make their death-bed a racke to make them stretch and encrease joyntures, and portions, and legacies, and signe Scedules and Codicils, with their hand, when his hand that presents them, is ready to close his eyes, that should signe them: And when they are upon the wing for heaven, men tye lead to their feet, and when they are laying hand-fast upon Abrahams bosome, they must pull their hand out of his bosome againe, to obey importunities of men, and signe their papers: so undeterminable is the love of this World, which determines every minute. GOD, as hee is three persons, hath three Kingdomes; There is Regnum potentiae, The Kingdome of power; and this wee attribute to the Father; it is power and providence: There is Regnum gloriae, the Kingdome of glorie; this we attribute to the Sonn and to his purchase; for he is the King that shall say, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdome prepared for you, from the foundation of the World. And then betweene these there is Regnum gratiae, The kingdome of Grace, and this we attribute to the Holy Ghost; he takes them, whom the king of power, Almighty God hath rescued from the Gentiles, and as the king of grace, Hee gives them the knowledge of the misterie of the kingdome of GOD, that is, of future glory, by sanctifying them with his grace, in his Church. The two first kingdomes are in this world, but yet neither of them, are of this world; because both they referre to the kingdome of glory. The kingdome of the Father, which is the providence of God, does but preserve us; The kingdome of the Holy Ghost

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