''The Light upon the Candlestick'' is an anonymous mystical tract published in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th ...

in 1662. Translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in 1663, it became a popular text among

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. The tract promotes the idea that the Light of God can be found within each individual. Personal experience of the

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

is the only authentic path to

Truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...

History

Authorship of the text is unclear. It was possibly originally composed in Latin as ''Lucerna Super Candelabrum'' by Adam Boreel, translated into Low-Dutch by Peter Balling in 1662 and into

by B.F. ( Benjamin Furly) in 1663. The English title page reads, This has led to the supposition that

William Ames William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Ca ...

was the author of ''The Light upon the Candlestick'', but the wording means that ''The Light upon the Candlestick'' agrees in principle with the work ''The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God'' by William Ames. As the title page says it was printed for the Author, it is likely that the tract was printed for the Author of ''The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God'', William Ames, to support his position “against several Professors” of the

Collegiants In Christian history, the Collegiants ( la, Collegiani; nl, Collegianten), also called Collegians, were an association, founded in 1619 among the Arminians and Anabaptists in Holland. They were so called because of their colleges (meetings) hel ...

with whom he was in disagreement. In the mid-seventeenth century there was a Quaker community in

seeking sanctuary from persecution in England. There they came into contact with the radical

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that ...

of the

was a Quaker minister who, after being imprisoned for his beliefs in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where he preached with John Stubbs. William Ames zealously preached to the Collegiants and they were initially in accord although later they fell out. Adam Boreel was a Dutch theologian and Hebrew scholar, a leader of the Collegiants and a friend of

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...

; Peter Balling was a member of the Collegiants; Benjamin Furly, associated with

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

and

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, was an English Quaker merchant then living in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

''The Light upon the Candlestick'' proposes that God is the origin of all

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as Descriptive knowledge, awareness of facts or as Procedural knowledge, practical skills, and may also refer to Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called pro ...

. We can only be aware of God’s working in the world because we have a prior knowledge of God. One can become aware of the Light of God only by seeking inward. Following this

Inward light The inward light, Light of God, Light of Christ, Christ within, That of God, Spirit of God within us, Light within, and inner light are related phrases commonly used within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) as metaphors for Christ's li ...

will result in Union with God. Rufus M. Jones, ''Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries'', Boston: Beacon Press, 1959, pp 128-132 (first published by The Macmillan Company, 1914)

References

External links

''The Light upon the Candlestick'' title page

* [https://archive.org/details/historyofriseincre00sewe William Sewel, ''The history of the rise, increase, and progress of the Christian people called Quakers'', Third Edition, Philadelphia: Samuel Keimer, 1728] {{DEFAULTSORT:Light Upon The Candlestick 17th-century Christian texts Visionary literature

History

Contents

See also

References

External links