But it does not follow that this inward death must always be as lingering as in the case of Madame Guyon. It is only when we can say, I am crucified with Christ, that we are able to add, Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. It is true that, in order that we may live unto righteousness, we must be dead indeed unto sin and that there must be a crucifixion of self before the life of Christ can be made manifest in us. The Torrents especially needs to be regarded rather as an account of the personal experience of the author, than as the plan which God invariably, or even usually, adopts in bringing the soul into a state of union with Himself. Of the experience of Madame Guyon, it should be borne in mind, that though the glorious heights of communion with God to which she attained may be scaled by the feeblest of God’s chosen ones, yet it is by no means necessary that they should be reached by the same apparently arduous and protracted path along which she was led. The plea must be, that the doctrine and experience described are essentially Protestant and so far from their receiving the assent of the Roman Catholic Church, their author was persecuted for holding and disseminating them. Some apology is perhaps needed when a Protestant thus brings before Protestant readers the works of a consistent Roman Catholic author. PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH PROTESTANT EDITION
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