I stood among the valleys in the south
And saw a flame of fire, even as a Wheel
Of fire surrounding all the heavens: it went
From west to east against the current of
Creation, and devoured all things in its loud
Fury & thundering course round heaven & earth
By it the Sun was rolled into an orb
By it the moon faded into a globe
Travelling thro the night: for from its dire
And restless fury, Man himself shrunk up
Into a little root a fathom long
And I asked a Watcher & a Holy One
It's name? He answered, It is the Wheel of Religion
I wept & said, Is this the law of Jesus
This terrible devouring sword turning every way
He answered: Jesus died because He strove
Against the current of this Wheel: its Name
Is Caiphas, the dark Preacher of Death
Of sin, of sorrow & of punishment
Opposing Nature! It is Natural Religion
But Jesus is the bright Preacher of Life
Creating Nature from this fiery Law
By self-denial & forgiveness of Sin
Go therefore, cast out devils in Christ's Name
Heal thou the sick of spiritual disease
Pity the evil, for thou art not sent
To smite with terror & with punishments
Those that are sick, like to the Pharisees
Crucifying & encompassing sea & land
For proselytes to tyranny & wrath
But to the publicans & harlots go
Teach them True Happiness, but let no curses
Go forth out of thy mouth to blight their peace
For hell is opened to Heaven: thine eyes beheld
The dungeons burst & the Prisoners set Free.

William Blake, Jerusalem

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Wayne Kraus

Wayneman: Mystical poetry may have it's place, but I for one do not see the value of it here, on SI. It sounds no clear trumpet, but leaves one quizzically looking as to the meaning, or significance; as peering into Pandora's box , and tempted to dig in.

What exactly was he saying? Probably, even Blake didn't know. He was a of course, a romantic mystic poet, who wrote of his many odd visions, inscribing them with classical Greek innuendo's and double entendres, as all mystics seem to do. He was perceived insane by many of his intellectual upper class cronies, but often described Heaven and Hell and the eternal struggle in Christian doctrinal terms. [ He penned a classical and famous drawing of Satan; THE RED DRAGON...]


My take on the guy is that he probably landed on the occult side of things, rather than the holy. Where is the grace of God here?


Again, we have much freedom on this site to express our ideas; I respect your liberty and I do not condemn you for this post; I simply believe that in itself it is "vain imaginations", and basically useless.

You may be right, but I thought it edifying to post on SI specifically because the great curse of revivalism is its propensity to get entangled with the religion of Caiphas. Revivalists sometimes rationalize that preaching "sorrow, sin & punishment" will produce a spirit of repentance and this will bring Revival. There are a lot of venerated revival preachers who are really just exercising Priestcraft, which imputes guilt so the clergy can charge a fee for expiating guilt.

It is, of course, doubtful that introducing Blake, Cowper and Donne to the forum is going to change anyone's perspective. But I felt led to post this after reading the latest installment in the endless Calvin vs. Arminius debate (The Horrible Decree, by Charles Wesley).

The fact that Blake was considered a lunatic in an age of leaden art and religious sham only adds to his credibility.

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Wayne Kraus

"There are a lot of venerated revival preachers who are really just exercising Priestcraft, which imputes guilt so the clergy can charge a fee for expiating guilt."
...wayneman

Wow! wayneman. Now that's good stuff, and worthy of addressing. How very, very true....and your allusion to the endless mincing and speculation that follows a CAL/ARMENIAN "debate", can indeed be wearisome...and seem a bit pointless...and thereby..


"The fact that Blake was considered a lunatic in an age of leaden art and religious sham only adds to his credibility."...wayneman


I do see your point, but must admit that until you replied, it was over my head. I don't think many other people got it though.


There is nothing more resistant to the true spirit of Revival than the religious spirit, and the sin of the Pharisee's...[ NICOLAITAN..] WHICH IS HYPOCRISY, and often fueled with ENDLESS DEBATE. It continually resists the word of the Holy Spirit.