Admonitions From "the Depths of the Earth" : Or the Fall of Ray Potter, in Twenty Four Letters; Written by Himself to His Brother (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Admonitions From "the Depths of the Earth": Or the Fall of Ray Potter, in Twenty Four Letters; Written by Himself to His Brother

Perhaps none felt more deeply the wound than myself, on the news of the transgression and fall, of my s1nn1ng and unfortu nate brother. Nothing, which I ever experienced, oi the trials of this life, could bear a comparison, with the sensation it smned m my breast. Th1s distress, was not principally sinned, because he was my natural brother, but because he was my brother ln the and because of the connexion which he held with the cause, which I hold dearer, than any earthly and natural ties. I mean the cause of Jesus. The wounding of' this cause, wounded me; and caused me u'nutterable' pain. Nor have I ever, for a moment, hesitated m the most naquali fied manner, to condemn his sin, without the least palliatlon.

But what could I do? Tu rn away from his penitential cries, and calls for mercy and forgiveness? N o; I could not; I de sir ed not thus to do. As I condemned him in his transgressions, and abhorred his sin, so I could but receive him m his penitence, when he implored my forgiveness God commanded me thus to do. I still believe him to be a christian. Nor could I take the stand 1n respect to him, which many appear to take. That because he has sinned and fallen, he must not be permitted to speak the truth, in Opposition to error. Some months after his fall, I advised him to employ his time in writing; as I conceived, that by his fall, and the transactions of the public respecting it, he was placed m a situation to bring out mews, that would be serviceable to the cause of truth. He seemed backward 111 un dertaking-wrote a little, and lingered until his imprisonment, during which, he has furnished the following communications. I believe they contain much truth, and from that consideration, I am in favor of giving them to the public. I do not hold my self responsible for the facts which he states, in relation to the treatment he has received; as they are gene1 ally, not within my personal knowledge. I have reason to believe, however,that they are correct, and if they are not, those who are impli cated, have a right to shew it. But as to his views, respecting the insiduous, hateful foe of God, the gospel, and the souls of men, self-righteousness, I agree with him: and that his fall has developed, that the disease occasioned by it in the church, is alarmingly prevalent. Whether it is so extensive as he imag ines, I will not pretend to determine - of this, every reader must be his own judge. To shew that it is so, however, seems to-be his prominent aim, through the whole of these communications; and I confess, that he brings forward facts and arguments, in proof of his posrtion, wh1ch ought to induce reflection and ex amination, into the true state of the case. There is one point in the following communications, which I unqualifiedly believe with him - and that is: that the wrath which has been poured out upon him, since his fall, legal as well as illegal, is not for his transgression - but the wreaking of vengeance on his head, for the stand which he formerly maintained in defending truth. As he often intimates, in the following letters, I believe his suf ferings have been, and still are, very great.

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