Letter to Lady Claypole, a question on the 'glory of the first body'....

Comment by Ellis Hein on 11thMo. 26, 2018 at 12:57

There is a glory, a wonder-filled amazement, associated with our created bodies. Apart from the mechanic's grumbling about not having enough joints to reach around the corner and loosen that one bolt that is stopping all further progress, creation is awe inspiring. Much of what passes for "modernity" transgresses and leads nature out of course. This can include "accepted" ways of acting, thinking, eating, drinking... Physical and mental habits can affect body, mind, and soul that deface the glory of creation.

If there is more to that statement, I have not seen it yet.

Comment by Patricia Dallmann on 11thMo. 26, 2018 at 14:10

Allistair, you've asked where the phrase the "glory of the first body" comes from. I feel fairly certain that its origin is in I Cor.15:35-49. The phrase is not a direct quotation from that passage, but Fox regularly uses biblical language and imagery in a creative way that is in accord with the content and spirit of Scripture without parroting it. In this Bible passage, Paul is working with both the idea of the "natural body" and the "spiritual body" (44), with there being different "glory" given to different bodies (40), and with what comes "first" and what comes "second" (45-48). All of these components are encapsulated in Fox's phrase: "the glory of the first body." The word "body" is not to be taken literally as referring to the physical body, for Fox's understanding is in accord with Paul, who is not referring to the physical body but to all the glory that is given by God to Man in the first birth: specifically the glory of having a "living soul" (45). The glory of the first body is defaced, the living soul is defaced, when man is "in the transgression of the life of God in the particular [meaning specific wrong-doing, not just his pervasive fallen condition], the mind flies up in the air, and the creature is led into the night, and nature goes out of his course" etc. (Nickalls, 346). Fox uses the phrase one more time in the letter to Lady Claypole: "And from thy own will, that is, the earthly, thou must be kept. Then thou wilt feel the power of God, that will bring nature into his course, and to see the glory of the first body" (347). When our human nature is as God intended it to be, i.e. receiving His wisdom, virtue, and love, then we can see and enjoy the glory of that nature he has provided to us as sons and daughters of God who are made in His image.

One of the great joys of having received "the image of the heavenly" (48) is to enter into discussion with the Scriptures and prophets, such as Fox, who have likewise engaged and responded to Scriptures' wisdom and power. It is wonderfully satisfying to feel oneself enter into the prophetic stream that has endured for millenia and will endure forever. It is my hope that NFF will continue to be worthy of this task of interpreting the words of God, and presenting the Word of God, in our time.   

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