# The Everlasting Gospel (complete)

Reflects the order in the "Textual notes" of David Erdman's "The Complete Poetry & Prose" edition. Source: "Blake Archive". See also: The works of William Blake, poetic, symbolic and critical/2/The Everlasting Gospel.
* The Everlasting Gospel
* [ a ]
* [ Page 1 ]
* There is not one Moral Virtue that Jesus Inculcated but Plato & Cicero did Inculcate before him what then did Christ Inculcate. Forgiveness of Sins This alone is the Gospel & this is the Life & Immortality brought to light by Jesus. Even the Covenant of Jehovah, which is This If you forgive one another your Trespasses so shall Jehovah forgive you That he himself may dwell among you but if you Avenge you Murder the Divine Image & he cannot dwell among you [by his] because you Murder him he arises Again & you deny that he is Arisen & are blind to Spirit
* [ b ]
* [ Page 2 ]
* What can this Gospel of Jesus be
* What Life Immortality
* What was [It]<it> that he brought to Light
* That Plato & Cicero did not write
* 5 <The Heathen Deities wrote them all
* These Moral Virtues great & small
* What is the Accusation of Sin
* But Moral Virtues deadly Gin>
* The Moral Virtues in their Pride
* 10 Did [ove[r]]<oer> the World triumphant ride
* In Wars & Sacrifice for Sin
* And Souls to Hell ran trooping in
* The Accuser Holy God of All
* This Pharisaic Worldly Ball
* 15 Amidst them in his Glory Beams
* Upon the Rivers & the Streams
* Then Jesus rose & said to [men]<Me>
* Thy Sins are all forgiven thee
* Loud Pilate Howld loud Caiphas Yelld
* 20 When they the Gospel Light beheld
* [Jerusalem he said to me]
* [ Plage 3 ]
* It was when Jesus said to Me
* Thy Sins are all forgiven thee
* The Christian trumpets loud proclaim
* Thro all the World in Jesus name
* 25 Mutual forgiveness of each Vice
* And oped the Gates of Paradise
* The Moral Virtues in Great fear
* Formed the Cross & Nails & Spear
* And the Accuser standing by
* 30 Cried out Crucify Crucify
* Our Moral Virtues neer can be
* Nor Warlike pomp & Majesty
* For Moral Virtues all begin
* In the Accusations of Sin
* 35 <And [Moral]<all the Heroic> Virtues [all]<End>
* In destroying the Sinners Friend>
* Am I not Lucifer the Great
* And you my daughters in Great State
* The fruit of my Myster[i]ous Tree
* 40 Of Good & Evil & Misery
* [ Page 4 ]
* And Death & Hell which now begin
* On every one who Forgives Sin
* [ c ]
* [ Page 4 CONTINUED ]
* If Moral Virtue was Christianity
* Christs Pretensions were all Vanity
* And Caiphas & Pilate Men
* [Of Moral]<Praise Worthy> & the Lions Den
* 5 And not the Sheepfold Allegories
* Of God & Heaven & their Glories
* The Moral Christian is the Cause
* Of the Unbeliever & his Laws
* The Roman Virtues Warlike Fame
* 10 Take Jesus & Jehovahs Name.
* For what is Antichrist but those
* Who against Sinners Heaven close
* With Iron bars in Virtuous State
* And Rhadamanthus at the Gate
* [ d ]
* [ NOTEBOOK PAGE 120: ]
* Was Jesus Born of a Virgin Pure
* With narrow Soul & looks demure
* If he intended to take on Sin
* The Mother should an Harlot been
* 5 Just such a one as Magdalen
* With seven devils in her Pen
* <Or were Jew Virgins still more Curst
* And more sucking devils nurst>
* Or what was it which he took on
* 10 That he might bring Salvation
* A Body subject to be Tempted
* From neither pain nor grief Exempted
* Or such a body as might not feel
* The passions that with Sinners deal
* 15 Yes but they say he never fell
* Ask Caiaphas for he can tell
* He mockd the Sabbath & he mockd
* The Sabbaths God & he unlocked
* The Evil spirits from their Shrines
* 20 And turnd Fishermen to Divines
* [End(ed)]<Oerturnd> the Tent of Secret Sins
* & its Golden cords & Pins
* Tis the Bloody Shrine of War
* Pinnd around from Star to Star
* 25 Halls of Justice hating Vice
* Where the Devil Combs his Lice
* He turnd the devils into Swine
* That he might tempt the Jews to Dine
* Since which a Pig has got a look
* 30 That for a Jew may be mistook
* Obey your Parents what says he
* Woman what have I to do with thee
* No Earthly Parents I confess
* I am doing my Fathers Business
* 35 He scornd [his]<Earths> Parents scornd [his]<Earths> God
* And mockd the one & the others, Rod
* His Seventy Disciples sent
* Against Religion & Government
* They by the Sword of Justice fell
* 40 And him their Cruel Murderer tell
* He left his Fathers trade to roam
* A wandring Vagrant without Home
* And thus he others labour stole
* That he might live above Controll
* 45 The Publicans & Harlots he
* Selected for his Company
* And from the Adulteress turnd away
* Gods righteous Law that lost its Prey
* [ e ]
* [ Page 33 ]
* The Vision of Christ that thou dost see
* Is my Visions Greatest Enemy
* Thine has a great hook nose like thine
* Mine has a snub nose like to mine
* 5 Thine is the Friend of All Mankind
* Mine speaks in parables to the Blind
* Thine loves the same world that mine hates
* Thy Heaven doors are my Hell Gates
* Socrates taught what Melitus
* 10 Loathd as a Nations bitterest Curse
* And Caiphas was in his own Mind
* A benefactor of Mankind
* Both read the Bible day & night
* But thou readst black where I read white
* [ f ]
* [ Page 48-52 ]
* Was Jesus Chaste or did he
* Give any Lessons of Chastity
* The morning blushd fiery red
* Mary was found in Adulterous bed
* 5 Earth groand beneath & Heaven above
* Trembled at discovery of Love
* Jesus was sitting in Moses Chair
* They brought the trembling Woman There
* Moses commands she be stoned to Death
* 10 What was the sound of Jesus breath
* He laid his hand on Moses Law
* The Ancient Heavens in Silent Awe
* Writ with Curses from Pole to Pole
* All away began to roll
* 15 The Earth trembling & Naked lay
* In secret bed of Mortal Clay
* On Sinai felt the hand Divine
* Putting back the bloody shrine
* And she heard the breath of God
* 20 As she heard by Edens flood
* Good & Evil are no more
* Sinais trumpets cease to roar
* Cease finger of God to Write
* The Heavens are not clean in thy Sight
* 25 Thou art Good & thou Alone 25
* Nor may the sinner cast one stone
* To be Good only is to be
* A Devil or else a Pharisee
* Thou Angel of the Presence Divine
* 30 That didst create this Body of Mine 30
* Wherefore has[t] thou writ these Laws
* And Created Hells dark jaws
* My Presence I will take from thee
* A Cold Leper thou shalt be
* 35 Tho thou wast so pure & bright
* That Heaven was Impure in thy Sightt
* Tho thy Oath turnd Heaven Pale
* Tho thy Covenant built Hells Jail
* Tho thou didst all to Chaos roll
* 40 With the Serpent for its soul
* Still the breath Divine does move
* And the breath Divine is Love
* Mary Fear Not Let me see
* The Seven Devils that torment thee
* 45 Hide not from my Sight thy Sin
* That forgiveness thou maist win
* Has no Man Condemned thee
* No Man Lord! then what is he
* Who shall Accuse thee. Come Ye forth
* 50 Fallen Fiends of Heavnly birth
* That have forgot your Ancient love
* And driven away my trembling Dove
* You shall bow before her feet
* You shall lick the dust for Meat
* 55 And tho you cannot Love but Hate
* Shall be beggars at Loves Gate
* What was thy love Let me see it
* Was it love or Dark Deceit
* Love too long from Me has fled.
* 60 Twas dark deceit to Earn my bread
* Twas Covet or twas Custom or
* Some trifle not worth caring for
* That they may call a shame & Sin
* Loves Temple that God dwelleth in
* 65 And hide in secret hidden Shrine
* The Naked Human form divine
* And render that a Lawless thing
* On which the Soul Expands its wing
* But this O Lord this was my Sin
* 70 When first I let these Devils in
* In dark pretence to Chastity
* Blaspheming Love blaspheming thee
* Thence Rose Secret Adulteries
* And thence did Covet also rise
* 75 My Sin thou hast forgiven me
* Canst thou forgive my Blasphemy
* Canst thou return to this dark Hell
* And in my burning bosom dwell
* And canst thou Die that I may live
* 80 And canst thou Pity & forgive
* Then Rolld the shadowy Man away
* From the Limbs of Jesus to make them his prey
* An Ever devo[u]ring appetite
* Glittering with festering Venoms bright
* 85 Crying Crucify this cause of distress
* Who dont keep the secrets of Holiness
* All Mental Powers by Diseases we bind
* But he heals the Deaf & the Dumb & the Blind
* Whom God has afflicted for Secret Ends
* 90 He comforts & Heals & calls them Friends
* But when Jesus was Crucified
* Then was perfected his glittring pride
* In three Nights he devourd his prey
* And still he devours the Body of Clay
* 95 For Dust & Clay is the Serpents meat
* Which never was made for Man to Eat
* [ g ]
* [ Page 54 ]
* Seeing this False Christ In fury & Passion
* I made my Voice heard all over the Nation
* What are those &c
* [ h ]
* [ Page 48 ]
* This was Spoke by My Spectre to Voltaire Bacon &c
* Did Jesus teach Doubt or did he
* Give any lessons of Philosophy
* Charge Visionaries with Deceiving
* Or call Men wise for not Believing
* [ i ]
* [ Pages 100-101 ]
* Was Jesus gentle or did he
* Give any marks of Gentility
* When twelve years old he ran away
* And left his Parents in dismay
* 5 When after three days sorrow found
* Loud as Sinai's trumpet sound
* No Earthly Parents I confess
* My Heavenly Fathers business
* Ye understand not what I say
* 10 And angry force me to obey
* Obedience is a duty then
* And favour gains with God & Men
* John from the Wilderness loud cried
* Satan gloried in his Pride
* 15 Come said Satan come away
* Ill soon see if youll obey
* John for disobedience bled
* But you can turn the stones to bread
* Gods high king & Gods high Priest
* 20 Shall Plant their Glories in your breast
* If Caiaphas you will obey
* If Herod you with bloody Prey
* Feed with the Sacrifice & be
* Obedient fall down worship me
* 25 Thunders & lightnings broke around
* And Jesus voice in thunders sound
* Thus I sieze the Spiritual Prey
* Ye smiters with disease make way
* I come Your King & God to sieze
* 30 Is God a Smiter with disease
* The God of this World raged in vain
* He bound Old Satan in his Chain
* And bursting forth his furious ire
* Became a Chariot of fire
* 35 Throughout the land he took his course
* And traced Diseases to their Source
* He cursd the Scribe & Pharisee
* Trampling down Hipocrisy
* Where eer his Chariot took its way
* 40 There Gates of Death let in the Day
* Broke down from every Chain & Bar
* And Satan in his Spiritual War
* Dragd at his Chariot wheels loud howld
* The God of this World louder rolld
* 45 The Chariot Wheels & louder still
* His voice was heard from Zions hill
* And in his hand the Scourge shone bright
* He scourgd the Merchant Canaanite
* From out the Temple of his Mind
* 50 And in his Body tight does bind
* Satan & all his Hellish Crew
* And thus with wrath he did subdue
* The Serpent Bulk of Natures dross
* Till he had naild it to the Cross
* 55 He took on Sin in the Virgins Womb
* And put it off on the Cross & Tomb
* To be Worshipd by the Church of Rome
* [ j ]
* (50) Do what you will this Lifes a Fiction
* And is made up [o] of Contradiction
* [ k ]
* The Everlasting Gospelt
* Was Jesus Humble or did he
* Give any Proofs of Humility
* Boast of high Things with Humble tone
* And give with Charity a Stone
* 5 When but a Child he ran away
* And left his Parents in Dismay
* When they had wanderd three days long
* These were the words upon his tongue
* No Earthly Parents I confess
* 10 I am doing my Fathers business
* When the rich learned Pharisee
* Came to consult him secretly
* Upon his heart with Iron pen
* He wrote Ye must be born again
* 15 He was too proud to take a bribe
* He spoke with authority not like a Scribe
* He says with most consummate Art
* Follow me I am meek & lowly of heart
* As that is the only way to escape
* 20 The Misers net & the Gluttons trap
* He who loves his Enemies betrays his Friends
* This surely is not what Jesus intends
* But the sneaking Pride of Heroic Schools
* And the Scribes & Pharisees Virtuous Rules
* 25 For he acts with honest triumphant Pride
* And this is the cause that Jesus died
* He did not die with Christian Ease
* Asking Pardon of his Enemies
* If he had Caiphas would forgive
* 30 Sneaking submission can always live
* He had only to say that God was the devil
* And the devil was God like a Christian Civil
* Mild Christian regrets to the devil confess
* For affronting him thrice in the Wilderness
* 35 He had soon been bloody Caesars Elf
* And at last he would have been Caesar himself
* Like dr Priestly & Bacon & Newton
* Poor Spiritual Knowledge is not worth a button
* For thus the Gospel Sr Isaac confutes
* 40 God can only be known by his Attributes
* And as for the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost
* Or of Christ & his Father its all a boast
* And Pride & Vanity of Imagination
* That disdains to follow this Worlds Fashion
* 45 To teach doubt & Experiment
* Certainly was not what Christ meant
* What was he doing all that time
* From twelve years old to manly prime
* Was he then Idle or the Less
* 50 About his Fathers business
* Or was his wisdom held in scorn
* Before his wrath began to burn
* In Miracles throughout the Land
* That quite unnervd Lord Caiaphas hand
* 55 If he had been Antichrist Creeping Jesus
* Hed have done any thing to please us
* Gone sneaking into Synagogues
* And not usd the Elders & Priests like dogs
* But Humble as a Lamb or Ass
* 60 Obeyd himself to Caiaphas
* God wants not Man to Humble himself
* This is the trick of the ancient Elf
* This is the Race that Jesus ran
* Humble to God Haughty to Man
* 65 Cursing the Rulers before the People
* Even to the temples highest Steeple
* And when he Humbled himself to God
* Then descended the Cruel Rod
* If thou humblest thyself thou humblest met
* 70 Thou also dwellst in Eternity
* Thou art a Man God is no more
* Thy own humanity learn to adore
* For that is my Spirit of Life
* Awake arise to Spiritual Strife
* 75 And thy Revenge abroad display
* In terrors at the Last Judgment day
* Gods Mercy & Long Suffering
* Is but the Sinner to Judgment to bring
* Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray
* 80 And take Revenge at the Last Day
* Jesus replied & thunders hurld
* I never will Pray for the World
* Once [I] did so when I prayd ill the Garden
* I wishd to take with me a Bodily Pardon
* 85 Can that which was of Woman born
* In the absence of the Morn
* When the Soul fell into Sleep
* And Archangels round it weep
* Shooting out against the Light
* 90 Fibres of a deadly night
* Reasoning upon its own Dark Fiction
* In Doubt which is Self Contradiction
* Humility is only Doubt
* And does the Sun & Moon blot out
* 95 Rooting over with thorns & stems
* The buried Soul & all its Gems
* This Lifes dim Windows of the Soul
* Distorts the Heavens from Pole to Pole
* And leads you to Believe a Lie
* 100 When you see with not thro the Eye
* That was born in a night to perish in a night
* When the Soul slept in the beams of Light.
* [ l ]
* [ Plate 54 ]
* I am sure This Jesus will not do
* Either for Englishman or Jew
* [ m ]
* I will tell you what Joseph of Arimathea
* Said to my Fairy was not it very queer
* Pliny & Trajan what are You here
* Come listen to Joseph of Arimathea
* 5 Listen patient & when Joseph has done
* Twill make a fool laugh & a Fairy Fun
* [ n ]
* What can be done with such desperate Fools
* Who follow after the Heathen Schools
* I was standing by when Jesus died
* (10) What I calld Humility they calld Pride

##### Notes

* ↑ The first version of the fragment "k" with two lines 50-51 different that correspond to 91-92 of "k".
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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