Literature in Context
An Open Anthology of Literature in English, 1400-1925

"2.Cor.5.19. God was in Christ Reconciling the World to Himself"
By Katherine Philips

Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by Staff and Research Assistants at The University of Virginia, John O'Brien, Sara Brunstetter, Rachel Retica
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Sources

London : Printed by J.M. for H. Herringman, 1667This text is based on transcriptions created by the Early English Books Online Texts Creation Partnership, a library-based project directed by the University of Michigan and Oxford University. Their digital text was produced from the 1667 edition, published by Henry Herringman in London in 1667, three years after Philips's death, but with the collaboration of her late husband. We have also consulted The Collected Works of Katherine Philips, edited by Patrick Thomas (Essex: Stump Cross Books, 1990), which takes Philips's manuscript versions of her poems as its copytext. Annotations have been provided by faculty and students at the University of Virginia. For a full description of this object, see its ESTC entry.

Editorial Statements

Research informing these annotations draws on publicly-accessible resources, with links provided where possible. Annotations have also included common knowledge, defined as information that can be found in multiple reliable sources. If you notice an error in these annotations, please contact lic.open.anthology@gmail.com.

Original spelling and capitalization is retained, though the long s has been silently modernized and ligatured forms are not encoded.

Hyphenation has not been retained, except where necessary for the sense of the word.

Page breaks have been retained. Catchwords, signatures, and running headers have not. Where pages break in the middle of a word, the complete word has been indicated prior to the page beginning.

Materials have been transcribed from and checked against first editions, where possible. See the Sources section.

Citation

Philips, Katherine. "2.Cor.5.19. God was in Christ Reconciling the World to Himself". Poems by the most deservedly admired Mrs. Katherine Philips, the matchless Orinda; to which is added Monsieur Corneille's Pompey & Horace, tragedies; with several other translations out of French, Printed by J.M. for H. Herringman, 1667 . Literature in Context: An Open Anthology. http://anthology.lib.virginia.edu/work/Philips/philips-god-reconciling-world. Accessed: 2025-07-24T09:15:06.526Z

Linked Data

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110 2.Cor.5.19.CorinthiansCorinthians2 Corinthians 5:19, from the King James Bible: "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." God was in Christ Reconciling the World to himself. 1When God, contracted to Humanity, 2Could sigh and suffer, could be sick and die; 3When all the heap of Miracles combin'd 4To form the greatest, which was, save Mankind: 5Then God took stand in Christ, studying a way 6How to repair the Ruin'd World's decay. 7His Love, Pow'r, Wisdom, must some mean procure 8His Mercy to advance, Justice secure: 9And since Man in Misery was hurl'dhurledhurledPossibly a reference to Adam and Eve ("Man") being hurled from the Garden of Eden into the the world., 10It cost him more to save thenthenthen Read as "than." make the World. 11Oh! what a desp'rate load of sins had we, 12When God must plot for our Felicity? 13When God must beg us that he may forgive, 14And dye himself before Mankind could live? 15And what still are we, when our King in vain 16Begs his lost Rebels to be Friends again? 17What floods of Love proceed from Heaven's smile, 18At once to pardon and to reconcile? 19What God himself hath made he cannot hate, 20For 'tis one act to Love and to Create: 21And he's too perfect full of Majesty, 22To need additions from our Misery. 23He hath a Father's, not a Tyrant's, joy; 24Shews more his Pow'r to save, than to destroy. 25Did there ten thousand Worlds to ruine fall, 111 26One God could save, one Christ redeem them all. 27Be silent then, ye narrow Souls, take heed 28Lest you restrain the Mercy you will need. 29But, O my Soul, from these be different, 30Imitate thou a nobler Precedent: 31As God with open Arms the World does woo, 32Learn thou like God to be enlarged too; 33As he begs thy consent to pardon thee, 34Learn to submit unto thy Enemy; 35As he stands ready thee to entertain, 36Be thou as forward to return again; 37As he was Crucify'd for and by thee 38Crucifie thou what caus'd his Agony; 39And like to him be mortify'd to sin, 40Die to the World as he dy'd for it then.

Footnotes