Cyrus had a Soul and Body and did exist in flesh and blood an Hundred Years before he was born for he is called by Isaiah Gods Anointed before his Birth Isaiah 45. 1. Ans. If this be not gross Socinianisme and Samosatenianisme I leave unto all understanding and sound Christians for to Judg For both the Socinians now and Samosatenians of old denyed that Christ was before Mary and so doth this Author contrary to the express Testimony of many Scriptures cited and opened in my Book called The Way cast up to which again I Refer the Reader and what a gross and unchristian yea Blasphemous comparison is this of the Author betwixt Cyrus and Christ as if Christ were no more Gods Anointed before his outward Birth in the Flesh than Cyrus was before his birth and so by this means all the Saints from the beginning of the World unto the outward birth of Christ containing near about four Thousand Years had no Christ nor no Saviour no Head no Mediator nor indeed nothing of the Heavenly and Spiritual Anointing or Unction and so had nothing of the Holy Ghost which is that Anointing for how could they have it without Christ who is Gods Anointed originally and first of all and from and by and through whom it cometh down and is conveyed unto the Saints even as the Oyl that was poured on Aarons Head ran down from the Beard unto the skirts of his Garment Now that David and all the Saints before Christ came in the flesh were in measure anointed with the holy Unction or Anointing even the same wherewith the Saints are now Anointed see Psal. 23. and Psal. 133. 1 2. And how did they receive this Oyl or Anointing but from Christ who is Gods Anointed first of all and by whom it descendeth unto them of whom Aaron the high Priest was the Figure or Type therefore Christ was Gods Anointed from the beginning not only before Cyrus but before all other men according unto Prov 8. 23. I was anointed from the beginning so the Hebrew word Nissakti doth signifie as I have already shewed in my Book or ever the Earth was Moreover when Paul said the Fathers of old drank of the Rock and that Rock was Christ was this only a Prophecy of Christ who but one so blind and grosly ignorant as the Author of this Pamphlet can so affirm Nor do thefe Scriptures Cited by thee Mat. 3. 16. Luk. 4. 1. concerning Christ his being anointed with the holy Ghost after his outward birth prove that he was not anointed before For in contradiction to thy self thou grantest he was Anointed before he was born as indeed he was both then and also from the beginning The Fifth Animad hath nothing in it of Argument against what I have affirmed only he perverteth some of my words as the Reader may fee by comparing his words and mine together and this he often ufeth not willing to suffer my words to stand as they are but seeking to Vail and darken them with his perverse minglings and additions Pamphlet Animad 6. They believe that the Man Christ did suffer was slain and Crucified when our first Parents sinned and doth suffer is slain and Crucified as often as man sins and Apostatise contrary to Heb. 9. 26. and 1 Pet. 18. that testifie that the man Christ Jesus was personally and really slain Crucified and offered for sin but once the other is but either in Decree Promise Type or Metaphor Ans. These Scriptures are only to be understood of Christ his Sufferings in the body of flesh so that he did but once die and suffer for sin in the outward body and in his outward person which doth not hinder but that he suffered and was slain inwardly and spiritually in mens hearts by sin both before and since he suffer'd in the body of flesh which was Crucified at Jerusalem for the writer to the Hebrews did tell of those that fell away that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh Heb. 6. 6. And if thou saist this is but in the Metaphor I Answer admitting it in a sense so to be yet a real suffering is implyed under that Metaphor as also when the Spirit is said to be quenched somewhat real is understood under that Metaphor and so in the present Case although the slaying and Crucifying of Christ may be said to be a Metaphor or Figurative Speech yet some real suffering analogous in some true respect unto what he did suffer in the outward is thereby understood and that I did acknowledge a Metaphor in that expression is clear by my very words cited by thee where I say the measure of the life of the Lamb came to be slain as it were in them by transgrefsion here the words as it were signifie a Metaphor which yet hindereth not that the suffering of this innocent Life of Christ was real according unto its own kind and nature Pamphlet Animad 7. In Answer to Amos 3. 13. he saith As well might they say that God as God hath now and had then such Eyes Ears Feet Hands as we have for the Scripture speaks of him frequently after that manner Ans. I no where Read in all the Scripture that God hath such Eyes Ears Feet and Hands as we have fo that in this thou dost grosly pervert the Scripture it self For although the Scripture speaketh at times of Gods Eyes Ears Feet and Hands yet they are not said to be such as ours and though these words are metaphorical they have also somewhat that is real understood by them by way of Analogy his Eyes signifying his infinit Knowledg and his Hands his Power c. and although I do also acknowledg that the words Amos 3. 13. are Metaphorical yet a real suffering is implyed under them which is the suffering of the Spirit of Christ as he is the Heavenly man Lamb of God for in that respect only he doth or can suffer properly nor is it any contradiction or inconsistency as thou seemest to make it that the same Life or spirit of Christ may be alive in it self and yet Slain or Crucified as to the sinner no more than it is any contradiction or inconsistency that the soul is as it were dead unto the dead body in which it lived and yet remaineth alive in it self even when it is in the body as it was in the case of Eutichus whom Paul raised from the Dead Acts 20. 10. In his Animad 8. he bringeth no new matter but what my former Answer doth give a sufficient Reply unto for the words Rom. 6. 9. are to be understood of Christ his being raised from the Dead in that body wherein he suffered so that he died no more as in the Head no nor yet in many of the Members in whom that precious Life of Christ shall never any more be slain or quenched but it cannot be so said of all seeing some may fall away and Crucify him afresh unto themselves Pamphlet Animad 9.
Light when it is contracted or gathered together by the help of a burning Glass that it burneth or kindleth any ordinary combustible matter as any other fire doth But seeing such a debate is more proper for naturalists and belongeth to that called natural Phylosophy I shall not insist thereon only I inform the Reader who is not acquainted perhaps with such things that the opinion which holdeth light and heat to have no body is almost generally now rejected in the Schools as false and as a meer old fiction of some old Popish School men grounded upon some mistaken notions of Aristotle and upheld by the Jesuits to uphold their absur'd Doctrine of Transubstantiation when they teach That the colour and tast and smell of the bread wine being but meer accidents do remain without all Substance of the bread and wine after the consecration and as absur'd and ridiculous is their doctrine who say that light hath no body that is proper unto it but is a meer accident or quality in the Air For as well may the Jesuits say that the colour smell and tast of the Bread and Wine having no body or substance of the Bread and Wine are only accidents adhering in the Air. But why dost thou not answer to my other examples brought from Scripture as namely how the natural Life and Soul do principally reside in the head and heart and yet emanate into all the members of the body and how the Sap and Moisture residing principally in the root of the Tree goeth forth into all the branches even so the life and light of Christ as he is the Heavenly Adam residing principally in himself doth emanate and stream forth into all his members and in some respect into all things Is the Sap and Moisture a meer accident having no substance and is not the Soul of Man substantially in all the bodily Members although residing more principally in the heart head Pamphlet Animad 17. They believe this Heavenly man-hood to be a creature contrary to John Crooks Counterfeit convert p. 63. that true light which is called the Life of Christ John 1. 4 9. and lighteth every man that cometh into the World is not a creature Keith saith it is a creature Ans. To this I have answered sufficiently above upon Animad 8. that the Spirit or Life of Christ as he is the Heavenly man is not so properly or strictly a creature But men have not only the Spirit of Christ in them as he is Man but also as he is God and the Light Life and Spirit of Christ as he is God or the word simply considered in it self in no sense can be said to be Created But the word made Flesh may in that sense be said to be Created as it is said to be made for Made Created and Formed are commonly of one Signification And that the word was made Flesh from the beginning I have proved in my book because the Saints in all Ages did feed upon the Word made Flesh and the Word made Flesh dwelt in them Now in what sense I understand that the Heavenly man-hood and Soul of Christ is Created I explain in my book in these words p. 135. Therefore to the end that the word may be ingrafted into us and we again ingrafted into it the Word must be Incarnate or made Flesh as we are for all men are a sort of Flesh and so called in Scripture in comparison of God that is purely Spirit and though the Souls of Men are Spirits yet comparatively as unto God they are as it were Flesh and thus the Word is become Flesh that is to say hath advanced a Step or degree neerer unto us than it was in God before any thing was made and the Word was first of all made Flesh to be the root and soundation of all other Created beings and for which they are Created for it is a more noble Creation than all things else Here by my words quoted at large in my book it may be seen how and in what sense I understand the Heavenly man-hood of Christ to be Created namely as the word is made Flesh also Christ himself designed by Wisdome Pro. 8. 24. doth expresly say of himself when there were no Depths I was Formed and again v. 25. before the Hills I was Formed for so doth the Hebrew word Cholalti most properly signify and is used elsewhere in Scripture to signify the Creation of other things so that Made Formed Created do commonly signify one and the same Nevertheless I do acknowledge that Christ the Heavenly Man is not so properly or strictly to be called a Creature or Created Made or Formed but rather generated and he is the Son of God rather than a Creature of God even as a Man's Son is not called his Creature but his Son and yet he doth truly and properly partake with the Creatures otherwise he could not be a perfect Midle or Mediator betwixt God and Men who are Creatures But seeing this production or bringing forth of Christ from God the Father is so great a Mystery it is by no means to be curiously disputed about but simply to be acknowledged believed and admired and not to be expressed in words which mans wisdome teacheth but what the Holy Ghost Teacheth such as the Scripture words are which say The Word was made Flesh and Christ the Heavenly man is the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth and the first-born of every Creature and concerning his wonderful Generation it is said Who can declare it and he is called the New Man who is Created after God c. and so to these Scripture Names I keep close where I am safe and where the malicious accusations of the adversaries of truth cannot reach unto me And by what is said the reader may easily understand that there is no real contradiction betwixt John Crook and me for whither J. C. mean by the true Light which is the Life of Christ the Light of the Word simply considered or the Word made Flesh I am at no contradiction with him for according to the first That Light can in no sense be called a Created Light and according to the second namely As the Word made Flesh or as the Spirit of Christ as man it is not properly Created nor in that strict and narrow sense is it to be so called as the other Creatures are Pamphlet Animad 17. That Scripture in Heb. 9. 11. Not of this Building is grosly corrupted by the Author c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is rightly translated building or structure It is not always taken for the Act of God in framing something out of nothing nor the effect of Gods so Acting but it is taken in another sense in some places as 1 Pet. 2. 13. Ans. That Scripture Heb. 9. 11. Is not at all corrupted but truely translated and the sense of it truely given nor doth thy weak and frivolous reasoning prove the contrary for
Pamphlet I query what difference betwixt the Nishmah of his Soul and the Center of it Answ. As great as betwixt the Spring and the Stream and the life and vertue that is in the Root and a measure of the same in the Branches so great is the difference betwixt the Center of that Nishmah and the ray or emanation of it into us which yet is one and the same Substance or Essence with it Pamphlet Look into Buxtorfs Lexicon you that are Schollars and there you will see that this curious distinction of Nephesh and Nishmah is ground less and a little after for the same word is used of the beasts and fouls and creeping thing that were destroyed by the Flood Gen. 7. 22. Answ. That the word Nishmath or Nishmah at times is used indifferently or commonly to signifie the breath or life of any living Creature doth not hinder but that at other times and that more frequently it hath a peculiar and singular signification even as the word Ruach signifieth at times indifferently any ordinary Spirit good or bad as also the wind and so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek Spiritus in Latine and Spirit in English and yet also it hath a peculiar signification at other times to signifie the Divine Spirit of God and Christ and thus also many other words have both a common and peculiar signification as the words El Elohim Bara and others And unto Buxtorfs Authority I oppose the Testimony of others better skilled and namely the Author of the Apparatus in Librum Zohar part 1. p. 542 and p. 600. And that which is of more Authority then all Humane Testimonies I oppose unto him the Scriptures Testimony in diverse places which I have Cited in my book as namely Gen. 2. 7. Prov. 20. 27. To which I shall adde Job 32 8. The Inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding where the same Hebrew Word Nishmah or Nishmath is used that is in Gen. 2. 7. And surely whoever shall duely consider that Scripture Gen 2. 7. How that-the Lord God breathed in Adam the breath of Life and he became a living Soul and shall compare it with 1 Cor. 15. 45. The first man Adam was made a living Soul the second or last Adam was made a quickening Spirit If he have the least sense of that quickening life of Christ Jesus that made the first Adam a living Soul cannot but acknowledge that that breath or inspiration of life which made Adam a living Soul was something more excellent and living then his own Soul which he received from Christ Jesus the second Adam who is the image of the invisible God after whom he was made for it was this breathing in or inspiration of Life that made him a living Soul Namely living unto God Whereas he was a Soul afterwards when he Transgressed but not such a living Soul for in the day he did eat of the forbidden fruit he dyed and remained no more a living Soul unto God in Holiness and Righteousness after the image of him that created him And indeed that this breath or inspiration of Life was not Adams own Soul but a Divine substance diverse of those called Fathers of great Note do earnestly contend Hilarius saith on Psal. 118. expounding these Words And he breathed into him the breath or Spirit of life and man was made a living Soul Inspirationi ergo huic Preparatus sive formatus est per quam Natura Animae Corporis in vita perfectionem quodam inspirati Spiritus foedere contineretur Scit in se beatus Paulus duplicem esse Naturam cum Secundum interiorem Hominem delectatur in Lege c. In English thus Man therefore being prepared or formed unto this inspiration by which the Nature of the Soul and body should be contained within a crtain Covenant or bond of the inspired Spirit Blessed Paul knoweth that there is a Twofold Nature in him when according to the inward man he delighteth in the Law of God Again Cyrillus Alexandrinus on 9. John saith expresly that the breath of life which God breathed into Adam was not the Soul of Adam but a Divine substance Non est igitur factum divinae Substantiae Spiraculum anima hominis sed animato potius homini proprietati Naturae utrisque anima dico atquae corpore Consumatae quasi Sigillum Naturae suae Creator Spiraculum vitae id est Spiritum Sanctum infixit c. Which is in English thus The breath of the Divine substance was not made the Soul of man but rather man being already indued with a Soul and the property of his Nature being consummated both in Soul and Body the Creator fixed in him as it were the Seal of his own Nature That is the Holy Spirit The which Holy Spirit he also calleth the Spirit of the Son and the Divine Nature and indeed without all doubt God breathed into Adam the Holy Spirit but this Holy Spirit being one Essence or being with God dwelleth in the fulness of it in Christ the second Adam and therefore Adam could not be a partaker of the Holy Spirit but as he was also a partaker of the second Adam whose Nishmah or Soul hath the Holy Spirit in it as being its most immediate Temple or house and therefore the fulness of the God-head is said to dwel bodily in Christ because Christ is as the body or house that most immediately receives that fulness to Communicate of the various measures of it unto others for the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Body is said to be derived from a word which signifieth a House or Lodging or Habitation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the fulness of the God-head dwelling in Christ as in its most immediate and proper Habitation as the Soul of a man dwelleth in its body no man can partake of God but as he partakes of Christ in whom that fulness dwelleth Pamphlet Animad 20. I desire the Schollars to call to mind how this Notion of the Soul of Christ in all suits with Platoe's of the anima mundi Answ. Cyrillus Alexandrinus and others do Judge that Plato by his anima mundi did understand that which the Scripture calleth the Holy Ghost for as the Scripture speaketh of three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost Plato likewise spoke of three namely the good the mind and the Soul and the Good he calleth the one and the Father the Mind he calleth the Son as being generate of the Father both which answer unto the Father and the Son which the Scriptures Testifie of and therefore they conclude that by that he called the Soul he did understand the Holy Ghost And that Plato had learned this mystery of the Three from the Egyptians who had learned it from Moses But that he had wrongly understood it himself for he seemeth to call them Three Gods as being distinct in a threefold being
followeth from thy Doctrine that the Brat of thine own Imagination is Equal unto God Which if it be not the grossest Idolatry that ever any Man was Guilty of I leave unto all Men of a true Understanding for to judge yea if it be not the Height of Atheisme But again supposing but not at all granting that there were such Infinite wast Places having no Creatures in them I ask thee If God should fill them all with Creatures as he could well do because he is Omnipotent should these Creatures taken in the whole Complex be Equal unto God and have the same Immensity or Infinitness with him Surely thou must needs say Not And therefore Christ the Heavenly Man although he should also be in all these Places is still inferiour to the Godhead For whatever any Man or Creature can conceive of Places or Spaces of the greatest Extent Imaginable God is still infinitly Greater and all the Creatures Visible and Invisible are unto Him but as the Drop of the Bucket and Dust of the Ballance And here if any should ask me because I deny all such Imaginary Spaces as idle Fictions of foolish and Ignorant Men What is beyond this Visible World of Heaven and Earth I do easily and readily answer That not only God and Christ but also real Parts of the Creation which are true real beings Created of God are beyond this Visible World of Heaven and Earth whose Greatness and Number no Humane nor indeed any Created Understanding can fathome or comprehend but God alone the most High and Christ Jesus by whom all Things are created and made Visible and Invisible For Solomon said truly We cannot find out the Works of God from the Beginning unto the End And thus we have no need to run into these Fictions of Imaginary Spaces to find a Place beyond this Visible World seeing the Things which God hath made are Greater and more Numerous than we can conceive or imagine And therefore are really Infinite and Immense or Immeasurable unto our Understanding although they are well known unto God in Number Weight and Measure and are in comparison as Nothing and as the Prophet speaketh Even less than Nothing Pamphlet Animad 23. And thus he layes the Ground and Foundation of the Angels Worship upon the Excellency of the Nature of the Manhood barely considered in it self I query solemnly If it be not great Idolatry for Men or Angels to worship any Creature and that Creature though never so Excellent be not in Personal Union with God and the Worship terminated upon the Godhead Christ is God and Man Christians worshipping him terminate the Worship upon the Godhead See if Keith hath not made the Angels Idolaters Answ. That he saith I lay the Foundation of the Angels Worship upon the Excellency of the Nature of the Manhood barely considered in it self is a gross Abuse and Perversion and a most palpable Lye and Contradiction to my Words As also that he insinuates that Men or Angels are to worfhip the Man Christ without a Respect unto that Union he hath with God So that by Vertue of the said Union he is God This also is another gross Lye and Perversion And 3 dly That he alledgeth that in our worshipping the Man Christ Jesus we do not terminate our Worship upon the God-head but only upon the Manhood and that also barely considered in it self All which Three Assertions of the Author are gross Lies and most groundless Calumnies For I no where in all my Book use any such Words as he alledgeth And that I have no such Meaning as his Words import my Words that stand upon Record in my Book do sufficiently clear me As namely where I say expresly p. 82. That the Man Christ is God by reason of that most wonderful Union betwixt the Two Natures And a little after I say The Godhead and Manhood of Christ are but one Christ. And the God-head of Christ is no Inferiour Divinity or Deity but the very same Godhead of the Father Again as concerning this most wonderful and singular Union whereby the Godhead and Manhood of Christ are one Christ I say p. 83. Christ as Man hath a true and real Soul distinct from the God-head yet for ever united with the same in a most immediate and wonderful manner Of which Union no other Soul or Spirit of Men or Angels ever were or shall be Partakers And thus Reader thou mayest clearly see that I lay not the Foundation of Men and Angels their worshipping Christ upon the Excellency of the Nature of the Manhood barely considered as if he were not God by reason of his most rare and singular Union with God But on the contrary I do very plainly affirm the said Union and that because thereof Christ is God And therefore also I do further say That the Worship which Men and Angels give unto the Man Christ doth not terminate which is as much as to say in more plain English doth not rest nor end upon the Manhood but ascendeth through the Manhood of Christ unto the Godhead where it doth terminate or rest And therefore the Saints in Scripture are said to praise God through Jesus Christ and by Him to offer up unto God continual Sacrifices of Thanksgiving And so much doth the word Mediator import which signifieth a Middle Man betwixt God and Us So that although our Prayers our Thanksgivings and whole Worship be directed unto Christ yet not unto Him alone but also unto God htrough Him Nor do my Words cited by thee give thee the least Ground to say That I lay the Foundation of the Angels Worship upon the Nature of the Manhood barely considered in it self because I say That the Man Christ Jesus is a Great and Mighty and most Excellent Being far above All and excelling all Men and Angels For doth not the Man Christ Jesus excell all Men and Angels by reason of his Union with the Godhead such as none else are Partakers of Is not this Union of his with the Godhead most Excellent And doth it not cause him to Excel all other Beings that have no such Union By thy Doctrine indeed it addeth no Excellency unto him and consequently by the same Doctrine of thine although in Contradiction to thy self the Man Christ is to be worshipped as barely considered in himself without any respect of his Union with the Godhead For according unto thy Doctrine that Union addeth no Excellency unto him and maketh him not one whit more Excellent And thus now I desire all Men of Understanding to see and consider whether the Author of this Pamphlet and not I hath not made the Angels Idolaters And here Reader I desire thee also to consider how this Author of this Pamphlet seeketh to lurk in the Dark and giveth us no express Account whether he believeth that the Man Christ Jesus is to be worshipped only telleth that all true Christians do terminate the Worship upon the Godhead which we also do But this
hindreth not that the Man Christ as Mediator is also to be worshipped and God through him which can be no Idolatry because he is God by Vertue of his most wonderful Union with him which no Men nor Angels are Partakers of or ever shall be And if the Man Christ is to be worshipped my Argument holdeth still good that therefore he is really Present as Man To which Argument although most convincing and demonstrating he hath made no Shaddow of Answer and therefore I return it upon him or them who take any part with him As also I return all the other Arguments in my Book which are many that he hath not so much as once named far less answered And particularly where I argue from what he and they do generally acknowledge of the Devil his being every where present in all Evil Men at least which are more numerous than the Good and yet they will not acknowledg that Christ the Heavenly Man is every where Present in all Good Men. And thus they make the Devil greater than He And which is more seeing he holdeth That the whole Essence of the God-head is contained within the Body of Christ which as he saith is of no greater Extent than the ordinary Body of one Man and will not acknowledge that God himself is any where but in that one only Human Body and yet the Devil possesseth really the Souls and Bodies of many Men and Women He doth make the Devil not only greater and more largely or universally present in the World than Christ but also with Fear and Reverence be it spoken than the very Godhead it self which is indeed the greatest Blasphemy and Impiety of Words that ever I heard formerly in all my Life and yet the plain down-right Language of his Doctrine and vain Impious Scribling against us And thus Reader having answered sufficiently unto every one of his Animadversions which I have done some-what more fully and largely than was either needful unto him or then indeed he was worthy of yet for the sake of others who might be desirous to have some Things further opened and cleared I have found Freedom so to do And now I shall take some Notice of what he addeth by way of Conclusion and reply also there-unto so far as is needful Pamphlet p. 14. He proposeth three generall Considerations which he thinketh will Answer my whole Book 1. That the Prophets spoke of many Things to come as if they were present Answ. To this I have sufficiently answered above and I have proved how absurd and contrary to Truth the Opinion of the Author is that Christ was no more Christ before his birth in the Flesh than Cyrus was God's Anointed of whom Isaiah prophecyed many Years before he was Born Where-as although the Prophets prophecyed of Christ's Coming and Birth in the Flesh as a thing to come yet they did still understand that Christ himself was present in and with the Church in all Ages as I have already proved in my Book at large And this was also the Testimony of the Apostle and particularly of Paul who said expresly That by Jesus Christ all Things were Created and He is the same Yester-day To-day and for Ever Also Paul said The Fathers did Eat the same Spiritual Meat and Drink the same Spiritual Drink For they drank of the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. And if they did eat the same Spiritual Meat and drink the same Spiritual Drink then they did eat the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood otherwise as Christ taught him self They could not have Life Pamphlet p. 14. His Second Consideration is That Christ acted in his Mediatorship in all Things before his Incarnation in reference still to his Incarnation which was to be in the Fulness of Time Answ. That Christ acted in his Mediatorship in all Things before he was Born in the Flesh of the Virgin Mary in reference still to his Birth in the Flesh which was to be in the Fulness of Time and also in reference to his Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascention c. I do readily grant But what saith this against any thing that I have affirmed in my Book Or What doth it infer against the Real Being and Existence of Christ in all Ages from the Beginning Surely nothing at all but on the contrary if thou stand to thy own words they do prove manifestly that Christ as he is the Heavenly man was from the beginning for how could he Act in his mediatorship if he was not mediator from the beginning How can Mediatorship be without a Mediator Surely not at all more than Kingship can be without a King or Lordship without a Lord or any other Office without him that doth bear it And if Christ was Mediator from the Beginning it followeth most clearly that he was Man from the Beginning For it is the Man Christ Jesus who is the Mediator betwixt God and Man as Paul hath expressly declared 1 Tim. 2. 5. For Christ as God simply considered without his Manhood cannot be Mediator even as Man simply considered without the Godhead he cannot either for the Nature of a Mediator is such that he must have the Nature both of God and man united together after the most excellent and singuler manner so as by reason of that Union he is true and perfect God and true and perfect Man and therefore seeing he was Mediator from the beginning and acted in his Mediatorship or mediatory Office as King Priest and Prophet and as Head of his Body the Church he was Man from the beginning although not Man cloathed with flesh and blood in the likeness of our Flesh until the fullness of time was come that He was Born of the Virgin Mary Pamphlet Pag. 14. His third consideration is that many things in Scripture are spoken of Christ by that figurative speech of the communication of properties when that which is proper to one nature only is attributed to the other or to the whole person c. Answ. Although thou dost betake thy self to this as thy last refuge namely that called by some the communication of properties yet doth it nothing help thy Evil cause more than the former For albeit I grant that there is such a figurative speech of the communication of names and properties whereby the Man Christ is called God and also God is called Man and God is said to have Shed his Blood although Christ as God hath not Blood to Shed but only as Man yet by reason of that most rare and wonderful union betwixt the Godhead and Manhood the Blood of the Man Christ is called the Blood of God Acts 20. 28. But this communication of names and properties is not a bare Titular or Verbal communication but is grounded upon a real communication of real Divine Attributes and Properties which the Godhead of Christ doth communicate unto the manhood so that the manhood of Christ by reason of this most rare and excellent and
animae hominem Sed ut per se sibi sumpsit ex Virgine corpus ita ex se sibi animam sumpsit qua utique nunquam ab homine gignentium originibus prebetur Si enim conceptum carnis nisi ex Deo Virgo non habuit longe magis necesse est anima corporis nisi ex Deo aliunde non fuerit at vero si Dominici corporis sola ista natura sit ut sua virtute sua anima feratur in humidis insistat in liquidis et extructa transcurrat quid per naturam humani corporis concepta ex Spiritu S. caro Iudicatur And concerning the Soul of Christ he further saith Naturae hujus potestatem Iam non dico metus sed nec infernae sedis regio est concludens quae descendens ad inferos a paradiso non desit sic ut hominis filius loquens in terris maneat in Caelo Non habet hunc metus corporalis penetrantem quidem inferos sed ubique Naturae suae virtute distentum naturam hanc mundi Dominam ac libertate Spiritualis virtutis immensam non sibi terrore mortis Gehennae chaos vindicat qua Paradisi deliciae carere non possunt In English thus Again he said that he was bread that by this that he is bread coming down from Heaven the Original of his Body may not be esteemed to be of Humane Conception while it is shown to be a Heavenly Body And the Hereticks use to accuse us because we say that Christ was born a man having a Soul and Body not of our kind but as by himself he took to himself a Body of the Virgin so of himself he took to himself a Soul which is never to be acknowledged to have the same Originals of them begotten of Man for if the Virgin had the Conception of the flesh not of any other but God it is much more needfull that the Soul was not of any but of God But indeed if that be the onely Nature of the Lords body that by its own vertue by its Soul it is carried upon the waters and standeth upon the Floods and being struck at can pass through why is the Flesh conceived of the Holy Ghost judged by the Nature of an Humane Body And concerning the Soul of Christ he further saith The power of this Nature now I say not only fear but the region of the infernal seat doth not contain which descending into the Hells is not absent from Paradice so that being the Son of Man speaking in the earth he doth remain in the Heavens Bodily fear doth not take hold of him that doth indeed penetrate the hells but is everywhere extended in the vertue of his own Nature and the pit of Hell cannot claim to it self by the Terrour of death this Nature that is the Lady of the world immense or unmeasurable in the liberty of Spiritual vertue Which the delights of Paradice cannot want Post-script SInce I wrote the Answer aforesaid to the Pamphlet set out by a Nameless Author called the Quakers Creed c. I have seen a sheet in print subscribed by William Haworth a sort of Independent Teacher at Hartford which he calls a Winding-sheet for the five Hartford Quakers and in the said sheet he refers the Reader to the aforesaid Pamphlet called the Quakers Creed for an answer to my Book The way cast up This gives me just ground to hold the said William Haworth either to be the Author of the said Pamphlet or at least an approver of it and therefore all the Lies and Calumnies and whatever other gross abuses weaknesses and impertinencies and all the absurd and blasphemous Assertions which I have discovered in the said Pamphlet are Chargeable upon him and lye at his door And whereas William Haworth saith at the end of that fheet aforesaid that G. Keith saith Christ never was a man this I charge upon him as a most gross and Notorious lye and slander I never spoke wrote nor thought any such thing It is strange that the man has so far lost all sense of shame to publish such a manifest lye in the sight of the world Now how truely and uprightly I own and believe that Christ is both God and Man my book called The way cast up is a sufficient witness and this other Treatise writ by me in answer to the lying Pamphlet owned by him is another But it seemeth he doth suppose that such a Conclusion will follow by way of Consequence from my words because I have affirmed in my book that Christ the Heavenly Man was from the beginning even before Adam the first Man which was of the Earth earthly But this consequence I altogether deny as false and unreasonable for his being before he came in that body doth no more infer that he was not man in that body than it doth infer that a man ceaseth to be a man or that the Soul of any Man ceaseth to have a being when it is not in a Fleshly body and if the having of a Fleshly Body be so Essential to the being of the Soul which is most principally the Man so as the Soul cannot be or subsist before the Fleshly Body the same reason holds as much that the Soul cannot subsist or have a being after the Fleshly Body is put off and so by W. Haworth his Argument the Soul of every man dyeth with the body and hath no immortal Subsistance Let him see how he can clear himself of this and many other absurdities which he runneth himself into by his foolish and inconsiderate way of reasoning And as for other things in that he calleth his Winding Sheet which he chargeth upon the Quakers as their Doctrines and then upon some called Quakers as that one should say that the Soul of man was the Devil that the Devil was made an offering for sin and another should say that Christ was a bastard These false and abominable Calumnies have been so fully and sufficiently answered above by the said five Hartford Friends and especially in their last called the Malice of the Independent Agent again rebuked that it is to no purpose to give any further reply Nor is the evidence he giveth by proof of some witnesses of any more Authority than his own who hath openly in the face of the world discovered himself to be a lyer and false accuser and can it be questioned but he can find others like to himself who because of their deep malice and prejudice against the Truth make no more conscience than himself to bear false witness against the innocent Moreover whereas these five Friends of Hartford did justly blame W. H. for Charging the whole people called Quakers with any errour that some one or other called a Quaker may be supposed to have writ or asserted set case any one had so writ or asserted And they Query further Is it just the Independent party should be charged with the private Opinions of every one of them because they pretend all to one rule the Scripture The said W. H. giveth only this bare and naked evaston in that he calleth his Winding Sheet Should the Independants saith he hold Infallibiliy as you do then might that party be Charged with all the Religious Opinions that any of them at any time vented Unto which bare evasion these Friends of Hartford have given a sufficient reply in pag. 13. of their last book where among other things they say Such an absurdity was never the assertion of the people called Quakers viz. That either every one pretending to be guided by the light within or distinguished by the name Quaker is therefore guided by the same light in all discourses or so to be owned by the said people This which they have already said is sufficient to overturn his evasion as because the Quakers do all pretend an infallible Spirit that therefore all must be acknowledged to have that infallible Spirit and to be guided thereby which doth no more follow than that because all the Independants so called pretend to one Rule the Scripture that therefore all that they or any of them speak write or do is according unto the Scripture which instance of parity they did bring in their foresaid answer pag. 13. Yet do not thereby grant that any of the people called Quakers are guilty of any such Blasphemous Doctrines as before cited To which W. H. hath made no reply and therefore it is returned upon him as wholly unanswered as also the whole substance of their last book which W. H. hath not answered nor indeed hath not so much as pretended to give a particular answer unto the greatest and most Principal part thereof And therefore these Friends see it not needful to give any further answer to what he calleth his Winding Sheet until he give a particular answer to the several parts of their book and they look upon his sheet to be no Winding-Sheet for them but that it is an evidence he hath spent all his strength and is as it were a dying man that is no longer able to hold out in this controversie and that therefore it may be more fitly called a Winding-Sheet for VV. Haworth himself than for them FINIS