Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
book_n according_a open_v write_v 3,375 5 5.6087 4 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
B09558 A looking-glass for George Fox the Quaker, and other Quakers; wherein they may see themselves to be right devils. In answer to George Fox his book, called, Something in answer to Lodowick Muggletons book, which he calls The Quakers neck broken. Wherein is set forth the ignorance and blindness of the Quakers doctrine of Christ within them; and that they cannot, nor doth not know the true meaning of the Scriptures, neither have they the gift of interpretation of Scripture. As will appear in those several heads set down in the next page following. / Written by Lodowick Muggleton ... Muggleton, Lodowick, 1609-1698. 1667 (1667) Wing M3046; ESTC R10137 83,636 106

There are 7 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

they would but our other writings doth speak more large of this point so I shall say no more as to this Onely this that this power we the Witnesses of the Spirit have is the power of Christ as the Prophets and Apostles power was in their time therefore said to be done by Christ himself But I know Fox the Quaker is willing to believe that dead Prophets and Apostles were Messengers of Christ but he doth not believe there is any sent of Christ not alive but what is within them but he shall find that we the Witnesses of the Spirit were sent of God and have as great power given us as any Prophet or Apostle whatsoever And as for that saying of John Revelation 5. That no man in Heaven nor in Earth nor under the Earth was able to open the Book but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah This I would have the Reader to minde for it is a vain thing to talk to Quakers of interpretation of Scripture by man that is alive but John that spake these words being dead the Quakers believe his words though they know nothing what he meant nor what that Book was that none could open but Christ This let the Reader minde that there is three Books that are to be opened by Christ as you may see Rev. 20.20 And the Books were opened and another book was opened which is the Book of Life Now to give the Reader to understand these three Books the first Book is the Law written in mans heart this Book are all the Heathen are to be judged by when it is opened at the great day of the Lord. The second Book is the Conscience of people who hath heard the preaching of Faith in Christ yet did not believe when this Book is opened they shall be judged at that great day in themselves for their unbelief The third Book is the Book of Life wherein all true believers Faith is written and according to their works of faith they are judged and so according to the works of unbelief are judged and according to the works of reason their thoughts accusing shall the Heathen be judged according to what is written In these Books shall all people be judged both small and great Mind and look what judgement Gods Messengers hath given unto men in this life the same will Christ give when he doth raise them again at the last day as I have said before therefore this Book which no man in Heaven nor in Earth could open it was the Book of Life and none was found worthy to open the Book of Life but Christ he being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah This Book of Life must needs belong to Christ to open and to no man else for he is God the first and the last the beginning and the end of all mankind but what is this to interpret Scripture Christ hath given that to man but I have opened these things more large in the Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation In the last place I shall say something as to the Quakers principle practice Fox saith in the end of his Pamphlet against me that I am judged with the Spirit of Truth and over me saith Fox is the true and Faithful witness Christ Jesus the Corner-stone which will grind me to powder Further Fox saith in Christ is his people meaning the Quakers that reign over my head that can raise and reign over the head of the curser and Fox saith Edward Bourn whom thou hast curst and damned who is far above thee and thy Father in him that redeems out of the curse and destroys thee and thy Father both I do acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Faithful Witness the Corner-stone should grinde me to powder if he doth not own me to be sent of him if I do curse any without a commission from him or if I should curse any of the true Christs people then let that curse be upon my own head as Fox saith Also I was always willing that those people that were ingrafted into Christ by Faith should be above me for there is no people in Christ but such as are ingrafted into him by faith which I am sure no Quaker is as in that state neither can any man be a member of Christ but by the hearing of Faith and faith comes by hearing how can any preach the word of faith except he be sent as I am sure no Quaker never was sent of Christ to preach therefore no Quakers people in Christ But that Christ the Quakers people are in I that am a man hath power over some I have separated their Christ from them one from the other and hath shewed them the true Christ to their great satisfaction and they have bin glad they were rid of the Quakers Christ Others again hath bin condemned by me both them and their Christ neither would I let them and their Christ part one from another but torment each other for this Christ the Quakers hath in them is the Law written in their hearts and the Christ the Quaker people are in is the motions of this Law and sometimes they do well then the Law is quiet in them and their Christ giveth peace to them so I knowing this Christ was born with man and man born with it as the Apostle saith being under the Law then free from grace But being born again we are not under the Law but under Grace but the Quakers people are under the Law though not the outward letter as the people of the Jews were yet they are under the Law written in their hearts as the Heathen were before any Law was given and this is the Quakers Christ within them and that Christ they are in so that Christ the only God hath chosen me and hath given me power over the Quakers Christ within them and themselves also to keep them together so that the one shall not part from the other for though they shall desire that this Christ within them might part from them but it will not but torment their souls to eternity This will be Fox the Quakers portion and many more Quakers besides and if you Edward Bourn and others of the Quakers whom I have cursed do get over or above that curse and sentence I have passed upon you let your righteousness be what it will I say then Cain shall get above and over that curse God himself pronounced upon him and so shall Judas get above that curse Christ pronounced upon him Furthermore if you Quakers were not wilfully ignorant and blinde you might see that this commission of the Spirit given to John Reeve and Muggleton hath had great power over the Ranters and Quakers it hath broken the Ranters principle all to pieces so that none dares hold up an argument to defend it you Quakers also are very much shattered you are not like the people ye were 16 years ago this some that had a love for you have seen confest The Ranters
Make this good by Scripture CHAP. V. ANSWER I Have proved these two things abundantly by Scripture in my other Writings in The Mortality of the Soul and The Divine Looking-Glass and in The Interpretation of the Eleventh of the Revelation and in The Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation these several Books written by us the Witnesses of the Spirit hath clearly opened those two points as much as any one thing whatsoever but I perceive this Fox hath seen none of our Books not as to read them but this book onely of the Quakers Neck broken which makes him so ignorant of the Scriptures and of what we have written also its proves my words true that the Quakers will not bestow a penny in any of my Writings but their own But because some may see this Answer to Fox that hath not seen the other books afore-mentioned I shall prove by the Scriptures again that the Right Devil became flesh and the Soul of man to be mortal First I shall prove the Devil became flesh Let the Reader minde the Interpretation of Scripture In the first Epistle of John chap. 3. verse 8. it is thus written He that committeth sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinneth from the beginning Mark these words The Devil sinneth from the beginning I think there is no man so wickedly ignorant to say that Adam was this Devil that sinned from the beginning for Adam was never called a Devil not throughout the Scriptures for Adam is called the Father of Christ and there is none will dare to say the Devil was the Father of Christ which I shall open more clear hereafter but then of necessity there must be some other Devil in the beginning which all men are ignorant of in these our days but this Commission of the Spirit onely Now this Devil that committeth sin from the beginning must needs be that Serpent that was called A Tree of knowledge of good and evil this I declare was the Devil now this Devil became flesh and after he became flesh then the devil committed sin and this was in the beginning of the world for the faith of the Scriptures goeth no further than the beginning of the Creation of Adam Now minde the twelfth verse that proves that Cain was the first devil in flesh John exhorting the Believers that they should love one another which Commandment was from the beginning not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother Here it is clear that Cain was none of Adams son for Adam was never counted a wicked one by any that writ Scripture so that Cains father was the devil that is he was that Serpent Angel that deceived Eve and Cain was the devil manifest in flesh and that act of murther which Cain did when he slew his brother Abel is that sin which the devil committed from the beginning for what the devil did before he became flesh was not counted by Moses the Prophets and Apostles to be sin for sin was not imputed to spiritual bodies but to natural bodies onely for spiritual bodies are either to receive the fruit of happiness or the punishment of what they do in the natural body of flesh Again that I may give the Reader a further proof of this minde the Scripture saith there are two Seeds the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent now God hath put emnity between these two Seeds now I would fain know of Fox from whence this Seed of the Serpent came If he shall say it came from Adam as most Quakers do they blaspheme against God that made Adam in his own image and likeness both spirit and body onely Adam was earthly and God was heavenly but Adam had but one Seed in his Creation but as men are generated they come to have two Seeds in them so that this Seed of the Serpent must needs be from the fallen Angel that deceived Eve who was called A Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and this Seed of the Serpent that should be at enmity with the Seed of the Woman it is the devil in flesh for God owns the Seed of the Woman to be his own Seed so that Cain was the devil became flesh blood and bone and that seed of Reason in Cain being now become mortal which was immortal before Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil it comes to commit sin from the beginning and to generate and bring forth millions of devils of his own seed and nature and so the enmity of the two Seeds continues from generation to generation to the worlds end For we read in Scripture that Cain is the Father of all wicked men and women and that wicked men and women are his children as the Reader may see in Matthew how the devil tempted Christ that devil that tempted Christ was a man yet called a Devil as you may see Deuteronomy the sixth and the sixteenth verse that the Jewes that tempted God are called Devils and when Christ answered the devil and said It is written thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God but him onely shalt thou serve so that rebellious men are called the Devil that tempt God And where was there ever given any Law to any other devil but to man to serve the Lord his God So that it may be clear to the Seed of Faith that man is a devil and that there is no other devil that can or doth tempt God but man Again it is clear that men are the children of the devil now they cannot be children of the devil except they be of his seed begotten of him and this is clear by Scripture as may be read John 8. verse 44. Christ saith to the Jews that were men who said they were Abrahams children and said they were Gods children but Christ saith these men were the devils children Ye are saith he of your father the devil and the lusts of your father you will do he was a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own for he is a Liar and the father of it Now minde there never was no liar nor murderer but man and Cain being the first murderer and liar from the beginning for when Cain killed Abel and lied unto God and said Am I my brothers keeper this was the first murder and lie the devil Cain committed upon earth after the devil became flesh therefore called by the Spirit of Revelation of Faith A murderer and a liar from the beginning for then the devil in flesh began to murder and lie and so this sin hath run in the line of all his posterity from generation to generation so that the Reader may see that men are the children of the devil and that the devil their father was a man even Cain This is the true meaning of the Scriptures and from this Cain did Feorge Fox come and this
suffered in the flesh but he did not die as he was God CHAP. XXIV ANSWER HEre Fox hath discovered his Allegorical Cheat as I have made appear before For saith he in the fourteenth particular of this Book the Quakers owns the Son of God who was crucified and laid in the grave and rose again and sits at the right hand of God yet Fox saith the Godhead life did not die Here Fox hath manifested his great ignorance of life that died also he hath cut himself off from having any part or portion in the death of Christ for God and Christ is all one undividual or undivided Essence Person and Substance so that when Christ died God died and when Christs blood or soul was poured out unto death the soul of God was poured out unto death also Christ being God and Man For no man can truly say Christ was God and Man except he were God as well as Man for if there be another God besides Christ or above Christ then Christ is not God as well as man as people do vainly imagine Now we read that Christ poured out his soul unto death and will any dare to say that the soul of Christ was not the soul of God it is high blasphemy to affirm the contrary besides it cuts a man off from all benefit of the death of Christ for no blood but the blood of a God can speak peace to the soul of man therefore it is the blood of Christ speaketh better things than the blood of Abel because Abel was but a faithful man But Christ was God as well as man yet this Godhead life did die and quickened again by its own power which Abels life could not do being but a man But what should I talk to Quakers of these things for they do not believe that any souls die no not their own they all slip away and leave the body to suffer so Fox saith Christ suffered in the flesh but his soul did not die but slipt out of his body for he doth not own that Christs soul died neither as he was God nor as he was man But this is opened more large concerning the Godhead life dying in The Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation But what think you Fox did Cain kill the soul or life of Abel or no or did he onely drive his soul or spirit out of his body Surely if Cain had not killed Abels soul his blood would never haye cryed for vengeance in Gods ears and in his own conscience as it did if his life had not been killed What do you think Fox that Judas did by his soul when he hang'd himself did he onely hang the body that his soul might slip away and leave his body to suffer What do you think the sufferings that all Quakers of late and others have undergone in imprisonment and banishment some have died by reason of those sufferings but you Quakers do believe it was nothing but their bodies that suffered their souls suffered nothing they slipt out of their bodies and went some where you know not where So your persecutors did you no great hurt onely turned your souls out of your bodies before the time as a Landlord doth a bad Tenant turns him out of his house for not paying his Rent he never kills him So the Quakers souls are never killed they are only separated from the body so that there is no great harm done by the persecutors they do but onely separate soul and body one from the other they do not kill life in the Quakers for life cannot die the body indeed may suffer but life cannot die This is Fox the Quakers faith and all Quakers else that I have talked with and were not the Quakers blinded and hardned they would be ashamed to own such a Principle for all true Believers are ashamed of the Quakers faith in this point nay men that are meer moral men that have no light but the dictates of nature do know by experience that the spirit and soul of man doth die for nothing can be capable of pain but life nor nothing can be capable to die but life yet these blinde Quakers cannot believe that life can die as aforesaid 19. Page 21. Muggleton saith God the King of Heaven is not in this world at all Fox calls this Lies also For saith he thou dost confess that Christ is God and John saith he was in the world but the world knew him not Also Fox saith the true Prophet saith he fills heaven and earth but saith Fox the false prophet saith God the King of Heaven is not in this world at all CHAP. XXV ANSWER THat saying of mine is truth That God the King of Heaven is not in this world at all not in his Person and Essence or Substance as is clearly opened in The Neck of the Quakers broken which whosoever doth read that Book may see every one of those sayings of mine more clearly opened than in this Treatise yet George Fox calls them all lies and darkness and such like though what I have written in that Book is as true as any Writings of the Prophets or Apostles and are of as great Authority and will prove as true in the end as theirs But to give the Reader a little light to see the gross darkness of this Fox and his subtilty Fox brings the words of John and saith Christ was in the world but the world knew him not Minde Did I ever deny in all my Writings that Christ never was in the world I always in all my Writings justified more than any man living that Christ the onely God was in this world in the state of mortality which the Apostles did witness unto therefore it is that John saith Christ was in the world but the world knew him not which doth imply that Christ was not in the world in his person at that time when John writ those words if he had John would have said Christ is now in the world but the world knows him not So that it is clear to those that know the Scriptures that Christ the onely God was not in this world at all in the Apostles time he was in the world before he suffered death and the world knew him not but after he was ascended he hath not been in this world never since and this John and the rest of the Apostles knew very well and they preached this Christ that was in the world but the world knew him not therefore they persecuted him and slew him and would slay him again if he were in this world now so John knew well enough therefore he testified that Christ was in the world in his own person but the wicked world put him to death because they knew him not but he is not in the world now for he is ascended for John knew if Christ had been in the world in his person at that time they would have done unto him as they did before and because Christ was not
A Looking-Glass FOR GEORGE FOX THE QUAKER And other QUAKERS Wherein they may see themselves to be Right Devils In ANSWER to George Fox his Book CALLED Something in Answer to Lodowick Muggletons Book which he calls The QVAKERS Neck broken Wherein is set forth the Ignorance and blindness of the Quakers Doctrine of Christ within them and that they cannot nor doth not know the true meaning of the Scriptures neither have they the Gift of Interpretation of Scripture As will appear in those several Heads set down in the next Page following Written by Lodowick Muggleton one of the two last Prophets and Witnesses unto the High and Mighty God the Man Christ Jesus in Glory Printed in the Year 1667. THE CONTENTS CHap. 1. Of a Catalogue of damned Quakers Chap. 2. Sheweth the ignorance and foolishness of George Fox Chap. 3 How the Quaker people are altogether ignorant of Heavenly Secrets so become the greatest despisers of them Chap. 4. A discovery of the Quakers blindness which cannot discern whether a man that preaches the Gospel ought to have his Commission from Christ without him or from a Christ within him Chap. 5. Sheweth how ignorant and dark the Quakers people are in the knowledge of the right devil and of the serpents seed Chap. 6. How the soul of man is mortal and doth die yet Fox thinks it impossible to prove by Scripture Chap 7. How it was no lie to accuse the Quakers of sin and blasphemy Chap. 8. The right devil proved Chap. 9. How the Quakers are mistaken in the flesh and bone of Christ Chap. 10. How God hath made the Witnesses of the Spirit Judge in his stead Chap. 11. Sheweth that the body of Christs flesh and bone is distinct of it self and not in the Quakers bodies neither are they members of his body Chap. 12. Sheweth by Scripture how Christ dwelleth in his Saints and how it may be said they are flesh of his fl sh and bone of his bone Chap. 13. How Fox is proved a devil because he cannot give a reason that he is no reprobate Chap. 14. An Explanation how George Fox and other Quakers may be said to appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ Chap. 15. A further Interpretation concerning the Judgement-seat of Christ Chap. 16. How the Sentence and Curse hath subdued those Witchcraft-fits in the Quakers Chap. 17. How spirits cannot assume what shapes they please neither can there appear any spirit without a body Chap. 18. How the true God is no bigger than the compass of a man and no spirit without a body as the Quakers doth vainly imagine Chap 19. How the Quakers may see themselves to be right devils Chap 20. How the Quakers are more Antichristian in their doctrine than the Pope Chap. 21. How the body of Christs flesh and bone is distinct from the Quakers bodies Chap. 22. That which killed the righteous and just it was the spirit of reason the devil in man that always did it Chap. 23. A difference between reasonable and unreasonable men and a further discovery that reason is the devil Chap. 24. How the soul of Christ died and the ignorance of the Quakers discovered in the death of their own souls Chap. 25. It is proved that Christ the onely God is not in this world at all in his person or essence Chap. 26. How men cannot worship God in spirit and truth without bodies and how Muggleton never was in the spirit of Solomon nor never shall be Chap. 27. A great stir the Prophet Muggleton hath to keep the Quakers spirits out of Christ Chap. 28. How Fox justifies the Magistrates persecuting of me in Darbyshire Chap. 29. How the Curse of Muggleton shall remain upon Fox to eternity Chap. 30. How the Curse and Sentence of Muggleton shall be over and upon the spirits of the Quakers to eternity Chap. 31. How the Law written in the Quakers herats is that Christ they could have spoken in had they never seen letter of Scripture nor man that professeth it Chap. 32. How their confidence will fail them in the day of trouble Chap. 33. How Fox shall see no other God or Judge but that Sentence Reeve and Muggleton hath passed upon him Chap. 34. A reproof the Quakers for rejoycing in my sufferings and being sorry the Magistrates did not punish me more than imprisonment Chap. 35. How it doth belong unto mortal men that are chosen of God to interpret Scripture and not unto Christ himself Chap. 36. How every true Prophet and Minister of Christ hath power to open the Book of Conscience In the last place I shall say something as to the Quakers Principle and Practice A Looking-Glass for George Fox the Quaker c. CHAP. I. GEorge Fox I saw a Pamphlet of yours Entituled Something in Answer to Lodowick Muggletons Book which he calls The Quakers Neck broken You said well in that you said something in Answer to that Book of the Quakers Neck broken for it is a very little something indeed it is so little a something that wise men will hardly discern any thing in it as a direct Answer but how comes it to pass that you make no mention of your own damnation in your Answer you know John Reeve and my self gave you the Sentence of Damnation a matter of fourteen years ago when we were prisoners in Old Bridewel there was you Edward Borroughs and Francis Howgel you three were counted the Chief Speakers of the Quakers at that time and you three were the first Speakers of the Quakers that were damn'd by us the Witnesses of the Spirit but since that there hath fallen a many more of your brethren under this Sentence but you have been Fox-like as is your name so is your nature you have lain still and kept your damnation to your self from the knowledge of others because you would not be upon publick Record as a damn'd Devil and yet a Speaker of the Quakers Also you read of your name in that Book you say you have answered something but you take no notice of your self but take other folks parts and if your brethren William Smith Samuel Hooton Edward Bourn Richard Farnsworth had not written to me there would have been no occasion for the Fox to come out of his hole and now the Fox is come out he will be catcht and made manifest to Generations to come who pretended to be a means of salvation to others and yet he himself a cast-away a reprobate a son of the Devil one that shall be recorded amongst the damned Crew to the worlds end and I am sure your Damnation is written in the Tables of Heaven even as the Law of Moses was written in the Tables of Stone that is these men were written the seed of the Serpent in Heaven in the Reprobate Angel his nature before he deceived Evah for you Speakers of the Quakers doth act forth the Serpent Angel his nature thinking your selves wiser than God as he did he thought if he had
been God he could have made all those glorious Creatures above the stars of nothing even so be you Quakers here in mortality you teach your disciples to believe that God made this vast Earth and Waters of nothing witness that Thomas Taylor Speaker of the Quakers in his Letters to me which I have given Answer to and joyn'd it to the Book called The Quakers Neck broken and you Fox and others of your Speakers doth the same for you say you were in Christ before the world was here you are quite mistaken for you were in the Reprobate Angel his seed and nature who is called a Serpent and in this Serpent Angel you and others were in before the world was and so you and others were recorded in the Table of Heaven for the Reprobate seed and to be damned to eternity And as I know from whence you came even from the Serpent aforesaid and that you were in him before the world was so likewise you shall be recorded for damned devils here while the world is as long as time doth last therefore I shall set you down as followeth you being one of the grand Devils you shall be first George Fox Edward Borroughs Francis Howgel Edward Bourn William Smith Samuel Hooton Richard Farnsworth Thomas Taylor John Parrat Richard Whitpane John Harwood Richard Huborthorn Fox the younger and that great lubbardly fellow spoken of in The Quakers Neck broken these were generally all or most of them Speakers of the Quakers and exercised the Ministerial preaching without a Commission from God and not onely so but they have been the greatest fighters against a personal God in Heaven above the stars of any and have sinned against the Holy Spirit that sent us and so have procured the Sentence of eternal Damnation upon them and this Record is true and it shall be recorded in the hearts of the Saints to the worlds end Now I shall give you an Answer to what is needful in George Fox his Book if there be any thing in it that is not sufficiently Answered already in The Quakers Neck broken I am willing to do it for the sakes of some that desire it because I hear the Quakers are very brag of this Book George Fox hath writ against me so they were when Richard Farnsworth printed his Rage and Malice against me but did he prosper afterwards when I had printed an Answer to it For that printed Pamphlet was the occasion of The Quakers Neck broken being printed and doth George Fox think to prosper now he hath manifested himself what he is and his great wisdom which some thought he had will be found but meer foolishness But to the matter in hand The first Accusation that I am accused with is as followeth That I say in The Quakers Neck broken that the Quakers will not bestow a penny in any Writings but their own let it cost them never so much pains the writing and charge in printing This George Fox saith is a lye known to the Printers and Stationers and Book-sellers at London and George Fox hath called me a Lier seven times for this one lye as he calls it yet I shall make it appear I told no lye in those words to say the Quakers will not bestow a penny in any Writings but their own let them cost ever so much pains the writing and charge the printing CHAP. II. Lodowick Muggleton's Answer FIrst I would have the Reader to minde the ignorance and foolishness of this George Fox he undertakes to answer some things in my Book called The Quakers Neck broken and the first thing he begins to answer is the last thing in my Book for it is the last page of my Book and it is a point of the least concernment to a mans eternal happiness of any in that Book but George Fox hath made it of the greatest concernment of all the rest therefore he begins with that first and sets it in the Fore-front of his Pamphlet to shew his Master-piece for he hath set the Cart before the horse for he begins at the latter end of the Book and so goes backwards towards the beginning and charges me with a lying spirit seven times in this one thing as if this was the most hainous sin of all other sins that to say the Quakers would not bestow a penny upon any Writings but their own this is counted a seven-fold worse sin than any other sin whatsoever Let the Reader but minde these things aforesaid and what I shall say in answer to George Fox his printed Pamphlet First George Fox hath gone on like an unwise simple foolish man no ways in order but confused to begin at the latter end of a Book and end at the beginning and catch a bit here and snap at a bit in another place and wrong the words and write some part of a sentence that serves his turn and leaves the other part out that would make against him or clear the matter this he leaves out Now I do commend William Smith and Richard Farnsworth though they are damned Devils yet they went orderly to work they named my words right as they were set down and they rayled against me in order and so went on from point to point in order but you George Fox your Answer is confused for the aforesaid Quakers had a great deal more wisdom in their Writings against me than you have Because I speak of order you Quakers may think I mean good order and so the aforesaid men were good men no but they went in the method and order of Reason the Devil in the wisdom of Reason did they write to me and I was well pleased with it because I knew well enough how to answer Reason the Devil in his best and orderliest wisdom he hath as is now extant in The Quakers Neck broken but you if you have not attained that wisdom of Reason the aforesaid Quakers your brethren have attained for you that are the old Fox is become more ignorant and foolish in spiritual matters than the aforesaid that are younger And as for that saying of mine that you make the greatest sin of all in that I belye the Quakers to say they will not bestow a penny in any Writings but their own that saying of mine is very true for my meaning was the Quakers would not bestow a penny upon any of my Writings though they cost never so much labor the writing and charge the printing and so the following words doth clear my meaning but George Fox hath catcht at that word of mine of any other Writings but their own here was a word out of joynt and that the Fox was glad of for if I had made a distinction between my Writings and others as my meaning was and as my words following did imply then the Fox would have had no hole to have crept out at nor to have called me a Liar seven times for one but as for the Quakers not bestowing a penny upon any Writings though they
cost ever so much pains the writing and cost the printing that is very true for I do not know any Quaker that is an absolute Quaker that ever did buy any Also it is credibly reported to me by some that have been Quakers but fallen from them that several of the Quakers have given a charge to others of their acquaintance that had a minde to buy to see what was in them the rumour was so great but the Quakers charged those that had a minde to buy not to buy any not to bestow a penny on them except it were to burn them saying that if they had any of my Writings they would burn them and these were Qakers that said this so that this proves my sayings to be true both by experience and witness But George Fox hath got the Printers and Stationers and Book-sellers in London to prove me a Liar as if the Quakers had been great Customers to the Book-sellers I suppose Jacob Behmont's Books were the chief Books that the Quakers bought for there is the Principle or Foundation of their Religion for they cannot go beyond that but there they build this I know by William Smiths Lettters to me And you George Fox are far below William Smith in the knowledge of Jacob Behmonts Writings and as for what Books else that you Quakers have bestowed money upon since you were Quakers I think the Stationers will neither justifie neither can you shew none of any value but it is not much matter whether you did or did not I am sure that saying of mine is true that you will not bestow a penny upon my Writings though they cost much pains the writing and much charge the printing this you Fox doth not deny so that part of my words are true by your own acknowledgement so that it is but half a Lie that you charge me with in case the words be taken in your sense yet you charge this half Lie to be seven Lies So much for that 2. L. Muggleton saith It is a vain thing to talk of any Heavenly Secrets to Quakers for they will not bestow a penny of them George Fox calls this a Lie also and saith Heavenly Secrets are esteemed of by them scornfully called Quakers and saith that Muggletons Heavenly Secrets are money worth and may be bought with a price and complains against me because some of the Believers of this Commission would not lend George Fox a Book of ten shillings price to peruse to rayl against and saith the Quakers as I call them are free with their Books to give them to any one to read but saith It is a hard thing to get any of my Books and saith that I would not let them be brought forth unto light left my Deeds Curses and Lies as he calls them should be made manifest for the Quakers saith he in the divine light power and spirit of Christ Jesus do comprehend thy spirit and scoffs at the divine light of Christ Jesus within CHAP. III. Answer THis I do know it is a vain thing to talk of any Heavenly Secrets to Quakers neither do the Quakers esteem of Heavenly Secrets at all but doth altogether despise and hate them for what need the Quakers and I contest so one against the other or why should I have cursed so many Quakers as I have If the Quakers had esteemed Heavenly Secrets then should we the Witnesses of the Spirit never have been so contrary to them as now we are for the Quakers have despised Heavenly Secrets more than any other Sect whatsoever Is not this a Heavenly Secret to declare what the true God is in his Form and Nature Also this is a Heavenly Secret to shew what the Right Devil is in his Form and Nature It is a Heavenly Secret to know the place of Hell and the manner of Torment It is a Heavenly Seeret to know the Residence of Heaven and the Assurance to possess the Joys thereof to eternity It is a Heavenly Secret to know really that the Soul or Life of Christ did dye and that a mans own soul or spirit must and doth dye It is also a Heavenly Secret to know the persons and nature of Angels These all are great Heavenly Secrets with many more Heavenly Secrets declared in our Writings which dependeth upon these aforesaid but the Quakers despiseth every one of these Heavenly Secrets so that you Quakers cannot esteem of any Heavenly Secrets so that I know it is a vain thing to talk of Heavenly Secrets to Quakers For I will appeal to the greatest enemies I have of another Opinion that differs from the Quakers that if all their Writings which they have all writ ever since they were Quakers if they were brought together there is not one Heavenly Secret in them all nay if it were possible that all the Quakers speakings were bound in a bundle together I know there would not be one Heavenly Secret or true Principle to be found amongst them all they are worse as to that than Sodom was for there was one righteous person found in those two Cities and but one even righteous Lot but let our Writings and Speakings be put in a balance and yours in another and let mine enemies judge though I know people will be more angry at my Heavenly Secrets I have written than they will of those Heavenly Secrets you Quakers esteem of for those Heavenly Secrets the Quakers do esteem of they are so groundless that a man can discern no heavenliness in them at all And as for those Books my disciples as you call them would not lend you I will give the Fox a reason for it The reason is I did desire those that had those Books who believed the matter contained in them I would not have them lend them to Quakers for one Thomas Barnet formerly a Quaker but afterwards believed these Writings and he bought one bound together and he out of love to Thomas Taylor Quaker this said Thomas Barnet did lend him his Book thinking he might receive it as he did but this Thomas Taylor despised it and not onely so but did abuse the Book very basely by writing upon the Margent which thing procured Thomas Taylors Curse so others of our friends have lent Books to Priests and they have abused them in like manner so that I was not willing that friends should lend Books to Quakers or others onely The Quakers Neck broken I was alwayes free they should be lent to Quakers or others but it was a Book all bound together where the Heavenly Secrets are declared that you sent your friend to borrow and because the Believers would not lend them you upbraid me as if I were unwilling my Curses and Lies as you call them should be brought to light But if you Quakers would have made my Curses and Lies as you call them manifest and that you Quakers could comprehend me you should have bought one of them and have made it your Church-Bible and taken your Text out
will say it was in heaven To this I say that Lazarus his soul was in the grave where his body was his soul was dead else Christ did not raise him from the dead if his soul were not dead Minde if his soul departed out of his body as most people imagine and went to Heaven or hell then I say Christ would have called to Heaven for his soul to come down and go into the body again if it should be so then Christ did not raise the dead but brought two friends together that were separated one from the other This is the Quakers Faith and many others besides but the Faith of Gods Elect doth stedfastly believe that Lazarus his soul was dead and there in the grave and that by the power of Christs words and groans they entred in to that dead soul in the grave and made it quick and live again Here you see Fox that the soul of Adam the first man did die And also you may see that the soul of Christ did die and that Lazarus his soul was dead and all mens souls else since that are dead because they were mortal This the Scriptures prove as much or more than any one thing whatsoever and this is my knowledge of Scripture And are you George Fox convinced yet that your soul must die For die you must even two deaths a death mortal and a death eternal for you that count it a Lie to say the soul is mortal and must die you shall taste of two deaths but I shall taste but of one this I know to be true and you shall finde my words to be true also 5. Muggleton Thou sayest thou accusest no man of sin yet saith Fox in a few lines after thou accusest the Quakers of sin and blasphemy CHAP. VII ANSWER YOu told a Lie to say I accuse the Quakers of sin and blasphemy a few lines after for I do accuse the Quakers of sin and blasphemy against the Holy Ghost a few lines before I said I accuse no man of sin but because you began to write against me backwards you began at the last side of my Book and so answered this backward I shall bear with that Lie and look upon it as no hainous crime in you but if you had found such a mistake in me you would have triumphed as if it had been the greatest sin in me to tell such a Lie you would have thought it worse than the sin against the Holy Ghost which you Quakers do commit But who ever reads that Book may see that I have said nothing but truth in what I have written of the Quakers 6. Page 5. Fox saith The Scriptures speak of the wicked one and wicked men but where saith he doth the Scriptures speak of a right devil CHAP. VIII ANSWER DOth the Scriptures speak of a wrong Devil there must needs be either a right devil or a wrong devil else the Scriptures would never have spoken so much of a devil if there had been no devil at all For you Fox neither declares what the right devil is nor what the wrong devil is so that no man can tell where nor what the devil is It seems Fox the Quaker thinks it a hard thing to prove by the Scriptures a right devil Do you not read in Scripture that Cain is called a devil who was a murderer and a liar from the beginning and the devil was those Pharisees that disputed with Christ the devil was their father Christ said And was not Cain their father a right devil Is there any sin committed but it is the devil commits it As John saith He that committeth sin is of the devil and if he that commits sin be of the devil then his father that begat him must needs be a right devil Was not Judas that betrayed his Lord was not he a right devil Sure if he had not been a right devil he would never have done that wickedness And you George Fox had not you been a right devil you would never have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit that sent me as you have but you being ignorant who was your father even Cain you know not what your self is and that you are the son of a right devil and so in process of time you your self are become a right devil and you shall be recorded so by the Commission of the Spirit of Truth to the worlds end 7. Page 7. Fox saith The Quakers do not deny Christs flesh and bones who remain in the Heavens until the Restitution of all things CHAP. IX ANSWER HEre people may see the confusion of the Quakers Principles who say Christ is in them and yet Fox saith the Quakers own the flesh of Christ that suffered Here Fox saith The Quakers doth not deny Christs flesh and bones who remain in the Heavens until the restitution of all things But this the Reader may mind that the Quakers do not believe that Christs flesh and bone is now in the Heavens though Fox doth not deny it because the Scriptures are so full to prove the same For if the Quakers should really believe it their Principle of Christ within them would quickly fail and vanish for I never knew none that would avouch that Christs flesh and bone was in them neither wil any of the Quakers avouch that they do believe Christ to be a person now in Heaven above the stars in that same flesh and bone he suffered death in if they should do so how then would all the Quakers do to get Christ within them there could but one Quaker get Christ in him at a time and when Christ comes out of one he must go into another But the Quakers Christ is nothing else but an Allegory and so Fox shews in his following words For saith he we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone so that flesh and bone of Christ that was reserved in the Heavens which Fox doth not deny in the words before but in the latter words the Quakers flesh and bones are become Christs flesh and bone so that Christ hath no flesh and bone of his own but what flesh and bone Christ hath of the Quakers But I shall speak of this more in another page but the Reader may a little see Fox his Allegorical Juggle 8. Page 6. Fox calls me a lying spirit because I cursed some Quakers for the sin against the Holy Ghost and saith Christ said Bless and curse not who is the Chief Judge CHAP. X. ANSWER I Do acknowledge that Christ is Chief Judge both of quick and dead but Christ hath chosen me to be chief Judge in his stead here upon earth in spiritual matters and I had my Authority from Christ the onely God without me and not from Christ within me and by this Authority from Christ without me who is now in Heaven above the stars in that same flesh and bone he suffered death in onely that flesh and bone is spiritualized and glorified have I power over you Quakers