Emendations of Passages in my Book called Immediate Revelation not ceased First Printed in the Year 1668. and Re-printed with an Appendix in the Year 1676. I. AS Concerning the Term Immediate Revelation in the Title Page of that Book at which some are offended and which some misconstrue to a wrong sense never intended by me as if thereby I did signify such a Revelation as did give us the Doctrinal knowledge and Faith of Christian Religion and Principles thereof without the Holy Scriptures or other outward means of Instruction to obviate this offence and mistake I recommend to the Reader what I have said from pag. 38. to pag. 42. of that Book Where I distinguish of means Intermitting and Transmitting and show that it is the Intermitting means that hinder the Revelation to be Immediate but not the Transmitting and the same distinction I use in my Book called Divine Immediate Revelation Printed in the Year 1684. But in other words as discontinued and continued Moreover how far I did own the Holy Scriptures to be a necessary means to give us the true Knowledge and Faith of Christian Doctrines and Principles I refer the Reader to my Book Divine Immediate Revelation p. 〈◊〉 Where I say And if we except these Doctrines and Heads of General Religion common to us with the Gentiles which are revealed both to them and us without Scripture of all which notwithstanding the Scripture doth abundantly testify all other Doctrines and Heads of the Christian Religion which is a special Religion more perfect and excellent than the General and perfecting the said General Religion in true Christians are made known to us by the Scripture-means the Holy Spirit inwardly inlightning and inspiring us that we may understand the Doctrines declared in the Scripture and may savingly apply them with true and sincere Faith to the salvation of our Souls And here Note that in the words above cited I did distinguish twelve years ago betwixt Gentile Religion and Christian Religion tho some call this a New Doctrine in me so to dislinguish And seeing the word Immediate Revelation is no Scripture Term tho Revelation is and that it is not well understood by many I can freely consent that the word Immediate be not pressed or imposed on any But I do constantly assert as I have formerly asserted that the inward sensible Communications and Enjoyments of God and Christ that the Saints have frequent Experience of are not only beyond all Demonstration of words but are oft received without all present use of words in a deep inward silence of the Soul II. That I blame them who say that the Scriptures are a filled up Canon and the only Rule of Faith and Obedience in all things and no more Scriptures or Writings to be given forth from the Spirit of the Lord. And pag. 4. That I said tho no NEW ESSENTIALS ARE to be added yet a New and fuller and clearer Testimony may be added concerning the same old essentials Here Note the words may be added as importing the possibility of such a thing But whether God shall be pleased to add to the Books of the Holy Scripture other Books of the same Authority in any time to come before the End of the World I Judge it is not safe for me to determine either in the Affirmative or Negative but that it is possible he may do it ought not to be questioned of But that any Mens Writings beside that of the Prophets and Apostles are of equal Authority with the Scriptures ought not to be granted and that all Doctrines of Men however so much Illuminated ought to be subjected to the Rule test and touchstone of the Holy Scripture and tryed by the same I do assert as formerly I have done still leaving Room to the Spirit to give particular Guidance to the Souls of the Faithful with respect to their inward State and directing them in Particular Cases and Affairs as to things in themselves Lawful and not forbidden nor Commanded in General by any positive Precept and that I said no New Essentials are to be added is sufficient Proof that I held the Scripture did contain all the Essential Doctrines of Christianity III. As to my blaming them who deny that there is an infallible way whereby to discern the true Ministers and Members of Christs Church from the false To this I say tho such a discerning of Spirits was given at times to the Prophets and Apostles and others extraordinarily endued whereby to know Mens inward States without regard had to their Fruits yet the general way that Christ has given us whereby to know Men is by their Fruits of words and works whether Good or Evil. And whatever inward sense or discerning any may pretend to have of another Mans Spirit being bad yet we find no warrant from Scripture to receive an Accusation against any far less a positive Judgment without plain evidence of matter of Fact against them by credible Witnesses 1 Tim. 5. 19. For if such a thing be given way to in any Society that Men shall be Judged to be of a wrong Spirit only by the pretended discerning of Spirits that some may claim without any real Proof or Evidence of words or works that are really evil the most innocent Men may happen to be Condemned and the most guilty justified And even to know Men by their Fruits is a gift of the Spirit and proceedeth from a true Spiritual discerning that is given Universally in some measure to all the Faithful tho they have not always such due use of it but they may be and are at times mistaken IV. This Seed groweth up into a perfect substantial Birth which is Christ formed within the Body of Christ his Flesh and Blood which cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life unto Man which eateth it and feedeth upon it and it is called the Body and Flesh and Blood of Christ because his Eternal Life and Spirit dwelleth in it immediately Here Note by this perfect substantial Birth I did not mean as I now do not any substance newly produced even as in the Generation of natural things as Plants and Animals no new substance is produced but only a vital Union of substantial Principles formerly existing so by Christ formed within I understood and do still understand that a measure of the pure Life of Christ cometh to be United to the Soul and the Soul to it after the Soul is duly purified and prepared for such an Union by which Union that Soul becometh a Member of Christ even as the Hand is a Member of a Man's Body by its having the Life of the Body in some measure united to it and by Virtue of that Union actuating that Member and making it living and sensible And whereas I did call that inward substantial Birth the Flesh and Blood of Christ I did so call it only by a Metaphor or Allegory for with such Metaphors Allegories and Figurative Speeches the Scripture aboundeth in treating
of the Spiritual and Divine Refreshments and Enjoyments of the Saints as when they are called Bread Wine Milk Honey Marrow and Fatness and a Feast of fat things But this Allegorical and Figurative sense of Christs Flesh and Blood ought not to divert our minds not take off our Faith from Christs Flesh without us that he gave to be broken for us nor from his Blood that he gave to be shed for us without us for the Remission of our Sins nor was it ever so intended by me Now that to believe in Christ as he gave his Body of Flesh outwardly to be broken for us and his Blood outwardly to be shed for the Remission of our Sins is the Eating of his Flesh and drinking of his Blood as well as the inward Enjoyment of his Life in us is clear from John 6. 29 35 40 47 48. According to which Augustin said concerning Eating Christs Flesh and drinking his Blood Quid paras dentem ventrem crede Manducasti i. e. VVhy preparest thou Teeth and Belly believe and thou hast Eat Christs Flesh and drunk his Blood V. Pag. 36. For we do freely acknowledge that such is our State and Condition as we are capable to run out and both think speak write and do things that are not only not infallible but may be wrong and false And pag. 37. So that this infallibility as it relates unto the Seed Birth and Spirit of God is absolute but as it relates to us is limited and conditional and is rather a possibility of not being deceived than an impossibility of being deceived Here Note seeing I have plainly acknowledged that not only I but we to wit any of us all may err why should I or any of us be ashamed or unwilling to own and correct any unsound or unjustifiable words that may have dropt from our Mouths or Pens by humane weakness or inadvertency or why should any be upbraided and reviled as Apostates and Changelings for so doing Also Note that the Calumny of such is sufficiently repelled who have falsely charged me as holding my self or others of the People called Quakers to be infallible which I never did tho I Praise God I am no Sceptick in Religion But do believe that both all sincere Christians and I have an infallible Faith and Perswasion touching the Fundamental and Essential Doctrines of Christianity yet in other things of an Inferior Nature I grant I not only may have erred but that I have erred and I desire to bless God that hath given me a Heart willing both to see and Acknowledge my Errors and to retract and amend them VI. Pag. 54. And tho I cite Scriptures and make use of them in arguing this Point yet I can truly say I have not my knowledge from them Here Note I say from them as being the efficient cause but I did not deny that I had my knowledge by them Instrumentally to wit the Doctrinal Knowledge and Faith I had of the Gospel Truths and Principles of Christianity for that is abundantly acknowledged in many places of my Book of Immediate Revelation as I have above mentioned therefore what I then held I still hold that I do own and acknowledge the Doctrinal Knowledge and Faith of the Principles of Christianity Principally to the Spirits inward Teachings and to the Holy Scriptures and other outward means of Instruction Instrumentally VII Pag. 57. Jesus Christ himself who spoke to them in the days of his Flesh Face to Face did his words reveal him or his Father unto them c. Here Note I show how there is need of Internal Revelation to give the Knowledge of Christ as he came in the Flesh and therefore it appeareth I did then believe as well as now I do believe that the Knowledge of Christ as he came in the Flesh was needful to salvation even to all Mens salvation who ever shall be saved either express or implicite else why should I plead that it was needful to be revealed by the Spirit VIII Pag. 60. Seeing the Knowledge of Christ after the Flesh was not sufficient not to be rested in but they were to look for a better c. Here Note that as it will appear from the foregoing and following words in that Book by the Knowledge of Christ after the Flesh I did not mean the Knowledge of him as he came in the Flesh but that knowledge that the Disciples and Apostles had of him by their outward sight and hearing of him or by what they could know of him by the meer Actings of the mind without Internal Divine Illumination But the true saving knowledge of him is a Spiritual Knowledge of him as he came in the Flesh and dyed for us so as by the Inward Revelation of the Spirit of God the mystery of his Death and Sufferings is opened to us and the end and intent thereof with the great Blessings and Benefits we receive by him IX Pag. 63. The Glorious Gospel of Christ is not the words the best of Scripture words Here Note that whereas I say the Glorious Gospel of Christ is not the Words even the best of Scripture Words It appeareth sufficiently from what I have at large discoursed on that Head in that Book of Immediate Revelation from pag. 55. to 71. My sense was that the words of Scripture are not Principally and chiefly the Gospel are not the Principal thing of the Gospel which I expressly mention pag. 69. And I call the Light of Christ shining in the hearts of the Faithful The Principal thing that giveth the true Knowledge of God which if Mens minds were come to and begot into it their Reading in the Scriptures and other Exercises in the leadings of this would be useful and serviceable in their place But as the Scripture words without the inward Life Spirit Light and Grace is not the Gospel so nor is the Spirit and Light barely and abstractly considered without the Words and Doctrine the Gospel In the full and adequate sense of the VVord Gospel which signifieth glad tydings and cannot be conceived without some form of Words and Propositions that consist of words inwardly conceived and cannot be outwardly Preached without some form of words outwardly expressed And certainly when Paul said Rom. 1. 16. That the Gospel was the Power of God unto salvation To every one that believeth he did not think that the Gospel was a form of words without the Power of God inwardly revealed for he said to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 1. 5. For our Gospel came not only unto you in word only but in Power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance and 1 Cor. 4. 20. For the Kingdom of God is not in VVord but in Power And that by the Kingdom of God is sometimes understood in Scripture the Gospel is clear from Math. 13. Mark 4. Luk. 8. Treating of the parable of the Sower and is generally acknowledged by Christian Writers But when Men commonly call the words of
Math Mark Luke and John the Gospel while they understand it not strictly and barely nor primarily but figuratively by way of Metonimy we should not contend with them as neither in their calling the Scriptures the word of God providing they call it not the only word of God as in opposition to any internal word and teaching of God in Mens hearts And certainly it has been not only an unprofitable but an hurtful and groundless Contention that many called Quakers have raised in denying that the Scriptures should be called the word of God or so much as the written word Clamouring unjustly where do ye read in Scripture of a VVritten word and to call the Scripture words which are many the word say they is a Lie or Nonsense But in Answere we read expressly that a sentence out of one of the Psalms of David recited by our Saviour John 15. 25. They hated me without a cause is called by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The written word nor is it a Lye to call many words the word as it is not a Lye to call many Letters the Letter as the Scripture calleth it and so high did this Groundless contention arise betwixt some called Quakers and other professions that they made this one of the Causes why they did separate from them because they called the Scriptures the word of God and Matthew Mark Luke and John the Gospel whereas themselves commonly call the Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John the Acts with the other following Books and Epistles of the Apostles the New Testament For with such Figurative Speeches the Scripture aboundeth and to charge them to be a Lye or Nonsense is to charge a Lye or Nonsense upon Christ and the Holy Spirit But in a late Book Stiled the Quakers cleared c. By B. Coole given out by approbation of the second days Meeting of them called Quakers at Grace-Church-street they say as they viz. the Scriptures declare the mind of God with respect to us and are his Commands to us they may in that respect be called the word or Command of God and so the Quakers own and esteem them And so indeed do all other Professions in Christendom and not otherwise X. Pag. 64. We are not those Prophets Here Note it is a Typographical Error which should be Corrected thus we are not that Prophet And not only in this but in many or most of my former Books diverse Typographical Errors are to be found which yet are obvious enough to the judicious and unprejudiced Reader to be such as indeed are to be found in most Books and it is very unfairly done by my late Adversaries to charge me with such Typographical Errors as if they were mine as on the other hand to make that a Typographical Error in some of their own Books which is plainly obvious to be no such thing XI Pag. 74. Now the Bowels of the Fathers love stirred in Compassion to the work of his hands that of the pure Creation in Man which tho shut up in Death yet it remained and perished not as to its being it did not become a nothing but remained a being and this is the lost which God sent his Son into the World to seek and to save not to seek and to save the Old Adam that Birth of the Serpents begetting but to destroy it For it is not capable of Gods salvation Here Note that I said that which Christ came to save is the work of Gods hands that of the pure Creation in Man to wit the Soul of Man that is a Created being and that I called it That of the pure Creation I did not mean that it had not been defiled by Sin but because of its great worth in respect of its Original and Primitive State and its near capacity to be Cleansed and Purified And this is said not only agreeable to mystick Writers that have distinguished betwixt the Soul of Man and the impurity of the Serpent or Serpentine Seed and spawn that became mingled with the Soul of Man by Transgression and have called the true Soul of Man the nucleus i. e. The kernel but that of the Serpent or of the Devil in Man since the entrance of Sin the Cortex and Putamen i. e. the Shell and Husk and the Impurity of Belial but also in agreement with the Holy Scripture that plainly distinguisheth betwixt the Wheat and the Tares the good and the bad Seed good and bad Fish the Silver and the Dross the Sheep with other clean Animals that the Scripture calleth clean and Dogs Swine and other unclean Animals And as a Sheep how much soever defiled with dirt is called a clean Animal and a Dog or Swine how much soever washed is called an unclean Animal so the distinction holds good in a Mystical and Allegorial sense betwixt the true Soul of Man that may be said to be pure Comparatively tho defiled in respect of the Serpent impurity that cleaves to it the which when separated from it the Soul is simply and compleatly pure and after this manner the People of Israel in respect of the Heathen Nations are called in Scripture the Holy Seed tho even then they had great defilements also tho the Nations before Christs passion were called unclean yet afterwards by virtue of his Passion they are forbidden to be called common or unclean as the Lord said to Peter in the Vision Acts 11. VVhat Gods hath cleansed Note cleansed call not thou common This was only comparatively And briefly all Souls of Men that belong to Gods Election and shall be saved are called in Scripture the Good Seed the VVheat c. But these that shall not be saved are called the bad Seed the Chaff Tares Dross XII Pag. 75. That which Christ came to save is that of God which proceeded from him The Seed of God in Man the Seed of Abraham whereof Abrahams old decayed Body and Sarahs Barren womb was a Type Here Note that I call the elected Souls of Men that shall be saved and belong to Gods Election the Seed of God is to be understood only in a secondary sense according to diverse places of Scripture as Isaiah 53. 10. and 59. 21. and Rom. 4. 16. and 9. 8. Mal. 2. 15. The Hebrew hath it Seed of God See the Margin and that I call it the Seed of Abraham is only by an Allegorical Allusion to the Spiritual and Divine Birth in the Faithful signified by Isaac the Son of the free Woman which Allegorical Allusions is grounded on Gal. 4. 24. But this was never intended by me to lessen or obscure that great Truth of the Gospel That the Man-Christ is the promised Seed of Abraham in the true literal sense and without all Allegory as he was Born of the Blessed Virgin In whom all Nations of the Earth are Blessed And that promised Seed of the VVoman that should bruise the Head of the Serpent XIII Pag. 87. Through him viz. Christ not at a distance
part of them Viz. Whom they had lost and from whom they were separated by their Sins as if I had taught for Doctrine that Christ came to save God and Christ that they were lost or as that God or Christ needed Salvation whereas my following words plainly show my real sense Viz. That God had not lost himself nor Christ had not lost Christ but Men had lost both by their Sins XVI Pag. 126. And therefore said Paul 1 Cor. 2. 2. I determined not to know any thing among you in you save Jesus Christ and him Crucified he Preached every where Christ Crucified that he might be Raised up in them Here Note Tho the Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can be Grammatically Translated in you yet they will not always admit of that Translation otherwise in many places the sense would be marred as 1 Cor. 15. 12. How say some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It cannot be with good sense Translated in you but among you And as to that place 1 Cor. 2. 2. and Coloss 3. 1. Both these places are to be understood of Christ as he was outwardly Crucified And but consequentially of his inward appearance and the true sense of Pauls words is this that he determined not to show himself wise or skillful among them in any other Knowledge or Wisdom but in the Knowledge of the Crucified Jesus how he is the gift of the Fathers Love to poor Sinners to save them from Sin and Wrath and what the great Benefits and Blessings are we have by him and by his Death and Sufferings Resurrection Mediation and Intercession for us in heaven which doth include his inward appearance consequentially so that I freely Acknowledge my Weakness and Shortness in understanding in training these and some other places of Scripture to prove what they did not so directly and properly prove the which undâ—â— application of both these places 1 Cor. 2. 2. and Gal. 3. 1. Both here and where-ever they may be found in any other of my Books particularly Universal Grace p. 43. I retract and correct as above-mentioned Yet I would not have any to think that I relinquish my Testimony to Christs Inward appearance in the Souls of Men and Gods Inward Revelation and Teaching by his Spirit in Men for I remain in the same Testimony as to the main and I hope so to do while I live in that and in all other parts of it relating to essentials of Christianity and Spiritual experiences and all openings of Truth at any time given to me of the Lord and delivered by me in this or any other of my Books therefore let none Judge amiss of my free and Christian Acknowledgement in this or any other mistakes that upon a further discovery I am made free to acknowledge retract and correct XVII Pag. 137. Then they would turn their Backs upon them and their Colledges would become like the Abbacies at this day Here Note The great Rudeness and Unmannerliness I saw in many of them called Collegians and other unchristian Behaviour in our Meetings and in other places drew this passage from me yet let none from this conclude that I either then was or now am against Schools of good I earning either of Divine or Natural Things but it is the Abuse and Irregularity of them that I then was and now am against And I do not think that true Divinity can either be truely taught or truely learned without God's inward teachings and illumination and that there are but too few that are so taught it is but too apparent Yet that many called University-men have had and may now have a good measure of true spiritual Knowledge I dare not be so uncharitable to deny And I cannot omit to mention the great benefit I had by reading the truly pious books of several pious English Writers and also of some of my Native Countrey before I came among the Quakers not only John Wickliffe who was an Oxford Scholar but Luther and most of the first Reformers from Popish Darkness Idolatry and Slavery were University-men and the English Martyrs Cranmer Ridley Latimer c. XVIII Page 230. The Historical Knowledge and Faith viz. of Christ's outward coming in the flesh birth life death c. is not an essential part of true Religion but an integral Here Note That by the Historical Knowledge and Faith I did understand that Knowledge and Faith that respecteth the History of Christ's Birth Life Miracles Death Resurrection Ascension c. with all the Circumstances of Times Places and Names of Persons as related by the four Evangelists which elsewhere I have called the express or explicite Knowledge and Faith which many of the Faithful never had But the Doctrine of Christ simply considered is one thing and the History or Historical Revelation of the many Circumstances of times places and persons c. Relating to that Doctrine is another thing The Knowledge and Faith of the first may be had and was had by many without the second and as the first I call express or explicite with other Christian Writers so the other may be called Implicite and is Implyed in the other the explicite I hold not to be Universally necessary to Salvation but to whom an opportunity is given to have it made known but the Implicite I hold is Universally necessary to all that shall be Eternally saved And I know not any thing to be found in all my former Writings to the contrary notwithstanding of the attempts of my ignorant Adversaries who affirm it and whom I have sufficiently Answered in diverse of my Late Books particularly that called The Anti-Christs and Sadducees detected However upon supposition that any such thing can be found in my Books I retract and renounce it And I had far rather contradict any unsound assertion ever held by me than contradict the least truth warranted by Holy Scripture Nor is it properly to be guilty of a Contradiction for a Man to correct his former Errors but my Adversaries are guilty of foul Contradictions who both together affirm and deny the same things as if two Contradictories could be both true at once which no Sober or sincere Men will allow XIX Page 20. And thus Christ according to his spiritual birth in the Saints is the Seed of the Woman for that the Saints are the Woman that bring him forth after the spirit and are his Mother as Mary brought him forth after the flesh and after the spirit also Here Note That I call Christ with respect to his being formed in the Saints according to Gal. 4. 19. The seed of the Woman It is plain from the whole Series of my discourse in that place both before and after for some Pages that I did understand it but Allegorically and by way of Allusion and never intended it that Christ was not the Seed of the Woman in the true and proper sense of the words without all Allegory as he was made of a Woman and was born of the Virgin
take it if not for a genuine and proper Explication if so be it is in the least inconsistent with the truth of the Holy Scripture to be my plain and free Retractation For what I cannot fairly defend by Explication I am freely willing to correct and amend by Retractation As concerning the late abusive Books published in Print against me as well as the former by T. E. and J. P. and others containing vile Errors in point of Doctrine gross Perversions base Slanders trifling Defences in their own and others Vindication I defer my larger Answer to them to another occasion which I hope may be e're very long if it shall please God to afford it unto me Having thus far proceeded to explain amend and retract those particular passages in my Books above-mentioned which I judged my Duty so to do from true Conviction and out of real love to Truth I conclude with my making a general Retractation which I do freely and humbly of all passages either in my Books above-mentioned or in any others of my Books not mentioned in this Treatise in so far as they are not perfectly consistent with the holy Scriptures and the divine Doctrines and Testimonies delivered in them and likewise I submit all that I have at any time given forth in Word Writ or Print by way of Doctrine in Religious matter to the Test Touch-stone and Rule of the holy Scriptures as the greatest the best and most authentick Rule and Standard of Truth compared with all Testimonies Writings and Books of Men whatsoever renouncing revoking retracting disowning and denying whatever is contained in any of my former or latter Books that doth not perfectly agree with the holy Scriptures Which general Retractation I make for this Reason because it is possible that divers other particulars in my Books which I have not observed may need correction therefore until I see other particulars to need Correction which how soon I see I am ready to correct I hope this general Retractation will suffice And if any shall inform me or show me either by Word or Writ any particular passages in any of my Books that may need further Correction and Amendment they being enabled so to do by a divine Illumination I shall receive so most kindly and as amost friendly Office and judge my self greatly obliged to be thankful unto them But if any presume or proffer to make any seem Corrections in my Books or pass Censures on passages in them without a right understanding or from a spirit of Prejudice or a scossing taunting airy Unchristian Spirit as my late Adversaries have done whereby they have shown and continue daily to show their great Ignorance and Perverseness of Spirit they have their Reward and they will but still more and more expose their Folly and Enmity for indeed so blind with Ignorance and Prejudice my-late Adversaries have been particularly Tho. Ellwood and John Pennington and Caleb Pusey that the soundest Passages for most part in my Booke in relation to Doctrine they have blamed and censured though geâ—â—â—â—y such as most need Correction they have past without the least censure However as my great Comfort is that both they and I shall stand e're long before the Supream Judge of the whole Earth to whom I have committed my Righteous Cause and I do still commit it and make my humble Appeal to him acknowledging my many sinful defects and imperfections for which I humbly beg pardon of God for Jesus Christ's sake and for all my other Sins and hope for it and have in measure the sense and Faith of it being fully perswaded in my Conscience both by the divine Testimony of the Holy Scriptures without me and the divine Testimony of the Holy Spirit within me and also by the concurrent Testimony of all true Christians in all Ages of the truth of that doctrine God has raised me up to contend for which three are as a threefold Cord that cannot be broke that whatever my Imperfections are in managing this great Controversie my Cause is Just and my Heart is sincere before him so it is a great comfort to me that many throughout these Nations far and near have a good understanding of the present Case and though my Adversaries seek to overwhelm me with a thick Cloud of Infamy grounded on Falshoods and Calumnies yet the Truth and Integrity of my Testimony will overcome it all and will shine forth and be manifest and the Generation to come of the Posterity of many of that People who now account me their Enemy and pour out Curses and Lying Prophesies against me will regard my Testimony and it will be a good savour unto them This trust and hope I have in my gracious God whose I am and whom I serve and it is a considerable advantage unto me that some of my greatest Adversaries have acknowledged they have nothing against my Morals nor Doctrine and it is come under the Observation of many that hear them in their Meetings how admirably they are changed of late to preach the very same Doctrines which formerly they have so fiercely opposed in all that were not of their way and for which they have Excommunicated me but they cannot be judged sincere until they plainly Retract their former Errors And finally with a free and willing mind I make a general Retractation of all the hard Names and uncharitable Censures I have at any time either by Word or Writ past on any differing from me in point of Judgment that have not deserved them humbly desiring their Forgiveness wherein I have in that case justly offended them And though I do with deep regrat acknowledge and blame my too great rashness in giving hard Names and passing uncharitable Censures on divers with whom I have differed in point of judgment being engaged in the heat of Controversie and divers times provoked by the hard Names and uncharitable Censures that some of my Opponents have given me which provocation I should not have given way to but rather according to what the Scripture requireth to have sought in meekness to instruct them that opposed themselves if God peradventure would give them Repentance yet I was never so uncharitable as to think or judge that few or none were truly Pious or of a true Christian Spirit or that did belong to the true Church of Christ but such as were of the same outward Profession with me for the Contrary I have several times signified in Print and as I have been charitable in my Judgment with respect to others with whom I have distered in Controversal points when I did think they held the Head and built on Christ the true Foundation though some part of what they built was but Hay Wood and Stubble so it is my resolution by divine assistance to be yet more charitable in judgment concerning others that differ from me in the lesser matters when they agree with me in the greater and whose manner of Life and Conversation is suitable to their Christian Profession But as for such who deny the Lord that bought them and hold such Antichristian Principles as oppugne the great Fundamentals of the Christian Religion as I have sufficiently proved my late Adversaries to have done the greatest and best Charity that I can extend unto them is to deal roundly and plainly with them and give them and their vile Errors such sit and proper Names as they deserve and as the Scripture giveth to such who were guilty of such vile Errors in former times But the nasty and unclean Terms and Words worse than Billingsgate that some called Teachers among the Quakers and some of which are my present Adversaries have given to their Opponents I account it my mercy that I never had the faculty of them and yet so impudent have these my late Adversaries been to accuse me for giving hard Words to such unto whom they have given an hundredfold much harder and I have this with other great advantages over them that I have freely and willingly Retracted them as well as other things that I saw cause and occasion for which I find not that any of them in the least have done and are not like to do until their Crown of Pride come down and they see themselves to be fallible men having Infirmities and Defects like other Men which I pray God they may see and find Mercy to Repent of all their Errors and Evils before it be too late and may have a. Heart given them of God if not to follow me as an Example yet to follow the Example of other great Penitents and obey the Command of God that requireth every Man both to confess and forsake his Sins for he that hideth his Sins will not prosper but if we confess our Sins he is just and faithful to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness G. K. THE END Pref. Imm. Rev. Pres Imm. Rev. Pag. 12. lin 2. 2d Edit pag. 22.
application of these places of Scriptue to the inward Principle as to what it did or doth discover and reveal universally in men and particularly in such of the Gentiles to whom the Gospel was not outwardly preached for upon a more diligent search into the holy Scripture I find that in all places in the New Testament where the word Gospel is used it signifieth the Doctrine of salvation by the promised Messiah that was outwardly to come and did come in the true Nature of Man together with the spiritual blessings that men were to receive by him of which the inward principle of God's Grace Light and Spirit within both in general to all and in special to believers in a more excellent degree and manner of Operation and Influence is but a part Yet I confine not the Gospel even in this sense to outward preaching by the Ministry of Men or Books for it was preached to Adam and Eve after the Fall by God himself and so was it to Abraham and Job and so it is probable it has been to divers even to some Gentiles singularly favoured without the Ministry of Men though in God's ordinary way it is preached by the Ministry of Men God himself by his Spirit and divine Influence inwardly accompanying the same to work the true Faith of it in the Hearers Therefore whatever Doctrine Men preach or have at any time preached the great Subject whereof is not the promised Messiah to wit the Crucified Jesus as the main Foundation of all the Spiritual Blessings of Light and Grace and divine Influences of the Spirit within it is not the Gospel in the proper full and adequate Sense and Signification of it as the Scripture useth it And as concerning that place in Colos 1. 23. and other such places as I have noted above though the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is oft properly Translated in yet not always and there is no cause so to Translate it here but rather to for the Apostle Paul in that place means the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ Crucified and the Grace and gift of the Holy Spsrit given of God to Men through him as it was preached by him and the other Apostles and Evangelists in that clear and bright Dispensation of it that was then given And though it was not at that time actually preached to all Men nor to all Nations yet because it began then so to be preached and was certainly to be preached to all Nations and will be so preached before the end of the World therefore after the Prophetical Phrase of Scripture That which was to be done is said to be done VIII Pag. 43. And that it hath pleased the Lord to send his Son into the world both in the outward and inward in a weak and low appearance that he might show forth the more abundant glory in that which was so low and weak in appearance to prevail over the greatest power that stood in his way for thus doth the Seed of the woman bruise the Serpents head Here Note That I did not place our Salvation wholly upon Christ's inward appearance but upon God his sending him both in the outward and inward to bruise the Serpents head And that I did not understand that the bringing Men simply to the inward Principle so as only to believe in the Light Word or Spirit within was the bringing them to the Christian Faith but that it was a proper means by way of preparation and introduction in order to the gathering of People into the true Faith of Christ which is the whole aim and scope of my fifth Argument in that Book from P. 88. to 94. where note these words p. 92. And this will bring People naturally to own the Scriptures and things therein declared to own Moses and the Prophets to own the Dispensation of God to the Jews in that day and to own Christ in the Flesh his miraculous Birth his Doctrine Miracles Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension together with the wonderful end and design of God therein c. And this Method I very well approve of still for as the knowledge of Christ the Word Incarnate or made Flesh presupposeth some knowledge of God and of his Word so to preach to People that are ignorant of God and of his Divine Perfections that there is a God and what his Divine Perfections are is very proper and necessary that they may be brought into some true knowledge of him which they cannot be brought into without some Divine Illumination of the inward Principle the Internal Word and Light But all this is an introduction and preparation to dispose the Souls and Hearts of Men to receive the Christian Faith and Religion and is not the Explicite Christian Faith it self no more than the Porch that leads into the House is the House though it may be said to be a part of it as in the definition of a Man that he is a living Creature or Animal is not his true definition but the Genus of it which is but a part at most but when the difference is superadded that he is a Rational or Intellectual Living Creature that is his true definition And so the true definition of a true Christian and sincere Believer in Christ is he who not only believes that there is a God and that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God c. but that the Word was made Flesh and that the Son of God by Eternal Generation became the Son of Man by a miraculous Generation in time and so is both God and Man and yet not two Sons of God but one not two Christs but one This is the true Christian Explicite Faith like a Tree spreading forth its boughs and branches together with the other great Truths of the Christian Doctrine delivered in the Holy Scriptures with rich and precious Fruit to which the implicit Faith in some Virtuous Gentiles may be compared to that same Tree when it was in the Seed or but a little sprung up into the Bud or Blade as Christ compared the Kingdom of God to wit the Evangelical Dispensation Mark 4. 26 27 28 29. Compare this with what is above quoted out of that Book p. 6. § 3. of this Section and with what is said p. 61 of that Book VIII P 63. Which peice of silver betokeneth the divine principle c. Luke 15. 8. Here Note This undue Application is Retracted and Corrected above in the first Sect. § 13. And in fine although I firmly remain in my Faith and Persuasion of the Truth of that great Principle of the Universal Love and Grace of God making Salvation possible to all Men and that in order thereunto Christ hath Inlightened every Man that cometh into the World which universal Illumination is an universal Benefit that all Men have by his dying for them as is largely urged by me particularly from p. 31 to 34. in that Book and in divers other places and
that it was my principal Aim and Design in that Book to prove and demonstrate the Truth of that Principle which I am well satisfied as to the main I have truly done by divers effectual and solid Arguments and therefore I adhere to what I have delivered in that Book as to the main yet I freely acknowledge that divers of the Arguments I have used to prove the Truth of that Principle are not so proper and demonstrative nor are several places of Scripture from which I argued so duly applyed to that effect as Rom. 10. 7 8 9 10. and the several Parables brought in Arg. 10. from p. 60. to 65. Titus 2. 11 12. 1 Cor. 12. 7. Therefore the undue Application of these places of Scripture or any others that can be found in my Book to that effect I freely Retract which though they necessarily respect the inward Principle of God's Grace Word Spirit Light c. yet these places are not to be understood only and alone of that but respect that bright Gospel Dispensation that had then appeared in the World by the Apostles preaching which was accompanied with new superadded Illuminations in the Souls and Hearts of Believers tho' all coming from one Fountain one God one Christ and one Spirit as much differing from and as much excelling and surmounting any inward Illumination given to all that part of Mankind where the Apostles Doctrine concerning Christ Crucified and Raised again did not come as the Light of the Sun after he is risen excells that which shineth in the Night time which is a Scripture Comparison that compareth the state that the Gentiles generally were in before God visited them by the Preaching of the Gospel in the Ministry of the Apostles and their Successors to the Night but the State of the Believing Gentiles who had received the Holy Ghost by their Ministry to the Day which very Distinction I had noticed in the stating of the Question p. 8. of that Book And that bright Dispensation of the Gospel that did visit the World by means of the Apostles Ministry and their true Successors was like the rising of the Sun that may be said to be truly Universal and the Grace of God that bringing Salvation did appear unto all as the Sun is truly said to rise unto all and to bring day unto all tho not at one and the same time and Christs Prophecy which then began to be fulfilled and was in great part fulfilled in the very time of the Apostles must be fully and compleatly fulfilled that the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be Preached in all the VVorld which is to say not the Inward Principle only and alone but the Doctrine of Christs Birth Death Burial Resurrection Ascension c. As is plain from his own words wherever this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be Preached this also shall be told what this VVom an hath done for she hath done it for my Burial But that many were saved by Christ through Faith in him before that time and before his coming in the Flesh as well among Gentiles as Jews Inothing question as I never did IX Pag. 72. But let the Scriptures be searched throughout and it shall never be found that any are simply Condemned or made Inexcuseable for Adam's Sin but for their own Sins in the first place and for those of their Ancestors but consequentially this is the Condemnation of the World saith Christ that Light is come into it and they Love Darkness c. But no where it is said this is their Condemnation simply that Adam Sinned Here Note That whereas in my Book above-said I did draw one of my Arguments from the Righteousness of God to prove an inward Principle of Light given to all Men in order to salvation let it be considered that I did Argue from the Righteousness of God not simply considered but with respect to a New Dispensation of God towards Mankind since the Fall for in the same p. 72. I say If God hath De novo or of a New given unto all Men a sufficient Principle of Light and Life to do his will then he may say as in Isaiah and now O Men of Judah and Inhabitants of Jerusalem what could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it Viz. In point of Righteousness he hath done all that was needful to clear his Justice c. In my way of managing this Argument tho effectual and solid in the main and as to the substance of it yet as with respect to diverse weighty Circumstances in Answering Objections against it I am dissatisfied with the method I there used from pag. 67. to pag. 72. Therefore what is there generally said by way of Answer to some Objections there made let it be as unsaid for the Coments of these 5 pages in diverse things not being clear I retract yet still adhering to the substance of the Argument there brought and to the main Answer that may suffice to all these Objections I did give p. 72. Viz. That none are simply Condemned and sem to Hell for Adams Sin for I cannot agree to that uncharitable opinion that any dying Infants Perish or suffer the Fire of Hell Fire simply and only for Adams Sin what God in strict Justice might do is one thing and what he will do is another Moreover as I have formerly in that Book affirmed p. 69. That there is a Seed of Sin Transmitted from Adam into all his Posterity in the Natural Birth which becomes the Original Sourse and Spring or Root of all Actual Transgressions wherever it Springs up in which all Sin is Committed I still affirm But to Answer all these Objections and Questions that are raised about the manner of its Conveyance and being Transmitted as it pusled the worthy Ancients Augustine and Hierome and others to Answer Pelagius and his followers who used to ask Per quas rimas by what chinks that Seed of Sin and Defilement entred Adams Posterity and is Transmitted through the most Holy Parents that ever Lived in some Degree to their Children so I confess it pusseth me especially upon the common Principle that the Soul of the Infant is instantly Created in the Mothers Womb and that other Principle that the Soul is by Carnal Generation is most absurd But what my reason cannot comprehend my Faith teacheth me to believe and so I believe that their is a Principle Seed or Leaven of Sinful Defilement conveyed generally through all Adams Posterity in the Natural Birth because I find many places of Scripture that sufficiently prove it by means whereof Infants on the Breasts and in the VVomb are not clean but defiled and therefore need the New Birth and washing of Regeneration as really as adult persons And they do all need that God be merciful to them for Christ's sake that died for all men they being a part of mankind and that the vertue efficacy and merit of Christ's Sacrifice of himself upon the Cross
that would take up too much time and be improper in this place it sufficeth at present that I retract that sense formerly given and that I declare my sense of that place of Scripture to be conconcerning his coming without us to Judgment which is I think the more general sense of Christian Expositors But let none from hence infer that I deny the inward coming of Christ in mens hearts to destroy Sin for that I own but I say it is not the true sense of that place of Scripture and whereas it is said in that place He will appear the Second time without Sin unto Salvation doth not infer being understood of his coming without us to Judgment that Sin remains in the deceased Saints until his coming But that at his coming he will not charge Sin upon them but will solemnly acquit and discharge them of all their Sins however great they have been who have sincerely repented of them and believed in him whereas upon all others he will charge their Sins upon them as is clear from Matth. 25. And though the deceased Saints need no Salvation from Sin yet from some of the effects and consequences of it they do until the Resurrection with respect to which Paul said We are saved by Hope and Hope that is seen is not Hope c. For seeing Death is the last enemy that is to be destroyed which is not destroyed but by the Resurrection from the Dead therefore the Resurrection from the Dead is that Salvation which all the Saints both living and deceased wait for which will be at Christ's coming without us And that this was my Belief when I did write that Book as well as formerly I shall for proof recite two plain passages out of that Book the first is pag. 42. where I say We believe with all our Hearts and in believing the same we rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory in all our Sufferings Tryals and Temptations even that He whom we look for will come again at the Last Day and raise us up to live with him for ever in an immortal and incorruptible Body and then shall we be saved as well from all the consequences of Sin of all kinds as now from Sin it self in the being and nature of it For then and not till then fully and in all respects shall Death be swallowed up in Victory and that full Salvation and enjoyment be attained which all true Christians do yet wait for The second passage is pag. 45. And I hope it will satisfie any sober Reader that we acknowledge the Coming of Christ in the Clouds or in the Air in a Literal Sense Pag. 65. That Christ will come in the End of the World we do faithfully believe according to that 1 Cor. 15. and other Scriptures But that his coming mentioned 1 Cor. 11. is that last coming of his is not yet proved but is a meer begging of the Question Here Note That this passage contains another plain proof that I believed that Christ would come in the End of the World in his Glorified Person without us to judge the World and I judged that the People called Quakers generally so believed until my late experience hath given me sufficient ground to think otherwise and that from the Words of divers among them plainly denying and ridiculing any such thing telling me the End of the World is already come and there is no other coming of Christ to be expected but his inward coming in the Hearts of People and into this foul Error the Printed Books of G. W. and other Leading Men among their Teachers had led them although now he and some others seem to own it that Christ will outwardly come again But if a Scrutiny were made among them one by one few among them in comparison would be found to own it in respect of many that would deny it But whereas in that passage above-quoted I had affirmed That our Lord's coming mentioned 1 Cor. 11. 26. is that last coming of his is not yet proved but is a meer begging of the Question This whole Passage I fully and freely retract with all the other passages either in this Book or in my Book called Truth Defended where I have denyed his coming mentioned 1 Cor. 11. 26. to be his outward coming or in any other of my Books where any such like passage is to be found I fully and freely Retract them all And on the Contrary I do freely and with great Satisfaction declare That I am sufficiently convinced and perswaded in my Conscience that the Coming of the Lord mentioned 1 Cor. 11 is His Last Coming which is to be without us which will be accompanyed with his more abundant inward coming and Revelation in us As also whatever is said in this Book called the Rector Corrected concerning the Command that our Lord gave to his Apostles Matth. 28. 19. That it was not Water-Baptism there commanded I fully and freely Retract that also and all the like passages either in Truth Defended or in any of my other Books whatsoever conconcerning the sense of that place of Scripture Matth. 28. 19. And on the contrary I do declare that I am fully and clearly perswaded in my Conscience that Water-Baptism was there commanded by Christ And here I think fit to Transcribe what I have already said in my late Book called The Antichrists and Sadduces detected c. to this effect pag. 34 35. I am not ashamed to own my general Mistakes I have been under concerning divers places of Scripture particularly relative to Water-Baptism and the Supper as Matth. 28. 19. and 1 Cor. 11. 26. And I am so far from being ashamed to publish this Confession that I have great Peace and Joy in it Amd I also declare that I am justly ashamed that I have been so long deceived and byassed with such weak Arguments as both they called Friends and I have used being too much influenced and byassed by their pretended Authority to perswade and draw away the Minds of People from the true sense of these places of Scripture and the Arguments that we have used against these two things are so weak that they have the some force against the Bible it self and all Books and outward Testimonies and outward Acts of Worship and therefore are void in themselves for seeing they have no force against the latter they have as little against the former However I continue in my faithful Testimony against the abuse of these things and the dead empty and formal may that too many practise them and except the Lord be found to bless and accompany them who use them with his Power and Spirit they are but as empty Shadows and Shells but who find the Lord to bless them with his Presence I judge them not It is not proper for me in this place to give any large account of the Reasons why I am otherwise minded as to the Sense of those two places of Scripture Matth. 28. 19.
be applied unto them which was figured by the Offering under the Law that was to be offered for every male child and by circumcision of every male child that sufficed also for the Female which was implied under the male SECTION III. Containing divers Explanations and Emendations of Passages in my Book called The Rector Corrected Printed at London 1680. And in my Book called Truth Defended Printed at London 1682. BY Christ his giving his Flesh for the Life of the World we understand both the offering up of his Flesh as his dying for us upon the Cross and also his giving us his Flesh to eat and his Blood to drink for even as the Priests under the Law were to eat of the Sacrifice and to have the Blood sprinkled upon them so Believers under the Gospel are to eat the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood And pag. 26. Although the Saints do not eat the visible Flesh of Christ to wit by the Bodily Mouth and drink his visible Blood yet they partake of the benefit and virtue of both his Flesh and his Blood and the substance of both doth remain which is his glorified Body in Heaven and the virtue of which doth really extend unto the Saints both in Heaven and on Earth by which they are spiritually refreshed and nourished as with Meat and Drink and thus we do not divide Christ c. Here note that as by divers other Quotations out of my Books it hath been proved that I did not place all our Salvation upon the Light within excluding the Man Christ without and his Flesh and Blood that was outward and visible but that I did lay a great weight upon it so the like appears by this present quotation And whereas pag. 25. it is said and indeed it is very plain by the words of Christ that by his Flesh and Blood John 6. 50 51. he meaneth Only Spirit and Life The word said he that I speak unto you are Spirit and Life it is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing Whether the Word only being there is a Typographical Error or was an oversight in me for want of due consideration I hold it needful to retract and correct it and accordingly I so do and that it was at most an oversight in me for want of due consideration and that by it I did not intend that the Faithful did not partake of the unspeakable benefit of the Flesh of Christ that was outwardly Crucified and of his Blood that was outwardly shed and that the virtue of it did not extend unto them for that is above plainly affirmed but my sense was they were not to eat it with the bodily Mouth but by Faith so as to have the virtue of it conveyed unto them by a living Faith in him which virtue may be said to be Spirit and Life and the Words that he spake had a spiritual sense and signification and not such as the carnal Capernaumites did conceive Pag. 29. So we see he viz Hilarius findeth fault with the word Humane as well as G. F. Here Note That my bringing the words of Hilarius to excuse G. F. was not that I did not believe that Christ had the true nature of Man consisting of a true reasonable created Soul and a true Body for that I did always believe and that he did partake of Mary's Substance for so did also Hilarius believe But seeing Christ had a miraculous Conception and Birth above all other Men therefore I did judge that G. F. and some others with him meant only by blaming the word humane and humanity humane Nature as applicable to Christ that his Manhood Nature was more excellent than that of other men But I never thought that any of them denyed him as Man to be a Creature or to have been produc'd by Generation of and from the Properties of Man in Mary as some of them have But of late divers of the chief Teachers among the People called Quakers have used the terms Humanity and Humane with reference to Christ But what they understand by it is not easie to determine for if Christ's Humanity be not a Creature or created what is it seeing it cannot be the Godhead and T. Ellwood hath argued in his late Book That if Christ be a Creature he is not God But all who have the sound Faith believe that Christ as a Man is a Creature or created Being but as he is the Eternal Word he is God and not a Creature But this they think a contradiction not owning that Christ hath a twofold Nature essential to him the one uncreated as God the other created as Man and yet but one Christ therefore they have said That Man or outward Person that suffered at Jerusalem is not properly the Son of God So W. Penn expresly faith in his Serious Apology pag. 146. Pag. 37. Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many and unto them which look for him he shall appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation Heb. 9. 28. Whether these Words may not very safely be understood and are not really meant of Christ's appearing in the Heart to destroy Sin I desire the Reader to consider Here Note The occasion of my giving this Sense to these Words in Heb. 9. 28. was in defence of G. Whitehead who had before that given the same sense to them and which Thomas Wilson whom I answered had blamed as a false Interpretation But at that time I knew not in the least that G. Whitehead had put that sense on that place in prejudice to Christ's coming without us to judge the World in his glorified Body and Person as since I have found for not only did he deny this place to be meant of his Coming without us to Judgment but any other places that his Opponents brought to prove his outward coming to Judgment he turned them all to his inward coming as that in 1 Thes 4. 15. and that in Matth. 16. 27. and brought that in John 14. to prove that Christ was not to come in Person or in a Personal Existence to judge the World Yet a little while and the World shall see me no more This positive unbelief of theirs which I had but of late discovered by a more narrow search into their Books hath awakened me I confess better to consider things that both I and they had formerly written and upon better consideration I declare I am convinced that the true sense of these words above-mentioned is of his outward coming the second time in his glorified Body to judge the World and it is called his Second Coming as denoting his former coming which was in his state of Humilation but his Second Coming shall be in a state of Glorification I shall not enlarge to give my Reasons at present why I so understand that place of his coming without us nor to answer largely the Reasons I gave in that Book that it was to be understood of his inward coming for