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A47751
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Primitive heresie revived in the faith and practice of the people called Quakers wherein is shewn in seven particulars that the principal and most characteristick errors of the Quakers were broached and condemned in the days of the Apostles and the first 150 years after Christ : to which is added a friendly expostulation with William Penn upon account of his Primitive Christianity lately published / by the author of The snake in the grass.
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Leslie, Charles, 1650-1722.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing L1140; ESTC R26153
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27,838
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41
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says he as they call it is carnal And their Communion is carnal a little Bread and Wine Which is the Table of Devils and Cup of Devils which is in the Generation of Serpents in this Great City Sodom and Gomorrah so dust is the Serpents meat c. And p. 39. You say that Matthew Mark Luke and John is the Gospel which is carnal You say that sprinkling Infants is the Baptism which Baptizeth them into the faith and so into the Church which is carnal And you tell People of a Sacrament bringing them to Eat a little Bread and Wine and say that this is a Communion of Saints which is carnal and all this feeds the Carnal Mind c. And he Blasphemously says in his Title Page that all this was Written from the mouth of the Lord. Edward Burrough p. 190. of his Works Printed 1672. says Their Doctrines are of the devil who say sprinkling Infants with water is Baptism into the faith of Christ this is the doctrine of the devil And p. 191. These have filled the world with damnable Heresies as holding forth That sprinkling Infants with water is Baptism into the faith of Christ c. These are damnable Heresies even to the denying the Lord that bought them And p. 644. That it is not lawful for the Saints of God to join themselves to your Ordinances This Hideous Blasphemy and Outrage against the Divine Institutions of our Lord I hope will appear to be such to the well-disposed among the Quakers who will be at the pains to Read my Discourse of Water-Baptism It seems to have had some Effects already even with George Whitehead himself For in his Answer to The Snake whereto he adds a chapter upon that Discourse of Baptism he seems to come off that former Rigor of the Quakers and says p. 114. That as for those who are More conscientiously tender in the observation thereof we are says he the more tender to these so as not to censure or condemn them meerly for Practising that which they believe is their duty either in breaking of Bread or Water-baptism So that by this he yields the Practice of the Sacraments to be at least Lawful contrary to Burrough Fox and the Primitive Quakers for if it were not Lawful I suppose he would not have that Tenderness for the Observation thereof but would censure and condemn it as those others have done I pray God perfect his Conversion and let him see the Necessity as well as Lawfulness of it And I would desire him to consider that if it be Lawful it must be Necessary For if Christ has not commanded Water-Baptism it cannot be less than Superstition to Practice that as a Sacrament and consequently as a Means of Grace which he has not Commanded Even the Church of Rome does not pretend to a Power to Institute a Sacrament that can be done by none but God alone Therefore if Water-Baptism was not Instituted by Christ it cannot be Lawful to Practice it And if he did Institute it it is not only Lawful but Necessary and a Duty Now in Aid of George Whitehead and by way of An Antidote against the venome of G. Fox Burrough and other soure Quakers and to pursue the Design of this present Paper I will to the Authoritys of H. Scripture which I have Produc'd in The Discourse of Baptism add in this place as a sure Comment and Explanation of them the Testimonys of some of those Fathers whose Works we have Extant within the Compass of Years proposed that is 150 Years after Christ in witness to this Divine Institution of Water-Baptism and to shew what stress they laid upon it St. Ignatius who was as before-mentioned bred under Saint John the Beloved Disciple makes our Baptism not only the Badge but the Arms and Defence of our Faith and the quitting of it to be a Deserting of Christ Let no one of you says he in his Epist to St. Polycarp be found a Deserter but let your Baptism remain as your Armor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And St. Barnabas who was St. Paul's Fellow-Traveller mentioned so often in the Acts speaking in his Catholick Epistle chapt xi concerning Water and the Cross says that It is written concerning Water to the People of Israel that they should not receive that Baptism which was sufficient to the Pardon of sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which they did not under the Mosaical Dispensation But they Instituted a Baptism to themselves whereby to admit Men as Proselites to the Law But that was not the Baptism which could take away Sin No nor the Baptism of John That was the Peculiar one of the Christian Baptism A little after St. Barnabas says that God had joyned the Cross that is the Faith in CHRIST Crucified and the Water that is Baptism together viz. the Inward Faith and the Outward Profession and Seal of it Consider says he how He God has appointed the Cross and the Water to the same end For thus he saith blessed are they who hoping in the Cross have gone down into the Water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again pursuing the same Argument he Magnifys the great Efficacy and Power of BAPTISM when duly Received a few lines after what is above quoted saying For we go down into the Water full of sins and filthiness and come up again bearing fruit in our hearts by the fear and hope which is in Jesus which we have in the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the same manner and in the like words speaks St. Hermas whom St. Paul salutes Rom. 16.14 in that only Remaining Work of his called The Shepherd of St. Hermas there in the 3d. Book and 9th Similitude he speaks thus Before a Man receives the Name of the Son of God he is designed unto death but when he receives that seal he is delivered from death and given up to life Now that seal is Water into which Men go down lyable to death but come up again assigned over unto life Antequam enim accipiat homo nomen Filii Dei morti destinatus est at ubi accipit illud sigillum liberatur a morte traditur vitae Illud autem sigillum Aqua est in quam descendunt homines morti obligati ascendunt vero vitae assignati I have taken this out of the Ancient Latin Translation according to the Oxford Edit 1685. For the Greek was in great part lost and came not down to us intire as this old Latin Version did St. Clement in his 2d Epist to the Corinthians Paragr 8. calls Baptism by the same name of our Seal and applys to it that Text Isa lxvi 24. which he renders thus They that have not kept their seal their worm shall not die c. Or as he expresses it in the Paragr before this Vnless we keep our Baptism pure and undefiled with what assurance can we enter the Kingdom of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. The Fifth
being the Preachers of Death rather than of Truth They abstain from the Eucharist that is The Sacrament of the Lord 's Supper and from the Prayers of the Church because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins and which the Father in his Goodness Raised up But these speaking against this Gift of God die in their Inquiries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And vain and Death must those Inquiries be which leaving the Gifts of God the Sacraments of his own Institution and to which His Promises are Annex'd seek for Salvation in ways and means of their own Devising But it was unavoidable that they who had left the Body of Christ as a forsaken veil or garment to Rot for ever in the Grave or are careless what is come of it as a thing now of no Vertue or Consequence to us should Reject the Sacrament of it which is a continual Exhibition of its vertues and efficacy to us Or that they who hope for no Resurrection of their Bodies out of the Dust should continue the use of those Sacraments which were ordained as signs and pledges of it But if it please God that they ever Return to the Faith it is to be hoped that they will then Re-assume these Guards and Confirmations which are the outward vehicles and assurance of it III. The Third point is their Denyal of the Resurrection and Future Judgment For the Proof of this upon the Quakers I Refer to The Snake in the Grass Sect. xii p. 152. and to Satan Dis-Rob'd Sect. iii. and iv beginning at p. 26. and p. 21. of the Gleanings Now we find full Proof that this Heresie was Broached in in the Days of the Apostles and by them Condemn'd as is plain from 1 Cor. xv 12. c. and 2 Tim. 2.18 in which last Text the very Quaker-salvo is expresly set down by which they have Betray'd themselves into this Fatal Heresie viz. Saying that the Resurrection is Past already that is Performâ—d Inwardly to those who follow the Light see Satan Dis-Rob'd p. 21. of the Gleanings and Mr. Penn understands that Full and Elegant Description of the Resurrection 1 Cor. xv all of this Inward and Allegorical Resurrection for in his Book Intituled The Invalidity of John Faldo 's Vindication c. Printed 1673. repeating ver 44. of this Chapt. viz. It is sown a Natural Body it is Raised a Spiritual Body he says p. 369. I do utterly deny that this Text is concern'd in the Resurrection of Man's carnal Body at all And p. 370. I say this doth not concern the Resurrection of carnal Bodys but the two states of Men under the first and second Adam And though as he objects the 47 and 49 verses seem to imply a Bodily Resurrection But says he let the whole verse be considered and we shall find no such thing To the Arguments of the Apostles against this Heresie let me add some Testimonys of others their Co-temporary Fathers or rather explain the Texts of the Apostles by their Comments who learned this Article of the Faith from their mouths The Texts above Quoted were wrote by St. Paul who Phil. iv 3. mentions Clement as his Fellow Labourer and whose Name is in the book of Life And he was as likely to know St. Paul's meaning as Mr. Penn whom I desire to read his 2d Epist to the Corinthians where N. ix he will find these words Let none of you say that this same flesh is not judged nor shall rise again Vnderstand in what have ye been saved was it not while ye were in this flesh therefore it behoveth us to keep our flesh as the temple of God For as ye have been called in the flesh so shall ye come in the flesh Jesus Christ the Lord who saveth us was first a Spirit and then made flesh and so he called us So shall we Receive our Reward in this very flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Polycarp Bishop and Martyr who flourished about the Year of Christ 70. and was Disciple to St. John the Evangelist in his Epistle to the Philippians n. 7. says that Whoever does not confess the Martyrdom or suffering of Christ upon the Cross is of the Devil And he that will wrest the Oracles of Christ to his own Lusts and say that there is no Resurrection nor Judgment to come he is the First-Born of Satan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Hegesippus who lived near to the Days of the Apostles in his Fifth Book as Quoted by Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 23. speaking of these Ancient Hereticks says that they did not believe either the Resurrection or the coming of Christ to render to every one according to his Works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IV. The Fourth Point is their abstaining from the Sacraments and Prayers of the Church And for this I have before quoted Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans where he tells of those who Abstained from the Prayers of the Church and the Lord 's Supper because they did not believe it to be the Flesh of Christ which Suffered for our sins and was Raised up c. For how could they who as the Quakers made no more of the flesh of Christ than a Garment or a Vail but no part of his Person and consequently could never call the Bodily Garment Christ And thought their own Flesh and Blood to be the Flesh and Blood of Christ as well as the Flesh and Blood of that Man Jesus in whom they say that Christ or the Light dwelt as in themselves see Satan Dis-Rob'd Sect. ii n. 2. and 3. p. 2. and 3. of the Gleanings and plac'd the Meritorious Cause of our Redemption and Justification not in the Blood of Christ outwardly shed but in the Allegorical or Inward Blood of their Light within Inwardly and Invisibly shed c. I say How could these endure a Sacrament so contrary to their Belief For the Bread cannot be called the Flesh of their Light within but it was of His Outward Flesh that Christ spake when he said This is my Body and His Outward Blood was said to be shed for The Remission of Sins And the Eucharist was such a visible Representation of this as could not but shock these Enthusiast Hereticks And where the Sacraments are Practised such mad Enthusiasm cannot take place And we see by woful Experience that where these Guards of the Truth and Importance of Christ's Outward Sufferings are taken away Men fall from the True Faith in them But the Quakers have not only thrown off the Use and Practise of the Sacraments and left them as things Indifferent or Lawful to be Practised by such as may be conscientiously concern'd for them but Damn them as Carnal and Doctrines of Devils G. Fox in his News out of the North Printed 1655. p. 14. makes them the like Witch-craft as turn'd the Galatians to Circumcision And their Sacrament