are Sanctified have perfect Unity perfect Knowledge perfect 〈◊〉 And Will. Penn in his Truth Exâ—liâ—d c. as the Authors of a Book Entituled A brief Discovery c. takes notice laughs at the Church of England for confessing themselves Sinners or praying to God for Mercy Alas poor Souls saith Penn are not you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mercy upon us miserable Sinners there is no Health in us from Seven to Seventy This Doctrine of Sinless Perfection being the approved Doctrine of the Quakers and that in Opposition to all Professors of the Christian Faith there is no Reason why they should believe Remission of Sin Redemption and Justification by the Righteousness and Merits of Jesus Christ because they themselves pretend to be Perfect as God yea as Perfect and Free from Sin Quest Do you believe and own the Divine 〈◊〉 of Jesus Christ in his Church Answ Yes verily we sincerely believe and own Christ not only as He is the Light of the World enlightning every Man coming into iâ— but also that he is given for a Leader and for a Commander and that He is both King Priest and Prophet to and over His Church and People c. OBSERVATION This Profession of theirs if Sincere would indeed comprehend a great Part of the Christian Religion but if the above Quotations be true they will give you just Cause to suspect them even in this Observe then how they believe the Kingly Office of Christ For that examine whether they do not attribute that to G. Fox their first Apostle which is due to Christ Himself alone See Tyranny and Hypocrisie detected p. 19. where Solomon Eccles thus celebrates G. Fox viz. Blessed be the Man that came out of the North blessed be the Womb that bear him and the Breast that gave him Suck And ib. see there a Letter written by 〈◊〉 Coale a Quaker from Barbadoes to G. Fox 24. Day 12 Month 1658. which is justified by W. Penn in his Judas and the Jews p. 44. 45 46. viz. Dear G. Fox who art the Father of many Nations whose Life hath reached thro' us thy Children even to the Isles afar off to the begetting of many again to a lively Hope for which Generations to come shall call thee Blessed whose Being and Habitation is in the Power of the Highest in which thou rule and governest in Righteousness and thy Kingdom is established in Pâ—â—â—e and the Encrease thereof is without end Now by these Expressions as Edw. Pâ—ye in his Antichrist in Spirit Unmasked well observes whether the Scepter be not wrested out of Christ's Hand and given to G. Fox let the Reader judge by considering the several Parts of it 1 st Then observe he doth expresly ascribe to him a Kingdom Thy Kingdom c. and thou Rulest and Governest must not then such a one be an Actual King 2 dly He describes the Subjects of this Kingdom who those are you may with some Assurance venture to guess viz. Josiah Coale and the rest of the Ancient Society of Quakers to whom the Life of G. Fox hath reached thro' such Illustrious Children even to the Isles afar off to the begetting them again to a lively Hope and these are great in Numbers and therefore he calls him the Father of many Nations 3 dly As Mr. Paye says he tells us what kind of Power and Authority it is in which this King Rules and Governs namely In the Power of the Highest viz. a Spiritual and Divine Power not like that of the Kingdoms of Men. 4 thly You have here the Stability of this Kingdom Thy Kingdom is established in Peace 5 thly You have the Extent of this Kingdom also namely The Encrease thereof is without end it is a Boundless Kingdom Lastly Take notice of the Excellency of this Kingdom which is such and Fox this King's Happiness so great that not only the present Age but Generations to come shall call him Blessed From hence judge if G. Fox is not Invested and Throned in Christ's Kingly Office They have then no Reason to take it ill if we call G. Fox the King of the Quakers since it plainly appears from the Testimony of Josiah Coale an Eminent Teacher of theirs and vindicated as above quoted by Will. Penn and approved of by their Second Day Meeting that he is so even as Christ is King of the Christians but possibly it may be objected That it is Christ in G. Fox that hath this Regal or Kingly Power as G. Whitehead asserts in his Innocency against Envy p. 18. we might have then reasonably expected that it would have been so expressed Meanings are not to be understood but by Words and as for Words none can be plainer and more expressive which W. Penn affirms to be no Blasphemy but harmless and Innocent See further Tyranny and Hypocrisie detected p. 45. as also Judas and the Jews p. 85. where you have this Saying of King George repeated Friends altho' I have not told it you I do now declare it I have Power to bind and to loose whom I please And who can deny it since he hath deprived Christ of His Kingly Office and assumed it to Himself But I do still expect the Quakers will say as G. Whitehead in his Innocency against Envy p. 18. plainly intimates it is not G. Fox but the Light or Christ within him that Assumes this Kingly Power but it will then follow that every Quaker is a King because every Quaker has the Light within which Light must be obeyed since all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed to it See Smith's Primer p. 13. also Josiah Coale's Works p. 93. See G. Fox Jun. p. 50. whom you may observe to speak plain and home to the Point viz. I the Light will fall upon you and grinde you to Pouder All who will not own me the Light in you And I will make you know that I the Light am the true Eternal God which created all things and that by me the Light all things are upheld and that there is not another besides me that can save Now Reader compare these Quotations with this their late Profession now under Consideration and then judge whether the Quakers do really own the Kingly Office of Christ For whereas they pretend to be obedient to the Laws of Christ our Lord and His Ordinances are they not both by their Doctrine and Practices made Void Contemned and Rejected as will further hereafter appear But to proceed 2 dly Let us now see how they own Christ's Priestly Office For who as above can believe that they really own the Priestly Office of Christ when they deny his Humanity as owned by all Orthodox Christians To which I shall add these Reasons with some little Mixture of Matter of Fact to let the Reader see that notwithstanding their Plausible Pretences they must be thought to deny the Priestly Office of Christ For First If they deny the Person or Humanity of Christ as above shewed they cannot own Christ's Priestly
AN ANTIDOTE Against the Venom of Quakerism BEFORE I enter upon the Examination of the Quakers Principles as here Professed and as I suppose Owned by them I shall very briefly desire the Reader to take Notice what is understood by the Term Christianity or what is necessary in a strict and proper Sense to Entitle a Man to be a Christian For the making up then this good Composition it is not enough for a Man to know and acknowledge God as the One only true God Creator of all things to Depend upon and to be Subject to him to Love him our Neighbour and our Selves to walk Soberly and Honestly and to practice all those other Duties which by the Light and Law of Nature he may be Convinced of for these a Man may believe and be consormable thereto and yet be no Christian For who doubts but that some of the Heathens thus far believed and practiced who were not only altogether ignorant of Christ but also vehemently opposed him and the Christian Name Tho' according to Will Penn's Notion of Christianity in his Address to Protestants p. 119. Second Edition these must be Christians For what is Christ says he but Meekness Justice Mercy Patience Charity and Vertue in persection Nay even the Jews themselves who were once God's Chosen People and must be Saved thro' Faith in the Messiah that was to come cannot in a strict Sense be called Christians their State being no Christian State however Obedient they might be to the Legal Dispersation they lived under yet they could no from thence be Entituled Christians For to Entitle a Man to be a Christian 〈◊〉 must necessarily believe 〈◊〉 to be already come nay that Particâ—â—â—â— and Numericâ—â— Man Christ Jesus who was Born of the Viâ—gin Mary and was of the Seed of Abrahaâ— according to the Flesh to be the Christ 〈◊〉 God that was promised to come in due time that this very Man was Crucified Died aâ—â— Rose again from the Dead and is Ascendeâ— c. Without Controversie great is the Mâ—stery of Godliness God was Manifest in tâ—â— Flesh Justified in the Spirit Believed on the World Received up into Glory 1 Tim. 3. 〈◊〉 This Christ God-Man as come and crucified was that main Foundation of the Gospel and Christianity These were new Articles Founded upon a new Dispensation without the belief of which not to name some others which may be thought by some also necessary such as Baptism by Water and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Bread and Wine a Man cannot be called a Christian Many there are indeed who lay Claim to this Holy and Honourable Profession but without a Just Title who fiercely contend for the Name tho' woful strangers to the Nature of Christianity who set up for more Pure and Refined Christians than are to be found in other Societies tho' they have scarcely any better Title to this Name than their being Born in a Christian Nation And thus the Quakers impose and put upon the World they set up for the great Modellers and Refiners of Religion and Condemn all others as full of Filth and Dreggs whenas they themselves as deceitful Workers 〈◊〉 themselves into the Apostles of Christ cannot be looked upon any otherwise at best than good Moral Heathens and many of them short of that Indeed could we take them at their word or would they take words in their common Acceptation it must be granted then that their Profession throughout the greatest part of this Pamphlet as well as some others viz. Will. Penn's Key Crook's Principles c. would seem Orthodox but this they will not do no you must Construe them by their Intentions for says George Whitehead in his Counterfeit Convert p. 72. I may see cause otherwise to word the Matter and yet our Intentions be the same You may then see Just Cause to mistrust them in these their seeming Orthodox Confessions They have a Nauseous Pill to give you but that it may not be Distasteful and Loathsom to the Palate they Gild it over as the Writers for Popery in the Late K. J's Reign the other Day did to make it the more Glib and Easie to a Protestant Gust and Swallow they are Masters at the Art of Painting using feigned words and fair Speeches which was the old way of deceiving the Hearts of the Simple by which means many Poor Unthinking and Well-meaning People are now Ensnared and Involved in the same Errors with themselves By these and the like plausible Professions and smooth Pretences have they endeavoured to insinuate into and impose upon our Governours who no doubt can easily discern however Artificially Gilded and Varnished their Blasphemous Opinions relating to Christianity as well as to our Government And to this end and purpose in the Month of March last past there were Two Books presented to Both Houses of Parliament the one Entituled A Brief Discovery of some of the Blasphemous and Seditious Principles c. The other Entituled Some few of the Quakers many Horrid Blasphemies Heresies c. And also a Sheet Entituled Some Reasons humbly Offered Why the Quakers should be Examined But to proceed to an Examination of their Pamphlet in its several Parts Quest What is your Belief concerning the Blessed Trinity as our Term is Answ Our Belief is That in the Unity of the Godhead there is Father Son and Holy Ghost these Three Divine Witnesses that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the H. Spirit and that these Three are One according to Holy Scripture Testimony OBSERVATION Note It is said of the Oracles of the Heathen that they were made to look with Two Faces that they might the better effect their Deceits and agreeable hereto whatever was delivered by them was spoken in such Dubious and Equivocal Terms as that it should either way tend to the Satisfaction of the Devotee Just so do the Quakers now it being necessary to serve a present Turn give out a very cunning and plausible Profession but in such Dubious Terms as may look like Good and Orthodox and yet be in a great Measure Reconcileable to their Ancient Friends Principles and Testimonies It is well known that the most Virulent Poison may be Gilded over and that Varnish and Paint may be laid on the Foulest Cause and consequently the Quakers may be guilty of the grossest Errors under the Mask of Innocence and Zeal Religion and Purity But I shall not trouble the Reader with their Intentions and Meanings nor Trace them into all their Equivocal Reserves wherein they may be thought to exceed their Brethren the Jesuites but rather have recourse to their own Books which can't but be allowed to be the best and only way to know and understand their real Principles as well as Meanings they being most if not all pretended to be Wrote from the Mouth of the Lord. First They pretend to make the World believe that they own the Blessed Trinity that is they pretend to acknowledge a Three
but deny a Trinity which is to confess the same thing in English and deny it in Latine Trinitas being only Latine for the Three they Profess to Believe in the Holy Three or Trinity of Father Word and Spirit as Penn tells you in his Key p. 15. but not as Three Persons But if not Three Persons What Three are they But for your satisfaction give Ear to the Ancients in their Ministry to that end hear what their Great and First Apostle George 〈◊〉 says in his Great Mystery p. 246. who earnestly opposed his Adversary one Christopher Wade for affirming That the Holy Ghost was a Person and that there was a Trinity of Three Persons before Christ was Born The Scripture saith he doth not tell People of a Trinity nor Three Persons bâ—t the Common-Prayer-Mass-Book speaks of Three Persons brought in by thy Father the Pope And Will. Penn tells us in his Sandy Foundation p. 13. Printed 1668. That if we pretend to Credit the Scriptures we must necessarily Conclude our kind of Trinity a Fiction And lest the Reader should not be satisfied with his Scripture Proofs and Interpretations he labours hard to refute it from right Reason so called by him as in p. 13 14. to give you a Taste of them The Divine Persons are either Finite or Infinite if the first then something Finite is inseparable to the Infinite Substance whereby something Finite is in God If the last then Three distinct Infinites Three Omnipotents Three Eternals and so Three Gods Secondly If each Person be God and that God Subsists in Three Persons then in each Person are Three Persons or Gods and from Three they will Increase to Nine and so ad Infinitum c. Again in p. 32. he tells us That our Trinity or our imagined Trinity as he Terms it in p. 16. has not so much as a Foundation in the Scriptures it being but Man's Invention and doubtless it hath occasioned Idolatry See further George â—â—itehead and Three other Quakers in their Book Entituled Ishmael and his Mother cast out p. 10. where is this Passage He i. e. Mr. Townsend a Minister in Norwich against whom they Disputed is shut up with the Three Persons in perpetual Darkness for the Lake and the Pit I shall add here nothing by way of Inference but leave it to the Reader to judge whether they own the Trinity being Those Three Divine Witnesses that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Spirit But what Heaven is that which the Quakers mean not the Glorious Heaven above but it is the Heaven within thee where these Three Divine Witnesses are for says Geo. Fox in his Gr. Myst p. 214. There is none have a Glory and a Heaven but within them Again see his Trial at Lancaster Assize c. p. 21. I was moved to Pray and the Thundering Voice answered I have glorified thee and will glorifie thee again and I was filled so full of Glory that my Head and my Ears was filled full of it Mark Reader here was Thunder within Glory within yea full of Glory aurum tenus up to the Ears And says W. Penn in his Rejoinder p. 179. To deny the Locality of Heaven is not very offensive and that it looks too Carnal and indeed Mahometanism viz. to assert it Now Reader let this serve to Construe their meaning in their Pamphlet when they speak of Three Divine Witnesses bearing Record in Heaven that is to say the Heaven within them Quest Do you believe the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God or that Jesus Christ is truly God and Man Answ Yes we verily Believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and Man according as Holy Scripture Testifie of him viz. God over all Blessed for Ever the True God and Eternal Life the One Mediator between God and Man even the Man Christ Jesus OBSERVATION Now let us see whether they believe as they say or whether it be only Paint or Varnish to deceive the Hearts of the Simple To that end see Geo. Whitehead s Nature of Christianity p. 41. where he thus speaks That Christ Existeth outwardly Bodily without us at God s Right Hand What Scripture proof hath he for these Words See also his Truth Defending the Quakers p. 22. where he affirms Christ s coming in the Flesh to be but a Figure or Example Which is also the saying of R. Hubbertborn and Justified by G. Whitehead in his Judgment Fixed p. 336. who tells you plainly what Man Christ the Quakers own i. e. their Light within only His words are these Therefore the Man Christ Jesus was before he came in the Body or Flesh And Christopher Atkinson in his Book called The Sward of the Lord drawn which was written as he pretended from the Mouth of the Lord and this I cannot omit quoting for tho his Person was disowned and denied after he was Hanged for Felony by some of the Quakers at West-Dereham Church at the Conference yet I never heard it before No he was a good Man then and Inspired however fallible afterwards and therefore those his Writings must be Valuable and Venerable and that they are by them so accounted is evident from matter of fact for when the Quakers were pressed by a Clergyman and others there present at the Second Day Conference to reject and disown his Writings under their Hands they would not be brought to such a reasonable compliance I must therefore beg leave to insist upon this Book where in p. 5. he hath these words Your imagined God beyond the Stars and your Carnal Christ is utterly denied and testified against by the Light And that this Christ is God and Man in one Person it is a Lie And again Because as Will. Penn says it is not reasonable that a Body of Men should be Concluded by the Word or Act of any one Member vid. his Brief Answer to a false and foolish Libel c. p. 25. Printed 1678. I shall therefore add One or Two more to that end see G. Fox Gr. Myst p. 206. If there be any other Christ but he that was Crucified within he is the false Christ And says Smith in his Primer p. 8. Printed 1668. They that are false Ministers preach Christ without and bid people believe in him as he is in Heaven above but they that are true Ministers they preach Christ within and direct People to wait to feel him in themselves And in p. 9. he affirms That these have no more fellowship than the East hath with the West Nay Will. Penn in his Address to Protestants p. 119. makes Christ nothing but Meekness Justice Patience Charity and Vertue in perfection In short nothing but an Holy Princiciple as he elsewhere hath it Now whether these Quotations do not amount to a plain denial of the Humanity of Christ let the Reader Judge whatever in this Pamphlet or in Will Penn's Key is pretended to the contrary But yet once more to corroborate
no doubt but all good Christians own Christ to be the Bread of Life and have Spiritual Communion with him in his Holy Ordinances which Communion I dare affirm they cannot have whatever bold pretences they make who do not obey Christ in these his Holy Institutions but slight vilifie and contemn the same and that the Quakers do so see Parnell's Shield of the Truth written from the Mouth of the Lord as the Title Page shews p. 13. We are accused says he to deny the Supper of the Lord He answers The Supper of the Lord we own which is the Body and Blood of Christ that is considered Spiritually for Saints are Spiritual and their Communion is Spiritual and Eternal And here all Drunkards are shut out and all Liars Adulterers Proud Covetous c. And are without feeding upon the Husk and shadow which is Carnal and Natural and only feed the Outward Carnal Body and goeth into the Belly and so passeth out c. And so likewise the Cup which they drink and so the Communion and Fellowship of the World passeth away but this is no nourishment to the Soul And here is no Communion but Natural Outward and Carnal Full of filthiness and uncleanness which is the Table of Devils eating and drinking their own Damnation not discerning the Lord's Body which is Spiritual which the Natural Man discerns not And here stands the World's Communion and Fellowship which is Carnal p. 14. And here they are without feeding upon the Husk and Shadow without See Smith's Primer p. 36 37. says the Child I would know Father how it is concerning those things called Ordinances as Baptism and Bread and Wine which are much used in their Worship The Father answers Why Child as to those things they rose from the Pope's Invention who had Power in the Night of Apostacy and hath set up his Devices which are yet continued in England tho' he seemingly is denied and the whole Practice of those things as they use them bad their Institution by the Pope and were never so ordained of Christ Neither did He Ordain Bread and Wine to be so Used and Received c. Geo. Fox in his News coming up out out of the North c. p. 4. Your Baptism and Sacrament as you call it and all your Ordinances and Churches and Teachings it is Cain ' s Sacrifice And p. 14. Their Sacrament as they call it is Carnal Their Communion Bread and Wine it is the Table of Devils and Cup of Devils And W. Penn in his Reason against Railing c. p. 108. I affirm says he that the Paschal Lamb is as much in force as Bread and Wine And p. 109. And we can testifie from the same Spirit by which Paul Renounced Circumcision that it is to be Rejected as not now Required Quest Do you believe and own the Holy Scriptures contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration and to contain all Matters of Doctrine and Testimony c. necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation and Peace with God Answ Yes we do and by the Assistance of the Grace of God which gives the true Understanding of the Mind of God and Mâ—â—ning of Holy Scripture we always desire to live in the Faith Knowledge and Practice of them in all things appertaining to Life and Godliness Holy Scripture being given by Divine Inspiration is Profitable for Doctrine Correction and Instruction that the Man of God may he perfect thoroughly furnished unto every good Work able to make the Man of God wise unto Salvation thro' Faith in Christ Jesus OBSERVATION Here is like unto the rest a Plausible Profession but whether Sincere or not I leave to the World to judge when they shall have read and considered these following Quotations See John Whitehead and Rob. Ruckhill their Quakers Refuge p. 17. Whether the first Penman of the Scriptures was Moses or Hermes Or whether both these are not one Or whether there are not many Words contained in the Scriptures which were not spoken by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit Whether some Words were not spoken by the Grand Impostor some by wicked Men some by wise Men ill applied some by good Men ill expressed some by false Prophets and yet true some by true Prophets and yet false c. Sam. Fisher in his Appendix p. 752. Printed 1679. has these Words speaking of the Text of Scripture Which Transcriptions and Translations were they never so certain and entirely answering to the first Original Copies yet are not capable to be to all Men any other than a Lesbian Rule or Nose of Wax This worthy Author in his Works has the Testimony of Luke Howard Hallelujah Fisher and Will. Penn and Lawson's Untaught Teacher p. 2. To say the Word of Truth is called the Scripture or that the Scripture is the Word of Truth is a Lie and Sam. Fisher p. 460. The Scriptures not the Saints Rule but the Spirit and Sword of the Lord drawn p. 1 2. The Scriptures are not the Saints Rule of knowing God and living unto him And Edw. Barrough p. 47. No Command in Scripture was any further binding than as we are convinced of the Lawfulness thereof by the Light within For says he That is no Command from God to me what he commands to another neither did any of the Saints which we read of in Scripture act by the Command which was to another not having the Command to themselves See G. Fox's Gr. Myst p. 246. The Scriptures are not the Word of God yet he says of his own Writings p. 225. To you all this is the Word of the Lord. Nay James Nayler in his Answer to the Jews p. 22 25. It 's Blasphemy for any to say the Letter is the Word of God it is the Devil that contends for the Scriptures to be the Word of God This Will. Penn at a venture vindicates tho' he confesses he never saw the Book out of which it was quored see his Pamphlet Entituled A Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel called The Quakers Opinions p. 15. Printed 1678. The Question being asked the Quakers see Will. Penn and G. Whitehead their Serious Apology p. 49. Do you esteem your Speakings to be of as great Authority as any Chapter in the Bible The Answer is in these Words That which is spoken by the Spirit of Truth in any is of as great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are and greater See Lawson's Threefold Estate of Antichrist p. 9. The Scripture is Dust and Death Beastly Wares c. And for a Conclusion of this Head see G. Fox's News out of the North p. 14. Your Original is Carnal Hebrew Greek and Latin and your Word is Carnal the Letter Their Original is Dust which is the Letter which is Death and their Gospel is but Dust Matthew Mark Luke and John which is the Letter Again see Will. Bayley's Works p. 195. viz. The Scriptures in