THE Christian Ministry OF THE Church of ENGLAND Vindicated and Distinguished FROM THE Antichristian Ministry OF THE QUAKERS CONTAINING A Brief Reply to a False and Foolish Libel stiled A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocess of Norfolk and Suffolk c. by a Nameless Author yet a pretended Member of the Church of ENGLAND WHEREIN His Folly is Detected His Lies Confuted His Weakness Discovered and his Malice Reproved By a Member of the Church of England FRANCIS BUGG That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrine by the Slights of Men and cunning Craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive Ephes 4.14 LONDON Printed for the Author And are to be sold by J. Robinson at the Golden-Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard And H. Rhodes at the Star in Fleet-street 1699. Advertisement WHereas the Sheet intituled A Letter to the Clergy c. is to my certain Knowledge universally spread in Oxford Wickham Ipswich Colchester Bury Cambridge Norwich Lyme Ely and divers other Parts of the Nation to the great Scandal of the Church of England and given Gratis they having a common Bank for that and every such Purpose into the Hands of Gentlemen Tradesmen Inn-keepers Hostlers and others to the great Prejudice of common Christianity and is a cunning Stratagem devised and set on foot by the Arch Emissaries of Quakerism under the Vizor of a Member of the Church of England whilst there is great Reason to believe him to be a real Quaker whose Principle and Practice hath been to Lie Dissemble Forge and Subscribe without the Consent of the Parties as Anne Docwra a Member of that Schism and now in their Unity and a Writer and Defender of their Heresie hath shewed These are therefore to give notice That any Persons zealous for our Holy Religion may have this Book ready stitcht for 2d per Book if they will buy 25 50 or 100 together at Mr. Janeway's Book-binder next Door to Child's Coffee-House in St. Paul's Church-yard London In order to a Universal Discovery of this Hermophrodite in Religion who lies sculking behind the Curtain stinging like a Serpent whose Throat is an open Sepulchre whose Mouth must be stopped and Folly manifested least the uncircumcised Triumph over the Israel of God The Preface to the Reader Christian Reader THE Apostle St. Paul writing to the Ephesians gives them many Precepts and sound Exhortations in order to the building them up in their most holy Faith amongst which this to me seems not the least cap. 4. v. 14. That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrine by the Slights of Men and cunning Craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive Again writing to his Son Timothy he seems to Inculcate the same over again foretelling what should come to pass 2 Tim. 3.13 But evil Men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived It 's true no Man can deceive another but he deceives himself yet such is the Influence that Interest and the Love of the World have upon the depraved Nature and ambitious Desire of some Men that they will use all the Slights and cunning Craftiness they can to deceive others And when one Engine will not do they 'll try another as we see by the Quakers who by their Slights and cunning Craft have deceived Thousands under the Pretence of their Seeming Sanctity and Pharasaical Demureness as well as by their Books which they generally pretend to be given forth by the Holy Ghost from the Mouth of the Lord and by the moving of the Eternal Spirit and as such to be of greater Authority than the Bible as G. Whitehead teaches in his Book Truth defending the Quakers p. 7. And thereupon they read their Epistles thus wrote in their Meetings as the Word of God whilst they never read one Chapter of the Bible in their Meetings I say by these their Wiles and Slights they have caught Thousands of unstable Souls but thro' much Labour and Pains by my self and others there has been such a Discovery made of their Books and the Blasphemies and Corrupt Doctrine contained in them that now their very Ringleaders themselves have refused either to own or disown them or the Doctrines contained in them by which many of their Hearers begin to question the Pretensions of their Leaders and many are come off from them and have been Baptized into the Christian Faith by the Ministers of the Church of England and now they have started a new Gain and used another Slight and cunning Piece of Craft whereby they watch all Opportunities to deceive the People namely to put forth a printed Sheet under the Disguise of a Member of the Church of England with a Design to abuse her and to deceive others as the following Discourse will shew and whereby we may see they grow worse and worse and this the Apostle foresaw And therefore like careful Watchmen gave us warning of them as in the Places above-cited To which let me add St. Peter's Prophetical Care Admonition and Caution 2 Pet. 2.1 2. But there were also false Prophets among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them And bring upon themselves swift Destructions and many shall follow their Pernitious Ways by reason of whom the way of Truth shall be evil spoken of Now how far these and other of the like Truths left upon Record by the Primitive Inspired Pastors and Teachers of the Doctrine of Salvation are verified in our Days may be seen and ought to be more laid to Heart by us than I fear we do For it hath been manifest and clearly proved that the Quakers above all others that I am sensible of are the very Persons that deny the Lord that bought them and shed his most precious Blood for them were they but willing to accept of so great Salvation on Gospel Terms For says W. Penn in his Serious Apology c. p. 146. That the Outward Person that suffer'd at Jerusalem was properly the Son of God we utterly deny c. Here then we see the Holy Apostle St. Peter's Words fulfilled for he or they that deny him that suffered at Jerusalem upon the Tree of the Cross to be the Son of God I do affirm he or they whoever they be deny the Lord that bought them and will bring upon themselves swift Destruction yea and as many as suck in the Poyson of their Doctrine unless they repent thereof But W. Penn avouches the same in his Christian Quaker and his Divine Test c. p. 97 98. and in many other Places See also Is Pennington's Book A Question to Professors c. p. 33. Now the Scriptures distinguish between Christ and the Garment he wore between him that came and the Body in which he came between the Substance that was vailed and
but that I may so far as I can safely pursue the Method directed to by this obscure Author I shall now proceed to distinguish between the Doctrine of the Christian Ministers of the Church of England and the Doctrine of the Quakers out of their Books and so vindicate the one and reject the other The Tree is known says he by its Fruit. The Clergy's Doctrine They preach Faith in the Crucified Jesus who was Born of the Virgin Mary and with St. Peter they agree who said Mat. 16.16 in Answer to the Question which Christ put to his Disciples v. 13. Whom do Men say that I the Son of Man am Thou art said Peter Christ the Son of the Living God They agree also with St. Peter Acts 5.30 31. The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a Tree Him has God exalted with his Right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins They preach and believe according to St. John's Gospel John 5.22 For the Father judgeth no Man but hath committed all Judgment unto the Son V. 27. And have given him Authority to execute Judgment also because he is the Son of Man And they Believe and Teach all other necessary Truths out of the Holy Scriptures and have many Witnesses that their Doctrine tend to all who receive the Truth in the Love of it to open their Hearts and are thereby turned from Darkness to the Light of the Glorious Gospel and from Sathan's Power Reign and Government to the Power Providence and Protection of God Almighty in order to receive Forgiveness of Sins thro' a Sincere and Hearty Repentance and an Humble Confession and beging Pardon of the same for the sake of Christ our alone Mediator and Advocate and thro' Faith in his Name All this they Preach and Teach according to the Holy Scriptures tho' I grant that where it is not mixed with Faith in the Hearers there is no profiting to such nor were they profited by the Sermons of Christ or his Apostles who did not believe tho' they might receive the Lord's Supper as Judas did and be Baptized as Simon Magus was So that the Ministry is not to be blamed in that such as resist the Truth and rebel against it are not profited The Quakers Doctrine They Teach that the Person that suffer'd at Jerusalem was not properly the Son of God That he was only a Vail a Garment a Vessel c. which they can never call Christ That the Name Christ belongs to every believing Quaker as well as to the Head That all Power in Heaven and Earth is committed to the Light Within and for this they quote John 5.22 They Teach that the Son of Man was before the Incarnation That they cannot pray for the Priests but for their Destruction That the Ministers that Preach Christ without and bid People believe in him as he is in Heaven above are false Ministers They teach likewise that the Light in them is Christ and that this Christ doth offer up himself in them a Sacrifice to God by which the Wrath and Justice of God is appeased They teach that the very Christ of God is Within them and that in them he doth Intercede for them They teach that upon and for these Reasons there is not that need of Publishing or Preaching the Literal Knowledge of Christ for say they the Historical Knowledge of Christ is believed by all sorts pretending to Christianity His Death His Miracles His Rising His Ascending into Heaven See Quakerism Exposed c. p. 55. Sheet to the Parliament 1693. and my other Books set forth these Proofs out of the Quakers most noted Authors only I here abstract for it is to shew the Tendency of their Doctrine and wherein it differs from the Christian Religion The Clergy's Doctrine They teach according to St. Paul Phil. 2.10 That God hath highly exalted Christ and given him a Name above every Name They teach that His Sufferings were Meritorious and that the Sufferings of the Martyrs was the Seed of the Church They teach that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God and Rule of Faith and Practice to Mankind and of greater Authority than any other Book They Preach out of it to the People according to the usual Custom of the Church both Jewish and Christian having the Example of Christ himself Luke 4. And as his Custom was he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath-Day and stood up for to read and there was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and when he opened the Book he found the place where it was written c. See also 1 Chron. 34.18 19 35. Nehem. 8.1 2. Ezra 1.10 11. They Teach and Practice the Commands of Christ Matth. 28.19 20. Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptizing c. Luke 22.19 20. Do this in Remembrance of me When they pray they say after this manner according to Christ's Precept and Command Matth. 6. Our Father c. Forgive us c. They Teach Subjection to Magistrates according to Matth. 22.21 Tit. 3.1 1 Pet. 2.13 14 17. Rom. 13.1 2 3. Wives to their Husbands according to Eph. 5.22 1 Pet. 3.1 Col. 3.18 Tit. 2.5 Gen. 3.16 Numb 30. And all other Christian Duties and this I take to be a Proof of their Ministry The Quakers Doctrine They teach that the Name Christ belongs to every Believer as well as to the Head utterly denying the Person that suffered to be the Son of God They teach that the Sufferings of the Quakers in this Age are Greater and more Unjust than in the Days of Christ and his Apostles and Martyrs or any time since They teach that the Scriptures are not the Word of God nor Rule of Faith and Practice and that it is Conjuration to Preach out of them and that they are Death Dust Serpents Meat Beastly Ware They question whether Moses or Hermes was the first Author of them and teach that what good Men spake was ill expressed what wise Men spake was ill applied and that what the true Prophets spake was false and what the false Prophets spake was true at least some of all these four Instances which tend to overthrow the Divine Authority of the Scriptures See their Book The Quakers Refuge fixed c. p. 17. They also teach that what they Speak or Write from the Spirit of Truth is of greater Authority than the Bible They teach that no Command in Scripture is any further obliging to them than they are convinced by their Light Within of their Duty of Obedience and thereupon throw off Baptism the Lord's Supper affirming in Penn's Reason against Railing c. p. 108 109. that Circumcision is as much in force as Water Baptism and the Paschal Lamb as Bread and Wine I do Renounce says he and in him all the Quakers and can testifie from the same Spirit by which Paul renounced Circumcision that they are rejected
left out great part of St. Paul's Commission as knowing it not agreeable to the Quakers Doctrine Faith or Principles and therefore to shew this sculking obscure Enemy to the Christian Religion his Inconsistency with himself I shall cite the whole Verse viz. To open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God That they may receive Forgiveness of Sins and Inheritance among them that are sanctified thro Faith that is in me Now these Words that they may receive Forgiveness of Sins and Inheritance among them which are sanctified thro' Faith that is in me he leaves out as a Sign it is not within the Quakers Creed as anon I shall shew and indeed all the time I was a Quaker I do not remember that ever I heard this whole Verse quoted only the former part as recited by this disguised Author to prove their Light within was Christ yea the whole and compleat Christ as Burroughs their great Prophet teaches in his Works p. 149. I will mention here but one Scripture more which the Quakers pervert and which I never understood until I came to learn it of such as this Sculking Adversary would defame namely the Ministers of the Church of England It is Rom. 10.6 7 8. So far they frequently quoted to prove their Light within was the compleat Christ and Righteousness of Faith leaving always out so far as ever I remember the 9th Verse viz. That if thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus And shalt believe in thine Heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved No this Faith and Confession of the Lord Jesus who was Born of the Virgin Mary and his Resurrection from the Dead is out of the Quakers Creed And therefore like this Enemy to Christianity when he cites St. Paul's Commission and leaves out that part Thro' Faith that is in me so do the Quaker-Teachers leave out That if thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine Heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved And thus like Twins begot by one Father and brought forth by one Mother the false Church or Synagogue of Satan do this sculking Adversary agree in the Unity of the Quakers Doctrine which still confirms me that he is a Quaker in Disguise But to proceed to discover by the Doctrine taught by the Church of England and the Doctrine taught by the Quakers which of the Twain are Christ's Ministers this is the Method he has proposed and it is the Method I shall take But first let me observe to the Reader one Passage wherein the Quakers and this Corner Obscure Fellow which they keep behind the Curtain agree like Birds of another Feather viz. Page the 7th of this Letter c. and another of their Books wrote by John Fiddiman and others p. 6 to 12. their Arguments are the same and their Words almost Verbatim The latter I have answered in Quakerism exposed c. p. 46. which Answer may serve for this also but that I may shew the Nature of these Beasts or Birds of Prey give me leave to shew their Complexion that the World may judge whether they be not Twins begot by one Father i. e. The common Father of all Liars and false Accusers and brought forth by one Mother Mystery Babylon the Mother of Harlots The Words are these p. 7. You charge the Quakers with Blasphemy and is not that very Charge blasphemous in saying The Light within as taught by them leads them into these and many more Errors Is Christ the Author of Blasphemy You have now charged it upon him Christ with a Witness Who said I am the Light of the World So that Sirs you have not only charged the Quakers but Christ too as high as you charge them c. This then is the Member of the Church of England that the Quakers so much boast of and glory in even by all Signs and Tokens John Feild For if they can do as their Sister Anne Docwra says they can that is Lie Dissemble Forge and Act in the very same Strain like Knights of the Post Then are they fitly qualified to write any thing and to bear any Name whether Church of England-man or Quaker that suits best with their Interest for they stick at nothing and therefore I take the true Reason why this Pamphlet is put out by the Quakers under the Name of a Member of the Church of England to be this of late their own Books are even by many of their own People so loathed because of the Lies and Forgeries Errors and Blasphemies contained in them That even the Teachers themselves are ashamed or afraid or both to own and defend them Therefore they put this Varnish upon their Works of Darkness as those false Coiners do who to cover their Brass or other base Metal cover and gloss it over with Silver and then for the present it will pass with many but this was soon seen and discovered and accounted to be not worth the noticing But alas such is the Stupidity of the ignorant Followers of the Quakers and the cunning Craftiness of their Ringleaders that it does great Hurt amongst them and for their sakes these Wiles of Satan ought to be laid open But I commend Father Penn he had more Wit in his Anger than to recite the Clergy's Fifth Charge as by them stated he is not such a Fool but do know that the Light within AS taught by the Quakers leaves them without any certain Rule and exposes them to those Errors and Blasphemies the Clergy charged them with and many other Errors And therefore when he had Occasion in their new sham Bristol-Creed to recite it he politickly left out the Word AS and said The Light within us taught by us seeming thereby to know very well that the Light within AS taught by them did expose them c. But I having first replied to John Fiddiman c. who by the Sameness of the Arguments seems to be the Author of this Letter but I rather take it to be John Feild for the Reasons given And next not only the Clergy but my self have fully proved this Fifth Charge viz. That the Light within AS taught by the Quakers leaves them without any certain Rule and exposes them to the recited Blasphemies by the Clergy which was I. Blasphemy against God II. Blasphemy against Jesus Christ III. Blasphemy against the Holy Scriptures I say these things being first proved by the Clergy in their Book A Brief Discovery c. and by me by way of additional Proof because one Book may come where another does not and not only so but from many Instances out of the Scriptures I have from thence shewed that the Way Manner and Method of the Quakers Teaching is directly contrary to the Way Manner and Method of the Prophets Christ and the Apostles and all Christian Churches to this Day
her Judases If so how many Thousand Judases are there among the Quakers Secondly Are all that receive Money to support them in their Livelihoods Judases Then G. Whitehead Fox Cater and all or most of the Quaker-Teachers are such If not why may not the Church of England be charitable in their supporting their Members without being compared to the Jews who Crucified the Lord of Life and Glory as well as the Quakers And Thirdly If this obscure Author be a Member of the Church of England which I do not grant but believe him to be a Quaker in Disguise or at least one nearly related to them peradventure a Muggletonian a Deist a Socinian a Ranter or a Jesuit But still suppose he be a Member of the Church of England has he gone to the Clergy Has he spoke privately to them and endeavour a Reformation And when that would not do has he gone to their Governors in a Regular way and that for Two or Three Years together as I did before he exposes them in Print saying p. 5. Let me go where I will you are all charged with one thing or other amiss Some with Covetousness some with Pride some with Drunkenness indeed what not For most Folks will have one Story or other to tell of a Parson Perhaps you 'd say that 's no new thing the great Lord Jesus was call'd a Wine-Bibber a Friend to Publicans and Sinners and Paul was called a Sinner and a Babbler But Sirs remember this those that accused Christ and his Apostles were not of the same Society or Communion with them they were Unbelievers But these that accuse you are Men of our own Church c. I say did this Judas ever go to any of these Ministers whom he thus secretly smites at If not he can be no true Son of the Church but some base-born Bastard Brat of Ham's Family and this may be the Reason why he is ashamed of his Name But may not I say the like of the Quakers for I am as much a Quaker as he is a true Son of the Church Do not I here where ever I come or may I not if I were industriously concerned to find out their Immoralities find something or other amiss even amongst their Teachers and Writers and Defenders of their Faith Yea that I do or may if I will How that some are Covetous some are Drunkards alias wet Quakers some are Proud some have been Traytors to their Country some have been hang'd for Felony See my Pilgrim's Progress c. But says this base-born obscure Scribler Sirs remember those that called Christ and his Apostles Wine bibbers Publicans and Sinners were not of Christ's and the Apostles Commanion but those that accuse the Clergy are of the same Communion and therefore what Fran. Bugg and other Apostates say let it be ever so true let them have Witnesses to prove what they say let them name the Persons let them particularize their Enormities tell them when and where Day Month and Year with all other demonstrable Arguments all this is nothing the Quakers are still innocent still blameless and true Ministers of Christ A special Son of the Church of England indeed as Men sometimes speaks by the Rule of Contraries No nothing avails unless I can produce as good a Member of the Schism of Quakerism to testifie against the Quaker-Teachers as he is of the Church of England who thus exposes the Clergy all will not do But then to suit him and to bring an equal Parallel and of which too I can bring many Witnesses to strengthen and corroborate her Evidence it shall be Anne Docwra of Cambridge eldest Daughter of William Waldgrave of Buers Son of Sir William Waldgrave the younger I know she loves to have it known that she came of a Family above the common Size as well as this obscure Author loves to have the Testimony of them of the same Communion and I am willing herein to gratifie them both And now let us hear what she says of the Quaker-Teachers namely That they are the most confident Liars that ever she met with that they are abuseful Forgers and suspected to be Jesuits as like Knights of the Post as one Pea is like another That 't is common with them to set the Names of their tame Vassals to Books and Certificates and that such as refuse Submission to ruin them both in their Trades and Reputations That their separate Men's Meetings are Nurseries of Contention and dangerous to the Peace of the Nation and serve to little Purpose but to shelter great Bellies and to ingross the Properties of their honest Friends whilst the Vicious the Proud the Covetous and lying Hypocrites are covered and protected It is very sad says she that Men should be so confident in their Wickedness And now I will appeal to all good Christians who have read the Histories of the Popish Councils and Club of Cardinals whether ever there were a more deceitful Tribe of Men. All this I believe is true and know the greatest part of it to be so and I know also much more of the same Nature and of as deep a Dye which I have set forth in my Pilgrim's Progress But to humor this pretended Member of the Church of England whilst yet I have Grounds to believe him to be a real Quaker I have produced the Testimony of a real Quaker and one that has been a Quaker nigh 30 Years and now in the Unity that so it may have the more weight with him and be a Means to bring him out to pull off his Mask and to appear in his own Sanguine Complexion But that we may not want Evidence of what the Quaker-Teachers are not to mention the many Quotations which I could bring out of the Books wrote against the Quakers Errors by the Presbyterians Independants and Baptists who agreeable to the Church of England hold the Fundamentals of Christianity however differing in some Ceremonies relating to Discipline Order and Government which would be too voluminous here to recite yet having their Judgment of the Fruits and Doctrines of Quakerism well attested I shall here incert it that so the Professors of Christianity whether the Church of England or the Protestant Dissenters who agree in the main may stand by themselves on the one Hand studying the things that make for Peace and the Increase of Love and mutual Forbearance one with another all striving together for the Maintenance of the common Cause of Christianity and the Quakers Ranters Muggletonians and their Brethren the Deists Socinians and Mahometans whose Principles and Doctrine tend to subvert the Christian Faith and to overturn both Church and State may stand in their proper place I say for this end shall I subjoin their Testimony against Quakerism and with which I find the Church of England have great Unity and with it I shall conclude this short Tract viz. That the Quakers render the Holy Scriptures to be of no more Authority than Esop 's Fables That the Blood of Christ is no better than the Blood of another Saint that the Quakers are the Spawn of the Ranters that the Quakers owning of Christ is no more than a Mystical Romance that the Tendency of all the Quakers reasoning about Instituted Religion is to debauch Mankind that their Principles improved are destructive to all Humane Society that their Teachers are Cheats and Impostors and Implacable Enemies to the Christian Religion And as I believe their Testimony herein to be Truth so I do also hereby testifie and declare that what I have wrote in my former Books and what I have herein wrote respecting their Errors I do profess before God Angels and Men that I believe what I have wrote nor am I conscious to my self that I have wronged them but am still ready to meet George Whitehead upon the Terms proposed in my Pilgrim's Progress from Quakerism to Christianity c. p. 172. and to prove my Charge therein exhibited as well from Matter of Fact as Argument the former being already done at West-Dercham Church in Norfolk Dec. the 9th 1698. in the Presence of several Gentlemen Justices of the Peace many of the Clergy of the Church of England and many Hundreds more of Persons of Note A Certificate thereof is incerted in my Book Quakerism Exposed to Publick Censure c. in the Preface May 25. 1699. Francis Bugg Postscript to the READER Reader AS it was the Manner and Way of the Quakers in the beginning to carry out their Books to great Towns and Cities to spread Quakerism so have I taken some Pains to disperse my Books as an Antidote against the Growth of Quakerism upon which I find their Rage increase against me and the Proverb is Words go before Blows And remembring what Mr. Young an Independant Minister told me and George Keith in the Presence of divers others that he having some Dispute with Jacob Francklyn about Will Penn's Doctrine Jacob Francklyn grew high and hot and told him he deserv'd to be bang'd and soon after in Moorfields the said Mr. Young was knockt down was carried into a House all bruised and bloody but not robb'd tho' both a Watch and Money in his Pocket And George Whitehead the last time I saw him in Jewen-street threatned me that God's Judgments would pursue me and that now I write against I know not certainly who And knowing 't is dangerous fighting in the Dark and they that can thus colour over a Quaker with the Name of a Member of the Church of England I have great Reason to fear they can procure one to murther my Body as well as my Name and then say he is none of them 't was some Member of the Church of England I do therefore most solemnly declare that if I come to an untimely Death that I lay it to the Charge of the Quakers May the 5th 1699. Francis Bugg FINIS