pretended Minister of the Gospel to have consulted before he had engaged himself upon so strange a Skirmish That this Injury done me may more distinctly appear I shall here set down once more I hope without Offence to the Reader the present Parson's Text not his Sermon that 's too tedious No Command in the Scripture is any further obliging upon any Man then as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience It is Conviction that can only oblige to Obedience When any Man is convinced that what was commanded another is required of him then and not till then he is rightly authorized to perform it I omit to mention his Comment but every Thing that is vicious prophane and diabolical he makes to follow upon those Premises That my Reader may the better see whether my Matter and Design at large merits any such Constructions I chuse to insert and that as the best and briefest Way the 5th Chapter of my Rejoynder to J. Faldo which contains his Charge and Proof my Answer thus pared and patched by J. C. his Reply and my Rejoynder as a more compleat Defence of E. B's and my Assertion against the vile Interpretations of J. Faldo so dexterously followed by J. C. and therefore equally fit for him Here follows the 5th Chapter of my Rejoynder to J. F. containing a Vindication of my Doctrine from any such Evil Consequences as are by I. C. charged upon it with this further Advertisement that the Reader observe that those Lines of Capital Letters are the Passages quoted by I. C. and all the rest of my Answer in the Common Letter with Comma's on the sides herein recited and much more is wilfully omitted by my Adversary also the Reader is desired to consider of the Marginal Notes by which he will be help't to understand the Disingenuity of I. C. against me my Friends and our holy Profession Of Scripture-Commands what are binding and what not Our Adversary's Disingenuity observed BUt however he has fail'd in his last Chapter doubtless he thinks he has done my Business in this he begins like himself Rep. My Charge and Argument in this Chapter is The Quakers affirm the Doctrines Commands Promises holy Examples expressed in Scripture as such not to be at all binding to us such an Argument and so proved by me mark Reader as a Thousand Penns can never invalid it Rejoyn What can there be more conceited then this He must live very lonely and far from Neighbours that proclaims so much Praise to himself and have wonderful Confidence to bid Defiance so vainly to others Reader I beseech thee for the Truth 's sake on whose side soever thou shalt find it to be to examine with all Impartiallity his Charge our Answer his Reply and our Rejoynder If his Honesty Reason and Justice hold any Proportion to his great Confidence we yield But if upon an impartial Consideration he shall be found to clip and pervert our Matter and to shuffle with us in his own once do a poor People Right in giving Judgment against this horrible Injustice The Charge thou hast heard the Proof was this That is no Command of God to me what he commanded to another Did any of the Saints which we read of act by that Command which was to another not having the Command to themselve c. Now before I give my Answer as it was set down in my Book I shall insert his Quotation of my Answer Rep To this saith P. I answer briefly and plainly and he is as good as his word No Commands saith he in the Scripture are any further obliging upon any Man then as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience otherwise men should be engaged without if not against Conviction a thing unreasonable in a Man Rejoyn He has a notable way of Contracting his Adversary's Answers I will set down what I writ faithfully plainly and briefly Edward Burroughs's Expression may be taken two wayes and both safe enough to the Honour and Credit of the Scripture though not to the Charity or Honesty of J. Faldo Now follows that part he cited NO COMMAND IN THE SCRIPTURE IS ANY FURTHER OBLIGING UPON ANY MAN THEN AS HE FINDS A CONVICTION UPON HIS CONSCIENCE otherwise Men should be engaged without if not against Conviction a thing Unreasonable in a Man Therefore the Apostle when he wrote to the Church exhorted them not to do those things whereof they were ashamed to shun what was manifested to be Evil and affirms that whatever might be known of God was manifested within for God had shown is unto them SO THAT CONVICTION CAN ONLY OBLIGE TO OBEDIENCE and since what works that Conviction is the manifesting Light universal Grace or quickning Spirit in the Heart of Mankind it follows that the principal Ground for our Faith in the Scriptures and Reason of our Obedience to the holy Precepts therein contained is the Manifestation Conviction and secret drawing of the Light or Spirit of God in the Conscience And thus E B's words are sound and scriptural for the Scriptures are chiefly believed to be true upon Conviction therefore every Practice therein AND WHEN ANY MAN IS CONVINCED THAT WHAT WAS COMMANDED ANOTHER IS REQUIRED OF HIM THEN AND NOT TILL THEN HE IS RIGHTLY AUTHORIZED TO PERFORM IT Again Such Commands either relate to Ordinary or Extraordinary Cases By Ordinary Cases I mean such as chiefly concern Faith and holy Life which are general permanent and indispensible and then I deny his Consequence By Extraordinary Cases I understand Moses 's going to Pharaoh the Prophets several manneres of Appearance to the Kings Priests and People of Israel with other Temporary Commands relating to outward services c. And so we say that what is commanded One Man is not binding as such upon another But when the Lord shall say If thou sinnest thou shalt dye If thou keepest my Commands thou shalt â—ive Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy For your selves KNOW YE NOT how ye ought to follow us c I say these Precepts and Examples are obliging upon all why because they more or less meet with a Conviction In the Consciences of all For I am perswaded none that has a reasonable Soul who has not out-lived his Day but would readily say These are true and weighty Sayings For Faith in God and a holy self-denying Life are necessary both to Temporal Eternal Happiness It was Reader to this sober Answer he slung out his foregoing Rant and makes this following Comment and Reply Viz. says J. Faldo Rep. They are no Commands unless we think so 'T is no sin to break all the Commands in the Bible if our Consciences can be so blind dead or hardened as not to tell us 't is a sin They who thought they did God good service in killing his Servants did not sin in the least because they were not convinced of a Command to the contrary To vindicate
the Christian Religion we came to see that true Christianity was another Thing then the World apprehended and that as he was no more a Jew that was one outward so neither was he a Christian that was one outward but he was a true Jew and Christian that was one inward whose Praise is not of Men but of God in this Zeal that God had begotten in us for his own living Way the spiritual Circumcision the right Christianity namely To be Christ like to do the Will of God in Earth as it is done in Heaven to live unspotted from the World and no more we to live rule and order but Christ that liveth in us which is to have eternal Life abiding in us In this godly Zeal I say for this pure and living Way we frequently testified to all People what God had done for us where he found us what he discovered to us what he condemned us for what he redeemed us from and what he had brought us to earnestly recommending the Light of Christ within that manifests the Mind of Christ unto them vehemently decrying the lifeless Profession they worship God the eternal Spirit in and shewing to them a more excellent Way because a more pure and spiritual Way manifesting to them how that they called Christ their Lord and did not obey him their Saviour and were not saved from Sin by him yea how they magnify'd him in the History and crucify'd him in the Mystery warning them of their carnal Faith Hope and Security they lived in which cleansed not their Consciences from dead Works nor overcome the vain and wicked Spirit of the VVorld particularly exhorting them to turn away from their hireling Teachers that had caused them to err who though they say'd Thus saith the Lord the Lord never spoke by them and God said of old such should not profit the People who fed and clothed themselves of the Flock but had no heavenly Bread no green Pastures no pure Fountain to feed and refresh the Flock with and that all should learn of the Lord that teacheth his people himself by his own good Spirit in their inward Parts according to the Tenure of his second and everlasting Covenant that they turn not again unto Folly For this Testimony sake hath the Devil raged and plotted our Ruine ever since we have been a People now like a Lyon then like a Lamb one while in the Appearance of a Serpent another while in the Shape of a Dove but the Lord God Jehovah hath kept us hitherto none of his Weapons hath yet prospered and 't is our Faith none even shall for our Confidence is in him whom the Winds and Seas obey Sometimes they tell us of our Novelty as the Jews did Christ Abraham was before thee say the Jews Before Abraham was I am says Christ the Christians were counted Vpstarts both by Jews and Gentiles yet their Way and so ours the pure plain spiritual Religion Worship was before Jew or Gentils were anon we are Ignorant Illiterate Mechanical by and by we are Subtil Jesuites Crafty Deceivers then Familists as quickly Papists by some counted Enemies to Caesar by others Temporizers our Visage is continually marr'd in the Eyes of the Outside Christians as was our blessed Lord and Masters in the Eyes of the Outside Jews for what can escape their Censure there is a Sort of Men nothing pleases one sayes we are Socinians owning Christ to be but meerrly a Man another that we are Sabellians and Valentinians and deny the Manhood of Christ starts up a third and sayes The Quakers expect to be justified by their own Works a fourth presently cryes out They will do nothing unless the Spirit move them how are the Works ours then some imprison us because for Conscience sake we cannot take up Arms others for Fear we should Again our Plainness in Apparrel is concluded Singularity our proper Speech Rudeness our Scripture-Dialect Canting if we conscientiously refuse them our Hat 't is Pride if out of pure Tenderness we cannot swear 't is Contempt of Authority and if we deny to pay the Parson Tythes 't is reputed Robbery though we have nothing for our Money of him In fine our Silence goes for Sullenness our Sobriety for Morosity our Frugality for Covetousness and for our Doctrines they are only Antipodes to Truth for we are made to deny God Christ Spirit the Immortality of the Soul yet that we hold our Souls to be God Christ and holy Spirit too that we deny the Scriptures Ministry Church-Ordinances Justification and Salvation by Christ the Resurrection Rewards and Punishments and which is yet further observable as it fared with or dearest Master and his Followers then The Scribes Pharisees Saduces Galileans c. ready just before to devour one another immediately united and combined to oppose traduce trap and ensnare them so has it fallen out with us for the Hand of every party hath been lifted up against us I scarcely know one that is under any considerable Notice in Christendom however violent and irreconcilable among themselves that hath refused that common League and Confederacy or that hath not by some or other of its principal Agents vigorously if not scornfully and persecutingly decry'd and oppos'd us yet are we alive and a people blessed be the Name of the Lord this leads me to ask the Question why did they so use our blessed Lord and his Disciples the Answer is easie Because they saw him not they knew him not nor his Followers as they were they had lost their Divine Savour and professed the VVords and Sayings of Moses and the Prophets not in their Life and Spirit and I can give no other Reason why we are so little known to the World of Christians in our Age then that they hold generally the Christian profession out of the Christian Nature Life and Spirit for we are the most mis-understood and mistaken of people whence it follows that our Antagonists of every Party have charged us with Doctrines and Principles not of our owning but their own Mistaking if not Inventing which is worse 't were too tedious to enumerate all their Attempts there are not less I believe then One Hundred Books extant two thirds of the most of them are Imagination Romance Fiction and no Judgment or Doctrine of ours This is Notorious by our Answers and I hope every man's word is to be taken about what his own Faith is though not in the Proof of his Faith to be a True Faith Of later Times two Persons have excelled in this Way of Opposing us Thomas Hicks and John Faldo they are both Answered according to their respective Tracts and their further Defence remaineth hitherto unattempted by any 'T is with a Passage in my Answer to J. Faldo's first Book that this same I. C. stiled A Minister of the Gospel and a Skirmisher too offers at an Encounter I question not his Courage so much as his Skill he shows Will enough but his Abilities
fail him I am willing to perswade my self that he is more Novice then Souldier in this War and that this is rather a Spurt of Heat then a Deliberate Action for Wise Men count their Cost Fools only invade without Force I hope he will not be angry with me for this Opinion of him I am sure he ought not if he be a Minister of the Gospel I know not how he will take it as a Skirmisher an Employment of so different a Nature but certain it is that Mistake is more pardonable then Malice and Ignorance excusable then Fiction I would not willingly fall upon him with those severe Terms and put him upon that Difficulty I have been constrained to treat others with and reduce them to I would chuse rather to inform then chide him only I must tell him that he is fallen into the Road of as great and arch a Perverter of our Writings and Sayings as any Enemy that ever appear'd against us and improved his Mistake upon us by as many Foul Impious and Detestable Consequences even to a Tautology as that of any other Adversary hath done which would make one think that there was more of Design then Accident and Premeditation then Inadvertency in the Business Be it as it will the Man pretends to be offended at me endeavours to make others offended too 'T is highly fit as a Christian-man that I do my best to remove the Reason of it and that I shall by the Help of Almighty God First then I will set down that Passage of mine which he makes the Reason of writing his Pamphlet annex some of the Consequences he draws from my words by which he would render them and me Odious to his Reader and then fall to my Defence which will not be difficult and I hope not tedious to my ingenuous and inquiring Reader No Command in the Scripture is any further obliging upon any man then as he finds a Conviction upon his Conscience It is Conviction that can only oblige to Obedience When any man is convinced that was commanded another is required of him then and not till then he is rightly authorized to perform it These Parcels has he cull'd out of a Book of mine Quakerism a New Nick Name for Old Christianity I writ in Answer to John Faldo's Book entituled Quakerism No Christianity Let 's now see the Use he makes of them and what Language he makes them to speak That this Position opens the Flood-gate to all Error Atheism Impiety and Wickedness and that it is the Overthrow of all Law and Government p. 2 That sins of Ignorance are no sins for all Conviction is by Knowledge that this justifies Paul 's Blasphemy and Persecution and gross sins against the Gospel because he did it ignorantly p. 3. It justifies all Erronious Doctrines and Practical Misapprehensions and whatever Vices lie in the Vnderstandings of men Penn's Position doth justifie the Irish Rebellion the French Massacre the Marian Persecution the Ten Persecutions of the Primitive Churches the Gunpowder Treason Judaism Mahometanism Paganism Popery and all Erroneous Sects and Parties in the World with all their False Principles and Practices Christ saith It is Life Eternal to know God and Christ Jesus John 17. 3. Penn's Position saith If you are ignorant and unconvinced no Law can lay hold on you if you be deluded and practise according to the Conviction of your deluded Mind you are warranted by the Command of God which do all center in Conviction p. 4. Again If this Position be true then Conscience and Conviction is God and whatever Conscience sayes must be done be it right or wrong and it lies in the power of Conscience to make void all the Laws of God and to do what it pleaseth It will also follow that he is the most free from Sin who hath the most feared Conscience and that the ready Way to Obedience and Salvation is to debauch and sear the Conscience If Conviction be the Ground of Obedience and the Authority of Scripture depend upon the Rectitude and Purity of Conscience then all Rational Laws Order and Government both divine and human are overturned and a stop is put to all Religion and Piety towards God to all Conscience Honesty and Charity towards Men So Princes and Rulers may command and make never so good Laws Conscience may come and say I deny all these Laws and the Maker of them Children may refuse to obey Parents Servants Masters and Inferiour Superiours if Conscience shall be unconvinced and if it be deluded Subjects may murder their Princes Children their Parents Servants their Masters one Man another there can be no Law but Conscience and whatsoever Conscience sayes must stand p. 5 6 The Quakers Conscience sayes one Thing the Papists another the Pagans the Turks the Jews the Tyrants the Traytors the Hereticks the Worldlings the Hypocrites the Proud the Adulterers Conscience how many contrary Consciences are these how many Gods shall we have and contradictory Laws if Conscience and Conviction be the only Thing which obligeth to Duty p. 6 7. These with Abundance more of the like Nature are the Consequence he rather bestows upon then draws from my Words as particularly he hath laid them down pray hear his Farewel after such a violent and virulent Skirmish I would be glad to make the best of your Position but I must profess my Conscience and Conviction p. 13 I refer my self and what I have here writ to Impartial Censure warning and entreating all People as they love their Souls to take heed of Quakerism Keep your Poyson to your self and none will perish by it but your self but if you will needs vend it and in the View of the Nation and such at least as know the English Tongue set up a Position subverting all Religion Law and Government and levelling all holy and profitable Rules and Commands to Mens Lusts leaving no Man in the World under any Obligation or any Duty to God or Man further then he is convinced in his Conscience be it known to you that Jesus Christ hath his Servants abroad to bear Testimony for him against such GOD-BLASPHEMING AND SOUL-DAMNING ERRORS and if you repent not this that I have written shall rise up in Judgment against you and shall be an Aggravation of your Misery in that Day Prepare to answer the righteous Judge if your Conscience be blinded and seared now it will be open and awaken then This Reader concludes his two Sheets of Skirmish upon me But by the way it ought to sound very strangely to my Reader that a man should profess Conscience and Conviction for this long Anathema against Conscience and Conviction But by that time he is as well acquainted with these sort of men as I am he will leave off wondring that such men contradict themselves indeed they live by it But what shall I do or say to this Goliah Behold the Spoil of his Skirmish He has invaded my Body and