guide teach and instruct the Sons of Men as the other neither can teach Men except God immediately inspire them You see by this how these divinely-inspired Men esteem the Scriptures of Truth See the joint Consent of two of their chief Guides Fox and Hubberthorne Truth 's Defence p. 101. they say The Scriptures are no standing Rule and that it is dangerous for the ignorant People to read them Surely if they had bin brought up at St. Omers they could not more positively have denied the Scriptures I hope the Reader will remember how these chief Guides amongst the Quakers agree with the Account in the Pamphlet see pag. 29. of Mr. Hicks's Dialogue One Thomas Holbrow a great Zealot among the Quakers as appeared by the Journey he took to deliver a Message to one James Nobs which he said was immediately delivered to him from the Lord But it so unhappily fell out that James Nobs was forty Miles off when the said Holbrow came to the Meeting so that either the God that sent Holbrow did not know Nobs or else at least was ignorant that he was gone from Home at that time for he delivered the Message to a wrong Person This I have had testified to me as a Truth by several in those Parts And in p. 27. Dial. But this is not what I intend for afterwards Tho. Holbrow having some Reasonings with James Nobs and his Wife the said Nobs urging many Scriptures against Holbrow the said Holbrow replied What dost thou tell me of Scriptures which are no better to me than an old Almanack It is like when Humphrey Smith's True and Everlasting Rule came in date the Scriptures became no better than an old Almanack The brevity of this short Discourse will not admit me to draw the proper Inferences that would naturally flow from these Premises These are the Men that in their Pamphlet profess so high an Esteem for Holy Scriptures See James Pernell's Book Christ Exalted p. 4. Christ is the Word the Scripture is not Christ is the Light the Scripture is not he is the Ruler Guide Teacher and Judg the Scripture is not And thus he goes on like a Cloud carried with the Wind. It is like from the Title of his Book he concludes from these Expressions to exalt Christ when indeed he casts the greatest contempt upon him Christ saith If any Man love me he will keep my Word What are the written Words of Christ but Scripture But more of this hereafter Dialog 1. p. 24 25. Christian is it then ingenuous and honest for you to deny the Scriptures to be a Rule to others tho at the same time but by misinterpreting it you make it a Rule to your selves Are you not ashamed of this Deceit and self-condemning Partiality Quaker Thou mistakest us we own not the Scriptures to be our Rule and whereas thou hast said many things to render us guilty of condemning this in others whilst we our selves seemingly allow it to be so which is but thy own Imagination for when we make use of Scripture it is only to quiet and stop their Clamours that plead for it as their Rule but for us had the Scriptures never been we could have known what is therein contained I hope the Reader by this may perceive the Reason why the Quakers talk so much of Scripture in their Paper observe We own not the Scripture we seemingly allow it but our End in this is only to stop their Clamours that plead for it as their Rule You see here the condescending Spirits of these Men that they should allow the Scriptures to others ay and make use of them to please others and yet not own them as a Rule themselves but their End is to stop clamorous Tongues But here is their great disadvantage the old Birds will not be caught with this Chaff their seeming Allowances will not pass for Christian Principles When the Mask is taken off as Westfield said concerning Christ you are not able to bear what we have to hold forth concerning him should we deliver what we hold concerning Jesus Christ we should be stoned in the Streets Westfield a Quaker Dialog p. 74 75. And indeed should they hold forth in their Teaching what hath dropt from the Pens and Mouths of their chief Guides at some times they would draw but few in their right Minds into their clouded Delusions But observe what is before said As for us had the Scriptures never been we could have known what is therein contained This I have also heard from their own Mouths Then I desire the Quakers to resolve me in these two Questions it is said John 21. 25. And there are also many other things that Jesus did the which if they should be written every one I suppose that even the World it self could not contain the Books c. Again it is said John 8. 6 -8. when the Woman taken in Adultery was brought to Christ that he stooped down and wrote with his Finger on the ground c. Now let the Quakers resolve me by their immediate Inspirations what those things were that Jesus did that are not written and what were the Contents of that Writing on the Ground or else let their proud Boastings of immediate Inspiration be condemned to perpetual silence and Shame cover their Faces And waiting for their Resolve herein I proceed to examine the Suffrage of great George Fox who thinks he doth the business effectually see his Difference of Ministers pag. 1. he discants upon John 1. 1. Thus John did not say the Declaration was the Word but saith in his Declaration the Word was God and he that saith the Letter is the Word is a Deceiver and errs The Argument lies here because Christ is called the Word the Scriptures must not be so called John said the Word was God then the Scriptures cannot be the Word except they be God also It seems by the Quakers Logick they are Deceivers and err that call the Scriptures the Word of God the Reason is because Christ is so called Why then let us see 1 Cor. 10. 4. Israel in the Wilderness drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ But are there not other Rocks properly so called A Rock is a hard congealed heap of Stone John 10. 1. God is called an Husbandman but are not Men that plow and till the Ground properly so called Christ is called a Vine a Door and a Shepherd but are there not other Vines Doors and Shepherds in a proper sense Sure the Quakers will grant there are Christ is called the Light of the World and yet Mat. 5. 14. he tells his Disciples they were the Lights of the World We own Christ to be called the Word of God and yet the Scripture is so called in a true and proper sense Christ is the only begotten Son of God Joh. 3. 16. 1 Cor. 8. 6. Eph. 4. 5. But he hath more words than one Mat. 4. 4. a Scripture from Deut.
8. 3. to oppose the Devil's Assault Man lives not by Bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God Prov. 30. 5. Every Word of God is pure Jer. 23. 36. the Complaint is The false Prophets had perverted the Words of the Living God A great Evil and too common in this day But would the Quakers have the Word always to intend Christ Mark 4. 19. The Cares of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches and the Lusts of other things entring in choke the Word Will the Quakers say these things entring in choked Christ Surely no. By all this the judicious Reader will see the Endeavours that have been used by the Quakers to explode the holy Scriptures not only to rob them of their Nature Use Power and Efficacy but also of their very Name But let all Christians learn to prize them and carefully improve them and be thankful to Divine Providence by which they have been preserved through all Times and against all Tyrants Psal 19. 7 8. David sets forth the worth of them The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The Statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the Heart the Commandments of the Lord are pure enlightning the Eyes 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. They are able to make wise to Salvation Soul thou needest not fear miscarrying if thou makest the holy Scriptures the Rule of thy Faith and Guide of thy Life This short Treatise will not admit me to enlarge I shall leave this short Scheme by which the Reader may judg what an Esteem the Quakers have for holy Scriptures they so much pretend to in their Pamphlet The Names they give the holy Scriptures Scriptures no standing Rule it is dangerous for the ignorant to read them No better than an old Almanack neither Rule Guide Light nor Teacher A dead carnal Letter They are Precepts and Traditions of Men. Paper Iak and Writing The Letter without Swine feeding on Husks Obedience to Scriptures is the Harlot's Child You may as well expect God to teach or rebuke by any other Creature as the Scripture as he did Balaam by his Ass The Names they give their own lying Pamphlets A true and everlasting Rule The Royal Law and Covenant of God Love to the Lost News out of the North written from the Mouth of God The pure Language of the Spirit A Salutation to the Seed of God The Lip of Truth The Spirit of Truth A Trumpet from the Lord sounding out of Zion A true Prophecy of the mighty Day of the Lord. The Word of the Lord and a Word from the Lord p. 13. of the Mighty Day of the Lord. Blusn O Heavens and tremble O Earth at the Pride and Ignorance of these Impostors I shall add but two or three Passages more concerning their Contempt of the Scriptures see Tho. Lawson Vntaught Teacher p. 6 7 8. The Scriptures are not a Rule whereby Men may know the Will of Christ And in Pag. 2 and 3. of the same Book he denies that the Ministers of Christ endowed with the Spirit of Christ ought to minister or preach from Scripture Add to this what is said in Cloud of Witnesses a Book of theirs p. 1 3 4. But the Priests of England the blind Guides they do teach the People and say Hearken to the Word of the Lord as it is in such a Chapter and Verse Now is it not a sign that the Quakers are untaught Teachers indeed but let the Word of God be true and these Men Liars Did not our Lord make use of the Scriptures in teaching Mat. 21. 42. saith Christ Did ye never read in the Scriptures The Stone that was set at naught by you Builders and Mat. 22. 29. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures Surely they will not deny Christ to have the Spirit and he proves the Resurrection of the Dead by Scripture Exod. 3. 6. Surely Peter had the Spirit yet he proves Christ to be the great Prophet Acts 3. 22. from Deut. 18. 15. And will they deny Philip to be endowed with the Holy Ghost Acts 8. 35. he preacheth Jesus to the Eunuch from Isa 53. And Acts 17. 2 11. Paul reasoned and preached out of the Scriptures and the Bereans searched the Scriptures to try whether Paul's Doctrine was true or not The Reader may see from hence with what an open Face these deluded Impostors will assert apparent Falshoods From all this it appears the Quakers are great Enemies to and Contemners of holy Scriptures and that what they say in their Pamphlet is a great Falshood II. I proceed to examine the other part of their first Article professed in their Paper Article Our Belief is That in the Unity of the Godhead there is Father Son and Holy Ghost being those three Divine Witnesses that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the holy Spirit This Profession looks like good and Orthodox Christianity but yet when it comes to be weighed it will be found wanting I shall only examine what Heaven this is the Quakers intend not in the glorious Heavens above beyond the Clouds and starry Heavens no by no means it 's ridiculous to speak of an imagined God beyond the Stars it is the Heaven within thee where these three Divine Witnesses are you will hear their severe Rebukes by and by if you will have any other Heaven to be meant as their Residence See James Parnell's Book Satan's Design discovered p. 19 25. he affirmeth They that confess not Christ to be come in their Flesh are the Antichrist and also affirmeth That by preaching of Christ in Heaven the Devil gets his Work done on Earth Pray what is fairly to be inferred from hence why the Heaven they intend is no where else but within their Mortal Corrupt Bodies or else Christ is not one of those three Divine Witnesses they speak of in the Paper for they will allow of no other Christ but what is in every Man And see further Tho. Lawson in his Book against William Jeffery calls him Thou Image-maker thou Cockatrice hatching Eggs Vulters Eye c. because William Jeffery had said that Christ was ascended into Heaven with that Body that was raised from the Dead And they intend no other Heaven than what is within them and thus they must be understood in their Pamphlet for see Lawson's Book p. 9 and 19. they say that they have eternal Life now really in Possession But would you have it more plain that the Quakers Heaven is within them take a Testimony out of Edward Burrough's Works Pag. 9 149. a chief Guide among them therefore you may take his word for it We say he that was slain upon the Cross is the very Christ of God and the very Christ of God is in us Tho Lucock being ask'd several times before many Witnesses where that Heaven was that Christ did ascend into and now was in he answered clapping his Hands
bid People believe in him as he is in Heaven above but they that are true preach Christ within It seems by the Quakers it is false Doctrine to teach People as Paul taught the Hebrews namely that their Mediator is in Heaven that their High-Priest is there They that are false Ministers preach Christ without your Carnal Christ is utterly denied by the Light your imagined God beyond the Stars But none can witness this whose Eye is outward looking at a Redeemer afar off c. Smith's Primmer p. 9. Sword of the Lord p. 24. Shield of Truth p. 30. But there hath been enough of this before They deny any other Heaven than what is within them as hath manifestly appeared Arg. Those that deny Christ to be entred into the glorious Heavens above deny the Priestly Office of Christ But the Quakers deny Christ to be entered into the glorious Heavens above Ergo they deny the Priestly Office of Christ The Minor hath been before proved namely that the Quakers deny Christ to be in the glorious Heavens above The Major is evident from Scripture Heb. 4. 14. Seeing then that we have a great High-Priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God Heb. 8. 1. We have such an High-Priest who is set on the Right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Burrough's Works p. 127. They that deny Christ to be the Light in every Man are Antichrists Smith's Primmer p. 8 9. The false Ministers preach Christ in Heaven saith Smith the Quaker and the true preach Christ within and these have no more Fellowship together than the East and West So that there is just so much difference betwixt the Doctrine of the Apostles and Quakers as there is between East and West 3. They deny the Blood of the Sacrifice Christ our High-Priest offered upon the Cross This I have before proved and shewed the scornful Contempt they have cast upon it at large And much more might be said if need were what else means their dropping such words as these Says Edw. Billing The Mystery of Iniquity lies in the Blood of Christ And say they Dost look at Christ's Death afar off What will that Blood avail didst ever see any of it that carnal Blood Can outward Blood cleanse if thou hadst a great deal of it would it do thee any good How apparently do they scorn that Blood of Christ shed upon the Cross But it 's most evident they deny Christ's Priestly Office 4. The Quakers cannot believe the Priestly or Mediatory Office of Christ because they have no need of a Mediator For if they are as perfect without Sin as God is says Leucock and are come to the end of Faith as saith Lawson's Book p. 10. And if Burrough's Works p. 33. say true That God doth not accept any where there is any failing or who doth not fulfil the Law and answer every Demand of Justice and this they say they do and are perfect then what need have they of the Mediatory Office of Christ It is certain Christians own a Perfection according to Gen. 17. 1. to be sincere and as our Saviour saith Be ye perfect Secondly We believe a Perfection through the Merits and Intercession of Christ Philip. 3. 12. Not as tho I were already perfect For if we say we have no Sin we should deceive our selves as the Quakers do But 1 John 2. 1. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous In and through him the Saints expected Perfection But Christians also expect compleat Perfection when they come to Glory on the other side of the Grave even when Mortality is swallowed up of Life But the Quakers believe they have the Kingdom of Christ and are in the glorious Possession of it already But that they are not I prove thus Arg. Those that are in the Possession of that Kingdom neither marry nor are given in Marriage c. But the Quakers do marry and are given in Marriage Ergo the Quakers are not in the Possession of that Kingdom The Minor is self-evident that they do marry c. The Major is proved from our Lord's words But let what hath been said suffice to make it appear that the Quakers deny the Priestly Office of Christ 3dly I shall proceed to examine how they own his Prophetick Office which they say yes verily we believe and own c. Now how can it be since they have so plainly denied Christ's Human Body as hath been shewed And Deut. 18. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me i. e. a Man unto him shall ye hearken he shall be according as you desired of the Lord in Horeb v. 16. You were afraid of God's speaking to you he shall raise you up a Prophet a Man the Man Christ Jesus of your Brethren like to me you shall not be terrified with the immediate Voice of God Exod. 20. 19. Now this is Christ whom Peter shews and declares Acts 3. 22. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you And it shall come to pass that every Soul that will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the People This is he that God the Father from Heaven testified of Mat. 17. 5. saying This is my beloved Son hear ye him This is he that was crucified and put to Death on the Cross and that rose from the Dead in his Body of Flesh and Bones Luke 24. 39. This is he that told Mary Joh. 20. 19. I go to my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God The Disciples did not expect this Christ to come into them But as I promised before my Death and Passion so I will send you the Comforter This is he that declares he hath all Power both in Heaven and in Earth and that gives his Commission to his Disciples Mat. 28. 19. injoyning them to teach and publish all his Commands and he saith He that heareth you heareth me and he that heareth me heareth him that sent me c. This is the Person denied by the Quakers to be this great Prophet as hath been shewed 2. They deny the Method used by this Prophet namely preaching from the Scriptures which he frequently did Mat. 21. 42. saith he Did ye never read in the Scriptures The Stone that was set at naught by you Builders the same is become the Head of the Corner Mat. 22. 29. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures John 5. 39. Search the Scriptures c. What was more frequent than for Christ to preach from the Scriptures and to convince his Opposers by them But the Quakers deny this Method for saith Lawson's Book p. 14. The Scriptures are not a Touch-stone to try Spirits withal And p. 15. he saith The written Law doth not convince Men of Sin And in his Book called The untaught Teacher p. 2 3. he denies that
upon his Breast Within me Within me I shall not trouble you much more in discovering to you the Quakers Heaven and what they intend by it G. Fox in his Great Mystery p. 16. writes thus Thou art deceived who saith Christ is distinct from the Saints Can any Man eat the Flesh of Christ if his Flesh be not in them Can you call him Christ in Man if the Man be not there George Whitehead Dip. Plong Christ without us is not Scripture-Language but the Anthropomorphites and Muggletonians and Socinians saith he tell us of a Personal Christ and that the Man Jesus our Lord hath a place in Heaven remote from the Earth Let this serve to satisfy the impartial Reader that the Quakers believe the Heaven they intend to be within them and they are but Hereticks that believe in a Christ in any other Heaven remote or at a distance from them for it is plain that they deny Christ to be a distinct Person without them And in like manner all the three Divine Witnesses they speak of that bear Record in Heaven are within them also for the Light within them is really and compleatly Christ and Christ is God But this will further appear under the next Head But let all Christians believe that Jesus Christ is at the Right-hand of the Father in the glorious Heavens above However the Quakers do endeavour with their false Glosses to abuse the World and bethrone Christ We own and believe those Scriptures in their true and proper sense 2 Cor. 13. 5. Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 1 Cor. 6. 19. Ye are the Temples of God and Christ in you the Hope of Glory c. And it is also true that the Saints are said to be in Christ 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any Man be in Christ he is or let him be a new Creature And he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and he in him How often doth Paul speak of the Faithful in Christ Jesus and he also speaks of some that were in Christ before him Now the Quakers if they are not stark blind may see in what sense Christ is said to dwell in the Saints that is by the Gifts and Graces of his holy Spirit Ephes 2. 22. the Saints are the Habitation of God through the Spirit For if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his These Gifts of the Holy Ghost Christ promised John 16. 7. I go to my Father and he will send the Comforter this Spirit of Truth to guide into all Truth which was accordingly poured upon the Apostles and Disciples Acts 2. at large And Acts 19. 2. Paul asks those Disciples at Ephesus whether they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed that is this Comforter that Christ had promised that when he went to the Father he would send Acts 5. 32. and give to them that obey him albeit the personal Ascension of Christ is fully witnessed to And to put this out of doubt read Luke 24. 49 50 51. And behold I send the Promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem till ye be endowed with Power from on high and then go and prosecute the Commission I have committed to you And he led them out as far as Bethany and he lift up his Hands and blessed them And it came to pass that while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into Heaven Compare Act. 1. 9. He was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight And while they looked stedfastly towards Heaven as he that is Jesus went up behold two Men stood by them in white Apparel which were two Angels ver 10. which also said Ye Men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into Heaven Ay saith George Whitehead in like manner but every Like is not the same Pitiful shift Thus you plainly see the Certainty of Christ's Ascension and that the Holy Ghost's Descension Acts 2. 3 4. ver 38. promised to the penitent believing obedient Soul But Act. 3. 20 21. He shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you Whom the Heavens must receive till the times of Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the Mouth of all his holy Prophets since the World began Now this Restitution is not yet tho the Spirit was come See Acts 7. 55. But he that is Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost mark that looked stedfastly up into Heaven and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing on the Right-hand of God ver 56. and there he saith I see the Son of Man standing at the Right-hand of God Observe Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost or of the Spirit of Christ when he had this glorious sight of Christ in the Heavens at the Right-hand of God and in the Glory of the Father Now it is the Faith of Christians that Christ shall come in this glorious Body the second time from Heaven Phil. 3. 20 21. We saith Paul look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ not for a greater Fulness of the Spirit as the Quakers dream for what greater Fulness could Paul expect if the Quakers Notion were true if Heaven and the whole Trinity were in him before But saith Paul we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Bodies and make them like his glorious Body Yea saith Christ you shall see the Son of Man come in Power and great Glory and every Eye shall see him c. Mat. 24. 26. It is more than probable that Christ pointed at this Generation of Impostors the Quakers who say Behold he is in the secret Chambers ay within thee not at a distance from thee Believe them not saith Christ for my second coming shall be visible as the Lightning or the Sun that riseth in the East and shines to the West every Eye shall see me c. Let this serve to construe what they intend in their Paper when they speak of three Divine Witnesses bearing Record in Heaven it is the Heaven within they intend III. I proceed to the third Head collected out of their Pamphlet as proposed to be examined and that is they profess to own the Divinity and Humanity of Christ I shall therefore proceed to examine their Belief herein and still I know no better way than to make use of their own Construing Books as the surest way not to wrong them for by comparing this professed Faith with the Writings of some of their chief Guides by that you will see whether they believe as they say or whether it be not only a gloss to deceive the Hearts of the Simple And in examining this Point of Faith professed by them I shall begin with their greatly admired George Fox in his Great Mystery c. p. 71.
without the Gates of Jerusalem that died was buried and rose again Luke 24. 39. saith Christ It is I my self Behold my Hands and my Feet handle and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as you see me have This I say is the Christ of God as Peter testifies Acts 2. 36. Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ I pass this and leave what hath been said and the Opinion of the Quakers about the Humanity of Christ to impartial Consideration But lest any should suppose the Quakers do not own such blasphemous condemning and railing Answers as Edw. Burroughs gave to the twenty Questions before hinted at some of which being about the Person or Humanity of Christ and Place of his Residence you have Mr. Penn warranting this Answer from God and by the sense of the Eternal Spirit for he declares It was the Portion and only fit Answer to be given to those trapanning Questions and saith he had Edw. Burroughs gone into a familiar opening unto his vulterous unclean serpertine Eye all the deep Things of the Spirit of God and Mysteries of Holy Kingdom who was in that nature that crucified the Lord of them Edw. Burroughs had brought the Wrath of the Eternal God upon himself instead of the Priest Will. Penn's Reas against Railing p. 164. IV. They profess in their Pamphlet That they believe and expect Salvation and Justification by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ and not by their own Righteousness or Works and that they believe Remission of Sins and Redemption through the Death Sufferings and Bloodshed of Christ This they make a plenary profession of in their Answer to their third and fourth Questions propounded I must now examine whether they believe what they have here so plausibly professed And there are three things to be enquired into which together with the circumstances and Concomitants will unfold their meaning in what they have here professed 1. What do the Quakers intend by the Death and Blood of Christ They do not believe in that Blood that was shed upon the Cross for Robert Ruckhill a Quaker saith in his Paper sent to Tho. Grantham That the Blood of Christ or Blood of Sprinkling never mortal Eye beheld And in pag. 11. of the same Paper he condemns all Professors that know no other Blood of Sprinkling than that which the Jews saw So that the Blood that our dear Lord shed upon the Cross they do not intend for John 19. 34. the Souldier pierced his Side and Water and Blood came out of his Wounds in the piercing of his Hands and Feet this the Souldiers and his Crucifiers saw But this is not the Blood intended see Tho. Lawson's Book pag. 18. I suppose they will not deny him to be a thorow-paced Quaker he saith The offering of Christ's Body to be broken and his Blood to be shed avails not so as through Faith therein to set free from Sin but Blood in a Mystery and a Body in a Mystery which we know not what it is saith Lawson But saith Pennington's Questions pag. 33. this we certainly know and can never call the bodily Garment Christ That is in plain English that Body of Flesh that they can never call Christ Pennington in another Page of the same Book asks Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience we witness the same Christ that ever was now manifest in the Flesh This Isaac Pennington was an approved Quaker Now if this be not the Mystery of Iniquity I know not what may be called so and it this be not to bring in those damnable Heresies denying the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2. 1. prophesied of by Peter what is for the Blood shed upon the Cross is not available say they Now why should these Impostors talk of the Blood of Christ and labour to perswade the World that they expect Justification Redemption and Salvation and the blessed Effects of his Suffering and Dying even Salvation See Pennington's Questions pag. 25. Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience can outward Water wash the Soul clean What plainer denial can there be of the Efficacy of the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross E. Burrough's Trumpet c. p. 17. All the Presbyterians and Independants with their feeding upon the Report of a thing done many hundred Years ago Thus they deridingly speak of such as believe in the Death and Sufferings of Christ upon the Cross I shall conclude this Confutation of their pretended Profession of Faith in the Blood of Christ Now if the Quakers will assign some other Blood of Christ besides the Blood of the Man Christ Jesus crucified on the Cross that is of this redeeming Nature and Efficacy then I shall be inclined to turn Quaker and not before But let Christians believe in Christ's Death and Blood-shed upon the Cross for Justification Sanctification and Redemption and let the Word of God be true and these Men Liars Rom. 3. 25. Rev. 1. 5. It was this Christ Jesus that was crucified upon the Cross that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood Heb. 9. 14. Col. 1. 14. We have Redemption through his Blood Heb. 13. 12. Wherefore Jesus also that he may sanctify the People with his own Blood suffered without the Gate c. See Rom. 5. 9 10. Col. 1. 20. Let us believe that Christ's Blood shed upon the Cross was to reconcile us to God Let us for ever admire God for this unspeakable Gift of his Son to die for us that he by the Grace of God should taste Death for every Man Heb. 2. 9. Again Let us believe love and obey so dear a Lord that so freely gave his Body to be broken pierced and mangled in that shameful manner to redeem sanctify and justify such that lay hold upon him Let the Love of Christ constrain us to be followers of God as dear Children and walk in Love as Christ hath loved us 2. Under this fourth Head they pretend to believe and expect Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ and Redemption by him I shall now examine whether they do believe and expect Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ Now if you will believe their Writings you will see this their Profession to be but a painted and deceitful Flourish for Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness of another is not by them believed See Edw Burrough's Works in Answer to the 14th Query p. 33. God doth not accept any where there is any failing or who do not fulfil the Law and answer every Demand of Justice This were there no other Instance confutes their plausible pretence to Justification and Remission by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ But see Will. Pen's Sandy Foundat p. 25 c. Justification is not from the Imputation of another's Righteousness but from the actual performing and
keeping God's righteous Statutes How is there Remission and Justification by the Merits of Christ according to their Profession in their Pamphlet when it must be by the perfect and exact Performance of the Law of God in the Creature Lawson's Book p. 18. affirms That the offering of Christ's Body to be broken and his Blood to be shed avails not so as through Faith therein to set free from Sin What is this but a plain denying Remission of Sins by the Blood of Christ And seeing we have Instances enow or too many why should we spare them Will. Pen speaks out See Apolog. p. 148. Justification by the Righteousness of another or which Christ fulfilled for us in his own Person wholly without us we boldly affirm to be a Doctrine of Devils and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption which doth now deluge the World See also Mr. Pen's Sandy Foundation p. 25 30. It is a great Abomination to say God should condemn and punish his Innocent Son that he having satisfied for our Sins we may be justified by the Imputation of his perfect Righteousness O why should this horrible thing be contended for by Christians O and why should the Quakers be such grand Deluders as so plainly pretend to believe it and say he died for your Sins and rose again for your Justification when ibid. p. 16. Mr. Pen saith That the Consequences of such a Doctrine is both irreligious and irrational And why should they believe Justification by Christ's Righteousness since Tho. Lucock affimed That he was as perfect without Sin as God is and blames others because they say with the Apostle In many things we offend all and this Doctrine of Perfection that is a Sinless living is the known Doctrine of the Quakers But let not Christians say they are without Sin lest they deceive themselves as the Quakers do 1 John 1. 8. And let us believe that the Lord laid upon Christ our Redeemer the Iniquities of us all Isa 53. 6. And as by one Man's Disobedience many were made Sinners so by the Obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5. 18. 3. They profess to believe Redemption and Salvation by Christ Let us examine what they intend by Redemption First Not Redemption of their Bodies from the Graves of the Earth for this is positively denied by them tho all Christians own it as a great Article of the Christian Faith Secondly Then what is to be redeemed and saved not the Soul for George Fox saith that is part of God without Beginning or End surely then it needs no Redemption and God did not send his Son to redeem himself Take the natural sense of what is exprest Great Mystery p. 29 and p. 90. See further what George Keith saith Christ came to save that which was lost and that which was lost is still in Man's Heart and there it must be sought for it remains still in the House that is Man's Heart this is the thing to be sought for this Christ came to seek and to save and all his Ministers preached People to this the Lost in Man that it may be found a lost God a lost Christ this was the sum and substance of their Doctrine G. Keith Immediat Inspirat p 75 76. May we not think G. K. to be inspired by the Prince of Darkness or that he had lost the very Light of Nature to talk of a lost God and a lost Christ to be sought and saved O were ever God and Christ in a lost Condition But poor Man was and we believe he came to seek and save Sinners who had lost the Image and Favour of God You may see more to this purpose Fox's Great Mystery p. 100. at large Neither do they believe any other Salvation than what they are in the Enjoyment of already see Lawson's Book p. 9 19. see two Passages in Nailor's Book Love to the Lost p. 47 48 30. There is a Seed to which the Promise of Redemption is which Seed is that which only wants Redemption p. 30. he saith Christ is the Election and Elect Seed Fox's Great Mystery p. 224. tells us The Seed to which the Promise is is that which hath been laden as a Cart with Sheaves by Sinners which Seed is the hope Christ The natural Consequence of this Doctrine is that Christ came to redeem Christ a lost God and a lost Christ as before said Might not the Heavens blush and the Earth tremble at such blasphemous Absurdities But I shall not in this short Discourse trace them in their gross Contradictions of Truth and each other about the Light within the Seed Christ and the Word But let this suffice to confute and unmask their pretended Belief aforesaid V. They profess to own and believe the Divine Offices of Christ in his Church that he is both King Priest and Prophet to and over his Church and People I shall proceed to examine the Truth of this Profession which if it were true were very comprehensive of a great part of the Christian Religion But what hath been made appear already shews us that by no means their word must be taken First How do they believe the Kingly Office of Christ are they not mistaken Let us examine some Appellations that they have taken from Christ and given to Geo. Fox senior See a Book entituled Tyranny and Hypocrisy detected p. 18 19. Sol. Eckles celebrates Geo. Fox thus Blessed be the Man that came out of the North blessed be the Womb that bear him and the Breasts that gave him Suck and ibid. p. 19. a Letter written by Josias Coal a Quaker from Barbadoes to G. Fox 21 day 12th Month 1658. Dear George Fox who art the Father of many Nations whose Life hath reached through 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 rulest and governest in Righteousness and thy Kingdom is established in Peace and the Increase thereof is without end Now what is more apparent than that by these Appellations the Scepter is wrested out of Christ's Hands and given to G. Fox Now this Letter was not judged by the infallible Spirit of the inspired Elders to be a transported Flash of a misguided Zeal For G. Fox and his Peers ordered it to be recorded amongst things worthy to be register'd tho the Contents of it would make a modest Heathen blush and tremble Take the Contents particularly 1. He doth expresly ascribe to him a Kingdom Thy Kingdom c. and thou rulest and governest Now he that rules and governs in his own Kingdom must of necessity be an actual King 2. He describes to us the Subjects of this Kingdom who next to himself are Josiah Coal and the Elders or Peers whom he calls us thy Children and remotely those to whom the Life of G. Fox hath reached through the Elders
to the begetting them again to a lively hope and they are many therefore he calls him the Father of many Nations 3. He tells us what kind of Power and Authority it is in which this King rules and governs and that is in the Power of the Highest a Spiritual and Divine Power not like that of the Kingdoms of Men. 4. We have here the Stability of this Kingdom ' Thy Kingdom is established in Peace 5. The Extent of this Kingdom The Encrease thereof is without End it is a boundless Kingdom 6. The Excellency of this King is such and his Happiness so great that Not only the present Age but Generations to come shall call him Blessed So that here you see G. F. fully invested and throned in Christ's Kingly Office and why should the Quakers be angry as they have been for calling G. Fox the King of the Quakers since he is as really so on their account as Christ is the King of Christians I suppose all Christians conclude Isa 9. 6 7. where several of these Terms are included to be spoken of Christ as the Prince of Peace Of the increase of his Government and Peace there shall be no End c. Luk. 1. 32 33. and he shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no End Luke 11. 27. Blessed be the Womb that bare thee G. Fox and the Breasts that gave thee suck And Isa 9. 6. Everlasting Father or Father of the Ages to come Heb. 2. 13. Behold I and the Children which God hast given me Mich. 5. 4. And he shall stand and feed or rule in the strength of the Lord c. He shall be great to the ends of the Earth Now one would have thought that such Expressions as these out of which Coal and Eckels had theirs might have intended Christ But you see these divinely-inspired Men by virtue of their immediate Revelations apply them to George Fox with blasphemous Confidence enough But it may be they will say That the Scriptures mentioned point at Christ as the Figure or Type and G. Fox as the Substance for they say in Saul's Errand to Damascus p. 6 7. That Christ in the Flesh was a Figure And where 〈◊〉 Paul saith 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and that the Father hath committed all Judgment to the Son But read p. 6 7. Saul's Errand to Damascus and George Fox takes the Name to himself saying He is the Eternal Judg of Quick and Dead But it may be it is the Christ in George Fox that hath this Regal or Kingly Power But why then was it not so expressed P. 44 45. Tyranny and Hypocrisy detected saith Rebekah Trevers a great Prophetess amongst them If she had a Motion from the Lord as she believed yet if George Fox did not own it to be so she would deny it So that George Fox is not only a King of the Quakers but also of the Light or Christ in them for those believed Motions must give way to the Motions of George Fox Spirit of the Hat pag. 27. you have this saying of King George repeated Friends although I have not told it you I do now declare it I have power to bind and loose whom I please c. Ay and well he may since he hath deprived Christ of his Kingly Office Now who can imagine that these Men can believe the Kingly Office of Christ who thus strip him of his Regal Power But it may be the Quakers will say It is not George Fox but the Light or Christ within him that assumes this Kingly Power Well and if the same Light and Christ be in another must the Christ in George Fox rule or reign over the same Christ in another for it seems the Light or Christ's Motions in Rebekah Trevers must be denied and rejected if the Light or Christ in G. Fox opposeth it so that then Christ reigns as King over Christ But who G. Fox left to sway this Scepter I know not except it was G. Fox junior who in his Book pag. 53 54 55. you may observe him speaking thus I will make you know that I the Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World that all through me should believe am the true Eternal God which created all things that by me the Light all things are upheld and that there is not another besides me can save and I will purge out all your Iniquities and forgive all your Trespasses and I will change your Natures and I will make you new Creatures if you will hearken to me and obey me the Light in you What I have here written is the words of the Father who is one with Christ the Son gave me to write in which words the true Christ is renewed and a Testimony given of him and no other But this is more than enough of this Blasphemy against the Son of God So that it appears to every seeing Eye that the Quakers do not own the Kingly Office of Christ that died at Jerusalem no more no nor so much neither as the Kingly Office of George Fox for the Laws of Christ are made null by him and the Ordinances of King Jesus contemned and rejected by him as being more powerful and infallible as may further appear anon 2. I shall examine how they own Christ's Priestly Office which upon diligent search will appear nothing so as professed by them but a meer flourish to delude the Ignorant and Easy And that the Quakers deny the Priestly Mediatory or Advocatory Office of Christ will appear for these Reasons 1. They deny the Person or Humanity of Christ as hath been before shewed then they cannot own Christ's Priestly Office for 1 Tim. 2. 5. There is one Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Now if Christ hath no Body but his Church as when occasion calls for it I shall shew But let what hath been beforesaid suffice at present then I argue thus Arg. If Christ had a Body that was broken for the Church then he had a Body besides the Church but he had a Body broken for the Church Ergo. The Major is out of doubt or else he gave his Church to be broken for his Church which is absurd The Minor is proved from Mat. 26. 26. Luk. 22. 19. where Christ saith of his Body that it was broken for them Now if the Quakers say Christ was never seen with any carnal Eye and that he hath no Body but his Church it will appear they deny the Mediator the Man Christ Jesus 2. They deny the Place where Christ our High-Priest is enter'd which is the Heavens the Holy of Holies according to Heb. 4. 14. Seeing then that we have a great High-Priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our Profession But see what the Quakers say Smith's Primmer p. 8 9. They that are false Ministers preach Christ without and