pleading for a Saving Light the necessity of Obedience to it the Eternal Reward of Life or Death Happiness or Misery as it is conformed to or rebelled against prove our Faith in that Matter to be quite another thing If this be your Champion I dare warrant his own Baseness shall be his own Overthrow we need no more against him then his own Ignorance Malice Lyes Forgeries and Slanders to his utter Confutation in the Minds of all Impartial Persons CHAP. IX Of Justification and something of Satisfaction THe Doctrine of Justification is the next Particular that I am to take notice of He begins with the Quaker thus Pray what is your Opinion of Justification by that Righteousness of Christ which He in his own Person fulfilled for us WHOLELY WITHOVT VS Quak. Justification by the Righteousness which Christ fulfills for us in his own Person WHOLELY WITHOUT US we boldly affirm it to be a Doctrine of Devils and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption which doth now deluge the World Will. Penn Apol. p. 148. This Apology cited was written against a Malicious Priest in Ireland who in a Book by him published not long afore laid it down as Unscriptural and a very heinous Thing in us to deny Justification without any Distinction exprest by the Righteousness which Christ wrought in his own Person WHOLELY WITHOUT US To whom I made the Answer given by T. Hicks And if therein I have crost the express Testimony of the Scriptures let any shew me But if I have only thwarted a most Sin-pleasing and therefore Dangerous Notion let such as hold it look to that He has not offered me one plain Scripture nor the Shadow of a Reason why this Passage ought to be reputed unsound or condemnable If any Living will produce me but one Passage out of Scripture that tells of a Justification by such a Righteousness as is WHOLELY WITHOUT US I shall fall under its Authority but if we only deny Men's corrupt Conceits and Sin-pleasing Glosses and they offer us nothing to our Confutation or better Information we shall not think bare Quotations of our Books to be sufficient Answers But to the end all may understand the Reason of my so Answering that Priest take those short Reasons then rendered with any one of which I am to suppose T. Hicks desired not to meddle First No Man can be Justified without Faith sayes Jenner No Man hath Faith without Works any more then a Body can live without a Spirit sayes James Therefore the Works of Righteousness by the Spirit of Jesus Christ are necessary to Justification Second If Men may be justified whilst Impure then God quits the Guilty contrary to the Scripture which cannot be I mean while in a Rebellious State Third Death came by Actual Sin not Imputative in his sense therefore Justification unto Life comes by actual Righteousness not Imputative Fourth This speaketh Peace to the Wicked whilst Wicked but there is no Peace to the Wicked saith my God Fifth Men are Dead and Alive at the same time saith this Doctrine for they may be dead in Sin and yet alive in another's Righteousness not Inherent and consequently Men may be damned actually and saved imputatively Sixth But since Men are to reap what they sow and that every one shall be rewarded according to his Works and that none are Justified but the Children of God and that none are Children but who are led by the Spirit of God and that none are so led but those that bring forth Fruits thereof which is Holiness 'T is not the Oyle in anothers Lamp but in our own only which will serve our turns I mean the Rejoycing must be in our selves and not in another yet to Christ's holy Power alone do we ascribe it who works all our Works in us All which was not only not answered but not cited by him He brings me in again thus Justification is not from the Imputation of another's Righteousness but from the actual Performing and Keeping God's Righteous Statutes Sand. Found p. 25. To which after this base and disingenuous Citation he returns me this only Answer Is it not written Rom. 5.19 By the Obedience of one many are made Righteous But before I explain the Truth of that Scripture be pleased to hear my Argument as it is laid down in my Book and then give thy Judgment Reader upon the Man The Son shall not bear the Iniquity of his Father The Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon him and the Wickedness of the Wicked shall be upon him When a Righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness for his Iniquity that he has done shall he dye Again When the Wicked Man turneth away from his Wickedness and doth that which is Lawful and Right he shall save his Soul alive yet saith the House of Israel The Wayes of the Lord are not Equal Are not my Wayes Equal If this was once Equal it s so still for God is Unchangeable And therefore I shall draw this Argument That the Condemnation or Justification of Persons is not from the Imputation of another's Righteousness but the actual Performance or not keeping of Gods righteous Statutes or Commandments otherwise God should forget to be Equal Therefore how wickedly Unequal are those who not from Scripture Evidences but their dark Conjectures Interpretations of obscure Passages would frame a Doctrine so manifestly inconsistent with God's most pure and equal Nature making him to condemn the Righteous to Death and justifie the Wicked to Life from the Imputation of another's Righteousness A most Unequal Way indeed Where observe that the Answer he makes me give in his Dialogue is delivered by me with an If it be so fetcht expresly from the Text it self so that the Scripture and not W. Penn is most struck at by him However it be he has offered us no Opposition yet but that Passage out of the Romans which will not be found inconsistent with Ezekiel's Testimony on which my Argument was grounded The whole Verse was thus For as by one Man's Disobedience many were made Sinners so by the Obedience of one shall many be made Righteous which if the whole Chapter be well considered is no more then this that as Adam representative of Mankind from whence he had that Name was he by whom Sin entred into the whole World So Christ was He by whose comeing and Obedience Righteousness had an entrance to the Justification of many In short the Work Christ had to do was two-fold 1 To remit forgive or justify from the Imputation of Sin past all such as truely repented believed and obeyed him And 2ly by his Power and Spirit operating in the Hearts of such to destroy and remove the very Ground and Nature of Sin whereby to make an End of Sin and finish Transgression present and to come that is the first removes the Guilt the second the very Cause of It. Now I grant
the same Charges till our Answers have been better weighed For as such Trouble would be almost endless so in reality it looks more like making us Work then Refuting us Besides I must needs tell the World the base Cowardize of this Adversary in hand for we have offered him a free Meeting with his Books in our hands proffering to refute them viva voce before the World but instead thereof or any other way as several have been tendered he disingenuously slincks away and â—uts us off by meer Shifts and Evasions His Business is to write Dialogues which he is sure to answer himself and to back his Forgeries with Lyes But avoiding all Party-Reflection or any further Aggravation of this base Fear and Injustice too we shall among the many Books writ by us in general in Defence of our Way we profess lay these few upon the Heads of our several Adversaries as containing much of what can be said in behalf of our Principles and Practices 1. Priests Professors Principles writ by G. Fox 2. Rusticus ad Academicos writ against J. Owen R. Baxter J. Tombs and T. Danson by S. Fisher 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 writ against Bishop Gauden by Samuel Fisher 4. Edward Burroughs's Works 5. The Divinity of Christ c. writ against J. Owen T. Danson T. Vincent W. Maddox by G.W. 6. Oaths no Gospel-Ordinance against A. Smalwood writ by Francis Howgil 7. The Great Case of Tythes by Francis Howgil 8. Immediate Revelation c. writ by Geo. Keith 9. The Serious Apology c. writ against T. Taylor and T. Jenner by G. Whitehead and W. Penn. 10. The Nature of Christianity c. writ against R. Gorden by G. Whitehead 11. Christ Ascended c. writ against J. Newman by G. Whitehead 12. The Light and Life of Christ within c. writ against W. Burnet by G. Whitehead 13. No Cross no Crown c. writ by W. Penn. 14. The Spirit of Truth Vindicated c. writ against the Socinians by W. Penn. 15. Quakerism a New Nick-Name for Old Christianity c. writ against J. Faldo by W. Penn. 16. The Christian-Quaker c. writ against the Strength of all our many Adversaries in general and several of them in particular divided into two Parts the first by W. Penn the second by G. Whitehead These with our present Discourse let them answer and if they have any thing that 's new to offer we shall we hope by God's Assistance freely and faithfully consider it otherwise let Shame cover the Face of our Enemies for their Unjust Out-cries and Base Forgeries against us whom they cannot by Reason silence nor sober Argument confute W.P. AN APPENDIX Being some SOBER and SHORT ANIMADVERSIONS UPON Certain Passages in Tho. Hicks's Dialogue and Continuation of the Dialogue by which his Vnchristian Spirit is further Detected to the WORLD Also a Collection of those Doctrines and Principles which have been chiefly Controverted between us Granted and Confest to by our present Opposer Thomas Hicks and others of the Baptists Perswasion Drawing the Present Controversie to an End By George Whitehead His Mischief shall return upon his own Head Psal 7.16 Printed in the Year 1673. Moderate Reader IF any of these our present Opposers to wit some angry Anabaptists and traducing Dippers be minded to Quarrel and Scold at us for the Last Word or Pamphlet I do not think it any Disparagement to our Religion nor any Lessening of our Christian Reputation if they should have the Last Word and we should mutely sleight their Revilings but as yet we have a Necessity on us both for True Religion and Christianity's sake to manifest to the World their Abuse of both together with the Envious Lying Perverse and Abusive Spirit that appears in their Scornful Irreligious Agent Thomas Hicks who will bring no Honour to them nor their Religion but Disgrace who hath forged up a second Dialogue to render the True Quaker no Christian but the most implacable Enemy to the Christian Religion p. 68. and hath therein improved his Study to render us Odious and not in any serious oâ— solid way of Treatise to answer our Principles but with a bundle of impertinent Introrogatories Cavils Scoffs Jeers Flouts Forgeries malitious Revilings perverting our Words in divers places mistaking them for his own Malitious Dsiegn to render us our Sufferings and Consciences Odious and Contemptible and to destroy our Reputations both as Men and Christians as appears in the whole Tenour of his Work in these two Pamphlets and as may be seen particularly in the 67 68 69. pages of his Continuation And to conclude his Work as one consciously Jealous of what he had done that he might be detected for Prevention and to keep us mute he gives us a kind of severe Threat saying I have been sparing touching your Practices horrid Enormities raigning c. if therefore you will provoke me to speak all I can either respecting your Opinions or Practices blame me not c. They that have read his Dialogues may judge how sparing he hath been and if we were guilty of horrid Enormimities or Immoraâ—lities what Mercy we should have from such Judges as he who is thus liable and ready to be provoked But as we expect no Christian-Dealing nor that Charity from him which is not easie to be provoked so his Threats shall not deter us from making our Just Christian Defence on Truthâ—s behalf aâ—â— such Malitious Forgers and Perverters whilst nâ—â—â—â—ve the Testimony of a good Conscience to plead and a holy Confidence in God's eternal powâ—rful Truth which shall out live all the Emnity of its Adversaries wherein they fret and weâ—ry themselves for very Vanity who have conceived Chaff and brought forth Stubble they have travelled in Pain and brought forth a Lye whose own Breath as Fire shall devour them and they shall be caught in their own Snares and fall into the Pit which they have digged Observe that Ingenuous Disputants or Contenders especially for Christianity will diligently take notice of the very Strength Stress of their Opponents Objections and Arguments and endeavour their Conviction by a candid and fair Answer but instead thereof the Dialogue-Man frames Objections and Interrogatories in the Christian's Name with what Subtilty he can and feigns Answers in the Quaker's Name as silly feeble and contemptible as he can together with gross Calumnies and manifest Slanders to render them Ridiculous and Odious passing by the Strength of their Arguments and perverting both their Words and Intentions in their Books against their Opposers particularly those of his Party therefore while he pretends that all he intends is only our Conviction and Recovery he is guilty of gross Hypocrisie and Falshood as in the Sequel will surther appear G.W. Vnprejudiced Readers LEt it be observed that after Thomas Hicks hath pretended faithfully to represent some of the chief Opinions of the Quakers in his first Dialogue Tâ—tle Page â— And in his second to give a
or in any case He now to vinâ—icate himself from such Injustice hath given us a Second Part wherein he hopes to make good what he charged upon us in his First by Quotations out of our owâ— Books which if faithfully done I shall freely acknowledge that a Quaker is quite another thing than a Christian And as this may suffice all but such as are resolved never to be satisfied with any thing that comes from us of the Reason of deferring our further Answer so having now that Ground to proceed upon which we never had before I shall with God's Assistance make the best of it I can in Defence of the Truth and the Innocency of them that profess it only give me leave to hint at a few Things which may not be improper to the Matter in hand because they do not a little discriminate and give to relish the Spirit of our Adversary CHAP. II. Something of the manner of his Dealing with us FIrst then he has taken a very unequal Way to represent our Faith Doctrine and Practice to the World in that he hath rather delivered his own Fury then a true Quaker and shews to the World rather what he would have us to be then what we are Can it be fairly done to propose the most knotty Questions for himself and give the weakest Answers for us Had he but had the Generosity of a Roman he would have given us fair Dealing for our Reputations To make a Fool and an Heretick both and then call him a Quaker is no less then a Rape because a violent Robbery committed upon those that go under that Name The best of Men can never escape let their Adversaries have but the Characterizing of them It had become T. Hicks if he would have shown himself a Christian and a Champion too first to have set down our Principles and Arguments as delivered and urged by us and then have enervated both by his pretended greater Strength of Scripture and Reason before he had made so many Trophies of Conquest But because had we been in the wrong this had been the Practice of a true Christian and that this has not been his Practice we are taught to infer that T. Hicks is thus far Antichristian Secondly He has not only made us Weak and Ridiculous by Answers no wayes to the Purpose but to belye our very Consciences and Principles For when he asks us Do you believe the Scriptures to be true Sayings of God he makes us to answer So far as they agree to the Light in me An Answer never so delivered by us And when he queries Will you be so liberal of your Revilings whether your Adversary gives Occasion or not He answereth for us It concerns us to render them as Ridiculous as we can and to make our Friends believe they do nothing but contradict themselves which is enough to us Certainly these things shew such premeditated and wilful Obstinacy to be wicked that were we what he represents us to be in this very Matter the severest Plagues and Judgments of the Eternal God we might justly expect to be our Portion forever I fear T. Hicks measures us by himself and that the Answer he feigns to the Second part of his Dialogue will be his Lot as truly as he has there feignedly said it It would take up too much time to enlarge only thus much let me say That Man is hard put to it and Unjust with a Witness who not only invents Answers to dis-repute a Man or People but such as are very Lyes too against their Faith and Practice Thirdly Nor is this all but he hath managed the whole of his Dialogues in a Spirit of Prophanation by a tanting and inapplicable Use of many serious Words that have at one time or other been seasonably uttered by Sober Simple and Religious People to the insnaring Questions of such Trapanners as himself As for instance Thou manifests thy Darkness that thou art still in thy Imagination What dost thou witness in thy self I see thou art a poor dark Creature as by thy Talking is manifest yea it is manifest in the Light yea verily Alas for thee I bear witness against thee We are dead to Distinctions Thou manifestest a Perverse Spirit These Reader with the like Expressions doth this Ungodly Scoffer give to the World in the Name of a true Quaker as some of his best Answers and that to such Questions whose Matter hath been effectually considered and answered in many of our Books however his Spirit shows to whomsoever those Answers are improper in one sense they are not so to him But above all that a Man pretending to Religion himself and such a one too as next to us stands fairest for Reproach should give our serious Language in a Jeer as if we were fitter to be Derided than Informed is horridly wicked Can his Conscience be so seared as to handle holy Things without Fear Is Singularity grown so odious to an Anabaptist Preacher that he should make it a Subject for his Scorn and Drollery However this may resemble T. Hicks he does not herein answer the First Love of the People who go under that Name while he shews so much implacable Hatred to his Conscientious Neighbour thereby not discountenancing the prophane Rabble in their frequent Scoffs at us but furnishing them with such a Work of Darkness as excites them further to it making us to inherit those cruel Mockings which were once the Portion of his own Profession We know what answers not God's Witness shall never be able to abide the Tryal and therefore we are the less concerned in his Comical Abuses of us more becoming a Morefield or a Smithfield Stage-Play than a Christian Treatise Thus much and no more of the Spirit of the Man in general because more largely handled else-where CHAP. III. The Question Stated and accordingly Pursued Our Adversary proved false and weak WE shall now descend to the main Question and that which is the Ground of his Second Dialogue and without which there can be no Defence of his First viz. Whether those Doctrines and Expressions charged upon the People called Quakers by Tho. Hicks in both his Dialogues be really the Doctrines and Sayings of that People or not And afterwards Whether what we do own and is by him charged with Error is sufficiently opposed or proved such He affirms they are and undertakes to prove his Assertions out of their own Works which naturally leads me to consider what are those Doctrines and Expressions he hath charged upon us to be ours and what are those Proofs by which he endeavours to make good that Charge I shall first of all treat upon the more weighty Parts of Doctrine and reserve the more trivial Matters to the latter end The first considerable thing he endeavours to suggest against us is Our making the Light in every Man to be God which he undertakes to prove from G. Whitehead's Discourse upon John 1.4 In him