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A65854
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The Christianity of the people commonly called Quakers vindicated from antichristian opposition sincerely tendered in behalf of the aforesaid people and their ancient friends by some of them.
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Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing W1912; ESTC R27067
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25,012
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34
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Answ. There were better and more effectual Preachers who were Plow-men Shepherds Herds-men Fishermen c. 1 Kings 19.19 Amos 1.1 and 7.14 Mat. 4.18 19. John 21.7 1 Cor. 4.12 than you who by the help of your acquired Arts and Learning contrive and study Sermons and fill your Heads out of other Men's Books and Authors instead of waiting upon God for Light and Understanding in divine Matters The true God is not limited he teacheth the Plowman Discretion and is more felt and known by an honest Plowman at his Plow than by a corrupt Priest in his Study or Closet setting his Imaginations at work filling his Head with Notions out of other Mens Works and Lines made ready to his Hand H.O. Where is your Presbytery Who lays on Hand Who sets apart among you Who is set apart to the Work I know them not Answ. We have true and faithful Ministers among us called and set apart by Christ Jesus and owned and approved of by faithful Elders in Truth and the Church of Christ though they do not come under the Hands of your Presbytery H.O. Some say John Payton of Dudley speaks sometimes yea and the Women often talk in your Churches an hour together is this your Christianity Ans. Good Christian Women to whom God has made good his promise Joel 2.28 29. may be required of him sometime to speak among his People in Humility and Godly Fear and be no worse nor less Christians for that There were Prophetesses and Godly Women in the days of the Holy Prophets and among the Primitive Christians who were also Teachers of good things H.O. When you turn Quakers you forsake all Fellowship and Communion with all other People whatsoever Is this a part of your Christianity c. Is this Obedience to the Apostles Doctrin forsake not the assembling of your selves together Ans. Israel shall dwell alone and not be numbred among the Nations the Lord 's peculiar People are a chosen People called and chosen out of Kindreds Tongues and People and must be separate from the unclean God has called and gathered us by his Arm of Power out of all empty Professions and to turn away from all such as have a Form of Godliness but deny the Power from all the proud and covetous hireling oppressing Priests and Teachers made by the Will of Man And we are required to assemble our selves inwardly to wait upon and Worship God in Spirit and Truth distinct and separate from them who are But formal outside traditional Worshippers H.O. You will have no Communion with any other above ground or below you have in Stowerbridge a constant able ancient profitable Preacher able to divide the Word aright in the publick Assembly you have also others in the licensed House that preach Truth there frequently Ans. If this his able ancient Preacher at Stowerbridge be Dr. Ford who he pleads for and the same S.F. D.D. who has printed the perverse fallacious and abusive Scheme to prove our ancient Friends unchristian and antichristian And if the Preachers in the licensed House he talks of be such as H. Osland himself we have but very poor Encouragement to go to hear or learn of either because of the Envy and Abuse of the one and the Ignorance of the other H.O. But you have built you a Fabrick to binder from attending at either Ans. Our Meeting House or New Fabrick as he calls it is one Cause of Dr. Ford's and H.O. his present Envy and perverse Scribling against us they envy our Liberty and Prosperity and have now begun the Quarrel with us to misrepresent and defame us which shews a partial persecuting Spirit in them which is far from either a true Christian Spirit or State of Saints H.O. What are there no Christians no Saints in either Are ye the only called and chosen How went the Spirit and the Grace of God by the other Assemblies to sit down with you Ans. This Question is much like that of Zedekiah the false Prophet to Micaiah the true when he had smote him on the Oheek Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee 1 Kings 22.24 But this was no proof against the true Prophet nor for the false and as poor an Argument for H.O. against the Quakers H.O. Must you be Christians because you deny the Communion of Saints Ans. A false Charge the Communion of Saints which is Spiritual we never denied but are come in measure into it through the Power and Goodness of our God in Christ unto us H.O. Doth the Preaching of Dr. Ford and our hearing of him unfit us for Fellowship with you Or our hearing a young lively Non-conformist Ans. Which does he prefer here as better Preacher the Learned Dr. or Lively Non-conformist by this distinction His thus pleading for hearing Dr. Ford the Parish-Priest at the publick Assembly or parish-Parish-Church so called or a young lively Non-conformist as he calls him at the licenced Meeting House does bespeak such an indifference between Conformity and Non-conformity as thereby he has at once given away and betrayed the Cause of all consciencious Non-conformists and Dissenters into the Hands of their Persecutors and Adversaries so as to give them occasion the more to insult and persecute if they have opportunity But we hope all that are conscientious and mean honestly will see and refuse such Indifferency such Insincerity such Medly such Neutrality and Hpocrisie as this Lukewarm Temporizer and Hypocrite has here pleaded for His zealous Brethren of the Presbytery of Scotland c. would not endure such his Indifferency and detestable Neutrality as being a Violation of their solemn League and Covenant which it seems he has dispensed with H.O. Doth the Preaching of John Payton and such as he make you only Saints or is it the Preaching of the Women Ans. These are but silly Scoffs and Flouts from a proud and scornful Spirit and prove nothing against us we are a Religious People who conscientiously dissent both from the Parish Priests and such Linsy-woolsey Temporizers as himself and doubt not but the Lord has inspired and rais'd up and made better and more powerful Preachers probably some poor industrious Men and Women than himself or his said Dr. ever were H.O. Nay you will have no fellowship with us in the Bowels of the Earth you will not sleep with us in the Dust for you have many Grave-Yards up and down Ans. What sad Complaint is this what Cause has he for it what great hurt do we do them in not burying our Dead with them surely none at all they have the more room then And 't is no new thing to purchase Burying Places some of the Holy Ancients have been presidential in that Case See Gen. 23.4 11. and 49.30 and 50.13 H.O. Now your Belief of God and Christ and other good things you express in your Paper prove you only Christians in part but not that you are compleat in him Ans. 'T is well he has
and Robert Barcley especially G.K. in opposition to several of their and our ancient Friends and Brethren i. e. R.H. Ja. Parnell E.B. W.D. I.N. G.F. G.W. W.P. T. Speed c. The first Five being deceased And we have cause to assure our selves that both G. Keith and R.B. would abominate this false Brother's Attempt to make Divisions between them and their ancient Brethren divers whereof are gone and have laid down their Head in Peace And as to his giving these Commendations of G.K. as agreeing with them i. e. Protestants in this important Truth of the Divine Word assuming the true Nature of Man in Soul and Body into an immediate Vnion c. That Jesus Christ is true and perfect God and true and perfect Man c. very largely and fully c. All which Truths we firmly believe and own But says the false Brother Others in as great Repute among us as G.K. clearly contradict him which we do not believe Whereupon we solemnly declare that we find nothing asserted by G.K. and R.B. where rightly cited but we really own in the matter and intent thereof as about the Holy Scriptures the Word the blessed THREE in Heaven Christ's Divinity and Manhood Body Sufferings c. And also we do not find but what our Ancient Friends have written in these Points are reconcilable to the other upon a fair and rational or charitable Interpretation of their true Intentions and Meanings and taking due and serious Notice of the Tenor and Import of what they writ upon each Subject without mangling or curtailing as this and other Adversaries are apt to do where any things seem to oppose or vary as to some Terms or Expressions no doubt they may be easily reconciled by the Authors i. e. some of our Ancient Friends and G.K. and R.B. though many cannot so learnedly express their Minds and Meaning as they Howbeit this false Brother N.N. who seeks Division and Discord among Brethren feignedly pretends to defend G. Keith and the Protestant Churches against G.F. E.B. and others and says that G.K. owns as fully as they can desire the Doctrin intended by the Word TRINITY which he says they contend not for but the Doctrin intended the Truth of the thing it self we deny not says G.K. That these THREE are one in Nature and Substance yet Three otherwise than by mere Name Operation or Manifestation c. Being distinct in their relative Modes and Properties G.K. and R.B. are for us says he and hopes some of us are of their Mind and so far we may very well be call'd Protestant Quakers and says God forbid that we or the major part of us should approve such as say they are Prophets but are not but have said and done such things as are not to be named among Christians or Men. By these partial Insinuations this false Brother would still render us a divided People and some who are esteem'd as Ministers of Christ among us very suspicious and odious Though we know no reason to disown or protest against either W.D. E.B. R.H. I. P G.W. W.P. or the rest named by him because he has reviled and abused them as no Protestants nor to disown our Friends G.K. or R.B. whom he pretends to defend for we have a true tender and Christian esteem of both even of them all and of their Christian Testimonies and innocent Conversations and Sufferings for Christ. The Author of the Libel or false Brother condemns many things he neither answers nor refutes He supposes Contradiction in Matters reconcilable He reproaches the Dead whom he did not answer nor confute when Living One principal Contradiction supposed is this Title of a Paper i. e. Certain Papers which is the Word of the Lord and yet may not the Scripture be so called We say such a Title to any Paper or Writing is improper from the word should be instead of which is the word we shall not stand by the said Title as 't is worded without such Amendment Yet charitably think it was worded contrary to the intent and meaning of the Author for Paper and Ink cannot be the Word of the Lord nor can the Eternal Word be contained therein Yet that Word hath and may immediatly move upon the Spirits of some to speak and write and that 's our case The words cited against G.W. and others Thus Viz. and here thy Antiquity thy Reasons and about the 3 Persons thou dreamest of which thou wouldst divide out of one like a Conjurer are all denyed and thou with them i. e. his dark Reasons and Imaginations shut up in perpetual Darkness c. G.W. positively disowns the Words and affirms they are none of his and that he writ not that part of the Answer to Townsend which was about the Year 1654. yet looks on the words as wrong writ or wrong printed and that he raced them out or corrected them long since where he has met with that Answer For instead of and the 3 Persons it should have rather been about the 3 Persons And G.W. shall neither stand by nor own those words as charged after he see them in Print he was sorry his Name was to that Paper without distinction between what he writ and what he did not write in it wherein those words are which give the Occasion Let this Advertisement clear G.W. and others and suffice wâ—ry charitable and ingenuous Reader as we hope it will And now seeing this false Brother has so much commended Geo. Keith and Robert Barcley as to their Soundness in Doctrin c. We say there is matter sufficient in their Books in Vindication of the Doctrins Principles and Christian Religion of the People called Quakers which if this false Brother should oppose he 'll run into further self-contradiction against them he has so highly applauded Besides his Misquotations uncharitable and unjust Reflections and Falshoods here omitted and his wicked Attempts to sow Discord cause Divisions and Contentions among Brethen he most unfairly picks and nibbles here and there at our Friends Books and Words taking them in Pieces Bits and Scraps here and there leaving out the stress and explanatory Part of the Matter in divers things we could evince And thus 't is possible for a disingenuous Person to do by the best of Writings And lastly Whereas this false Brother would hear whether we would protest against the Errors his Letters implead c. Yet neither tells us his Name nor Residence nor how to direct to him nor who this N.N. is that 's subscribed to his Letters nor what religious Society he belongs to we have more to say or write to him for his better Information if we knew his Name and where he lives to direct to him and we should not be unwilling to subscribe our Names to such Defence as we have Cause to make in Truths and our own behalf for we are only defensive in these Controversies which this and other obscure and sculking Adversaries have begun against us the peaceable People called Quakers now in a Time of Liberty and Freedom from open Persecution which is an Indication that these secret peevish Smiters do secretly envy our present Liberty and therefore are in the same persecuting Spirit with our open Enemies and Persecutors This N.N. should come forth like a Man and discover himself that some of us whom he has accused might have some friendly Discourse with him which probably might tend to his Convincement and better Satisfaction if not obstinately set to oppose For hitherto he lurks he smiteth privily in the Dark he sitteth in the lurking Places to murther the Innocent he skulks privily to shoot at the Vpright in heart like the wicked If he would be plain and let us know how and whither to direct to him by his right Name it would give us Opportunity to let him hear more particularly from us till then excuse our Brevity FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Northcott in Georgh-Yard in Lombard-street RObert Barclay's Apology for the true Christian Divinity as the same is held forth and Preached by the People called in scorn Quakers being a full Explanation and Vindication of their Principals and Doctrins c. G. Keith's Way to the City of God His Way cast up and the Stumbling-blocks removed His fundamental Truths of Christianity His true Christ owned as he is true God and perfect Man His Rector corrected His Truths Defence G. Fox the Younger's Collections E. Bathurst's Truth 's Vindication G. F's Heavenly Salutation His true Christian distinguished from the false A Narrative concerning Grace Watson's Death Abigal Fisher's Salutation of true Love Buds and Blossoms of Piety with some Fruit of the Spirit of Love and Directions to the Divine Wisdom Mankind Displayed or the History of the Little World being curious Collections out of the best Authors of the most wonderful and remarkable Things that have been performed by Men and Women in the several Ages of the World c. Scephen Strisp's Epistle concerning Present and Succeeeding Times Grammatista or the young Grammarian being a very useful selling Book containing Bills Bonds and Receipts c. * To this †I subscribe Geo. Whitehead Psal. 10. 11.2