of hell and thus men and women have known good and evil by eating of the forbidden fruit of lust This many Ranters were guilty of to my knowledge neither is your Quakers people free for I know of those that have fallen to the Quakers thinking to finde ease there but they will finde the Quakers Principle but a broken Reed These things concerning the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge of good and evil are opened more at large in The Interpretation of the Eleventh of the Revelation so I shall conclude this point 2. I am to make good by Scripture that the Soul of man is mortal This is one of the easiest points that is to prove by Scripture and experience These are the words that George Fox doth ground the Immortality of the Soul upon as followeth Saith he For God breathed into man the breath of life through which he became a living Soul And then George Fox asketh Is this breath of life by which man became a living Soul mortal And saith Is this thy knowledge as if it were impossible for me to answer or to make good by Scripture CHAP. VI. ANSWER THis point hath been proved by Scripture in all our other Writings as aforesaid and that Book of the Mortality of the Soul the chief subject it treats upon is to prove the Soul mortal but all these things will do Fox no good nor convince him of his ignorance in this point Fox had hard luck that he could see none of these Writings for nothing might have better informed him in these things but the Book of The Quakers Neck broken onely that makes Fox so ignorant of all things for that Book doth but name the Heads of these things but in the other Writings aforesaid they are more largely expounded But to give a little further answer to this point here First I shall prove that breath of Life God breathed into Adam to be mortal and doth die Let the Reader minde I do acknowledge that Breath of Life God breathed into Adam which made him become a living Soul it was immortal when it came from God but it was breathed into an earthen vessel Adam being of the earth he was earthly and so capable to be overcome by temptation from a heavenly body viz. the Serpent Angel now Christ being the Lord from heaven therefore he was not capable to be overcome by the temptations of earthly bodies viz. the Serpent Angel his seed in mortality Minde also this Breath of Life which God breathed into Adam wherein he became a living Soul it was immortal so long as he stood in obedience to God and no death could have touched him but this I must tell the Reader Adam could have had no other heaven than this world he being made of this earth he should never have gone higher to the place where God is the holy Angels and all spiritual Bodies are there Adam should not have come But this I say Adam should have been freed from all sickness diseases and death and should have lived a Paradisical life of peace upon this earth for ever if he had kept that state he was created in I confess this was a state that I was always desirous to get into and I did endeavor much after it but could not attain unto it but when the Revelation of Faith did arise in me the Spirit of Faith which I call the Spirit of Christ or God shewed me what the state of Adam was in the state of innocency and the Paradisical heaven here upon this earth but when the Spirit shewed me the Form of God Angels and other Creatures in a Celestial state in the Celestial Heavens in all glory I thought then that this earthly Paradise though it had been for ever very inferior and below that which I am sure I shall possess But to the matter in hand I shall make it appear that Adams Soul did die though it was the breath of God made it live yet by disobeying the command of God this Life must die as in Gen. 2. and verse 17. For in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Is not this plain that Adams Soul did die notwithstanding the breath of Life God breathed into him this became mortal and did die If you Fox shall say the soul departed from the body and the body died this is the opinion of most people but it is an ignorant dark opinion contrary to Sence Reason or Faith for if the Soul slip out of the body or depart from it that cannot be said to die but to part one from another for a season besides the body is a dead lump fit for no use without a soul Also the Scripture saith The soul that sins shall die The Scriptures doth not say the soul shall slip out of the body that sins but shall die it is that which sins that must die And did you Fox ever know a body commit sin without a soul if you did not methinks you might be convinced of your ignorance and teach the people no more that lie Where do you read in Scripture that ever any bodies were condemned to die We read in Scripture in many places of souls that shall die and souls that shall be cut off from the land of the living but never of bodies Again it is said that Christ poured out his soul unto death Will you Fox be so wicked to say that Christ did not die He poured out his soul unto death Death took Christs soul into it self that is death swallowed up his soul It is not said he gave his body for a Ransom for sin but he gave his soul a Ransom for sin How should any man be saved from eternal death if Christs soul did not die But I know the Quakers look for no benefit from the blood of Christ all their happiness it must come from the Law written in their hearts that they call the light of Christ in them for they know no other Christ neither within them nor without them For this I say they that cannot believe that their own souls shall die cannot believe that the soul of Christ did die and so they can receive no benefit by the death of Christ The Reader may see the innocence in the Quakers Writings Fox saith He doth believe in Christ that suffered rose again and ascended and yet Christs soul did not die according to the Quakers faith for if they do acknowledge that Christs soul did die they must needs acknowledge their own souls must the also And if Fox had believed the one he would have believed the other and never have put me to this trouble to answer that difficult point as Fox thinks to prove from Scripture that the soul of man is mortal if there were no Scripture at all experience would prove that every day we see it with our eyes Also I would ask Fox or any other where the soul of Lazarus was those four days his body was in the grave I believe Fox
and so Christ dwells in true Believers hearts by faith according to that saying Eph. 3.20 that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith And so when men have true faith in Christs Death Resurrection and Ascension without them they may be said to have Christ in them the hope of glory for the faith of Christ or faith in Christ without them gives hope to the minde that they shall behold that glory Christ without them is in and so by faith a man comes to know that he is no reprobate For a man that hath true faith in Christ without him may be said to know that Christ is in him and that he is no reprobate And this is that great Mystery Christ in you the hope of glory for it is a great Mystery to understand God manifest in flesh and to become very man in one single person even the Man Christ Jesus and he to die rise again and ascend from whence he came this is a great Mystery indeed and few can comprehend it but Faith doth see it and understand it and where ever it is truly believed that man may be said to have Christ in him the hope of glory and to know that he is no reprobate because the Seed of Faith which is Christs Seed is in him and that Seed acts it self forth to lay hold of that person of Christ without him and so gives assurance of everlasting life in a man and so Christ may be said to be in a man For the Seed is counted sometimes for the thing it self so that if a man doth not really know in himself that he hath the Seed of Christ in him and that is known by actual believing him that is sent that man is a reprobate to himself and hath not the hope of glory in him and so Christ is not in his heart by faith This is the true Interpretation of those Scriptures and of the Apostles minde CHAP. XII 2. I Shall open the Quakers Cheat concerning their bodies being flesh of Christs flesh and bone of his bone and those Scriptures interpreted they ground that Conceit upon First Rom. 12. and 5. Paul saith So we being many are one body in Christ So 1 Cor. 12.12 For as the body is one and hath many members of that one body so also is Christ So Eph. 5.30 For we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bone So Col. 1.21 And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minde by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death These be the chief places of Scriptures the Quakers do prove themselves to be flesh of Christs flesh and bone of his bone and for want of explaining these words making no distinction they cheat many ignorant people of the peace of their minds and of the knowledge of the true body of Christ without them Let the Reader but minde the words of Paul before and they may easily see that Pauls minde was quite contrary to the Quakers for the Apostle speaks of Believers being Christs body and members of Christs body no otherwise than he did of Christs being within the Saints as I said before that is by the union the Saints have with Christ by faith in the true Preachers of the Gospel they come to be members of Christs body and so called the body of Christ the Head as you may see Rom. 12.5 and 1 Cor. 12.12 and Eph. 5.30 and Col. 1.21 These places all prove that the Saints being true Believers are counted the members and body of Christ in respect of that union they have with Christ by faith in his Death Resurrection and Ascension knowing that Christs body lives for ever and that his blood hath redeemed their souls from eternal death and knowing he is ascended to possess a personal glory and to prepare Mansions of personal glory for his Saints and those that are truely united to him by faith may be said by Paul to be members of Christs body and to be Christs body but this body is but by the union of faith in Christ and by the way of comparison for this body hath never a head but the whole Body and Person of Christ without the Saints is the Head of this Body so that if Christ had never a body of his own but the Saints bodies as the Quakers do vainly imagine he would be but a sad Christ And because you may see that the Apostle did mean no otherwise than I have said For saith he in Rom. 12.4 5. as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office so saith he we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another So that all true Believers though some be Prophets Apostles or any other gifts of the Spirit that any man hath it is given for the good of others who are members of the same faith with him and so all that are partakers of the same faith with him if they be ever so many they all make up but one body of Christ even as all the members of a mans body makes up but one body But all this while these members that makes up one body what will this body signifie without a head Now those natural members that makes up a natural body what will this body signifie if it hath never a head So it is with true Believers if there were never a Head of this Body of Faith without men even Christ Jesus where then should the motions and acts of Faith in a man repair to have union and communion with their Head Christ Jesus Must they go into themselves to finde Christ their Head there Surely no but the motions and acts of Faith that doth arise from thâ— Seed of Faith which is the Seed of Christ in every true Believer whereby he comes to have union with Christ their Head and so he is made a member of Christ and so all the Believers that have been from the beginning and shall truly believe to the latter end of the world they make up but one body of Christ and this body is called Christs Body but by vertue of union of Faith and not by Christs being essentially in men as the Quakers do vainly imagine The Apostle sufficiently clears this thing in those places afore-mentioned so that I need speak no more of it here But I shall give the Reader to understand the difference between that body that is called a body by union and that body that is so in it self As for example A woman is said to be flesh of her husbands flesh and bone of his bone as Adam said concerning Eve his wife So Eph. 5.31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joyned to his wife and they two shall be one flesh Here the Reader may see that a man and his wife are made one flesh by vertue of union and institution now they are not really one flesh but
in the world in his person in the Apostles time therefore the world persecuted them and put them to death for witnessing that Christ was in the world and they with wicked hands had slain the Lord of Life even Christ Jesus the onely God the King of Heaven So that John and I am both of one minde and of one faith that though Christ the only God and King of Heaven was in this world before he suffered death this John the Apostle and I both do believe and know but since Christ rose from the dead and ascended up to heaven John and I do believe and know that Christ the only God and King of heaven is not in this world at all in his person and essence yet Fox calls this Lies But the Reader may see if he hath any light who it is that lies Fox or I. Also he saith The true Prophet saith God the King of Heaven fills heaven and earth but saith he the false prophet saith God the King of Heaven is not in this world at all It is a small thing to be called a false prophet by the Seed of the Serpent especially by a damned devil for I know Fox would have said so by those prophets he calls true had he lived in that time and this John and Christ he so much talks of would have been counted all false a false Christ a false Witness what will any Quaker believe that to be a Christ a Savior that comes in likeness of man nay is a man sin excepted No no we will have a Christ that is a Spirit that may creep into our spirits when he will and whip out again when we commit sin and displease his Spirit such a Christ we own that hath never a body of his own but is all Spirit that fills every Quakers body with his Spirit and heaven and earth also What will you perswade us to believe that Christ is a man Christ is God and admits of no form so thou John art a false witness to perswade us to believe in a man to be Christ or God the Savior of the world this I know would Fox and the rest of the Quakers have said by those he calls now true prophets they being dead and by Christ and the Apostles as he doth by me For when they were alive on earth as I am now they were counted by the seed of the Serpent such as Fox is Blasphemers Deceivers Liers and such like but now who so zealous for the dead letter of the Prophets and Apostles as the seed of the Serpent are but when they were alive they were hated and persecuted for speaking that which the seed of the Serpent doth now honor so is it with me now I am alive I am hated and persecuted by the seed of the Serpent as well by Quakers as others for my doctrine and commission now while I am alive but when I am dead many of the seed of the Serpent in the next generation shall have respect unto my Writings and shall say had we lived in those days that Fox and other Quakers lived in we would never have blasphemed and spoken evil of so pure a truth as Fox the Quaker hath done to incur eternal damnation upon our own heads as Fox the Quaker their father hath done these things will come to pass as it hath done in the other two Commissions namely the Law the Gospel Page 22. Muggleton saith the Quakers hearken to the light within but they despise the body and person of Christ without them and so they are Antichrist 20. To this Fox saith Here are more Lies of the false prophet for saith he Christ that died at Jerusalem his person we own without us who is manifest within us the light of Christ Jesus by which we have seen of his glory and speak in his person And Fox saith Solomons Books in the Bible are good Scripture though Muggleton saith they be not Scripture he being not in the spirit of Solomon that gave them forth CHAP. XXVI ANSWER HEre Fox hath shewed his Allegorical Juggle who dares not deny the person of Christ without them not in plain terms because the Scriptures are so full to prove Christ a person and it is the Faith of all Christendom as we call it but any man that hath any true light in him may see that Fox is a meer Juggler to deceive the simple and ignorant whose doctrine makes the people more dark in their mindes than they were by nature For saith Fox we Quakers own the person of Christ without us who is manifest within us There is such a great stir with Gods Messengers to part Christs person or body from the Quakers and their bodies from him that Christs body might stand single of it self and the Quakers bodies might stand single of themselves at a distance from Christs body but the Quakers will either get into Christs body or else Christ must get into the Quakers bodies so that no man can tell how to part them one from another but I know death will part them And Christ will say to Fox and other Quakers Depart from me you workers of iniquity you pretended that you were my Saints and that I was in you and you in me but I know you not neither did I send you to preach for I never was in you by my Spirit to assist you in your preaching you should have let preaching and praying in my name alone for you have done more hurt than good in that your doctrine hath blinded the eyes of many people and have led them as sheep to the slaughter and hath caused many to suffer extreamly in this life even to the loss of their natural life besides the punishment hereafter For you should have hearkened to my chosen Witnesses and Prophets who can declare the true Christ God and man in one single person in the form of a man with the right devil his form and nature but your non-knowledge of the right devil is the cause of your gross darkness in the knowledge of the true Christ What are you Quakers the better for your Christ within you he yields you no true peace and what are you the better for being in Christ for the true Christ denies you and will not be in you by his Spirit neither will he suffer you to be in him because you and a great part of you Quakers are of the reprobate Seed which have no part nor portion in the true Christ for you are and the Quakers people but the devil transformed into the likeness of an Angel of light because you are something more precise in your life as to outward appearance but your preciseness is very much broken and withered of late years your darkness and ignorance is discovered by the light of this Commission of the Spirit for you are not like the people you were formerly neither doth your Witchcraft-fits catch any now as it did heretofore Your Witchcraft-fits can hardly be produced now of
they are made one flesh by union and institution as aforesaid for when a man lieth with a harlot he makes himself a member of a harlot by that union and so the harlot is made one flesh with this man Now this man is none of her flesh nor she his not really so for some men do abhor it should be so yet by union with a harlot many times men come to be flesh of her flesh and so are become diseased with her disease even with the Pox so that these are become double flesh of one anothers flesh by that union they had with each other these things I have known by Ranters and others Now minde the distinction a childe that a man begets of his wife is more flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone than his wife is why because the childe is indeed flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone because children came out of the mans loyns as the twelve Patriarchs came forth of Jacobs loyns now these were really flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone naturally so and not by union as a man and his wife that were two are by union made one flesh So likewise the Scriptures speaks of two sorts of bodies as that in 1 Cor. 15.44 there is a natural body and a spiritual body a celestial body and a terrestrial body now these bodies cannot go one into another but mortal bodies may be made spiritual bodies and spiritual bodies may be made mortal bodies by the power of the Creator as it were by the Serpent Angel he was a spiritual body when he deceived Eve but when he was made mortal he was called Cursed Cain So the Lord from heaven was a spiritual body before he over-shadowed the Virgin Mary but afterwards this spirit al body was a pure mortal body and that mortal body was caned A Blessed Jesus This is the great Mystery to the world and this Jesus is that God that prepared a pure mortal body for himself that he might be capable to be put to death in this body to redeem the lost Seed of Adam And this is that body I say is not in the Quakers neither are the Quakers of Christs body by union nor flesh of his flesh nor bone of his bone not by union and those Believers were the Apostle writ unto for the Apostle was chosen of Christ without him and had a Commission to preach Christ to others and those that did believe his Commission were one in faith with him and so they by faith might know that Christ was in them except they were reprobates that is except they were unbelieving for if they had faith in the true Christ which he had taught them then Christ did dwell in their hearts by faith and they should know by faith in themselves that they were not reprobates and by the union they should have with Christ by faith they should become members of Christ yea they should be counted flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone This is the true meaning of the Scriptures But the Speakers of the Quakers have no Commission from Christ to preach as the Apostles had neither have the Believers of the Quakers any true faith in Christs person or body without them and so the Speakers and Hearers are both in the state of reprobation neither doth Christ dwell in their hearts by faith for true faith they have none but the faith of devils And that which they call the Light of Christ in them is nothing else but the Light of the Law written in their hearts for true faith in Christs person they have none so they call the Light of the Law in them the Light of Christ because the Law convinces them of sin Now this Law written in the Quakers hearts is the light of Christs Creation and this light of the Law that Christ hath written in the heart of man it is written in the heart of every devil and so in the heart of the Speakers of the Quakers and they teach their disciples to harken to the light within them and saith Christ is in them but this is no saving light neither is Christ within them neither are the Quakers members of Christs body nor bone of his bone nor flesh of his flesh for they have no faith in his person without them so that Fox his Cheat and Deceit is made manifest by the Scriptures being interpreted 11. Page 11. Fox is very angry with me for saying Reason is the Devil and yet saith he thou givest a reason for what thou doest and because I give a reason of my doings therefore saith he I am judged out of my own mouth to be the Devil Reason CHAP. XIII ANSWER HEre Fox the Quaker hath shewed himself an ignorant devil that cannot give a reason of the hope that is in him but for fear he should be counted a devil takes up other mens words and the Scriptures must give a reason for Fox how that he is no reprobate because the Scriptures saith to Believers in that time Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates And be ready to render a reason of the hope within you But Fox himself hath no knowledge but that he is a reprobate but I perfectly know that Fox is a reprobate and I can give a reason why he should and will be damned to eternity though Fox can give no reason for it What would Fox have done if he had not had other mens words to prove Christ within and to give a reason of the hope they had in Christ for Fox hath no interest in the Scriptures But I shall open this point something more hereafter where he speaketh of Reason in the 19th page of his Pamphlet 12. Page 11. And Muggleton saith he rejoyceth in his Cursings and them that he doth Curse and Sentence shall never see any other God or Judge But saith Fox how now Muggleton art thou become God and Judge Must not all appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ to have their sentence and reward from him whether they have done good or evil CHAP. XIV ANSWER DO you Fox and the Speakers of the Quakers indeed believe that you shall appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ to receive the reward of deeds done in your bodies whether good or evil If you do I shall say this unto you that when you do appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ John Reeve and my self shall be there also and look what Sentence and Judgement we have given upon you and others here upon earth the same Sentence will Christ give when you appear before his Judgement-seat and look what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit you have committed in this natural body you now have you shall have the punishment of that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that sent us punished in that spiritual dark body you shall have when Christ doth raise you again and then you shall know that you did appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ
when you appeared to resist the Holy Ghost in us the Witnesses of the Spirit and look what Judgement and Sentence we the Witnesses of the Spirit have given you here in this world the same Judgement and Sentence shall be upon you in the world to come even to eternity And when you Fox appeared before us to resist the Holy Ghost in us then did you appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ and look what Judgement I have given you and others it may be said to be the Judgement and Sentence of Christ and that you appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ As it is in all Courts of natural Justice when men are condemned by the Judge for the breach of the Law doth not such an one appear before the Judgment-seat of the King What are all Courts of Justice but the Judgment-seat of the King and whosoever is justified or condemned by the Judges of these Courts they may be said to be justified or acquitted or judged or condemned before the Judgement-seat of the King In like manner it is with the Judgement-seat of Christ Christ is the chief Judge and King of Heaven and Earth yet he hath given power to his Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit to be Embassadors and Judges in his stead as it is with Earthly Kings so that who ever appears before the true Embassadors of Christ they do appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ and look what Judgement the Embassadors who are Judges do give upon a man if justified then Christ justifies if condemned then condemned and there is no appealing to any other So that you Fox you have appeared before the Judgement-seat of Christ already and have received your Judgement and Sentence already but the execution of it is not yet come and when you appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ as you mean and I shall be there also and look what Sentence I have passed upon you and others here the same shall I pass upon you When Christ which is my Life doth appear then shall I appear with him in glory and shall sit upon a Throne of glory and shall judge you wicked despisers of a personal God with the same Sentence of eternal Damnation as I did when I was here in mortality and then shall you Fox know to your endless misery that God gave power to a mortal man like your self to give Judgement and Sentence of eternal Damnation upon you though you despise and scorn that a mortal man should give Sentence upon you Speakers of the Quakers and others but you shall finde the Sentence of a mortal man as really true upon you as if the Immortal God himself had passed it upon you But the Reader may finde this more largely opened in The Quakers Neck broken But to make it appear more plain to the Reader that the Judgment-seat of Christ is in this world as well as hereafter and that all Prophets Apostles and true Messengers and Ministers of Christ if they be chosen by him they are Judges and those that do appear before them or any of them they may be said to appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ and look what Judgement Christs Judges which he hath chosen and given them a Commission doth give Sentence either of Justification or Condemnation they received this Sentence before the Judgement-seat of Christ because these Judges are chosen by him as it is with other Judges in the temporal as aforesaid This I shall make more appear by Scripture as Mat. 19.29 where Christ saith to his twelve Apostles You saith he shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Now let the Reader minde These twelve Apostles had the Keyes of Heaven and Hell given them here and they had power to remit sins and to retain mens sins that is they had power to forgive sins and power to retain sins that is they had power to justifie that man or woman that believed their doctrine and they had power to condemn those that despised and did not believe their doctrine now these people so justified and condemned by these Apostles and true Preachers they did appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ for they were appointed Judges in his stead and that the Reader may understand how these Apostles should judge the twelve Tribes of Israel I declare unto you thus That these Twelve had their Commission from Christ to preach the Gospel of Christ unto the twelve Tribes of Israel though many Gentiles believed also yet Paul was chiefly sent unto the Gentiles and chosen of Christ to preach him unto the Gentiles but the other twelve Apostles their Message was chiefly to preach Christ unto the twelve Tribes of Israel which were the Jewes in their time and as many of those Jewes as did believe in these twelve Apostles Doctrine concerning Christs Death Resurrection and Ascension and other things belonging thereunto which they preached I say the Apostles had power to give Sentence of Blessedness upon those which did truly believe their Doctrine and that their sins were forgiven them and so they came to be justified in their own consciences justified before God and so had peace with God So on the contrary those that did not believe the Apostles Message but rather despised it spoke evil of it and persecuted it calling it Blasphemy Heresie Deceit and Lies which many of those Jews did the Apostles had power to pronounce and condemn those unbelieving Jewes who despised and spake evil of the Doctrine of Christ Also they had power to retain their sins so that God should never forgive them so that they should never be forgiven in the conscience nor forgiven of God So that these twelve Apostles doth judge the twelve Tribes of Israel here in this world some they have judged eternally happy because they believed their report others they judged eternally damned for their unbelief and despisings as aforesaid so that the Apostles did judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel in their time as aforesaid and this Judgment of theirs is the Judgement-seat of Christ and these twelve Tribes were before the Judgement-seat of Christ so long as the Apostles Commission lasted which was a matter of three hundred and fifty years after Christs death So that these twelve Apostles may be said to judge the twelve Tribes of Israel here in this life by their Doctrine of Christ Also it may be said that the twelve Tribes of Israel did appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ for many of them were justified by faith in Christ and many were condemned by unbelief in Christ so that every one had the Sentence in themselves by the Apostles judging whether happy or unhappy and for this faithful service the twelve Apostles have done in this life in judging according to their Commission they shall sit upon twelve Thrones of Glory in the Resurrection and shall give the same Judgement upon the twelve Tribes there as they did here that is they will justifie the same Sentence of
Sun and Moon to run their course in their season appointed Also he hath placed by the power of his word a Law in the Stars and Planets and in all the Host of Heaven on this side the Firmament nay he hath set the Law of bounds to the Sea and great Waters all these things and a thousand times more hath he done by his wisdom and power and all these things which he hath made by the power of his word here below upon this earth they declare his handy-works and doth shew forth the wisdom power and glory of God their Creator every thing in its kinde shews forth the glory of God and so God hath filled the earth with his wisdom power and glory in that he hath placed a Law in every thing according to his pleasure to set forth his praise here on earth And in this sense God may be said to fill the heaven and earth and yet his person but the bigness of a man as aforesaid and he may be called the Great God in respect of his great power but not in respect of his person for a King may be called a great King in respect of his great power as Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon was of great power as in Daniel 4.20 He was as a Tree which reached up to heaven So likewise his dominion is said to reach to the ends of the earth as in verse 22. So that it was the greatness of his power that reached up to heaven and to the end of the earth that is as far in the earth as his Power Decrees and Laws would reach yet the person of this great King was no bigger in stature and compass than another man So it is with God though his power wisdom and glory fills heaven and earth in that he hath given Laws and placed Bounds to all his Creation as I said before yet he himself is no bigger in bulk nor in compass than a man as the Scriptures doth in many places prove and as I have said before and in this sense the Scriptures doth mean that God fills heaven and earth But Fox and the Quakers looks upon God to be so big in his Essence and Spirit without any body that he fills heaven and earth the Air and all things else with his great big Spirit without a body this is the Quakers God and Christ so they can get God in to them as they think and then when they part out of the body they now have then their spirits goes into God again so that the Quakers God and their Spirits doth so whip into one another so that no body can tell where to finde either of them This is the Quakers Principle and their imaginary God Christ and this is that Spirit they call the Spirit of Christ in them this is that Christ they are members of and bone of this Spirits bone and flesh of this Spirits flesh for they abhor such a God that is a person and can be confined to one place of residence but they must have a great infinite Spirit who fills all places and all things which cannot be known nor understood what he is such a God as this must the Quakers have that their spirits may slip into him when death doth approach for Quakers thinks their souls cannot die they look upon that to come from God therefore immortal so they think to slip out of those bodies they have and so creep into that infinite Spirit again from whence they came as they suppose for they are of Solomons opinion the body to the dust and the spirit returns to God that gave it but Solomon was ignorant in this point though he was a wise Man in things of nature and you Quakers will find your thoughts and conceit in this thing frustrated and that your souls shall die neither shall your souls slip out of your bodies neither shall it go into God again as you doe vainly imagine but as your souls doth die a natural death here even in the sight of others so many of you shall die an eternal death hereafter in your own bodies so that God shall be no hiding place for you but he will say Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for you have been the greatest despisers and blasphemers against a personal God and them whom I sent of any CHAP. XIX AGain it will be necessary to give Fox the Quaker a little to understand the bigness of the right Devil Fox may remember that I have shewed before that Cain was the first Devil in flesh and the right Devil and that the spirit of the Devil is not body less as the Quakers doth vainly imagine and this Cain the first and right Devil was a Man and of the same stature and bigness as the Serpent Angel was who beguiled Eva who was Cains Father For Adam was none of his Father as I have said before but I perceive that Fox and other Quakers are unacquainted with the right Devil so that they wonderfully strange at my words to call the Devil a right Devil they never heard the Devil called a right Devil before I have received Letters from Quakers before desiring to have it proved by Scripture but I perceive the Quakers are unacquainted with the right Devil and altogether ignorant of the wrong Devil for they know neither right Devil nor wrong Devil but if Fox the Quaker will but follow my advice he shall see a right devil let George Fox but take a Looking-glass and look into it and he shall see his own face and then he will see a right devil and he need go no further to see the right devil and all other Quakers that are ignorant of the right devil let them look into a glass and there they may see themselves to be right devils and not wrong devils 15. The same page Muggelton saith that Christ hath a distinct body of flesh and bone of his own To this Fox saith Is Christ distinct from his Saints then how come they saith Fox to be of his flesh and bone CHAP. XX. ANSWER HEre people may see Fox hath manifested his deceit and how he carrieth the Principle of the Quakers in an Allegory to deceive the people for their Christ they so much talk of is a meer Allegory For saith Fox in another place of his Pamphlet we own the Son of God and his flesh and bone and blood who was Crucified and laid in the grave and rose again and sits at the right hand of God Here Fox seems to owne Christs Body without him but it is in a mystery for he doth not believe that God hath any right hand or left hand either for infinite spirits hath no hands there is no need of spirits without bodies to have hands but the Reader may plainly see that Fox hath a mystical meaning or else he grossely contradicts himself For saith Fox is Christ distinct from his Saints then how came they to be of his flesh and bone so that Fox his
late not in any I marvel how you Quakers can have Christs person manifest in you and how you can speak in his person Let the Reader mind the Quakers Cheat they own Christs person without them yet this person of Christ without them is manifest within them See the deceit of this Fox I have read of Christ manifest in his Saints and Apostles by his Spirit or Seed of Faith but I never read that Christs person flesh and bone was ever manifest within any man that was alwayes without man and will be without man for ever distinct of himself Also Fox saith the Quakers speak in Christs person Here is another Allegorical speech without any distinction I have heard that an Ambassador hath represented the person of a King and his speech by vertue of a Commission from the King is in the Kings stead but the Ambassador is not in the Kings person though he represents the Kings person the Kings person is at a great distance from his Messenger So it is with Christs Ambassadors as Paul saith We are Ambassadors in Christs stead beseeching you to be reconciled unto Christ by our doctrine Now Pauls person and Christs person were at a great distance one from the other for Christs person was in heaven above the stars and Pauls person was here upon earth so that Paul did not speak in the person of Christ that being at such a distance as I said before but Paul and the rest of the Apostles by vertue of their Commission given from Christ were Ambassadors of him and so stood in Christs stead but Christs person was far enough off from them as a Kings person is far off when his Ambassador is in a strange Land who represents the Kings person as aforesaid But the Quakers they will get into Christs person and speak there or else they will get Christs person into them and so Christ must speak there in their persons so as I said before the Quakers will not be separated from Christ nor suffer him to separate himself from them though I know they never were in union together neither was Christ ever in them that I have damned nor never will be neither were they ever in Christ nor never shall be Neither doth Fox own indeed that person of Christ of flesh and bone that died at Jerusalem to be now living in heaven above the stars but Fox and the Quakers Christ they so much talk of is a meer Allegory without substance a Christ that may be blown away with the word of a true Prophets mouth as I said in The Neck of the Quakers broken Also Fox saith Solomons Books are good Scripture though I say they are not being not in the spirit of Solomon that gave them forth Here I perceive that Fox and the Quakers are got into Solomons spirit just as they did get into Christs person I see Fox can get into spirits as he doth into persons but I perceive Fox is got into Solomons spirit and he blames me because I am not in Solomons spirit I do seriously confess that I am not in Solomons spirit and I am glad I never was in his spirit for who ever is in Solomons spirit doth not know the true God nor the right devil for Solomon knew neither of them though he was a wise man in things of nature but ignorant of spiritual and heavenly wisdom for Solomons wisdom hath the Ground-work of much lust of the flesh and idolatry for the Ranters practice was grounded upon Solomons practice who knew so many women so the Ranters thought they might have the same liberty seeing wise Solomons Writings were owned for Scripture-record thus they continued many of them in their practice of lust till many of them were weary of it as Solomon was when he was old and then they left off that practice and turned Quakers and so fell to be the greatest idolaters of any as Solomon did to his Heathenish-Wives drew his heart away from the worship of Moses to worship idols So is it with those Ranters that are turned Quakers they are become absolute Heathen idolaters for when they were Puritanes so called they were zealous for the letter of the Scriptures and did practice a good life as near as they could to the letter but after they fell to the practice of lust being encouraged by Solomons writings they left that legal Worship and civil practice the Law tied them unto and followed Solomons practice of lust And now they being turned Quakers are fallen to heathen idolatry that is to say the Quakers they worship an unknown God a Spirit without a body they adore a Christ within them and never mindes a body of Christ without them at a distance they believe their own spirits to be immortal and cannot die they believe their spirits go to God or into God again according to Solomons words they believe Gods Spirit being an infinite Being without a body and that this infinite bodiless Spirit taketh all things into it self and so their spirits being immortal they go into God when they die they will not acknowledge that life or soul doth die but departs out of the body they know not where notwithstanding the Scriptures are so full to prove the soul that sins shall die and experience shews it doth die So that the Quakers are become the greatest spiritual idolaters of any and the greatest fighters against a personal God of any for as Solomon did fall to worship the heathen womens visible Images or Idols so do the Quakers worship invisible Idols as a Spirit without a body and that their own spirits may subsist without bodies and that spirits may be capable of happiness or misery without bodies this is the Heathen Philosophers opinion they brought into the world that Principle of the Immortality of the Soul and that Spirits might go to happiness or misery without bodies And the Quakers hath got the Heathen Principle to a hair therefore become Heathen Idolaters as Solomon was for the Scriptures declares another thing Where doth the Scriptures say that God is an Infinite Spirit without a body The Scripture saith God is infinite and so he is Also the Scripture saith God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and truth but it is not said God is a Spirit without a body for this I say that if a man may worship God in spirit and truth in this natural body as the disciples of Christ did in their natural bodies and as I my self do in my natural body then of necessity it will follow that God hath a spiritual body whereby I may worship him else I shall worship I know not what as you Quakers do And because Gods body is a spiritual body therefore Christ said when on earth God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and truth he knowing that body of his that was then a pure natural body should by his death and rising again be made a spiritual body and then all true Believers
have passed upon many of the Quakers people As first Fox saith He believes that my Sentence will return back upon my self as in pag. 6. 2. Fox saith That those I have cursed are clear over my spirit as in pag. 12. 3. Fox saith Had the Quakers nevar seen letter of Scripture or any man yet saith he the Quakers could have spoken in the power and spirit and in the divine light of Christ had he never seen letter of Scripture nor man as in pag. 18. 4. Fox gives glory to his God and Christ within him who hath as he saith set him and other Quakers above that Curse and Sentence I have passed upon them as in pag. 20. 5. Fox blames me for saying God hath made me Judge of the Quakers spiritual estate and yet saith he thou owns thy self to be but a mortal man Oh how Fox despiseth that a mortal man should be the Quakers Judge of their immortal souls as they imagine for saith Fox the spiritual man judgeth all things as in pag. 21. 6. Fox blames me for saying that the spirit of reason in man is the devil and Fox seems to justifie the Magistrates that persecuted me because I say they were reasonable men And Fox further blames me for fleeing from the devils malice yet he judgeth that if those Magistrates devils had inflicted more corporal punishment upon me than Imprisonment it had been but reason the devil still for saith Fox thou canst no say it was unreasonableness in them according to thy own saying as in Page 23. 7. Fox calls me a laying spirit because I say it doth not belong to Christ now being in Heaven to interpret Scripture For saith Fox doth not the Scripture say all shall be taught of God and that he opens and no man shuts and doth not John say no man was found worthy to open the Book but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and was not Christ anointed to preach as in page 24. CHAP. XXIX ANSWER FIrst as for that sentence that I have passed upon the Quakers people and others it is irrevocable and will be as sure upon you as if God had said it with his own mouth for as I said in that book we are as true Ambassadors of Christ as Moses the Prophets and Apostles were and if they were sent of God we are sent of God and if there were any power in their Sentence and Judgement to those people in their time so sure will the Sentence and Judgement of us the Witnesses of the Spirit be upon you and as many of the Quakers people as hath or shall fall under it Neither shall that curse I have passed upon you despising Quakers return upon my self no more then the curse of Moses which open'd the ground to swallow up wicked rebellous men alive for desiring the Priests office So wil it be with you Fox the Quaker in that you have rebell'd against the Messengers of Christ and strove for to be a Minister of Christ when as he never chose nor sent you yet you will proudly contend with those that God hath chosen anointed and seal'd to declare the highest mysteries that ever was declared by man yet you look upon your self to be better able to preach the Gospel then we you who knoweth not the true God nor what the devil is nor that your soul must die nor any one true principle of Faith yet you are taken by the people to be a man of knowledge and so you encourage your self to be a Minister of Christ and yet knows not what the true Christ is nor where he is and do you think that Hell shall not open its mouth and swallow you up alive Yea I say it will and you shall not escape for I know and see it will be so and you shall find my words to be true to your eternal pain and shame as Corah Dathan and Abiram did by Moses 2. Fox saith those I have cursed are clear over my spirit CHAP. XXX ANSWER IT is a marvellous thing that damned men should be over his spirit that hath a commission from God to condemn despisers of the Holy Ghost it is as if a prisoner that is condemned by the Judge for his breach of the Law should have that curse he pronounced upon the man over his own head By Fox his conceit the man is in a better case then the Judge for the man may as truely say that the sentence and curse the Judge hath passed upon him is clear over the Judges spirit as if the condemned man were in a better condition then the Judge yet the one goeth to be hanged according to the Judges sentence and the Judge goeth to his Palace So is it with you George Fox and many other of you Quakers you must go to the damnation of eternal death according to my sentence and I shall enter into everlasting life that condemned you so that you shall never clear your selves from that curse I have passed upon you but it shall be over your spirits and upon your spirits to eternity 3. Fox saith had the Quakers never seen letter of Scriptures or any man yet saith he the Quakers could have spoken in the power and spirit and in the Divine light of Christ CHAP. XXXI ANSWER HEre Fox sheweth plainly that the Quakers light of Christ within them is nothing else but the Law written in their hearts their thoughts accusing and excusing as the Heathen have the Apostle speaks of and no divine faith of Christ at all Mind the Scripture saith by faith we know the world was made and by faith Abraham offered up his son Isaac and faith is the evidence of things not seen and the Apostles preached the word of faith and this I say no heavenly spiritual or divine light can be truely understood but by faith And this I say further that the letter of the Scriptures were spoken by the word of Faith and by faithful men for there is no writings under Heaven that are the ground of Faith nor doth give satisfaction to the mind of man as to his eternal salvation as the letter of the Scripture doth if understood and believed by man how could man have known the creation of the world and how God appeared to Noah before and after the Flood or whether there were any Flood or no but by faith Or how can any man know that God appeared to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and gave them to prophesie so many hundred years before of God becomeing flesh and that he should save men from sin by his death even as many as should believe in his name with great and mighty things that hath been done by the power of faith which the letter of the Scriptures doth relate which no man could comprehend nor know but those that have faith in the letter of the Scriptures yet Fox the Quaker he could have spoken in the power and spirit of the Divine light of Christ though the Quakers had never seen letter of
Scripture nor man Here the Reader may plainly see that the Quakers Christ within them is no other but the Law written in their hearts as the Heathen had as aforesaid their thoughts accusing and excusing this is that Christ within them they so much talk of and this is that power and spirit and divine light of Christ the Quakers could have spoken in had they never seen letter of Scripture nor man this is the same the Heathen had in them and this I say had the Quakers never seen letter of Scripture nor man that professed the letter of the Scripture I say the Quakers would have talked nor spoke no more of a Christ within them then cursed Cain and his posterity did or the old world that was drowned or Sodom These wicked people never saw no letter of Scripture nor man that had faith not as they knew yet they had the same Christ within them as the Quakers have by the Law written in their hearts and might have spoken in the power and spirit of the divine light of Christ as the Quakers do had they seen the letter of the Scripture and men that believes them as the Quakers do So that it may be cleer to those that have the true light of Faith and of the interpretation of the letter of the Scripture that the Quakers principle of the light of Christ within them is no other but the light of the Law written in their hearts as the Heathen had before any Scriptures were written and by this Law are they judged in themselves and this is their Christ within them and this is that power and spirit and divine light of Christ they could have spoken in had they never seen letter of Scripture nor man that professeth Scripture and that they do speak now they have seen letter of Scripture and men that profess it and believe it I say is the very same for the Quakers have no more faith in the true Christ then if they had never seen letter of Scripture nor any man that believes them what they have is meer traditional even the faith of devils for the Law written in their hearts is the onely and alone Christ the Quakers have to save them and this Christ is indeed within them and will never go out of them but torment them to eternity 4. Fox gives glory to his God and Christ within him who hath as he saith set him and other Quakers above that curse and sentence I have passed upon them CHAP. XXXII ANSWER YOur glory to your God and Christ within you will fail you in the day of trouble neither will nor can deliver you from that curse and sentence I have passed upon you and others of your brethren neither will you ever be set above it but shall be kept under it to eternity flatter your self as much as you can you shall not be delivered neither by your Christ within you nor by the true Christ without you this I know 5. Fox blames me for saying God hath made me Judge of the Quakers spiritual estate and yet saith he thou ownest thy self but a mortal man For saith Fox the spiritual man judgeth all things CHAP. XXXIII ANSWER Did you Fox ever see any man condemned to die either natural death or eternal death by a spiritual man without a body are not all men condemned both natural and spiritual by mortal men like themselves Was not Moses a mortal man did not he condemn and judge many to die he said but the word and it was done and did not Eliah call for fire from Heaven and destroy two Captains and their fifties with many other strange things he did whereby many were judged by him and killed yet he was but a mortal man and subject to infirmity as mortal men are as the Scripture saith Again was not Peter a mortal men and was put to death himself yet he judged Ananias and Saphirah his wife to death yet a mortal man so is it with every true Prophet and Messenger of Christ he hath power to set life and death before men and power to judge and condemne those that rebel against his commission and to justifie those that yield obedience unto it yet all Gods Messengers they were mortal men now these mortal men had great power being commissionated of God and they all acted according to the tenor of their commission and some of them destroyed life presently And I am sure if you Fox had lived in Moses time you would have been consumed by him in the gainsaying of Corah for you would have rebelled against Moses Aaron as you do now against John Reeve and me but because my Commission is not to consume you immediately by a natural destruction you proudly vaunt your self against the Commission of the Spirit thinking you and your Christ within you shall be able to encounter with me and my Christ without me but I must judge according to my Commission of the Spirit and not as Moses and the Apostles did to destroy the natural life immediately but our commission is with relation to the spiritual estate of men and women after death and accordingly we judge yet but mortal men and must die our selves this power hath God given unto me and by vertue of this am I made Judge of the Quakers spiritual and eternal estate what will become of many of you after death And as for that saying The spiritual man judgeth all things this is to be minded that every true Messenger and Minister of Christ may be called a spiritual man and he is so because he teacheth such doctrine that doth comfort the spirits of some and torment the spirits of others in that it divides between the joynts and the marrow Also those that truly believe may be called spiritual men and can judge the spirits of unbelievers because they know by faith in the doctrine of the true God that others that have not the same faith cannot have that peace as they have for they know by experience in themselves when they were unbelievers they were without God in the world and so were not able to judge who were happy and who were not but being justified by faith in the true God they have peace with God and so can discern and judge the spirits of others by what they were themselves who were some time in darkness but now in the light of heaven and who ever hath this true faith in the doctrine of the true God may be said to be a spiritual man and able to judge all things that is naught in himself and all the unbelief and despisings of others And so he judgeth all things by his faith in the true God and in the Messenger God hath sent yet Minister and People are but mortal men and must die yet called by the Seed of Faith the spiritual man that judgeth all things and is judged of no man Therefore you Fox shall never have any spiritual man to judge you to eternal damnation but
himself did interpret this Scripture to the Eunuch or did it belong to a mortal man I think you will not be so grosly ignorant to say that Christ himself went into the Eunuchs Charret and interpreted those Scriptures to him Surely if the interpretation of Scripture had belonged onely unto Christ and not unto man as Fox doth assert then Christ must have come from heaven and have went into the Charret in Philips stead because Philip was a man and interpretation of Scripture doth not belong to man as Fox the Quaker saith May not any man that hath but the light of sense and reason in his understanding see the gross darkness of these Quakers which pretends to be in the clearest light of all the seven Churches but to my knowledge the darkest of all in point of doctrine And as for that saying of Scripture We shall be all taught of God it is not meant that God will teach every particular man and woman himself do you Fox believe so why then do you prattle to the people when you meet as if you would interpret the meaning of Scripture and teach the people the knowledge of Christ for you are but a man why do not you let Christ teach the people himself seeing you will have all taught of God and allow no man to interpret Scripture nor teach the people For if you say Christ doth interpret Scripture and not Muggleton because Muggleton is a man and the interpretation of Scripture you say belongs to Christ and not to Muggleton for Muggleton is but a man so Quakers are all taught of God and not by man I marvel why there is so many Men-teachers amongst the Quakers seeing teaching knowledge of heavenly things and the interpretation of Scripture belongeth to God and Christ and not to man If I were of your faith I would give over teaching and talking of the Scriptures and leave it to God and Christ to whom it doth and it would be well for you Speakers of the Quakers if you had done so before you took upon you to preach Christ within you you have undertook to teach that which you say God will do and to interpret Scripture which you say doth belong unto Christ But I see all those people that will be taught of God and have the Scriptures interpreted unto them by Christ himself and will not receive the interpretation from man I say those people are more ignorant and dark in their mindes than those that are taught by man And I am sure the Quakers people would have known more truth if they had been taught by man that hath a Commission from God as Reeve and Muggleton hath than they do by all that God ever taught them in their lives And the Interpretation of Scripture we have given if understood would have informed their Judgements more than all the Interpretation of Scripture that Christ ever did interpret unto the Quakers people since the name of Quakers was put upon them yet we are but mortal men and must die But to clear the scruple that may arise in mens mindes because I speak thus I shall shew in a few words how men may be said to be taught of God and how the Interpretation of Scripture may be said to belong unto Christ First when God chuseth any one man or more to be his chosen Prophet Messenger or Minister God doth furnish such with wisdom and understanding and revelation to declare the minde of God to the people what God would have the people do and look how many people or who ever doth believe this Messenger sent of God they may be said to be taught of God and are taught of God So likewise he that hath the gift of Interpretation of Scripture as Prophets Apostles and we the Witnesses of the Spirit hath our Interpretation of Scripture may be said to belong unto Christ and that it is the true Interpretation of Christ himself because we had our Commission from him to teach the people and to interpret Scripture to as many as believe us to their great peace and satisfaction of their souls And in this sense people may truely say they are all taught of God and that Christ hath given the true interpretation of Scripture by his servants the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit to our everlasting peace and comfort yet all this is declared by men yea by mortal men and not by Christ himself as the Quakers do vainly imagine 6. Also Fox saith Christ opens and no man shuts and saith Doth not John say No man was found worthy to open the Book but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah And saith Was not Christ annointed to preach CHAP. XXXVI ANSWER THis beareth the same sence as the other whatsoever the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit doth it may be said Christ doth it as the Prophets they preached of Balm in Gilead and of Eye-salve to anoynt the peoples eyes that they might see what did belong to their peace and where they might have salve to heal the wound in conscience which sin had made in their souls this is called the preaching of Christ by his Prophets 2. The Apostles had power given them by Christ to open the eyes of the blinde and to give light unto them that were in darkness and in the shadow of death and brought those that believed their doctrine into the light of life eternal Also they had the Keys of Heaven and of Hell to bind sin upon the consciences of unbelievers never to be forgiven and to loose the sins of those that did truely believe their doctrine of Christ and thus they did open the Book of conscience in the believer and no man could shut up that conscience which the Apostles doctrine opened neither could any man open that conscience the Apostles shut up in unbelief This also is called the preaching of Christ and opening and shutting the Book of Conscience by Christ yet this was done by men and not by Christ himself But in regard they did preach the Gospel by vertue of Authority from Christ and they were anointed by him to preach the everlasting Gospel and had power given them to open the Book of Conscience in some whereby they did believe in Christ and shut the conscience of others up in unbelief and thus that saying of the Scripture is fulfilled that Christ was anoynted to preach the Gospel of glad tidings of salvation for what his Messengers doth it is as if he did it himself Again we the Witnesses of the Spirit are anoynted and chosen of Christ to preach the everlasting Gospel and Christ hath given us power to set life and death before men and we have power to binde and loose and to open and shut the Book of Conscience and no man can shut that conscience we have opened neither can any man open that conscience we have shut up in darkness as to any spiritual knowledge or true peace this many can witness on both sides if