Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A56122
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The true Christ, and the Quakers Christ compar'd in a letter sent to Mr. Richard Hardcastle. Wherein is a short review of some things asserted by the Quakers in their Norfolk-disputation with the clergy, &c. 1698. By Robert Prudom.
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Prudom, Robert.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing P3882; ESTC R220565
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14,151
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28
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Redemption was wrought out in the state of Christ's Humiliation performed by him as God and Man in Union the two Natures in that Person being concerned in this Work Isa 53.11 12. He shall see of the Travail of his Soul and shall be satisfied By his Knowledg shall my righteous Servant justify many for he shall bear their Iniquities Therefore will I divide him a Portion with the great and he shall divide the Spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his Soul unto death and he was numbered with the Transgressors compared with 1 Tim. 2.16 And without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit The first Scripture gives us an account how the Manhood was concerned in the Work in suffering for Sinners and therefore he should see the travail of his Soul in bearing part in that Honour due to the Redeemer The second Scripture shews us how the Divine Nature perfumed his Sufferings in order to their acceptance with the Father for the Persons for whom he suffered 2. The Work of an Intercessor is performed now in the state of his Exaltation by this Christ who is God and Man the two Natures of God and Man being concerned in the Work Rom. 1.4 And declared the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness which was his Divine Nature by the Resurrection from the dead by whom we have received Grace and Apostleship that is the Qualifications for that great Work belonging to that great Office Acts 2.32 33. This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are Witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear 1 Tim. 2.6 For there is one God and one Mediator betwixt God and Men the Man Christ Jesus Thirdly The Holy Ghost's work within being subservient to the blessed Mediator without and leading to the Father through him brings the Soul into an experimental Injoyment of the Father Son and Holy Ghost John 15.26 27. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father He shall testify of me And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning What was the Sum and Substance of the Apostle's Doctrine Even to recommend this Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ in his Person and Sufferings to Sinners Rom. 10.9 If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy Heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved What is the Sum and Substance of the Holy Ghost's Work within Even to accompany this outward Declaration of the Gospel opening the Understanding of poor Sinners letting them see the need of a Saviour inabling the Heart to close with him and by faith to lay hold of that Grace which comes from the Father through him The inward Discovery of the Father and the Sons Love to us is by the Spirit and it is the Spirit 's work to kindle the Fire of Love more and more in the Souls of Saints by which through the blessed Mediator they are inabled to offer up their Souls to their heavenly Father Fourthly The two Ordinances of Baptism and the Supper do represent unto the Faith of Believers what Christ hath done for them because they both point at his Person and what he hath done in his Human Nature buried in the Grave for them held forth by Water Baptism Doth Bread and Wine support by feeding upon it the outward Man So doth the Flesh and Blood of the Man Christ through that Vertue which the Divine Nature puts into it tend to feed the Inward My Flesh saith Christ is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed 1 Cor. 11.26 For as often as ye eat this Bread and drinks this Cup speaking of the Supper-Ordinance ye shew the Lord's Death till he come Doth it point at him that died and is risen and come in Spirit then until he come must refer to his second personal Appearance as a glorified Man to judg the World Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead In the next place I come to speak of this Spiritual Christ as he is worshipped by this poor deceived People called Quakers who are greatly imposed upon by their Leaders for want of bringing their Writings to be seriously examined by the Holy Scriptures And first as to his Person we have him in their Writings represented as a Spirit and as such Divine Honour given to him 2ly The Work of Redemption not brought in a way of satisfaction to Divine Justice for sin but in the way of the first Covenant of Do this and live i.e. Obey the Light within and live 3ly Acceptance with God not bottom'd upon a Mediator without us but an interceding Spirit within First as to his Person we have him in their Writings presented as a Spirit and as such Divine Honour given to him This appears pears in the most of their Books but I shall at this time only mention two the first taken out of the 14th Page of this Book which is An Account of a Dispute betwixt the Clergy of the Diocess of Norwich in December 98. and the People called Quakers Speaking of the Priests For do they not of malice rail upon the Truths of God's Word manifestly perceived and as Enemies thereunto persecute the same in charging so many Blasphemies upon the Light within for the Light within is Christ William Pen 's Christian Quaker pag. 97 98. The Body of Christ is not so much as in any one and consequently the Seed of the Promise is an holy and spiritual Principle of Light Lise and Power that being received into the Heart bruiseth the Serpent's Head and because the Seed which cannot be that Body is Christ as testify the Scriptures the Seed is one and that Seed Christ and Christ God over all blessed for ever We do conclude and that most truly that Christ was and is the Divine Word of Light and Life that was in the beginning with God and was and is God over all blessed for ever In answer to these Paragraphs it is evident and plain that whatever confession is made by this People of the Lord Jesus Christ as born of the Virgin Mary they do not intend that the Body which was formed in the Womb of the Virgin by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost doth share with the Eternal Word Creator in the constituting of Christ and partakes with the Divine Nature in Divine Honour and yet this poor deluded Man who hath been an Instrument to lead many sober Persons into grievous Errors hath the Confidence in his
hold them are guilty of Heresy and bring upon themselves swift destruction 2 Pet. 2.1 2. The Socinians say that Christ is a mere Man and that he had no Being or Existence before he was conceived and born of the Virgin and so utterly deny he is the Most High God The Arians assert Christ was the first and most glorious Spirit which God made and that Spirit they affirm as I think did assume our Nature in the Womb of the Virgin We have also other Hereticks raised up among us who I hear are headed by one Matthew Caffin and swarm in Kent and Sussex who seem to favour the Arians but with this difference these seem to say that that Spirit was converted into a sort of Flesh or was made Flesh in the Virgin 's Womb but partook not of her Substance so that they deny both his Divine and Human Nature viz. affirm that he is not God of the Essence of the Father nor Man of the Substance of Mary not the Most High God tho he be a God yet a lesser or Demi-god a God by Office only and not God by Nature The Eutichians hold that the Divinity or Godhead was turned into Flesh and this I hear Câ—ffin once asserted The Quakers say that Christ is the Light which is in all Men the same in Turks Pagans as those called Christians which is nothing more nor less than an inward quality of Light flowing from Christ considered as Creator Job 1.1 2 3 4 5. and it is the Substance of the Law that was given to Israel which Law the Gentiles having not in that Ministration in two Tables of Stone have it written in their Hearts Rom. 1.15 Now evident it is that all these deny the true Christ or Christ of God i. e. God-man or God with us God in our Nature I having only now to do with this last sort shall add a little more to discover their deceit who whilst they pretend to own him to be the Christ who died on the Cross it may appear evident to all they mean no such matter for they own no other thing to be Christ but that Light which is in all Men which is no body of Flesh True they own that which died was his Body i. e. Christ dwelt eminently in him but that Body faith Pen is in no Man ergo that can't be the Christ in his Sense which is incapable to dwell in Men. Now Reader consider that Christ was one of our Brethren and that the Divine Nature took on him the same Flesh and Blood the Children have Heb. 2.14.15 that he was Abraham's Seed and the Seed of David according to the Flesh and tho David's Lord as to his Divine Nature yet David's Son as to his Human Nature and so the Root and Off spring of David But if what these Men say be true then Christ did not die for that could not be the Christ that died because that Body could not be in any Man Christ being only a Spirit in their judgment Paul says Christ died according to the Scripture I might mention I think 30 or 40 Scriptures that affirm that Christ died for our Sins and that he that died was the Son of God because his Human and Divine Nature make but one Person We say such a Man died but we do not mean his Soul died so we do not say the Divine Nature died that was impassible yet it is as true that Christ died as to say that Thomas or John died But now did the Light within die Did that bear our Sins on its Body on the Tree Did the Light within shed its Blood to satisfy God's Justice Was the Light within conceived and born of the Virgin crucified dead buried and raised again Did the Light within ascend to Heaven and sits now at the Father's right hand to make intercession for us All this is affirmed in the Holy Scripture of the Christ of God therefore the Quakers Christ is none of God's Christ 1. The Quakers say they own him to be the Christ that was born of the Virgin yet affirm the true Christ is the Light within all Men and that he was never seen with any outward bodily Eyes and that that Body was called Christ because the true Christ was in him Why then may not they be called Christ for he they say is in them Is it not strange they should give such a plausible Confession of their Faith as is written in the beginning of this Letter and yet do often declare quite contrary Doctrine viz. What good can a Christ without do us Let us mind the Light within that is enough for us and not trouble our selves with a Christ without See Margaret Everard's late Sheet page 2 3. who was a great Preacher among them for many years but is now saved out of the Snare of the Devil Also further she says They call the preaching Christ without Wisdom and feeding upon the Tree of Knowledg and Scripture-notions and that they did not mind Scripture-notions 2. They say they believe the Scriptures to be of Divine Authority yet deny them to be the Rule of our Faith and Practice 3. They say they own Baptism and the Lord's Supper yet deny Water-baptism and condemn breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine in remembrance of Christ's Death and call both carnal and beggarly Elements 4. They say they deny not Justification by Christ but own it But we do deny say they Justification by that Man or Person that died that his Righteousness wrought without us should justify us Thus Pen. 5. They say they own the Resurrection of the dead yet deny that that Body that is buried in the Grave of the Earth shall ever rise again they mean other things and like the Papists have their Equivocations and mental Reservations Secondly And as they who deny Christ to be God and Man in one Person do deny the Lord that bought them so from hence it follows they must be guilty of other Heresies nay of Idolatry and Blasphemy also viz. 1. They deny Christ's Satisfaction and the Imputation of his Obedience or Righteousness as the material Cause of our Justification before God as apprehended by Faith alone because his Satisfaction depends on the Worth and Dignity of his Person he being God in our Nature 2. They assert Unless we become Doers of that Law which Christ came not to destroy but to fulfil as our Example we can never be justified before God nor say they let not any fancy that Christ hath so fulfilled it for them as to exclude their Obedience from being requisite to their acceptance but only as their Pattern Pen's Sandy Foundation p. 26. If it be our own Righteousness by keeping the Law that justifies us why do they call this the Righteousness of Christ who as they say only kept the Law as our Pattern and Example and how is it then true which Paul affirms i. e. By the Righteousness which is of the Law no Flesh can be