acknowledged 〈◊〉 us though denyed by C.M. and his Brethren of New-England 〈◊〉 yet I suppose R. Baxter will not call this a Fundamental Error in 〈◊〉 People called Quakers seeing it contradicts none of the Fundameâ—â—â—â— Articles delivered by him in his said Treatise And if any say or object That if the Spirit worketh by way of 〈◊〉 sensible Object upon the inward and spiritual Senses of Believers 〈◊〉 would make void all use of the Scriptures as being so much as the Instrument or Instrumental to our Faith But I Answer denying this Consequence and by distinguishing the Object of our Faith to wit that the Scriptures are the Instrumental and secondary Object of our Faith and the holy Spirit the principal and primary Object of our Faith as it is sensibly felt to work upon our inward and spiritual Senses together with the Father and the Son Even as in outward and natural Objects that work upon our outward and natural Senses some are principal and others are instrumental as in our natural sight of visible Things on Earth as Horses Woods Trees Beasts the Sun's Light is the principal Object of our sight but the things are at least the secondary and instrumental Object thereof or as when we read on a Book the Light that we read with is the principal Object and the Letters of the book are the secondary and instrumental and though we cannot see the Letters of the Book without some light yet we may see light yea the Sun himself if we have good Eyes without the Book and so God and Christ and the Spirit may be inwardly seen felt and known and is frequently seen felt known and enjoyed by the inward and spiritual Senses of Believers without all present use of Letters or Books when the Knowledge is Intuitive and Sensible But as for the Doctrinal Knowledge as we acknowledge it is requisite in order to bring us to so high an enjoyment of God and Christ as Vision or Intuitive Knowledge or Intuition so we grant it is commonly wrought in us and increased by means of the holy Scriptures instrumentally working with the holy Spirit and that therefore the holâ— Scriptures are of great profit and service to all Ranks and Conditions of People yea to such of the highest spiritual Attainments while remaining in the mortal Body I 〈…〉 therefore with and in behalf of my Friends and Brethren of 〈…〉 Faith and Perswasion with me in all parts of the World 〈◊〉 this Solemn Appeal to you the more Sober impartial and Judiâ—â—â—â—â— People in Boston and else-where in New-England to whose 〈◊〉 this may come Whether Cotton Mather is not extreamly Unâ—â—â—â—â—itable and possessed with a Spirit of Prejudice and envious Zeal 〈…〉 R. Baxters phrase against the Quakers in general and me in â—â—â—â—â—cular as guilty of manifold Heresies Blasphemies and strong 〈◊〉 to the rendering us No Christians in the lowest degree or 〈◊〉 while I suppose he hath som Charity to some in the Church of 〈◊〉 called Papists and to Lutherans Aâ—minians and divers others 〈◊〉 differ widely from him yet agreeing in the afore-said Fundamentals when we hold the same Fundamentals of Christian Doctrine 〈◊〉 Faith both with Rich. Baxter and many others as so declared by â—hem And notwithstanding of Cotton Mathers strong Asseverations â—gainst us as if we denyed almost all or most of the Fundamental Articles 〈◊〉 the Christian and Protestant Faith yet he shall never be able to prove it That we are guilty of this his so extreamly rash and uncharitable Charge either as in respect of the Body of that People called in scorn Quakers or in respect of any particular Writers or Publishers of our Doctrines and Principles and Preachers among us generally owned and approved by us as men of a sound Judgment and Understanding And as for his Citations out of the Quakers printed Books Treatises I would have you to consider that most of them all are borrowed and taken not from our own Books but from our professed Adversaries men known well enough to be possessed with Prejudice against us such as Thomas Hicks and John Faldo and others whoâ— our Friends in Old-England and particularly George Whitehead and William Penn have largely answered yea I do here solemnly charge Cotton Mather to give us but one single instance of any one Fundamenâ—al Article of Christian Faith denyed by us as a People or by any one of our Writers or Preachers generally owned and approved by us And if perhaps there be any Citations that C.M. cites out of our Books that he hath read that seem to confirm his Charge in one or two particulars against us I do sincerely answer that I am at a loss to find them in these Books partly because divers of these Books cited by him I am altogether a stranger to them and know not where to find them in all America and partly because he not citing the Chapters Sections Parts or Pages of them that may be 〈…〉 here in America I cannot but with great pains and expence of 〈…〉 find them out and I judge I can much better spend my precious 〈…〉 than in searching of them and it sufficeth to me and I hope dot◠〈◊〉 many others that according to the best Knowledge I have of 〈◊〉 People called Quakers and these most generally owned by them 〈◊〉 Preachers and Publishers of their Faith of unquestioned estâ—â—â— among them and worthy of double Honour as many such there 〈◊〉 I know none that are guilty of any one of such Heresies and Blaspâ—â—mies as he accuseth them Yet we deny not but as it hath happeâ—ed and doth daily happen to Writers and Preachers belonging to 〈◊〉 other Societies so it may have happened to some among us to havâ— at times in writing or speaking delivered things not so warily and cautiously worded in every respect as need were But in this case all but prejudiced Persons will say If it can be found by comparing their words one with another that their sence or meaning is found though not so altogether safely or cautiously worded in every respect Charity is to be allowed and the best Construction ought to be given to their words or they themselves or their Friends for them in respect of their absence or decease who did best know them ought to be allowed to give their sence of them as I have done in the sincerity of my heart according to my best understanding and knowledge of them and I think I should know and do know these called Quakers and their Principles far better than Cotton Mather or any or all his Brethren having been conversant with them in publick Meetings as well as in private Discourses with the most noted and esteemed among them for about Twenty Eight Years past and that in may places of the World in Europe and for these divers Years in America And I further say That if any things through inadvertency have been said or writ by any of us and that it can be found
to give any one instance wherein I have not faithfully quoted the Antient Writers named by me whether in my former Book called The pretended Antidote c. or in this in each particular And were I so minded and saw a service in it to the People of New-England I could easily produce sufficient plain Testimonies from Antient Fathers so called and Writers both Greek and Latine to confirm the Doctrine of the People call'd Quakers in all the principal and most material things wherein they differ from C.M. and his Brethren but the Scripture Authority being that of greatest weight in respect of any outward Testimony I have chosen rather to make use of that Nor will it serve to justifie C. Matâ—er his Exclamations against me that seeing the Quakers hold all these Doctrines which Baxter and some other Protestant Writers hold to be Fundamental that therefore I should not have so charged them as I have done in my first Book called The Presbyterian and Independent visible Churches brought to the Test for if they and we agree in Fundamentals then why are we so uncharitable to them as not to judge them a true Church To which I Answer Although we hold all their Fundamentals according to what Baxter has delivered as I have above showed yet they hold not all our Fundamentals so it is a Fundamental Doctrine and Principle held by us to wit The inward Revelation of Christ in all true Believers and That God teacheth all true Believers by his inward Voice Word and Teachings or inward divine Inspiration and Revelation properly so called that is as well Objective as Effective and by way of Object working sensibly and infallibly upon the inward and spiritual Senses of their Souls and which their Souls and Minds if onely and fitly disposed and qualified do infallibly apprehend but yet this Fundamental held by us is plainly denyed by C.M. and his Brethren and it is a Fundamental Error in them who hold it as the generality of their visible Church Members do That all sâ—ch divine inward Objective Revelation and Inspiration is ceased and from this Fundamental Error divers other very great Errors flow as so many unclean streams from an unclean Fountain for if all true and saving Knowledge of God and Christ and all saving Faith require true divine inward Revelation and inspiration properly so called and the true and real inspeaking of God and his internal Word and Voice that doth as sensibly and perceptibly operate by way of Object upon the inward and spiritual heaâ—ing or discerning Faculty of the Soul as any outward Voice or Woâ—d of a man doth upon the outward Hearing then if that be ceasâ—d all true and saving Knowledge and Faith are ceased and all true Love Hope and Repentance and all other Fruits and Virtues of the Spirit because all these have a necessary connexion with the true saving Knowledge and Faith also all true Preaching Praying and Worship and all true Obedience and Service unto God and all real and true Religion all depending upon the inward Principle of inward divine Revelation and Inspiration properly so called and yet we do readily acknowledge a distinction betwixt these extraordinary divine Revelations and Inspirations that the Apostles and Prophets had 〈◊〉 they were Apostles and Prophets and these other that they had common â—o them and ordinary with all Christians and for the latter we contend that were and are ordinary and common to all Saints in all Ages of the World but not for the former that were extraordinary whereby they not only wrought Miracles and spoke with Tongues but had Doctrinal things of Faith revealed to them without all outward teaching of Men or Books whereas we do not say any peculiar Doctrine of the Christian Faith is made known to us without all outward Teaching but by it Instrumentally and by the immediate Revelation and Inspiration of the Spirit Principally and we are sufficiently charitable that we judge there are true Believers among them though we cannot own their visible Church that either hold not these Errors with them or if some hold them in words or Notion and Theory yet as in respect of their Experience and inward sence and feeling hold them not but the contrary and such have better Hearts than Notions and though they err in holding an unsound form of Words through too much relying upon their Teachers yet their inward sence and experience doth contradict them And in all these twelve Particulars I first charged upon them I still affirm they do grosly err and they are such great matters of Difference betwixt them and us although they are not all Fundamentals that no Society holding such Errors deserve to be esteemed the visible Church of Christ restored to that purity of Doctrine that the visible Church ought to have and had in the primitive Times and yet will have as she cometh to be fully restored to her primitive Purity And though it seem a strange and new Doctrine to C.M. and his Brethren to distinguish betwixt the Scripture called by some the external or outward Word and the inward living Word of God that proceedeth from the Mouth of God immediately as every mans word that proceedeth from his Mouth and goeth into the Ears of the Hearers is his immediate Word yet not only antient Writers and Fathers so called did so distinguish but even these called the Reformed who began the Reformation from gross Propâ—ry And for the antient Writers I shall give but one though I could give divers besides to wit Augustine of great esteem and fame with Protestants and particularly with Calvin whose Authority he more useth in his Institutions than any of all the Antients In his 5th Book de Trinitate cap. 11. Augustine saith expresly Proinde Verbum quod foras sonat signum est verbi quod intus lucet cuj magis verbi competit nomen nam illud quod prosertur caruis ore vox verbi est verbumq et ipsum dicitar propter illud a quo ut foris appareret assamptum est In English thus Therefore the Word that soundeth outwardly is a sign of the Word that shineth inwardly to which the Name of the Word doth more agree for that which is pronounced with the fleshly Moâ—th is the Voice of the Word and it is called the Word because of that from which it is taken that it might outwardly appear Where I desire the Reader to Note these two things 1 st That Augustine doth acknowledge the Word within or internal Word 2 dly That the Name of the Word doth more belong to the internal Word than to that which outwardly soundeth in our fleshly Ears in both which he doth contradict C.M. and his Brethren who do not acknowledge any inward Word in the Saints since the Apostles dayes and hold That the Scripture is the only Word that is the Object and Rule of our Faith And that famous Reformer Zuinglius whom 〈◊〉 the rather cite because C.M. maketh him his
they have them And I appeal to all sober Readers Whether Cotton Mather hath not grosly perverted my words that because I did not own them to have a divine Power of Exorcism whereby to conjure the Devil as if I did affirm their Prayers were a Conjuring of the Devil which instead of affirming I strongly denyed as the Reader may see in my Book called A Refutation c. and by this and his other man Pervertions of my words I may take measure how he is too like to have perverted grosly the words of my Friends in his alledged Citations that I have not seen in their Books when he doth so palpably pervert my words to a plain contrary sence that is obvious to them of the weakest Capacity Nor did I call his and his Brethrens Prayers Charms and Spells as he alledgeth see my Book p. 71 72. only I said That seeing they generally mock at any at this day laying claim to divine Inspiration and Revelation I cannot own their Prayers to be true they are liker to Charms and Spells of superstitious Persons c. But this will not infer that I did really call or judge them Charms or Spells for I think they are not Witches except in that sense used by Paul Gal. 3.1 because they bewitch not the Bodies but the Souls of People from believing and obeying the Truth for I may say one thing is liker to another thing and yet not say it is that very thing As if I should say C.M. is liker to a Pharisee or Mass-Priest than to a true Minister of Christ doth it therefore follow that I judge he is really a Pharisee or Mass-Priest or to use his Phrase were the Transmigration of Souls a Truth if I should say Cotton Mather is liker Demetrius the Silver-Smith who accused Paul because his and his Brethren's Craft was in danger to be set at naught Acts 19.27 than to a true Minister of Christ Doth it therefore follow that I judge that C.M. is Demetrius risen again from the dead By no means And for his comparing me to Alexander the Copper-Smith it is foolish and envious I honour and esteem highly both Paul's Doctrine and himself and all the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord and therefore I do nothing resemble Alexander the Copper-Smith but C.M. and his Brethren do too much resemble not only Alexander the Copper-Smith who opposed Paul but Demetrius the Silver-Smith that they are in such fear their Craft be set at nought by the People call'd Quakers else why do they make such a stir about their Wages and Hire Whereas if they were true Ministers of Christ they should preach his Gospel freely as the Apostles and others do and as true Ministers of Christ now do And His accusing me of having committed the Vnpardonable Sin upon a meer Forgery of his own hatched in his Brains by the Father of Lyes puts me in mind of what I have read in the Church History writ by Lucas Osiander How when two of the Patricy of Rome that were Christians whom Pope Sixtus had Excommunicate for their accusing him to have been too familiar with some of the consecrated Virgins had begged of him to be Relaxed professing their Repentance and urging Christs Doctrine If thy Brother Trespass against thee and return not only Seven Times c. thou shalt forgive him The proud Pope refused to Relax them affirming They had committed that Vnpardonable Sin because they had offended him And like to this the English Hobbs who is no good Philosopher and a worse Divine saith in one of his Books by way of a smart Satyr against the Clergy That if any offend a Clergy-man alias a black Coat â—e will tell them they have commitâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Vnpardonable Sin of Blasphemy against the holy Ghost as Cotton â—â—â—her hath here served me but without all just cause I bless God and therefore the sober People of New-England have cause to consider better what sort of men these are who make Lyes their Refuge and their Weapons whereby they fight against us Nor do I yet find the least cause to incline me to believe that C. M's Prayers did cast out the Devil out of these Children as he alledgeth seeing they say Miracles are ceased and Divine Exorcisme was one of these Miraculous Gifts of Gods Spirit and C.M. himself helpeth us to understand if these Children were really bewitched how they were cured by some other means than his and his Brethrens Prayers to wit as he plainly confesseth pag. 44. compared with pag. 12. That one thing in the Childrens deliverance was the strange Death of an horrible Old Woman who was presumed to have a great hand in their affliction And pag. 12. he telleth When the Witch was going to her Excution she said the Children should not be relieved by her Death for others had a hand in it as well as she And thus from C.M. we have found other means of the Childrens cure than his and his Brethrens Prayers the which seeing he calleth them Dirt and Dung in his Book were not likely to be means of dispossessing the Devil out of those Children indeed we read that Christ wrought a miracle with Clay and Spittle but no where that I remember that ever he wrought a Miracle with Dirt and Dung beside he seemeth to be more guilty of Blasphemy that calleth their Prayers which he saith are the special Operations of the holy Spirit Dirt and Dung as he plainly doth And with as little success doth C.M. seek to defend his false Gloss on Christs words as if Christ had taught That Sathan is not divided against Sathan Whereas I said Sathan is divided against Sathan there being no true unity in his Kingdom and therefore it must fall and not be perpetual nor in thâ—â— do I in â—he least wrest from Christs Argument against the Jews because I did acknowledge that Christ argued most strongly against them ad hominem And supposing that Sathan at times did cast out Sathan yet that is but that Sathan may enter again some more dangerous way or fully as dangerous but whom Christ cureth he so cureth that Sathan by his means doth not again enter but the holy Spirit of God as was fullfilled in Mary Magdelen And whereas he saith He is mistaken if he hath not the generality of Interpreters on his side he hath not showed who this generality is and he showeth how little he is versed in Antiquity otâ—â—â—wise he might have remembred how Origine above thirteen hundâ—â—â— Years ago doâ—h contradict him and say the same with me for thus he writeth expresly in his Comment on John pag. 424. of his 2d Tom. printed at Basil 1557. Cum enim admisissâ—t esse quendam Beelzebub et que illias presidio Demonia ejiceret dissidam â—eluti quoddam Satane operari eo quod secum ipse dissideret hec in quit i.e. When Christ had allowed that there was a certain Belzebub and that he who did cast out Devils by his Power
did work as it were a striâ—e against Sathan because he did strive against himself he said these things As for his false Insinuation of my calling Prayers Charms and Spells it â—â— easily discovered I own all true Prayer both Vocal and Mental that cometh in the least degree from the inbreathing i.e. Inspiration of Gods Spirit and have through Mercy found the unspeakable advantage of it to my Soul and do earnestly recommend true Prayer in the Spirit of God to all and so do all true Quakers so called In his Third Argument p. 34. wherein he giveth many supposed Contradictions that I give to myself in my former Books and upon that false Supposition as on a false Foundation raiseth his Argument against me I think not to spend Time nor Paper to answer them all in particular for let but the Reader see my own words in my printed Books and well consider them and if he have but a little sound Judgment he will easily find I have not contradicted my self in any thing though I could easily discover many Contradictions of C.M. to himself But to make me seem to contradict my self he has no better way but to wrest and pervert my words as in the very first instance he alledgeth he perverteth my words grosly as if by their Fathers whom I did acknowledge to â—ave had some measure of Tenderness Sobriety and Simplicity in a printed Paper of mine some time a go I did mean these who near â—orty Years a go did put our Friends to Death at Boston Which is a manifest Perversion enough to Discredit all he saith having as little Truth against me Whereas by their Fathers I did not mean the present Generation that taketh in forty Years commonly at least in vulgar sense but these that lived sixty or near seventy Years past that had some measure of Tenderness and Sincerity and were not of a persecuting Spirit as these who put our Friends to Death nor had the generality of the People in New-â—â—â—â—â—nd a hand in our Friends Death for many of them disliked it 〈◊〉 â—ave been credibly informed and some have acknowledged the hand of God against the Land ever since for those Murders and I wish many might see it and repent of it that they might be forgiven and Gods anger quenched towards them that hath been and remaineth to be kindled against them And he is as impertinent in labouring to reconcile his own Contradiction that John Delavall charged upon him as if it were no Contradiction either because the Assertions are thirty pages distant or because he did query and not affirm whereas the manner of his Querying showeth a plain Affirmation in calling or bringing in their deceased Fathers to expostulate with them for their Degeneration And this is all the Answer he giveth to John Delavall's sollied and weighty Appendix with a scoffing airy Spirit as his manner is he compareth to a Dutch Womans unintelligible Babbling And no less doth he bely me to accuse me as if I said or suggested in my Book called The Presbyterian Independent Churches brought to the Test c. That these Churches of Presbyterians and Independents were false upon all accounts beyond that of Rome it self Than which there can be no greater Perversion and Belying of a mans words I said no such thing nor do I think any such thing I have alwayes judgded and do still judge that all these Churches called Protestant Churches whether Episcopal Presbyterian Independent or Baptists in many yea very many things hold better Doctrine than the Church of Rome and in many things are nearer to the Letter of the Scripture and to the Truth and I have Charity that some may belong to Christ as his Members among them all even the Church of Rome not excepted yet all this will not prove that any one of them all is the true visible Church restored to that purity of Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government as was in the Apostles dayes and was before the Church fled into the Wilderness and as will be at her full Return which is approaching He is as weak and impertinent to charge it on me as a Contradiction to my self to say That in some things in speaking or writing we may err if we be not duely watchful And yet That in many things we have been taught infallibly by the Infallible Spirit of God to believe them as to believe That God is and hath given his dear Son for us and many such precious Truths and if he hath no infallible Belief and Knowledge of these things and other Fundamental Truths he is neither Ministâ—◠〈◊〉 Christ nor a true Christian but a meer Sceptick Any Colledge Scâ—â—â—â— Boy knoweth that Contradictions lie not betwixt two Particuâ—â—â—â— nor two Universals but one Particular and another Universal as if one should say That he is in all things taught infallibly and yet again say That in some things he might or did err it would be a Contradiction but this I have not said Nor is a Contradiction betwixt two Positives but the one Positive the other Negative and therefore it is no â—ontradiction to say Some are Elected in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World to be Holy c. and yet to deny That others are eternally or absolutely Reprobated for Elected and Reprobated are both Positives and therefore not Contradictory no more than White and Black as it is no Contradiction to say Some Colours are White and therefore all other Colours that are not White are Black It seemeth that Cotton Mather whom some as he telleth us have called The Colledge Boy of New-England hath not well learned his Logick or at least doth not well remember it since he was a Colledge-Boy for he bewrayeth shameful Ignorance in the way of right Dispute that Colledge Boyes might be ashamed of Nor is it any Contradiction to say That the Lord Jesus Christ is the alone and sure Foundation and Ground of Justification and yet to assert That Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience are necessary Conditions and Instruments thereunto required and if he will not believe me let him ask his admired and revereâ—d Baxter as he calleth him who will tell him the same But whereas he alledgeth I say A true Believer may be only in the first Covenant citing my Book pag. 147. But this is no Contradiction when by Believers I mean such as may have a true Belief that God is from some true and real inward Conviction and Sense and yet not have the true Faith in Christ Jesus as he dyed and rose again for such a Faith Cornelius had before Peter preached Christ to him also according to Christs Doctrine in the Parable of the four Grounds some may believe in Christ for a time and yet fall away and that Faith is not a false Faith but true in some sort Thus I have given a short hint to demonstrate how groundlesly he would charge Contradictions on me the other being more obvious to the weakest
Capacities I shall let pass only minding the Reader That the nature of a Contradiction is difficult many times to understand even in Natural things so that it is reckoned the subtâ—lest part in Logick or Metaphyâ—â—â—â—â— to understand throughly what are alwayes Contradictions and 〈…〉 and therefore much more hard it is to understand in 〈…〉 that contain many seeming Contradictions for tho' 〈…〉 â—cripture containeth no real Contradiâ—â—ons coming from 〈…〉 Spirit of Truth yet it containeth 〈…〉 seeming which 〈…〉 and Scoffers use to object His comparing me to Julian the Apostate favoureth of the like Spirit of Envy as formerly when with no more ground he accused me of being guilty of the Vnpardonable Sin It is a part of my Blessing that being reviled and fully accused I can patiently bear it by the Grace of Christ in whom I believe and to whom I confess even to the Crucified Jesus that was nailed to the Cross for my Sins whom my Soul loveth and whom Julian openly denyed But Cotton Mather will gain no credit nor esteem either to himself or his Cause by 〈…〉 and Extraordinary Revilings rarely to be parallelled among the greatest Readers His Fourth Argument hath as weak and sandy Foundation as any of the rest as namely as he saith That I renounce both the Religion and the Saviour which the Saints have hitherto ventured their Souls upon c. to wit Christ Jesus And this he undertaketh to prove Sathan like by wresting my words and omitting some of them in the very Sentence he citeth that were altogether essential to make up the intire period and sence for I said in my Book Your Visible Churches 〈◊〉 true Churches of Christ for the Religion ye profess is not the true Religion of Christ Jesus yea in Fundamentals and in the very Foundation it self which is Christ Jesus on which the true Church is 〈◊〉 and every Member thereof but ye who say note my following words p. 137. all inward divine Revelation is ceased ye to wit your visible Church build not on Christ but on a meer Hear-say and Historical Report of him for how can ye build on him when ye have no belief that Christ is nearer unto you than in some remote place beyond the Skyes Where the Impartial Reader may see first That my words expresly mention their visible Church that doth not build really on Christ but on a Profession of him even by Cotton Mather's Confession 〈◊〉 nothing is required to make up the Members of a visible Church but a Profession of him and of the true Religion But every judicious leâ—son will say it is one thing to profess Christ in words or show and another thing really to build on Christ that everlasting Rock for by Christs Doctrine none buildeth on the Rock which is Christ 〈…〉 that heareth Christ's Sayings and doth them and that is much 〈◊〉 than barely to profess him But yet I did not question nor â—o but that according to my Christian Câ—arity moving me so to believe divers among all sorts Societies call'd Christian in Christendom that hold the Fundamentals as many do do really build on Châ—ist thâ—â—â—â—e Foundation and because they so do in due time the Wood Hay and Stubble of their Errors in other things while they build on the true Foundation will be burnt up by the divine Fire of the living Word and living Spirit of God in them and their Lord Jesus Christ iâ— mine and mine is theirs and I could be glad that I could entertain that Charity to C.M. but however I have not that uncharitable judgment of him as bad as he is that he hath committed that unpardonable Sin for though he hath reproached the precious workings and operations of the holy Spirit both in my faithful Brethren and me calling them Delâ—sions of Satan yet because I judge he doth it ignorantly therefore his sin is pardonable upon Repentance which I pray God may be given him for that and all his haâ—d Speechâ—â— and all other sins before it be too late But because he cannot fix his â—â—â—se Charge upon me of denying Christ he essayeth 〈◊〉 but with 〈…〉 success to fix it upon my Brethren as dear Isaac Pennington whom I well knew to be a true Believer in the Lord Jesuâ— Christ and a sincere Lover of him even the crucified Jesus and whose Souâ— I believe is in test in Christ in heavenly Glory And as to his words We can never eat the Bodily Garment Christ but that wâ—ich appeaâ—ed and dwelt in â—he Body it is easie to put a fair and charitable construction on it as wâ—â—l as on Christs words when he said He that 〈…〉 seen 〈◊〉 hath seeâ— the Father and yet many saw Christ's body of Flesh that never saw the Father But to clear the thing I 〈◊〉 speaâ—eâ—h â—hâ—s in opposition to Socinians and oâ—hers tincturâ—d with 〈…〉 as if â—he Manhood of Christ that was born of the Viâ—gin exâ—â—ndâ—â—g the 〈◊〉 Word was the only and whole Christ whereas 〈◊〉 was 〈…〉 his Body of Flesh therefore he is said to have come in the Flesh and to have taken Flesh And if we consider Christ as he was before the World was by whom all things were created and in respect of his Godhead the Body was not that but the Garment of it when he assumed it But when we consider Christ as Man as every other man 〈◊〉 both Soul body belonging to his essential Constitution as Man 〈◊〉 and Christ and still hath a moâ—â— gâ—orious Soul and Body and we 〈◊〉 not but according to Scripture 〈◊〉 Christ Manhood yea and his Body iâ— called Christ as when the Scripture saith that he was buried nailed to the Cross buâ—â—ited and even his Body was and is a part of his Manhood and his Soul the other and more Noble part most wonderfully and incomparably united with the Godhead and most incomparably filled with all fullness of the Godhead and of Grace and Truth out of whose fullness we all receive and Grace foâ— Grace and yet we do not judge that the Godhead is circumscribed within the Body of Christ for the Godhead is Omnipresent as well as Omnipotent and Omniscient And whereas he querieth saying Let Keith tell us honestly whether he does not count his own Body to be the Body of Christ in the same sence that the visible tangible Flesh which hung upon the Cross was the Body of our Lord I Answer honestly Nay by no means as I have sufficiently formerly declared in my printed Books and Testimonies on all occasions for as the Body of the Head is of far more Dignity than the Body of the inferiour Members and hath the Soul or Spirit and Life of man otherwise dwelling in it than the inferiour Members so much more the Soul and Body of Christ hath the eternal Word living and dwelling in the same than any other and that incomparably as Augustine well demonstrateth lib. de agonâ— Christianâ— cap. 20. thus concluding And therefoâ—e tâ—e Word doth not