but they that are subject and are led by the Spirit of God they are the Children of God and Heirs according to the Promise Most Ungodly then must T. Hicks's Consequences be that because we say Christ enlightens every Man Saul persecuted the Church and the Heathens multiplied their False Gods by the Light within Like unto which is his Arguing p. 14. where he thus pretends to answer his feigned Quaker If indeed thou knowest not what I aim at in this Question then thy Light cannot be God as thou sayst it is for God knows the Hearts and Intentions of all Men thereby confounding the Light and Creature together and concluding Imbecillity Insufficiency and Ignorance in the Light which are the Imperfections of the Creature Was there ever any thing more Scoffing Prophane and Dark then this might not the Gentiles have treated the Christians after this manner that if they knew not all things whether it concerned them to know them or not the Christ and Spirit they pretended to be led by were not God This is so far from proving the Light not to be God that admitting of it it were to prove every Man a God Is every Master as ignorant as his Schollar because his Schollar knows not as much as his Master T. Hicks knows not all truth nay T. Hicks may be led into many Mistakes Is his Bible which he calls his Rule therefore the Cause Certainly by his way of Arguing against the Light if he be not Perfect Infallible the Scriptures must needs be Insufficient and Errable But if it be an Evil to make the Scripture accessory to T. H's Mistakes of equal Reason is it Impious in him to charge Men's Infirmities upon the Light and repute that Insufficient because they are Rebellious Education Prejudice Interest Self-Righteousness Evil Living bring Vails over the Understanding that though the Light shine in Darkness they comprehend it not When Saul's Formality and Pharisaical Righteousness became shaken by the Law of Light in the Conscience then and not till then he cries out Oh wretched Man that I am Whilst Saul gave more heed to his Outward Religion then the Light in his Conscience he did Persecute and thought it a Duty 't was when the Light struck him that he became awâ—kened But if he persecuted the Church by the Light within why not by the Spirit too since God gave the Jews his good Spirit If T. Hicks will say But he resisted that so say I as to the Light Formality Tradition and many Superstitions attended with an Ignorant and Harsh Zeal darkened him that he could not behold it But it is a gross Contradiction in T.H. to say The Light ought to be obeyed and yet say That it led Saul to persecute the Christians And he abuses many of the Heathen-Philosophers as well as the Light in saying That the Light within reproved them not for multiplying their Deities For all Learned Men must needs know as I have else-where at large proved that by the Light within they have decryed the Heathen-Gods maintained the Doctrine of the One only Wise God and for their Faith and Perseverance they have been Taken Imprisoned Arraigned Condemned and Executed though it went for justice upon the Enemies of the Gods Who knows not this is a Stranger to Story But hear T. Hicks I demand an Instance among the many Thousands of Mankind that hath been convinced or reproved for not believing Jesus to be the Christ by the meer Light within before any Revelation was brought unto them though I grant that the Light in them may reprove for those Sins the Common Light in all Mankind will not because thou hast borrowed much Light from the Scriptures which all have not Answ I may well suppose that as many have been reproved for not believing Jesus to be the Christ by the Light within as by the Scriptures and my Reasons are First Because those who crucified him were Admirers of the Scripture and pretended to prove out of their own Law that it was both lawful and necessary he should be put to Death whereas had they brought that Deed to the Light the Light would have shown it not to have been wrought in God which the Scriptures without that Light could not so effectually do 2 ly Those who by Scripture came to any Convincement originally received it from the Revelation of the Light within which both opened the Scriptures and their Understandings 3 ly Peter Andrew Matthew Nathanael the Centurion Ruler Diseased Woman c. confess'd him from the Illumination and Operation of the Light within since whatever makes Manifest or works Conviction is Light They were not Disobeyers and Rebellers against it who most readily received and followed Christ They who waited for Israel's Consolation lived in the Just Man's Path a shining Light which shined brighter and brighter to the leading such as walked in it to the great Light of Israel when he appeared Further To say that the Light we have being much of it borrowed from Scripture Reproves for those Sins the Common Light in all Men will not is great Wickedness for it is to say that the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightned all Men will not Reprove for all Sin thereby placing the Defect manifestly upon the Light as before and not upon the thick and gross Darkness through Disobedience of the People as well as that he attributes to the Scripture that Conviction which is chiefly due to the Light For by what Way can Mankind arrive at true Sight Discerning and Knowledge in the Understanding part but by the Light and that as it shines into the Understanding is it not the Light to whom every Deed should be brought to see if it be wrought in God or no What can any Man solidly and beneficially learn by the Scriptures but through the Discoveries of that Inward Light Are they not dark Sayings or rather Man dark to those Sayings if the holy Light arise not to shine forth and give to understand their Scope and Tendency All Scripture but Prophecy which was given forth by Inspiration as Reproof Exhortation Doctrine c. were first experienced or witnessed at whom Tho. Hicks may equally cavil and scoff What 's your Witnessing to me that through walking in the Light of the Lord the Just Man's Path and were written for the sake of others that they might be asisted and helpt to the same Experience but not another Way then through the same Steps they had trodden so that the Ground of the holy Ancients Experiences now written and of the true Knowledge of the Scriptures and Comfort from them as an outward Mean and whatever is to be obtained and enjoyed within is originally and chiefly ascribable to the Discoveries Convictions and Leadings of the blessed Light of Christ within through every Generation however variously the Principle may have been denominated as the Word of God nigh Wisdom Light Spirit c. under the Old Testament and Light Grace Truth
Christ Spirit Anointing Gift of God c. under the New Testament Two short Scripture Arguments spring in my Mind for the Divinity and Sufficiency of the Light and from thence I shall conside this Objections I. If God be Divine and sufficient to Salvation and the Word be God and the Life of the Word One with the Word and the Life of the Word the Light of Men then is the Light of Men Divine and Sufficient to Salvation But God is Divine and Sufficient to Salvation and the Word is God and the Life of the Word One with the Word and the Life of the Word the Light of Men. Therefore I conclude that the Light of Men which is the Life of the Word which Word is God is Divine and Sufficient to Eternal Salvation II. That which was in all Ages the just Man's Path and there where the Blood of Cleansing is known to cleanse and by which Fellowship is enjoyed and the Light of Eternal Life obtained is ever was and ever will be a Divine Sufficient and Saving Way But such a Way is the Light as the several Scriptures in the Margent will testifie Consequently the Light is Divine and Sufficient to Salvation The only Cavil at these Arguments will be this I deny this Light to be the Common Light in all Men. To which I say that there cannot be Two Spiritual Lights of the Life of the Word and not the same if Two could be For whatever is of the same Nature though not of the same Degree is still the same in Kind If there be another Light that is Saving tell us from whence it comes but first prove this not Saving And as these things are too Difficult I hope for him to compass so is it as Ridiculous and Blasphemous to think that God should give Man an Insufficient Light But why any if not Sufficient I have heard and read often That all God's Gifts are Perfeâ—t 'T is strange that his Light to Men should be so Lame Defective and Imperfect as T.H. represents it But suppose this Light to be so Why an Insufficient Light and a Saving Light both The lattâ—r would have done our Business It is Injurious to Man to let him have a Fallible Guide For when he may think himself certain he may be in the greatest Danger by mistaking one for the other or thinking not of them as they are But Thanks be to the God of Light we know for WE WITNESS better things how ill a Reason and how offensive soever Witnessing is to Thomas Hicks an Anabaptist-Teacher to whose Brethren Experiences once were the great Foundation of both their Knowledge and Comfort though now mockt at by him with great Derision in a Quaker But to his Objections faithfully contracted 1. If this Light ever was and is Sufficient how comes it that Men have been and are so degenerated in Faith Discipline and Worship They have all this Light by your Principle 2ly If this Light had been Sufficient wherefore should God have superadded so many other Wayes and Means they would be then needless 3ly Christ being the Only Saviour who was born of a Virgin at Bethlehem wrought Miracles was cut off bore our Sins c. I query how all this can be affirmed of the Light 4ly Are not all the Generations of Christians since Christ's time till within these very few Years certainly Lost and Damned forasmuch as they acknowledge not this Light within as the True Christ To the first I answer There is nothing therein which may be thought to reflect upon the Light but what falls as heavily upon all other Wayes Helps Ordinances Appointments yea the Scriptures and which is more upon God and Christ and the Holy Spirit too For if the Degeneracy of Man that is the sad Effect of his own Rebellion shall be a valid Proof of the Insufficiency of the Light within then must we conclude from the Degeneracy that hath been among Jews and Christians and which remains to this Day that all those Assistances Wayes and Helps which have been given in reality were not Potent nor Sufficient for the End they were given The Consequences of which Opinion of our Adversaries are these Two and sad enough 1. That God in his Wayes must have been and is Insufficient and 2. That Man never was neither is any wayes faulty In short that may be sufficient to Salvation which if neglected will never work Salvation as in the Parable of the Talents may be seen To the Second I briefly say That Man's Mind being so much abroad through unstable and vain Wandrings from God's Light the Lord in Wisdom and Condescension to the Weakness of Man and Darkness of that Carnal State did accommodate both his Discoveries to Man and that Worship he required from Man according to his Capacity to receive the one and perform the other If God went into Outward Things to meet with Man's Mind that was abroad to the End that gradually it might return home shall we infer Weakness in the Light Man in that State was incapable he must have been new-molded and as another Creation to have then received that Testimoy in all its Plainness which God hath brought forth in after Ages If any will undertake to charge Weakness upon Man let him But I warn all how they conclude it against the Light since the same falls on God and his good Spirit who made Use of such Wayes and Means in order to gain upon Man's Mind and beget a right Understanding and Sence of what was his Will concerning him Besides not only did the Divine Light and Life appear unto Man in and through those things as Vailes But that which gave Man true Discerning Repentance and to do the Thing that ever was acceptable with God in any measure and which was as the Soul Life and Spirit of all the true and well-pleasing Sacrifices was a measure of that Divine Light of Life in their Hearts at that time though as Samuel in a like Case they knew it not Let none then charge the Weakness of the Administration upon the Light but the Generation to whom he that is the Light of and in Men appeared as Mankind has been able to receive the Knowledge of him It was not Insufficiency in God nor in his Light or Spirit if Man's Eyes were not strong enough to behold the Brightness of what after Ages have beheld But it was his Mercy and Goodness that he proportioned both his Discoveries and Requirings according to Man's Ability To conclude The Light is still the same in it self through all Ages and not a whit the less Sufficient because through its Invisibility and Spirituallity and the Wandrings abroad and great Carnallity of Man's Mind some External Means were used suitable to Man's Weakness through which to reach into Man and raise up some further Knowledge of the Spirtuallity of God's Worship Nor because of the Light 's Sufficiency as to it self ought any to infer that those Wayes
or Means were vain or needless For as the Weakness of Men should not call the Ability of the Light in Question nor their Carnallity take off from the Light 's Sufficiency Spirituallity or Divinity so neither doth the Sufficiency of the Light render all Means accommodated to Man's Weakness vain or needless especially when the Vertue that is in them comes from the Light of Life To his Third Objection which with most Opposers carrieth the greatest Weight I have this in Plainness and Brevity to answer We own not neither do we confess to another Christ then him who after the Flesh was born of the Virgin Mary at the City of Bethlehem in Judea who preacht an Everlasting Gospel worked Miracles bore our Iniquities and was cut off or dyed for the People But since Thomas Hicks would have us believe that he is not yet Socinian enough to deny the Divinity or Godhead of Christ and therefore that Christ was not only a Man much less that what was born of Mary was crucified and laid in the Sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathia was the Whole Christ I must distinguish The Word that was with God in the beginning and was God who in time took Flesh was and is the Light of the World in the fulness of time he manifested himself in a more Familiar and Intimate Manner to Mankind in order to which he prepared an Holy Body in which he preached his Everlasting Gospel worked many Miracles drew many after him He sustained grieveous Weights the Burden of the Iniquity of the whole World lay upon him he travelled under it and trod the Wine-Press alone and was pressed as a Cart with Sheaves And so well did he love the World that to testifie the same he gave up his Life not only to recommend his Love but to confirm his unchangeable Gospel of Remission of Sins and Eternal Salvation to as many as believed and followed him the Light of the World that so Remission might not only be preacht in his Name but Blood also for it was a time of Blotting-out for God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself In which Manifestation he not only drew many to him gave Testimony of his Salvation to some particulars but he combated the Serpent bruised his Head and gave him an absolute Defeat in the General scattering his Oracles chasing his Infernal Spirits causing his own Light more universally to clear up and break forth into the World insomuch that Thousands followed him He qualified and deputed Ambassadors Commissioned and Impowred them from on high whose Message was Powerful and whose Ministry was Effectual yet when all this is said and believed most surely as well as exprest most plainly That which gave the Life Power Virtue Strength and Efficacy to all this and to whom therefore eminently the Work Salvation Power and Glory are most deservedly ascribable is the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God whose Life was and is the Light of Men who took Flesh and was manifested therein Therefore He who is our Light ought not to be denyed being the true Christ and true Saviour For no other Light and Life then appeared in that Body that was then an Offering for Sin once for all is the Life and Light that we assert and defend And for that Holy Body it was our Lord's as the Scripture speaks Joseph of Arimathia begged the Body of Jesus Mat. 27.58 Mark 15.43 Luke 23.52 They found not the Body of the Lord Jesus Luke 24.3 He prepared it he took it he was manifested in it and by it how can we deny that Body which was our Lord's By no means To conclude though our Divine Word of Life and Light dyed not for Christ as God over all blessed forever could not dye yet his Body did and fo his Fulness therein and there by manifested have we received and Grace for Grace So that all those who are talking of the Body of Christ and seeking to represent us to the World as Deniers and Despisers of his Appearance they are but in the Steps of the Persecuting Jews who as they eryed up the Prophets but being Strangers to their Divine Life relisht not savour'd not and therefore yielded not to Christ the Rock who followed the Fathers in the Wilderness the Fountain of all the Life and Refreshment of the Holy Ancients but with their Proud and Conceited and indeed Mistaken knowledge not from but of the Letter and in a bitter Zeal for their dying Forms and Traditions did they war against the Breaking forth of that Day of Salvation and that as Heresie Blasphemy and the like so now these Men seem busie and great Sticklers for the Body of Christ which they know not and for Bread Wine Water c. and all in Opposition to a more plain and Inward Manifestation of the Divine Light Life and Substance shed abroad as the Accomplishment of the Promise of the Father in this our Day and Generation But as it fared with those of old so shall it with these Opposers their Visitation shall pass swiftly over their Head and their Temple shall be cast down and not one Stone of their fair Edifice shall be left standing upon another To his Last Objection I must tell him that we have not that Uncharitableness in our Principles which our Adversaries are guilty of He like the Jews of old is ready to think every Man damn'd nay by his Principle it is not avoidable who hath not heard of the Name Christ or is not enter'd into some kind of Church-Fellowship upon common Christian-Confessions as they are called and distinguisht from meer Morality or Good Life But for my part as God had a People among the Gentiles of old who became a Law unto themselves doing the Things contained in the Law whom I believe to be at Rest and Peace notwithstanding the severe and positive Censures I have heard from several Professors against them and Millions more so though much Darkness hath prevailed in most parts of the World and still continueth yet then and where the Day of Ignorance remains and where there hath been and is a Walking with Sincerity towards God according to their Knowledge I do believe the Lord did and doth wink and had and hath Mercy though great Strangers to that Christian-Profession so much boasted of among too many in our Nation And I doubt not but that there may be found some Thousands both of Turks and Indians who would not only have detested in point of Credit but in Fear to God dreaded doing a Tittle of what Tho. Hicks hath falsly and impudently said and done against our Persons Practices and Principles In short though God in every Age hath had a Regard to the Sincerity of Peoples Hearts and their Upright Living though subjected under gross Forms and in the Darkest seasons of the World yet God having now caused his Day spring from on high to visit whereby more certain knowledge sound Judgment is given