supply his wants may spend his time in Catalogues of Heresies and the Stale Tracts of uncertain Persons to enable him to club Quotations and clap them upon the back of Charges taken from our profest Adversaries from whom in part he receives his Bread yet I doubt not but to bring in such a train of Evidence in these Questions wherein we are said to be Heretical as will sufficiently evidence to the Impartial Reader that the Charge as as well as the Man is false and that our belief in these Articles is Scriptural The Method I purpose to take herein is this I shall set down in a methodical order the several Testimonies under each distinct Head according to the priority of time in which they were written so that upon a short view the Reader may have recourse to each Some Testimonies to Christ Jesus as the Son of God and come in the Flesh SECT II. Page 2 3 4. WE Profess and Confess Books Titles Faith in God the Father and in Jesus A Confession and Profession of Faith in God c. 1651. by Rich. Farnsworth Christ his Eternal Son the True God and in the Holy Spirit And we do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Words of God And there is none other Gods but One and this is God the Father which we own Isa 44. 8. 1 Cor. 8. 4. John 10. 30 31 Mark 12. 29 30 31 32 33 34. 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. Rom. 4. 25. Isaiah 45. 6. Eph. 4. 4 5 30. John 4. 24. Phil. 1. 1 29. and Profess Faith in and in Jesus Christ his Eternal Son who said I and my Father are One upon which saying the Jews took up Stones to Stone him yet notwithstanding the same Christ that the Jews hated we love belive in and own who was delivered up to be Crucified for our Offences and was raised again for our Justification who is the True God And him we Own and Profess Faith in and in the Holy Spirit God together equal with the Father and the Son One God over all Blessed for ever And unto us and all True Christians the Saints in Christ Jesus It is given in the Behalf of Christ not only to Believe on him but also to Suffer for his Name sake P. 10 11. VII In the next place truly to know this Lord Jesus The One Good Way of God Printed 1661. Written by Rich Hodden Christ come in the Flesh as the New and Living Way to the Father the Immanuel God with us making the Attonement by the Blood of his Cross to have all things subject unto him his Servants in him and he in them which is the great Mystery of Godliness his from Ages and Generations until the fulness of time and then Manifested in the Flesh Justified in the Spirit Believed on in the World and Received up into Glory which none of the Wise Men of the World ever knew or can know by all their Learned Skill of Earthly Wisdom nor any Man that Lives after the Flesh or satisfieth himself with Hearing Reading Telling or Talking of him or concerning what he or his Apostles did said or suffered as those that vainly take his Name into their Mouths on most occasions of their Invented Ways but know him not neither by his Divine Nature nor Name nor HOW GOD AND MAN BECAME ONE CHRIST JESUS how that which may be known of God is manifest in Man how he is The Wonderful Counsellor the Mighty God the Prince of Peace The Author and Finisher of our Faith How he saves his People from their Sins is the Reconciler without Imputation of Sin How he is Formed in his Servants and Cleanseth them by his Blood from all Sin and Unrighteousness how they take up the Cross and follow him or what the Cross is how the Body becomes Dead because of Sin and the Spirit Alive for Righteousness sake How they are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones how he is their Loader and Captain of Salvation made perfect through Sufferings How they are Baptized into his Death and Saved by his Life How the Union is perfected in all the Parts and Members of his Body the Church What the Church is or how his Body or what it is to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood without which as himself said we have no Life in us How every Knee shall bow to him of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father How he is that Blessed and Only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Head of all Thrones and Dominions and every Name that is named P. 2 13 14. This is answered in part already by what is said to A Vindication of the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers 1665 By Geo. Bishop the former Question which in effect is this That that which enlightens which shews a Man his Heart his Reins and tryeth them which reproves which makes manifest is Christ the Light which Christ is the same that was born of the Virgin Mary which was made Flesh which sitteth at the right Hand of God which was Crucified Dead rose again from the Dead and ascended far above the Heavens that he might fill all things who when he was in the days of his Flesh with his Disciples said It is expedient for you that I go away for John 16. 7. 8 9 10 11. if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and when he is come he will reprove the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment of Sin because they believe not in me of Righteousness because I go to my Father and of Judgment because the Prince of the World is Judged So that which reproves the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father which testifies of Christ which guideth into all Truth is the thing that now is to be look'd to Christ in you the Hope of Glory the Mystery hid from Ages and Generations but now made manifest to his Saints the Riches of the Glory of the Mystery Now the Lord is that Spirit And when the Spirit of Truth is come he will John 16. 13. 2 Cor. 3. 17. guide you into all Truth Christ and the Light which is within are not Two but One yet are Ibil. p. 15. they not so One as that where Christ is there is the Body that Suffered at Jerusalem that was Flesh that proceeded from the Virgin Mary that died was buried rose again and ascended for in that he sitteth at the right Hand of God But where the Light is there is Christ which was in the Beginning with God by whom all things were made that was made In whom was Life and the Life was the Light of Men John 1. 2 3 4.
P. 11 12. It is objected against us who are called Quakers That Concerning the Sum or Substance c. Isaac Pennington we deny Christ and look not to be Saved by him as he was manifested without us but look only to be Saved by a Christ in us To which this is in my Heart to answer to such as singly desire satisfaction therein We do indeed expect to be Saved yea and not only so but do already in our several measures witness Salvation by the Revelation and Operation of the Life of Christ within us yet not without relation to what he did without us For all that he did in that Body of Flesh was of the Father and had its Place and Service in the Will and according to the Counsel of the Father But the Knowledge and Belief of that since the days of the Apostles hath been very much held in the Unrighteousness and in the Separation from the Inward Work of the Power and Life of Christ in the Heart which as so held cannot Save any But whoever feels the Light and Life of Christ revealed in him and comes into Union with God there-through he feels the Work of Regeneration of Sanctification of Justification of Life and Redemption and so comes to reap Benefit inwardly and to partake of the Blessed Fruits of all that Christ did outwardly Yea he that is thus one with Christ in the Spirit cannot exclude himself nor is excluded by God from the Advantage of any thing nor every thing that Christ did in that Body of Flesh P. 243. The Doctrines and Principles of the People called Immediate Revelation c. By Geo. Keith Quakers as well as the People do indeed more acknowledge the Man Christ Jesus than any of them all Inasmuch as we do believe and acknowledge that a measure of the same Life and Spirit of the Man Christ Jesus which dwelt in him in its Fullness and had its Center in him which came in the Flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary and is now glorified in Heaven is communicated unto us and extends it self into our Hearts and Souls and whole Inward Man so that the Man Jesus who Simeon imbraced with his Arms according to the Flesh is according to the Spirit our Life and Glory by whom we receive Light Grace and Truth and through whom we have access unto God P. 358. Yet notwithstanding for your Satisfaction we do now Journal Geo. Fox plainly and sincerely declare That we Own and Believe in God the Only Wise Omnipotent and Everlasting God who is the Creator of all things both in Heaven and in the Earth and the Preserver of all that he hath made who is God over all Blessed for ever To whom be all Honour and Glory Dominion Praise and Thanksgiving both now and for evermore And we do Own and Believe in Jesus Christ his beloved and only begotten Son in whom he is well pleased who was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin Mary in whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the Forgiveness of Sins Who is the express Image of the Invisible God the First-born of every Creature by whom were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth Visible and Invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were Created by him And we do Own and Believe that He was made a Sacrifice for Sin who knew no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth And that he was Crucified for us in the Flesh without the Gates of Jerusalem and that he was Buried and Rose again the Third day by the Power of his Father for our Justification And we do Believe that he ascended up into Heaven and now sitteth at the right Hand of God This Jesus who was the Foundation of the Holy Prophets and Apostles is our Foundation And we do Believe that there is no other Foundation to be laid but that which is laid even Christ Jesus who we Believe tasted Death for every Man and shed his Blood for all Men and is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World P. 149. We do Believe in One Only Holy God Almighty who A Serious Apology c. 1671. By G. Whitehead and W. Penn. is an Eternal Spirit the Creator of all things And in One Lord Jesus Christ his Only Son and express Image of his Substance who took upon him Flesh and was in the World and in Life Doctrine Miracles Death Resurrection Ascention and Mediation perfectly did and does continue to do the Will of God to whose Holy Life Power Mediation and Blood we only ascribe our Sanctification Justification Redemption and Perfect Salvation And we Believe in One Holy Spirit that proceeds and breaths from the Father and the Son as the Life and Vertue of both the Father and the Son a measure of which is given to all to profit with and he that has one has all for those Three are One who is the Alpha and Omega the First and the Last God over all Blessed for ever Amen To these foregoing Citations I could add very many more both of older and later date but as I would not needlesly quote Instances so I hope the Reader will not account me hitherto Superfluous in rescuing our selves from Calumny and Abuse in a Charge which appears so plainly to be False for a plain as is the Sun when on its Meridian so plain is it that we sincerely own and heartily believe all that the Holy Scriptures testifie concerning the Incarnation of Christ and the Union of both Natures that is as God and Man SECT III. HIS next Calumny in the order of his Charge is That we deny the Truth and Reality of his Death and Sufferings In proof of our Belief whereof I am already in good part prevented by the foregoing Testimonies in almost all of which there is some mention of his Crucifixion as well as of his Birth But however I am content to answer exabundanti not wanting Instances of our Belief herein from whence I can allow Measure pressed down and running over Some Testimonies to the Truth and Reality of Christ's Death and Suffering Page 3. Before Abraham was I am who was in the Beginning The Path of the Just Cleared 1655. By G. Whitehead which was the Word by which all things were made which Word became Flesh and dwelt among John 8. 58. John 1. the Disciples and Suffered at Jerusalem and witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate whom Pilate delivered up to the Jews and the Chief Priests and Elders whom they mocked and despitefully used and put to Death concerning the Flesh but is raised up by the Spirit and ascended into Glory which Glory he prayed for even that Glory John 17. John 5. 22. John 10. 30. whereby he was at first by his Father glorified in wherein he is glorified in his Saints and
more Merits Advancement in Spain than in England He begins a Quotation thus Their Doctrines are of the Devil who but he has left out what follows denies the Truth which the Scripture bears Witness of Thus good things are spoiled by ill Handling and Orthodox Sentences made Heretical but this is not to be wondered at when an Inquisitor has Cut or a Snake Bit them His next Quotation is in p. 191. and here he is playing the like Pranks for when he has made up a Period pick'd out of three places the last of them Concludes These are Damnable Heresies even to the Denying the Lord that bought them And leaving out what follows and which shews who they are that do so for they Deny the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ given to every Man to be the only Teacher and the only Guide of Man and they that do deny the Light of Christ with which every Man that comes into the World is Lighted to be sufficient to lead to Christ and to the Kingdom of God as these Teachers in this Age do they do deny the Lord that bought them He continues his Quotation out of Page 644. of E. B's Works but here as before he hath cut off I should shew you according to Scripture Sure this Man has an Enmity to the Holy Scriptures when mentioned by us that he thus cuts out the Word when he meets it in his way But by this time it may appear that his Charge of Hideous Blasphemy and Outrage proves to be a Hideous Stinking Vapour and that himself deserves to be added to the Congregation at the next Edition of the Index Expurgatorii Page 10. Speaking of his Discourse of Water-Baptism he says It seems to have had some Effects already even with G. Whitehead himself He says true it has had some Effect for it did occasion a Chapter in G. Whitehead's Answer An Antidote c. in which Chapter the Malice and Impertinency of that Discourse is some-what shewn But if he thinks it had any other Effect the Boast is full as Vain and False as his former ones of which I have already taken notice This will best appear by G. Whitehead's own Words which he has neither fully nor truly given by so imperfectly Quoting them The place in Page 114. of the Antidote is this Yet others being more Conscientiously tender in the Observation thereof we are the more tender to these so as not to Censure or Condemn them meerly for Practicing that which they believe is their duty either in Breaking of Bread or Water-Baptism yet desire they may see further and come under the Higher and Evangelical Dispensation of the Spiritual Communion and Bread of Life and Cup of Blessing from Heaven which can only Nourish the Soul unto Eternal Life and of the Spiritual Baptism of Christ which only is the Souls Sanctifying and Saving Baptism so that this One Baptism and this One Bread which is the Substance they may Livingly partake of Now Charles from thy Maiming of this place it is much easier for George Whitehead and all that will Read it to be confirmed in a Certain Knowledge of thy Baseness than to be Converted to the Communion of One who makes Lies his Refuge and Deceit his Support As to our Belief with Respect to Baptism and the Supper it has been very frequently Published in Opposition to the False Constructions of our Enemies and while we most Stedfastly Believe Assert and in measure Witness that Baptism which is not a putting away the Filth of the Flesh And that Holy Supper of which Christ hath said I will come into him and Sup with Rev. 3. 20. him and he with me we cannot go back to less Beneficial Types Who please to see these Scripturally and very Largely Defended and Discussed may find it done in Robert Barclay's Apology which is very easie to be had whether I refer the Honest Reading Enquirers for further satisfaction herein And come to his next Charge of being Gnosticks Denying Marriage and Preaching up Fornication He might have as easily said We were Nicolatians and then upon an express Text Warranted our Damnation It is time for us to examine his Charge why that is That the People called Quakers forbid to Marry and Preach up Fornication which is implied in the Title Page and abundantly Charged in the Contents This is general enough for I cannot find one Married or Single Quaker left out Now it is time to Prove it when it is so home laid in order for Proof I come to Page 12. and there he says He does not Charge all the Quakers with this no nor the greatest Number of them only those called New Quakers in America The first Charge runs over England and all the rest of the World where there are Quakers the last is Limited only to America Ah Charles Dost think this Loosness will carry thee off This is a very Loose way of Charging and is at best an Equivocal Lie But after his hasty running from his Charge he stops at a distance But the Quakers are thus far Answerable That all this Wild Extravagance is a Natural Consequence of their Common Principle and Notion of the Light within I looked for his Proofs but he has none here and therefore I suppose it is he asks us two Questions to see if he can Snap us with Poor Silly Answers For it is a Jest to think he will allow us any other Well since I can get nothing else from him I will take his Questions which are Now let me ask the Old Quakers Are they the Children of the Resurrection They must answer Yea or go against their own Avowed Principles And if Yea then the Text is plain against their Marrying This is a Shrewd Question and has a Strange Consequence but I shall not Reply to it till I have given the other Question too Let me ask again Are they THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD They will all say NAY For that is the common Epithet by which they Describe the WICKED and is a Term that they put in Opposition to THE CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT which they bestow upon THEMSELVES Now it is Written That THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD MARRY Therefore say the New Quakers MARRYIAGE IS A WICKED THING and Consequently of the Devil And the Old Quakers have not yet Answered their Arguments that I can hear of Then it is high time it be done now which I will perform by-and-by but I must take my turn to ask Charles two Questions to which he shall true Answer make in like manner as he has before made the Old Quakers My first is Charles Art thou a Child of Wrath He must answer Yea or go against his own Avowed Principles And if Yea then the Text is plain against his Inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven This is very hard a Man should send himself thus to Hell but don't Wonder till we see what the next Question will do Let me ask again Charles Art thou a
Disobedient Son He will say Nay For that is the common Epithet by which he describes the Obedient and is a Term that he puts in Opposition to Loyalty which he puts upon himself Now it is written Disobedience is as the Sin of Witchcraft Therefore say all good Men Disobedience is a Wicked thing and consequently of the Devil Now Reader see Before he sent himself and now he would hale all the People thither Thus the Vanity and Folly of his Idle Questions does appear when by only turning the Tables and shifting the Terms they do as certainly Damn him as conclude against us But now I come more closely to examine and see how his Extravagant Consequences can be the Natural Result of our Common Principle and Notion of the Light Within We according to the Holy Scriptures say That the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation appeareth unto all Men and that the Grace Light Spirit or Truth by all which and more Names it is called in Holy Scripture if obeyed in its Operation will of Sinners make Saints And when Men by the Grace of God are thus made Holy they are then Partakers of him who is the first Resurrection for whereas they were Dead in Sins they are now by the Grace of God made Alive unto Righteousness and so can then truly say with the Holy Apostle How can we that ar dead to Sin live any longer therein And when Men are thus risen from the Grave of Sin and made alive unto Righteousness they then are truly capable of so enjoying Marriage and all the other Comforts of this Life as to Glorifie God through Jesus Christ for that he hath made them Witnesses of him who is the first Resurrection and Partakers of these his Temporal Mercies As for the Terms of Children of the Light and Children of the World they are such as it seemed good to our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles frequently to use as having in them a Significancy of Expression to denote the Wicked and the Godly which is Authority sufficient for us to use them in their proper places And it is Eternally true That Men by Believing in the Light notwithstanding his Idle Scoff may become Children of the Light And it is of necessity that them that are truly such must be Separate from and Discerners of the Children of this World i. e. Darkness and not so only but as they continue in that Light of Christ Jesus wherewith he hath enlightned them it will so renew the Spirit of their Minds as both to let them see their Duty and also enable them to do it for it is no Ignis faiuus no wild Enthusiasm it leads not into Idle or False Imaginations or Whimsies but is Solid Christianity and a true Guide to all Christian Actions and such as become the Profession thereof And the Deduction and Consequence is very plain That when by the Grace of God Mens Understandings are Illumin'd their Wills made Obedient their Passions Subdued and their Affections made Clean and Temperate then the Actions of the Whole Man will be very Regular and such an one must needs be a good Christian a good Subject a good Servant a good Husband or Parent and a good Neighbour Governours will be Safe Subjects Peaceable Relations Affectionate all Men love one another and God from all who over all is Blessed for ever will receive Praise and Thanksgiving Now our Practise in the case of Marriage is so well known that little need be said concerning it only thus much I may say that no Lawful Causes appearing to hinder we never discourage Marriage but when any such do appear it is agreeable to our Christian Profession to prevent them The Method we have in this Case of Marriage hath been laid before Men in Government and hath by them been approved as such that will answer the End proposed that is the Honour of Religion and Peace and Safety of Civil Society and Particular Persons and Families And beyond this I know of no Provision can be made in the Administration of Church-Discipline And if any after-Marriage do break Wedlock do become Vicious and turn from the Grace of God into Wantonness and do commit Fornication it cannot be chargeable upon that Grace and Light which had they kept obedient to would have preserved them nor upon that Discipline which while they continue within our Society is an absolute Hedge against such Disorder From all which I suppose it may by this time appear that our Common Principle and Notion of the Light Within is no more chargeable with Back sliders Faults than with his Falsities SECT VI. HItherto his Perversions and Malice have been manifest I now come to his Sixth Point or Charge That we Contemn Magistracy and Government His first Quotations are from himself in the Snake and therefore of no notice to me here What I first shall take notice of is a pieced Quotation he brings out of George Fox in his Great Mystery Printed 1659. p. 76. and here I find the first Sentence his Pen light on he cut asunder the place is thus The Power of God what follows he cut off Rules and Orders People when there is no outward Government Nay it these two words he cut off strikes down Government of Men and Governours all that follows he left out as in the days of Daniel and Pharaoh and in many other places in Scripture mentioned Now Reader Can any Father of the Inquisition be more careful to Expugn Passages offensive to Christian Eyes than this Man is to Expugn such as are offensive to his own The remaining part of the Quotation he hath pick'd and pieced out of page 90. and by his dislocating and pulling asunder the Sentences one from another some of them look with as wry Faces as if tortured in a Scotch Boot I will at least rescue one of them that we may see its Native Feature the place being thus Such as are turned into Corruption and are Hypocrites Great Myst p. 90. they are gone from the Higher Power which the Soul should be subject to and it 's gone over them and so here he is pleased to begin for the Lord's sake the Saints cannot be subject to that Power By the remaining Sentences he has done the like so that there is not one of them that speaks the Mind of the Writer The place is too long to transcribe here because I have many Instances to bring where it will appear that we always since a People have been Obedient to Government and Governours and that not for Fear but Conscience sake and have always testified against Plotting and Contriving the Hurt or Ruin of any which by our agreeable Practice is better Proof for us than all his own Lies or the by him Suborned Passages of our Writings are against us Some Testimonies concerning our Acknowledgment of and our Obedience to Government P. 10. And the Powers that are ordained of God who are The Path of the Just Cleared
1655. By G. Whitehead c. sent of him for the Punishment of Transgressors and for the Encouragement of them that do well These we own and are subject to them for Conscience-sake knowing that such are not a Terror to Good Works but to Evil for such execute the Law in Righteousness upon them who are guilty of the Transgression of it for because of Transgression the Law is added and there the Law is executed in its place and in Righteousness and those that execute the Law in its place they are for the Establishment of Righteousness and Peace and contrary to the Law of Justice and Equity dare not Act in their own Wills nor for their own Ends And herein they seek not themselves nor their own Glory nor Honour but the Glory and Honour of God who is Honoured and Glorified among them who Act in Truth and Righteousness and love the Lord and to them our Souls are subject P. 23. And as for this present Authority and Government now in A Visitation of Love 1661. By Edw. Burroughs Being under the Name of King Charles the Second we do believe and acknowledge That according to the Purpose and Will of God and of his bringing to pass this present Government and Authority is set up and into its present being established P 6. 7. The Honour that is due unto Magistrates consists in True Magistracy Described 1660. By Henry Clark these two Particulars 1. Love 2dly Obedience First He that is in the Well-doing himself loves the Rulers that be set up of God who are Just and Rule in the Fear of God and is a Terror to the Evil-doers for When the Righteous are in Authority the Children of Wisdom rejoyce desiring of God that long they may Live and Prosper in the Work of the Lord and Love thinketh no Evil nor behaveth not it self unseemly toward the Rulers neither speaketh any Evil against him neither doth it revile the Judges Secondly Honour due to the Magistrate consisteth in Obedience either Actively in Doing or Passively by a Willing Patient and Meek Suffering under them for the Lord's sake And because Christ's Headship Kingship and Supremacy alone Sam. Fisher p. 34. of his Works we together with the True Church which is in God the Father and in Jesus Christ the Light can own in the Court of Conscience and in Matters purely Spiritual and of meer Religious and Soul Concernment and not any meer Mans much less the Pope's or any Priests in such Sacred Secrets therefore are we mistaken and misranked among such as are utter Enemies to the present King's Supremacy in these Dominions Whereby we do according to what the Spirit requires of us in all Civil Causes and Cases between Man and Man submit our selves to every Ordinance of Man himself I say in such cases even for the Lord's sake whether unto the King as Supream or to such as are sent of him to be a Terror to Evil-doers and a Praise to them that do well And if those who have the Sword in hand shall turn it against us for well doing and so act against the good Will of God or impose by God's Permission upon us contrary to our Consciences even there where we cannot obey actively we are willing to bear Patiently without Violent Resistance what God will leave us to Suffer from the Hands of such as should Protect us not Reviling nor Threatning nor Cursing but committing our Case in Quietness to him that Judgeth Righteously and our Souls to him in Well-doing And that Passive Deportment must be and is Judged by all to be Equivolent to that Active Obedience which others yield for Fear to what Laws soever is made among Men. Page 20. Our Principle is to bring all into a Peaceable Life To the King and both Houses of Parliament a Representation c. 1666. By John Whitehead Alex. Parker and Leonard Fell. out of those things that are Evil that the Law of God and every Law of Man that is grounded upon Reason and Equity takes hold upon and therein we are one with Justice Therefore distinguish between those whose Principles lead to Violence or other Evils that the Law of God and of Man which is equal takes hold upon and us who are one with Justice and lead from those things into a Peaceable Life as much as in us lyes with all Men which is according to the Practice of the Primitive Christians Page 101. And those Rulers Governours or Magistrates who The Life of God c. 1677. By William Gibson are a Terror to Evil Doers and a Praise to those that do well are worthy of Honour yea of double Honour and all such are duly honoured by us with the Honour which belongs unto them and we really and with Pleasure Honour and Obey all such not for fear of the Wrath but for good Conscience sake as the Apostles and Primitive Fathers did Page 481. It is our Principle and Testimony to deny and renounce G. Fox's Journal given the Parliament 1680. all Plots and Plotters against the King or any of his Subjects for we have the Spirit of Christ by which we have the Mind of Christ who came to Save Mens Lives and not to Destroy them and we would have the Kind and all his Subjects to be safe Wherefore we do Declare That we will Endeavour to our Power to Save and Defend him and them by Discovering all Plots and Plotters which shall come to our Knowledge that would Destroy the King or his Subjects These Quotations are I hope sufficient for the purpose Intended which is To Testifie our Constant Peaceable Principle and Practice in Obedience to Government and Magistracy yet as a close to all the foregoing Quotations from our Friends Books I will give one Quotation which Relates to near all the foregoing Charges and which is taken from a Paper lately given to the Parliament Occasioned by E. Bugg's Calumnies it 's Entituled The Quakers Vindication and was PRESENTED to the Members of Parliament in December 1693. We whose Names are Under-written being in Christian Society with the People called Quakers do in good Conscience Declare and Certifie all Persons Concerned 1. That we sincerely Believe and Confess That Jesus of Nazareth who was Born of the Virgin Mary is the True Messiah the very Christ the Son of the Living God to whom all the Prophets gave Witness And we do Highly Value his Death Sufferings Works Offices and Merits for the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind together with his Laws Doctrine and Ministry 2. That this very Christ of God was and is the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World who was Slain was Dead and is Alive and Lives for Evermore in his Divine Eternal Glory Dominion and Power with the Father 3. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are of Divine Authority as being given by Inspiration of God 4. And that Magistracy or Civil Government is God's Ordinance
they are no other than the Doctrines which our Lord Jesus Christ did reveal and which his Apostles did Preach and which after a time of great Apostacy have been again Preached and by a Sincere Belief whereof in Obedience to Christ Jesus Men may be enabled to distinguish between Light and Darkness And notwithstanding they have been and are withstood by Men of Corrupt Minds who would pervert the Way of the Upright who cover themselves with all Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness yet they must Thrive and Prosper for God hath Promised He will Establish Truth in the Earth And though this Man pretends to say that we now begin to Complain of Misrepresention it is wrong for it is what we have had cause to Complain of and what we have Complained of from Truths and our Enemies from the first And tho' every Adversary in their turn may not have been so Violently Base in slitting Sentences and Transposing them and taking one part of our Words and leaving out others Explanatory as this Man has been as is here before shewn and proved yet we have had occasion sufficient to shew wherein we have been Misrepresented by our Adversaries which yet hath often had this good Effect that many Berean-like have applied themselves to see whether those things were so or no and finding their Charges False have been drawn to Love and Espouse that Truth which hath been thus almost every where spoken against and to Worship God in that Way which some call Heresie Now Jesus Christ the Truth and the Light which comes by him hath since we have been a People been always Testified to by us as that which is the only True Guide of Men in matters Eternal and of Soul Concernment and do continue to be so Preached and Testified of of which the few foregoing Instances are proof and that we are not changed And we have and do continue to say That whoever sets up any other Guide in Opposition to this Truth and Light of Jesus Christ or prefers any other thing before it they have not a right Ground of Faith but all that are Obedient to this certain and right Ground of Faith according to the Degree manifested unto them we really own by what Name soever called And the Degrees of our Friendship and true Communion in Spiritual Matters is according to this Rule and against it we cannot make Composition because we know by good Authority and Experience whatsoever is reprovable is made manifest by the Light And though it is possible for this Snake in the Grass to imitate an Explanation of the Light within and for the Devil to transform himself into an Angel of Light yet they can no more be said to be guided by the Light than the Devil might be said to be Refreshed by the Sweets of Paradise when he came to Destroy them Nor can they that abide in the Light have any Union at all with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness By the Title and Contents of his Charge this Snake would suggest us to Hereticks but now in the Conclusion he softens the Term and brings it down to Separation which he would not have kept up by which he seems to arrogate the Title of Mediator which Quality cannot be well performed but by one admitted on both sides which this Snake is so far from being that I may affirm he is chosen by neither for I can have no ground to believe That a Rebellious Son whatsoever he may be for a Subject can be dignified with Credentials to mediate her Cause whose Head he hath denied and I am very sure that we shall never chuse him for Mediator who we find is disposed to say any thing of us rather than what is right and seems to have the reverse of that Quality which Midas is Fabled to have had of turning all he touch'd into Gold for what of ours this Man's Pen touches he commonly turns it to Poyson As for what respects our nearness of Belief with the other Communities of Men in the Nation I am so far from being Sorry that others acknowledge the Light of Christ Jesus that I hope I shall always rejoyce in it and in a Life obedient to it into which Obedience as the whole Nation comes their Separations will be less and their Union more and greater under that one Eternal Head Who by one Offering hath perfected Heb. 10. 14 15. for ever them that are sanctified Whereof also the Holy Ghost is a Witness to us The Expostulation with W. Penn Considered I Have before shewed that our Principles are now no other than what they were when first a People and that they are confonant to the Holy Scriptures so that that Book of William Penn's Entituled Primitive Christianity c. is no new Representation concerning which Book somewhat is now to be said at least to places quoted and cavilled at by this Snake and he first quotes p. 29. and says W. Penn will not grant we have any Natural Light at all which is an Abuse and Perversion for W. Penn denies not Natural Light to Men but that by it they can understand the things of God is what W. Penn in that place speaks of and this is agreeable to the Apostle who hath told us That the things of God are not to be known but by the Spirit of God He next turns to George Fox's Great Mystery p. 42. where he as plainly perverts the Sence of this place as the last for the Tenet opposed by George Fox was That no Man by that Native Light inherent in him had power to believe And G. Fox had reason to oppose this Tenet because it appears p. 39. Great Mystery what his Adversary did mean by Native and Inherent Light viz. That Light wherewith every one that cometh into the World is enlightned withall This was what George Fox did preach and which the Priest did oppose and therefore G. Fox answers it with the Text of John 1. 9. and concludes from it and that very truly that this Light is beyond Natural Sense and Reason He returns again to W. Penn's Prim. Chris p. 15. where he says W. Penn allows no Natural Light to the Vnderstanding which is a manifest Perversion of the place the words alledged are Man can no more be a Light to his Mind than he can to his Body But if this Man had been so Honest as to have also transcribed out of the same Paragraph these words viz. About those things that more immediately concern our Better Inward and Eternal Man he would have found his Cavil useless and his Flout would have appeared as flat as now his Charge appears False and he may take his grains of Allowance again The Snake leaps from p. 15 to 50 and here thinks fit to carp and bite at this Expression All Men have Reason but all are not Reasonable Where 's the Riddle Jest or Nonsence of this Passage Men have Reason in potentia but if they will not use it the Fault
Innocency Triumphant Price Stich'd 6 p. An Invitation from the Spirit of Christ to all that are a Thirst to come and Drink of the Waters of Life freely which proceed from the Fountain of Eternal Life shewing how all may come that are willing to Drink thereof to their full Satisfaction whereby they may attain unto perfect Health and Salvation of their Souls for ever in the Lord Jesus Christ And also shewing what it is that hindereth People from being truly a Thirst after the Waters of Life and from coming to Drink thereof with the destructive Quality of that which hindreth and how it may be avoided Concluded with a Word to all Singers upon a Religious or Spiritual Account Written by one who hath for a long time been deeply Distressed with Thirst after the Water of Life out through Mercy hath Obtained Satisfaction thereby Known by the Name of Henry Mollineux Price bound 1 s. The Spiritual Guide which dis-intangles the Soul and brings it by the inward Way to the getting of perfect Contemplation and the Rich Treasure of Internal Peace Written by Dr. Michael de Molinos Priest Translated from the Italian Copy Price bound 9 d. An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe by the Establishment of an European Dyet Parliament or Estates Price Stitch'd 2 d. Spira Respirans or the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven by the Gates of Hell in an Extraordinary Example By a Person brought to the depths of Despair and Anguish recovered by the mighty Grace and Power of God and rais'd to the heights of Assurance and Joy Wherein are some uncommon Considerations concerning the manner of Salvation and Damnation Life and Death Happiness and Misery With some Fundamental Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul Price Stitch'd 6 d. AN Epistle to Friends briefly Commemorating the Gracious Dealings of the Lord with them and warning them to beware of that Spirit of Contention and Division which hath appeared of late in George Keith and some few others that join with him who have made a Breach and Separation from Friends in some Parts of America By Thomas Ellwood Price stitch'd 6 d. The State of the Case briefly but impartially given betwixt the People called Quakers in Pennsylvania c. in America who remain in Unity and George Keith with some few Seduced by him into a Separation from them As also a just Vindication of my Self from the Reproaches and Abuses of those Backsliders By Samuel Jennings Price Stitch'd 6 d. A Further Discovery of that Spirit of Contention and Division which hath of late appeared in George Keith c. Being a Reply to two late Printed Pieces of his the one Entituled A Loving Epistle c The other A Seasonable Information c. Wherein his Cavils are answered his Falshood is laid open and the Guilt and Blame of the Breach and Separation in America and of the Reproach he hath brought upon Truth and Friends by his late Printed Booke are fixed faster on him Written by way of Epistle and Recommended as a further Warning to all Friends By Thomas Ellwood Price Stitch'd 1 s. Truth Defended and the Friends thereof Cleared from the false Charges foul Reproaches and envious Cavils cast upon It and Them by George Keith an Apostate from them in two Books by him lately Published the one being called A True Copy of a Paper given into the Yearly Meeting of the People called Quakers c. The other The Pretended Yearly Meeting of the Quakers their Nameless Bull of Excommunication c. Both which Books are herein Answered and his Malice Injustice and Folly Exposed By Thomas Ellwood Price Stitch'd 1 s. 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More Work for George Keith Being George Keith's Vindication of the People called Quakers as well in his Part of the Dispute held at Wheelers-Street the Sixteenth Day of the Eighth Month 1674. As in his Treatise against Thomas Hicks and other Baptists with the rest of their Confederate Brethren at the Barbican Dispute held at London the twenty eighth of the Sixth Month 1674. Price Stitch'd 4 d. The Quakers cleared from being Apostates Or the Hammerer Defeated and proved on Impostor Being an Answer to a Scurrilous Pamphlet falsly Intituled William Penn and the Quakers either Apostates or Impostors subscribed Trepidantium Malleus With a Postscript containing some Roflections on a Pamphlet Intituled The Spirit of Quakerism and the Danger of their Divine Revelation laid open By B. C. Price Stitch'd 6 d. An Answer to George Keith's Narrative of his Proceedings at Turners-Hall on the eleventh of the Month called June 1696. Wherein his Charges against divers of the People called Quakers both in that and in another Book of his called Gross Error and Hypocrifie Detected are fairly Considered Examined and Refuted By Thomas Ellwood Prce 1 s. 6 d. Keith against Keith Or some more of George Keith's Contradictions and Absurdities collected out of his own Books not yet Retracted upon a Review Together with a Reply to George Keith's Late Book Entituled The Antichrists and Sadduces detected among a sort of Quakers c. By John Penington Price Stitch'd 9 d. Some Brief Observations upon George Keith's Earnest Expostulation contained in a Postscript to a late Book of his Entituled The Antichrists and Sadduces Detected c. Offered to the Perusal of such as the said Expostulation was Recommended to By E. P. Price Stitch'd 2 d. A Modest Detection of George Keith's miscalled Just Vindication of his Earnest Expostulation Published by him as a pretended Answer to a Late Book of Mine Entituled Some Brief Observations c. By E. 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