Godhead is dead because thou saist it is revealed in every man so then if that spirit in that body be not Christ without that body but both body and spirit make that man Christ Jesus And thou ownest salvation by that spirit onely without that body thou ownest not salvation by Christ O Jeffery why wilt thon deny the Lord that hath bought thee with his own blood and bring upon thy self destruction for the Godhead dyed not as I have told thee but that body was made a curse by dying that cursed death upon the Tree to take off the curse from them that believe that sacrifice for sin which was a sweet smelling savour to the Lord. By which body offered up he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified which sacrificed body and offered up bloud if thou reject how canst thou have thy cursed sins pardoned thy defiled conscience purged for without shedding of bloud there is no remission But I will tell thee my Faith I do own salvation cometh alone by that man Christ Jesus the only Son of God who was born of that Espoused Virgin Mary who was Crucified at Jerusalem by which cursed death he did there make an attonement for all and full satisfaction to God the Father for the sins of all that believe in him from the heart and obey his holy will revealed in his word the holy Scriptures of truth that are able to make the man of God wise unto salvation 1 Pet. 2.24 Heb. 10.14 Joh. 20.31 Mat. 7.24,25 Gal. 3.13 I could mind thee with many more Scriptures if thou wouldst hearken thereunto The holy Spirit of God I own and esteem for it is that which First made me to see into my sins and my cursed estate by sin according as is made known in the Scriptures of truth 2ly It did shed the love of God abroad in my soul how that Christ had dyed for my sins 3ly He did help me to lay hold upon the hope set before me without whose help I can do nothing 4ly He did work in my Soul a cruel hatred against all known sins in thoughts words and works 5ly He did work in my Soul a great love to my God and to his Son Jesus to his Children to all known good in words and works in my self and others 6ly He did assure me of redemption of my soul and forgiveness of my sins through the bloud of my Lord Jesus that was shed upon the Cross for me 7ly He did seal home the promises of Eternal Glory to my Sonl promised in the Scriptures of truth to the Sons of God 8ly He did work in my Soul holy reformation and godly resolutions to do and obey whatever my God shall make known unto me to be his will and mind by his spirit and word the Scriptures and that unto death 9ly It did fill my Soul with praises to the God of my life night and day praising him in the spirit admiring his love to my soul in redeeming it with so great a price as the blood of his own Son 10ly The holy spirit did also comfort me and quicken me and made me greatly to rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory the which spirit of my God still is with me and giveth me that peace no man can take from me by whose help my desire is to my God I might still be preserved and hold fast the precious faith which I have attained through the Grace of God and my Lord Jesus Christ until he shall come in flaming fire to render vengeance upon the wicked and punish with everlasting destruction from his presence them that obey not the Gospel of Christ and be admired of them that believe Thomas Manning This Testimony of mine is owned by God the Father by his Son Jesus by the holy Spirit by the holy Scriptures by the holy Prophets by the holy Apostles Thou provest thine by two of thine own Friends God the Father I know his Son Jesus I know his holy Spirit I know the holy Scriptures I know to be the mind and will of God but who these thy Witnesses be I know not but if they be Angels come from Heaven if they despise the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ or declare any thing contrary to his will revealed in the Scriptures of truth I do not own them Thomas Manning I received thy paper and thou saist as soon as thou hadst looked on a few words thou saidst thou soon espied my subtilty Friend I had no subtilty in my heart but I plainly wrote the things I own thou askest me how I can prove Christ in that body to be Christ without that body I can prove it both by Pauls testimony and also by the same spirit of God the which Paul did prove it by who told the Corinthians the Fathers drank of the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and he also told the Colossians that the mystery which had been hid from ages and generations past was Christ within the hope of glory and also Christs visible appearance came in that present age but his invisible appearance had been hid from ages and generations past for Christ was with his Church in the Wilderness Again thou saist that body and spirit in that body maketh that man Christ Jesus Now the spirit in that body was the Godhead and thou saist that the Godhead dyed not and thou speakest true for so say I so then it was only that part which the Holy Ghost took from the woman the which died and not the Godhead which both was and is the spirit of God for it was God and the Woman that made the visible man Christ for he was made of a Woman made under the Law as saith the Scripture for Mary she knew no visible man Now cursed be that spirit that shall deny the blood of Christ or the end for which Christs body was offered up and blood was shed for I do believe that all the world were reconciled to God by the death of his Son and that all men were freed from their outward offerings for sin by that one offering and that after the shedding of the blood of that visible man Christ upon the Cross there was to be no more outward killing the sacrifice nor yet shedding of blood for remission of sins But this was not the flesh and the blood which Christ speaks of when he was upon the earth when he said He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood he dwelleth in me and I in him and he was then upon the earth as a man like one of us sin only excepted when he spake these words So Friend if thou knowest no other body nor blood to feed upon but that which dyed and was shed out of Christs body without the gates of Jerusalem thy Soul may perish for all the knowledge which thou hast of the Scriptures Now Christ in the days of his flesh exhorted people to believe in the Light and to bring their deeds
to the Light that so they might be made Children of the Light for he knew that they were Children of the Darkness and God he is Light and shews unto man his thoughts who said look unto me all yea ends of the earth and be saved and some of these words were spoken by the Lord in his Prophets before Christs body came into the world and the same that ever was the Saviour now is and not another for God is not changed neither is his salvation changed Again thou saist thou know est the Father and thou knowest the Son the holy Spirit Friend consider well what thou hast written and let Gods Spirit in thee try thy words whether thou hast thy knowledge of God and his Son and holy Spirit in and from the Spirit of Revelation for Christ saith no man knows the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son reveals him and Paul saith it pleased God to reveal his Son in him so then there is no true saving knowledge of neither Father nor Son but in and through the Spirit of Revelation so consider and let Gods witness judge in thee whether thy knowledge stands in the Light or in the Letter in the mystery or in the history in the word or in the words the which were given forth from the word for the words were given forth in time from the word which was before time was And so remember what the Jews said to Christ who had the Scriptures before the Gentiles how they said that they were Abrahams Children and God was their Father and they were Moses his Disciples and that God spake to Moses But they speaking concerning Christ said as for this fellow we know not whence he is and these were the blind professing Jews who had the Scriptures but they had neither heard the voice of God at any time nor yet seen his shape as Christ in plain words tells them and yet how great was their boasting and all this while they had but a blind zeal for a vail of thick darkness was over their minds and understandings Again thou saist the holy Scriptures thou knowest to be the mind and will of God then thy soul and mind and understanding they must be in the mystery and spirit of God which gave forth the Scriptures and if it be so with thee then I would desire thee to tell me these following questions 1. What is Eden and where is it and what was the Garden wherein God walked 2. What is the tree of knowledge and where it is and what is the fruit it bears and from whence doth the fruit come and what is that which feeds upon the fruit which the tree of knowledge bears and what were the eyes that were open in Adam and Eve after sin and transgression by them were committed And what were the Books which are to be opened and how many Books to be opened and what is the Vail which Paul speaks of which is to be done away and what is the enmity which God hath put betwixt the Woman and the Serpent Jeffery Bullock Friend Pauls Ministry stood in the Spirit and not in the Letter and he desired only to know Christ according to the spirit but not after the flesh for that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit as saith the spirit of God This following was given me from the Quakers to subscribe which I refused to do for reasons inserted FOr the clearing of the precious truth of God professed by us his people called Quakers from the occasion of reproach and stumbling given by Jeffery Bullock his pernicious doctrine in affirming That he neither expects Justification nor Condemnation by that Christ that dyed or was put to death at Jerusalem These are to certifie all Friends and Friendly people whom it may concern that we testifie against this Doctrine as stated by him as both pernicious and Antichristian and contrary to plain Scripture and the constant testimony faithfully born amongst us from the beginning for neither do we profess and preach two Christs nor yet own Justification by any other Christ or in any other Name but by and in the Name of that very one Christ of God to whom the holy Prophets and Apostles gave witness in the scriptures of truth who was miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost overshadowing the Virgin Mary and was Crucified and put to death in the flesh without the Gates of Jerusalem but quickned by the Spirit whom God raised from the dead 1 Pet. 3.18 We must confess with the holy Apostles that even by him to wit that very Christ all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13.30,39 and that remission of sins Justification and Salvation as then preacht in the name of the same Lord Jesus Christ and by his Eternal power and spirit of God so the same is constantly believed and witnessed amongst us And although the best fense that we can suppose or gather as aimed at by the said Jeffery Bullock is that it is not only by the suffering and death of Christ nor by a mere literal knowledge of him as after the flesh that men can be either compleatly justified or saved from sin and death any more then the Apostles or primitive Christians were but by his life spirit and power operating in them And so by a living and spiritual knowledge of Christ as after the Spirit which though the truth of this we cannot but own and justifie yet this cannot excuse the aforecited Doctrine as laid down which denies both Justification and Condemnation by that Christ that dyed for that supposeth another Christ for that end and so two Christs And therefore the said J. B. ought to see his error and call back and recant of his words which have given occasion of stumbling in Sudbury Whereas the very Christ the Son of God is but one though he hath often and variously manifested himself from the beginning as both before he came in the flesh and in the fulness of time in the flesh viz. that body that was prepared for him to do the will of his Father in and since in spirit for the everlasting comfort and salvation of all them who believe in his name and power which by his divine Light within is livingly revealed And we confess that this Son of God our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord was made of the Seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holyness by the resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.3,4 And that that very Christ that came of Israel as concerning the flesh is God over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 So that he is truly and inseparably God and Man according to the Scripture And even that very Christ who was crucified and slain hath God lifted up with his right hand to be a Prince
and a Saviour Acts 5.30,31 And God will judge the the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained Acts 17.31 So we must confess with the Apostles that to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we him And further we cannot own any such Doctrine or Words by whomsoever spoken as tend to undervalue the sufferings death and blood of Christ Rom. 5.10 for not only a reconciliation was declared and made through his death but all his suffering and his being the one universal Offering and Sacrifice did contribute to mans redemption and the salvation to all that truly believe in his Name Heb. 2.17 though without the washing of regeneration and being born again of the living word and spirit of life none do really partake of eternal salvation or that redemption which is obtained through the blood of Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity This is a true Copy Giles Barnardiston John Cutler William Welch Joseph Ridlesdale Samuel Cooper John Cornwell Friends What you have written in contradiction to my words it is both Romish and Antichristian Doctrine and contrary to the Scriptures of truth and form of sound words Now it is no where written in the Scriptures that we shall either be Justified or Condemned by that Christ which dyed without the Gates of Jerusalem but it is written by Grace ye are saved and by Grace ye are justified and it is also written by the Light of the world ye are condemned and not by Christ that dyed without the Gates of Jerusalem Now the same spirit which quickned that body of Jesus when it lay under the earth yea and the same God that raised up that body do I own to be both my Justifier and also my condemner if I sin against him Yea the same God which raised up Lazarus out of the Grave who dwelt in Christs Temple when it was upon the Earth the same God do I own salvation by that is he the which both did and doth shew unto man his thoughts who said look unto me all ye ends of the Earth and be saved for I am God and there is none else and he did not bid the ends of the earth look to him that was to come but unto him who was already in them and did shew them their thoughts and this was not Christs outward visible appearance but it was Gods invisible power which was in the Sons and Daughters of men the fulness of which power and spirit dwelt in Christs body when it was upon the Earth And this is God who was in the beginning and also before the beginning and also without beginning of dayes or end of life and this is the salvation of the ends of the earth who never dyed otherwise you must conclude the Godhead dyed as well as the visible man Christ the which is blasphemy for any to affirm and it is quite contrary to the Scriptures the which saith that he through the Eternal Spirit offered up himself a sacrifice once for all and he also gave up his Soul an Offering for sin And I do also believe there is something of God in me that is both without beginning of days or end of life and this is a measure or manifestation of the Spirit of God the fulness of which dwelt in Christs body when it was upon the Earth and this is both my God and Saviour and Justifier if I obey him and also my condemner if I sin against him Now the Law of Moses that was never written to the Gentiles neither had the Gentiles any command from God for the observation of it therefore the Gentiles they could never be Justified by it because they had no command for the keeping of it but on the contrary the Gentiles were reproved by Paul for the observation of it Now God was in all those visible appearances amongst the Jews yet it was by his invisible power by which he wrought those signs and wonders amongst the Egyptians and it was by his invisible power by the which Aarons rod budded the pot of Manna was preserved And it was the Lords invisible Glory which filled the Tabernacle and unto Israel he appeared as a Fire by night and as a cloud by day and after this God spake to Moses within the cloud and after these things he invisibly appeared ond dwelt in Solomons Temple and then at last the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin and God prepared a Temple for himself by his invisible spirit and power the which Temple was the Son of God by generation from God in which Temple there dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily and when the Son of God or the Lamb of God had finished his testimony in this world he then did through the Eternal Spirit which dwelt in his Temple offer up himself a sacrifice once for all Then was all outward Temple worship ended for the glory of God out of Solomons then departed For then the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain and also the worship was ended although the Lord once gave the Jews a command for the observing of it But as for the Gentiles they never had no command from God for the practising of those things therefore what they did they did it by imitation and not by commandment Now Christ he was not the Son of David as by generation from David as he was a visible man for Mary she was a Virgin and knew no visible man but Christ he was the Son of David by generation from God he being begotten by the spirit of God in the Womb of the Virgin and this was the spirit of God in David from which spirit David received power to be regenerated and born again and this was the flesh of David and this was Davids Lord. For Christ he was not the Son of a visible man but he was the Son of a visible woman he being begotten by an invisible power and spirit now if salvation be by that Christ that dyed without the Gates at Jerusalem then are all the Gentiles perished that were in the world before that body came into the world for I do not read that ever any of the Gentiles saw the coming of that visible man Christ whenas the world had continued near four thousand years before he came into the world yea all the Jews that were in the world before that body came and did not see the coming of that body nor own it when it did come they likewise are perished yea all both Jews and Gentiles the which have been in the world since those dayes who have not owned him to be the Christ and the Saviour of the world who dyed without the Gates of Jerusalem they likewise are all perished but and if salvation be by him that shews unto man his thoughts and reproveth man and also convinceth him and condemneth man and woman for