Instances the Quakers have made themselves as Mad as any ever were in the World And have been so esteem'd at Rome and other Places where they had never been before as they were at first when they Rose up amongst us only the Common use of it now has abated of the Strangeness but nothing of the Irrationality and Madness not to speak of the Breach of Justice or Religion for Honour is as much Due to our Superiors as either Fear or Tribute and Equally Commanded Rom. xiii 7. and to Deny it is Immorality and a Sin besides the Singularity and Proud-Humility which Entitles it to a High Degree of Madness And in this the whole Body of the Quakers is Involv'd In making Themselves free from Sin and Equal with God 3. But thirdly wou'd not that man be Counted Mad who shou'd Fancie himself Exempted from the Common Condition of other Mortals to be as Bright and Glorious and Impassible as an Angel And is it not as much to think our selves as Pure and Impeccable as they even while we feel our own Frailty and Imperfections in Dayly and Frequent Instances Yet still to Cry that we are Pure and without Sin Nay Perfect even as God! And Equal to Him and One with Him in very Nature and Substance and a Part of Him Can any Madness be Imagin'd beyond or Equal to this And G. W. p. 88. gives his Consent to secure such Persons in Bedlam if we can find any such among them that we can plainly Prove to hold the Same Now whether this be not Plainly Prov'd in the Sn. Sect. ii iii. and iv I leave to the Reader And G. W. do's neither Deny nor Answer one of the Quotations there Produc'd But stoutly Denies the whole Charge without so much as Attempting to Invalidat any one Particle of the Evidence Which I think I may Modestly say is very like the Answer of a Mad-Man In Assuming to be Prophets 4. But I will put the Case lower than that of Aspiring to be Equal with God Suppose then that a Poor Country Lad shou'd come to London and hapning upon a Rich Widdow shou'd presently fancie himself to be some Duke or Great Prince and as such shou'd Issue forth his Proclamations Commissions c. wou'd not G. W. give me leave to think this fellow a little Craz'd But suppose he shou'd set up for a Prophet sent Immediately from God as Elijah was And as such shou'd take upon him to Dictate to Kings and Emperors and Command them In the Name of the Lord to Give forth Prophesies and affix to them Thus saith the Lord c. And suppose he Cou'd shew no Credentials at all for this High Commission only bid Men take his own word for it wou'd not this make him much more Extravagantly and Blasphemously Mad Now how many Mad-Men of this sort have we had among the Quakers Even Fox their Original and all the way down as many as have Wrote or almost that have Preach'd or Spoke amongst them This is a Talent without which whosoever speaks is a Conjurer as Fox has Determin'd in his Westmorland Petition p. 5. in his Saul's Errand p. 7. and elswhere as shewn in the Sn. Ther is one particular Instance put in the Front of the Preface p. xi of the First Edit of the Sn. it is p. 281. of the Third Edit where a Prophetical Curse is set down of Confusion against George Keith And it is not a Hasty Rash Curse in Passion or so as is usual among the Profane Cursers and Swearers of the World But it is a Deliberat Grave Curse in Cold Blood set down in Writing and sent to George Keith it bears Date the 17th of the 4th Month. 1695. And is subscrib'd George Whitehead And begins in these words Thus Saith the Lord. And it is written not in the Name of G. Whitehead as any Thought or Prognostick of his own but every word in the Person of God as speaking to G. Keith Because thou hast poured Contempt upon My Servants I will assuredly bring Confusion upon thee c. Now for this George Whitehead thus to assume the Stile of the most Extraordinary Prophets of God and to Fancie himself one of them I think will be Judg'd a Greater Degree of Madness than if he had Fancy'd himself to be a Duke or a Prince for a Prophet Immediatly sent from God is certainly Cloath'd with a far Greater Honour than any that can be Bestow'd by the most Splendid of Worldly Titles Therefore this is no ordinary mistake or such as cou'd befall any Man in his Wits Nay farther to shew the Excess of G. Whitehead's Madness Suppose he shou'd think that this Prophetical Curse of his against G. Keith to be not only Equal to any Prophesie Recorded in Scripture but of Greater Authority than any Chapter in the Bible wou'd any body in this case Excuse him from the very Height of Madness And for this see his Truth defending the Quakers An. 1659. p. 7. where this Question was Demanded of him Do you Esteem your Speakings to be of as Great Authority as any Chapters in the Bible And he sets down his own Answer in these words That which is Spoken from the Spirit of Truth in any is of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are and GREATER This he Repeats again in the same words in his Serious Appology An. 1671. p. 49. And Quotes his former Book to shew that this was not spoke by Chance but was a standing Principle among them Now then if G. W. will say That the Curse which he sent to G. Keith was Spoken by the Spirit of Truth he owns by his own words that it is not only of As Great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are but of GREATER And then I think we need no further Proof of his being Stark-Mad But on the other hand if he will to save himself from this Imputation Acknowledge that that Curse was not Spoken by the Spirit of Truth then must he own himself Guilty of a most Notorious Blasphemy to Dictate thus in the Person of God and make God to speak his Lies and the Delusions of his Besotted Brain And if this be not put upon the score of Madness then ought G. Whitehead to suffer the Punnishment of a Blasphemer Therefore he shou'd Return his Thanks to those who are so Merciful as to Prove him only Non Compos as of Felo de se to save his Chattels and his Carcass too But this is not only as to this Curse against G. K. that is but one Instance among many nor only as to G. W. but it Reaches to All that the Quakers have Deliver'd In the Name of the Lord not only against Particular Persons but the whole Church of England the King the Bishops and Priests and the Lawyers too they are Particularly mark'd out for Destruction if ever the Quakers do Prevail they are the Midianites whom we must Vex that is Destroy see
they will not add the word My to it or Say My Lord that is None but a Quaker must be Lord or Master to a Quaker They must not be Servants to Men that is to the Men of the World They who Expect as the Jews to be Lords of the whole World And the Quakers do Apply to Themselves all those Promises made to the Jews which they Understand of a Temporal Monarchy They make the Jews a Type of the Quakers Sam. Fisher in his Several Messages which he said he had By Commission from God p. 30. carries on the Parallel twixt the Jews and the Quakers and Endeavours to shew how the Promises to the Jews were Fulfill'd in the Quakers and speaking in the Person of God Says My People that were a Type of Them i.e. of the Quakers That is the Jews who where once God's People were in that a Type of the Quakers who think Themselves now to be the Only People of God and Heirs to all those Promises that were made to the Jews In the Testimonies to Francis Howgil affix'd before his works as is the Custom of the Quakers Thomas Langham and Thom. Carelton give theirs in Verse the Quakers are Special Good at Poetry and there Apply the Prophesies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel to Themselves thus say they of Fr. Howgil He was no Academian as he said But in our Northern Region he was Bred. Whereby this Observation may accrew That Jeremiah Prophesied true Because he said out of the North shou'd come A Nation that shall Ruin Babylon And this my Friend of whom I speak was one Among many Worthies more that shot at Babylon Which out of the North arose c. G. Fox and the Original Quakers came out of the North of England Omne Malum ab Aquilone thence they were very fond of the North and apply'd to Themselves all the Prophesies where the North was Nam'd or not Nam'd for they made the Branch and the Star of Righteousness arise out of the North of England that is G. Fox whom they made the Christ For Jesus of Nazareth did not come out of the North of England But Fox their Messiah did I say this because some of them wou'd now pretend as if this had not been spoke of Fox but of Christ G. Fox wrote a Book An. 1656. for the Conversion of the Jews to Quakerism to which he gave this Title A Visitation to the Jews from Them whom the Lord hath visited from on High Among whom He hath Perform'd His Promise made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and to his Seed which Moses Saw and the Prophets gave Testimony of to which Seed the Apostles Witnessed Which Seed We are Here is a Full Recognition to Themselves and Their Vniversal Heirship If They are that Seed to which Abraham Moses the Prophets and Apostles did Witness they are no other than Christ For He was that Seed Gal. iii. 16. However in the Lowest Sense can be put upon it they think Themselves the Heirs of all the Promises made to the Jews Among which that of Vniversal Monarchy was certainly one And Fulfill'd in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth But the Quakers turn it to their Christ the Light within In whose Right they think That they have a Full and In-defeasable Title to it And then indeed All the King 's of the World ought to come with Cap in Hand to the Quakers And State belongs to Them of which they have already taken Possession in Refusing to Pay Homage to any Powers upon the Earth so much as to move a Hat to the Best of them or Treat them with Less Familiarity or other Ceremony than Plain Thee and Thou Of which we come next to speak and of the like Fig-Leaf Excuses they give for this as for that of the Hat Thereby to keep their Designs Undiscover'd Concerning the Pure Language of Thee and Thou Appen brings in by Head and Shoulders the business of their Singularity in Theeing and Thouing for ther was nothing spoken of it in Prim. Heres But this is a Great Point with the Quakers and cost them both Money and Pains in setting out a Large Folio upon this Subject call'd The Battle-dore under the Name of G. Fox which go's thro several Languages of which G. F. knew not one Letter tho he Impudently puts his Name not only to the Book but to the several Pages where the Hebrew Greek c. is Set down only to shew the use of the Singular Number to a Single Person which no body ever yet did Deny Yet the Quakers gave Large money one Jew had 60 pounds for this Learned Collection not worth one Half-Penny And that All might not be Lost Appen will have it Canvass'd here And Demands with Insulting p. 49. That any Apostle or Primitive Father shou'd be given to Condemn the use of the singular Number to a single Person I never heard of any that did Condemn it or to Authorize the use of the Plural in the same Case It was not a Case worth any of their Notice to Enter into little poor Grammar niceties Every Nation is Master of their own Language And England now has by Custom made the word You both of a Singular and Plural Signification And what has any man to say to this If you speak of the Propriety or Impropriety of this as to Criticising at which the Quakers are Able hands let them shew their Learning and Compare all the Languages in the World I wish they were no worse Employ'd But to make a Case of Conscience of this and set up this as their Discriminating Mark upon a Religious Account Exceeds Bedlam What Scripture what Authority have they for this Except G. Fox's Blasphemous Journal where he says p. 24. When the Lord sent me forth into the World He forbade me to put off my Hat to any and I was Required to Thee and Thou all Men and Women It was the same Lord that sent forth Judas upon the same Errand of Levelling to Destroy all Distinctions of Men and so bring the World into Confusion And lest our Outward Carriage shou'd not be sufficient here is Rudeness to Superiors brought into the Tongue as well as Hands Feet or Head That we shou'd call them by no Better Names than they call us And so verify the Old Proverb Familiarity breeds Contempt But if G. Fox had this by Special Command from God what needed he go to Grammar for it Or did God give Extraordinary Revelations to the world for no other End but to save Priscian's Head from being Broke in English Blasphemous Wretch These are like the Silly Senseless Excuses they have about the Hat But the Bottom of it is nothing but Pride and Contempt of Superiors because they think none Superior to Themselves If they Suppose that Genders and Cases Singular and Plural are such matters of Conscience why not the Eight Parts of Speech Syntaxis Prosody and Orthography too Colons Semi-Colons c. Right Spelling and
truth and not from truth God having been pleased further to Enlighten me for which I desire to Praise him and I have shewed my adversaries both William Penn and George Whitehead to be much more guilty of Contradictions than any thing that any have laid to my charge as in my first Narrative of the proceedings at Turners-Hall and in other late Books And wherein they charge me to contradict some passages in my former Books as in relation to Baptism and the Supper and the having a better understanding of some places of Scripture than formerly I had this is properly no Contradiction but a Retractation But my adversaries are justly chargable with many contradictions that without any Retractation hold contradictory propositions at once to be both true This is contradiction with a Witness Now judge Reader whether as the above said Relation of the particulars mentioned in the first Sheet is not some Apology for me to excuse my praising G. Whitehead and William Penn as Orthodox and sound Men as to Christian Principles they having by their seeming Orthodox at that time Deceiv'd me so hath not the late discovery of their insoundnesses in the Christian Faith given me a farr greater ground of Apology to excuse my charging them to be guilty of Vile Anti-Christian Errors as I have largely shewn in my late Printed Books particularly my three Naratives of the Proceedings at Turners-Hall the Second and Third of which has as yet received no shadow of answer and what shadow of answer the First received by Thomas Elwood hath been sufficiently demonstrated to be a meer Shadow by the Book call'd Satan Disrob'd and also by my Second and Third Narratives all which lye on their hand unanswered and yet they falsely glory in Print that they have answered all my former Books And their most partial siding with my Adversaries in Penselvania to cloak their vile Errors as well as unjust Practises is another ground of my just Apology for my changing my thoughts of them besides other great Prooffs I have to manifest their unsound and Anti-Christian Principles Some Passages taken out of Humphry Norton's Ms mentioned in the II. Part p. 99. 100. I Begin with a Letter of George Fox's which is not only Inserted but Attested in this Ms of Humph. Norton's Part of which Letter being Quoted in The Snake p. 113. The Quakers in their Last Answer which they call A Switch for the Snake p. 175. say That it may be either Adulterated by the Snake or some Apostate or Forged by them And if they were G. F 's words why did not the Snake give the whole Letter To what purpose hath he made a Break in it And what is Left out at it Therefore you shall have the whole and sufficiently Attested Together with H. Norton's Impious Parallel of Oliver to our Lord Jesus Christ his Death Burial and Resurrection Which take as follows out of the Ms p. 21. The Message from O. Cromwell to G. Fox upon 5th day of the 1st Month. That it was required by Oliver Cromwel from G. F. that he would promise that he would not take up a Carnal Sword or weapon against the Lord Protector or Government as it is now And that G. F. would write down the words in answer to that which the Protector required And for G. F. to set his hand to it THIS was demanded of G. F. in our presence and hearing p. 21. whose names in the Flesh are called Tho. Aldam and Robert Craven Upon the Sixth day of the First Month G. F. was moved to give forth these words following which were written and given to Oliver Cromwell by Capt. Dury Ans I who am of the world called G. F. doth deny the carrying or drawing any carnal Sword against any or against thee O. C. or any man in the presence of the Lord I declare it God is my witness by whom I am moved to give this forth for the truths sake from him whom the world calls G. Fox WHO IS THE SON OF GOD who is sent to stand a witness against all violence and against the works of Darkness and to turn the People from Darkness to Light and to bring them from the occasion of the War and from the occasion of the Magistrates Sword which is a terrour to the evil doer which acts contrary to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ which is a praise to them that do well which is a Protection to them that do well and not the evil and such Soldiers as are put in place no false accusers must be no violence must do but be content with their Wages And that Magistrate bears not the Sword in vain from under the occasion of that Sword do I seek to bring people my weapons are not Carnal but Spiritual and MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD therefore with Carnal weapon I do not fight but am from those things dead from him who is not of this world call'd of the world by the Name of G. F. and this am I ready to seal with my Blood this I am moved to give forth for the truths sake who a witness stands against all unrighteousness and all ungodliness who a Sufferer is for the righteous Seeds sake waiting for the redemption of it who a Crown that is mortal seeks not for that fadeth away but in the Light dwells which comprehends that Crown which Light is the condemnation of all such in which Light I witness the Crown that is Immortal which fades not away from him who to all your Souls is a friend for establishing of righteousness and cleaning the Land of evil doers and a witness against all the wicked inventions of men and Murderers Plots which answer shall be with the Light in all your Consciences which makes no covenant with death to which Light in you all I speak and am clear G. F. who a new Name hath which the World knows not We are witnesses of this Testimony whose names in the flesh are Tho. Aldam Robt. Craven A call to O. Cromwell OLiver thou art shut up the Stone is sealed p. 37. and the watch is set and Christ suffers And the Lord God hath sent his Angel to call thee and to rowl away the stone and if thou wilt come forth come forth This call is to thee through his Servant Humphry Norton A Question put with others to all that stumble at the Light p. 31. WHat Child is it Eve shall be saved by she Continuing in Faith and Sobriety Norton's Ms p. 31. Seeing the Apostle gave this Advice to the Un-Married that could so abide not to Marry for he did better that did not give in Marriage than he that did N.B. The Meaning of this is plain viz. That the Child by which Eve and consequently the rest of Mankind was to be saved was not to be an outward Child of Flesh and Blood born of a Woman Because that if so it wou'd have been better for Men to have Marry'd in order
to have that Child brought into the World This is the true Quaker Notion shewn in the Second Part from p. 215 to 220 That the Child Promised Gen. iii. 15. as the Saviour of the World is a Child born within Every Regenerate Person in their Hearts and not any Child Conceiv'd in the Womb of a Woman For as to what is Recorded of the Outward Jesus His Birth Passion Resurrection c. they can apply it to Oliver or any other of their Favourites They turn it all into an Allegory and Suppose it Perform'd within Themselves And that the Merit of their Salvation Lies Within Themselves and not in the Merits of the Outward Jesus Of which See more in the Said Ms And whereas he accuseth us for denying Christ's Merits Ms p. 46. I say that which can be merited is of self And that which is of Christ is freely given But such a word is not in Scripture as Christ's Merits but is fetch'd from the Whore at Rome by them To all these that pretend to wait for that which they call a personal Reign p. 70. for which they have no Scripture but makes themselves manifest to be these that know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God for they were Written for our Admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come 1 Cor. 10.11 Mark they knew the ends of the world come at that time where sin was put away by the Sacrifice of Himself Heb. 9.26 Now unto all you this is the word of the Lord God you that waits out of the Light wherewith you are Inlightened waits out of the way c. Tell me have not many of your Brethren and Sisters pretended this waiting who are dead take warning and said they looked as you do for a Christ to come in another's Person and not in your own Are you not looking afar off like Fools with your Eyes a broad Pro. 17.24 Answer these Queries and prove what you speak by plain Scripture Whether is not God and Christ one in every thing Yea or Nay p. 71. or wherein do they differ in any thing and whether he is not the same in this Generation that he hath been in all others the I AM. Is not the righteousness fulfilled in Christ and is not God satisfied with this Righteousness where it is put on as it is written put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 13.14 Whether any one man visibly can put on another and therein satisfie God for another man's Sins Yea or Nay or must not every Man or Woman put on the Lord Jesus Christ and then no more a Carnal Christ seeing it is written woe unto them them that are covered and not with my spirit And now all ye that speak of a Personal Reign Answer this from whence must this Christ come which must Reign Personally Seeing the promises of God was but one and to one And all the Prophets of God prophysied but of one and they declared of what Stock and Family and House and Generation he should be off Read Math. 1. and Luke 3. And also where he should be born and of whom to wit of a Virgin which things are fullfill'd and come to pass we are Witnesses of it according to the Scriptures Now Answer in plain words whence must this Christ come you wait for And in what Generation Of what Family And out of what Country And of whom must he be born that they may no Longer be deceived by you who have kept them Gazing after a false Christ Well may it be called Gazing But leave it and mind these in white Apparel which reproves you for it Acts. 1.10 11. And Seeing the Scripture saith that Christ is the way to the Father p. 73. then is not this the Spirit of truth that Leads into all truth to the God of all truth And doth not these that Look for a Christ to come deny the way to God tell me What way must people go to God if Christ be not come Seeing they die dayly Joh. 14.6 Joh. 16.30 Some Queries with there Answers put forth by John Draper Answered by H. Norton pag. 81. IN one of thy Queries thou asketh me whether the Saints shall partake of any other Glory or Perfection then that they now Injoy or whether we that are called Quakers shall partake of any other Glory or perfection then what we now Injoy Ans I say the Saints can partake of no other Glory nor Perfection then what they now Injoy And we that are call'd Quakers partakes of the same But if our Hope Glory and Perfection were only in this Life we were of all men most miserable Wherein thou asketh me if there be any other Heaven then what 's in the Saints And where that Heaven is that Christ Ascended up into I know and believe that there is no other Heavens then that the Saints are in wherein dwells Peace Righteousness and Joy And that the Kingdom of Heaven is where that Christ himself preach'd it Luke 17.21 viz. The Kingdom of God is within you And whereas thou asketh me what I do believe concerning the second Coming of of Christ or whether there is any other Coming of Christ besides what is in his Saints I believe that there was p. 81. five hundred Brethren at once that saw his Second coming And that there is a Thousand now that sees the same And that there is no other coming then what is revealed in his Saints For herein is the righteousness of God revealed Rom. 1.17 and 19. therefore follow no more after the Lo hear and Lo there 's Wherein thou asketh me whether it be not that very Christ that is in us that was Crucified at Jerusalem whose hands and feet was nailed to the Cross and side peirced and whether we do expect any benefit by Christ Crucified at Jerusalem I say no other Christ we own but Jesus the only begotten Son of God the brightness of his Glory the express Image of his person Heb. 1.7 who in our Vanity his Sides often we peirced for which now in our bodies we bear his marks And this benefit we have Redemption by him alone from the filthiness of flesh and Spirit and Saved by him from the Pride and Vanity the World lives in and cleansed from all Sin by his Blood according to that Scripture 1 Jo. 1.7 N. B. What Blood this was which he means you will see in the First Part p. 14.94 95. viz. The Blood of God's Heavenly Manhood which He had from all Eternity And not the Blood of our Nature which Christ took upon Him and shed upon the Cross They here Renounce any such Christ Any Christ that do's differ in any thing from God as before Quoted Or who Suffer'd upon any other Cross than that Metaphorical Cross which He commanded His Disciples to take up Daily Luk. ix 23. And upon which He Daily Suffers in the Hearts of Wicked Men as appears by his following Quaere Querie
last Authority I shall Produce is of the Great Fox Himself in his Book call'd Several Papers given forth for the Spreading of Truth c. Printed 1671. There p. 54. is a Chapter which bears this Title Concerning Christ's Flesh which was Offered c. And this Flesh he makes not to be That which He took of the B. Virgin but That which he had from the Beginning and which he supposes was Crucify'd when Adam Fell And in That Crucifixion to Consist the Atonement and Satisfaction made for Sin And he takes that Text The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world not as then Decreed and Purposed by God but Literally as then Actually Fulfill'd Thus he Begins that Chapter Christ the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world when it began its Foundation then the Lamb was slain And Christ according to the Flesh Crucified the Lamb slain that Flesh of His which is a Mysterie when the first Adam's and Eve's Flesh was Defiled This he calls a Mystery And it is the true Mystery of Quakerism It is upon this account That the Quakers think all the Christian world to Lie in Darkness but Themselves That other Christians know of no other Flesh and Blood of Christ but that outward Flesh which He took in Time of the B. Virgin Hence it is common in their Discourse and in their Books to tell others That the Flesh of Christ is a Mysterie That they understand nothing of it As Solomon Eccles wrote That the Pope Sn. Sect. x. p. 138. the Episcopal the Presbyterian Independants and Baptists understand the Blood of Jesus Christ no more than a Brute Beast Therefore the Quaker's Confessing to the Blood of Christ in General Terms can be no Justification of them while they mean another Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones of Christ than any Christian ever Dreamt of But it Argues their Deep Deceit and Hypocricy to seem to Justifie themselves to the world by their General Confessions But Conceal their secret Meaning whereby they know that they Differ most Widely from those with whom they make this False Appearance of Agreeing Exactly Therefore their Answer to the Queres is no Answer while they Refuse to Renounce this Distinction that they have of Different Manhoods in Christ or otherwise to Explain themselves and tell us which of the Manhoods they mean The words of their Answer to the Queres upon this Head are these We sincerely believe in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of the Living God both as he is true God and Perfect Man But what they mean by Man here they do not Declare Whether that Eternal or Heavenly Manhood before spoke of or the Outward and Terrestrial Manhood which he took of our Earth But Tho. Ellwood we thank him has told us and Discover'd the secret in his Answer to G. Keiths first Narrative p. 205. where he Recites a Quotation G. K. had brought out of G. Whiteheads Book The Malice of the Independent Agent p. 17. That Christ's Body now in Heaven is the same in substance He had on Earth which wou'd seem a Fair Confession to the Humanity of Christ But hold a little crys T. E. Did G. Whitehead ever call or own Christ's Body now in Heaven or while it was on Earth to be Terrestrial or of the Earth Here we see how to Understand their words and how to Interpret this their Answer to the Quaeres not of the outward or Terrestrial Manhood which Christ took of our Nature but of their Secret and Heavenly Manhood which they Madly Fancie He had from Eternity And thus G. Whitehead Explains himself in his Part of The Christian Quaker Printed An. 1674. p. 140. where he says That he was not at all against Jesus Christ being God and Man take Man says he as Christ is the Heavenly Spiritual and Glorify'd Man But he Confesses that he was against this viz. That Jesus Christ consisteth of Human Flesh and Bone Here he Distinguishes betwixt the Heavenly and the Human Manhood The first he Ascribes to Christ but Denies the Latter that Christ has any Human Manhood And the Reason he gives for it is Seeing Christ says he was from Everlasting which is the same we have heard before from Thom. Ellwood where he takes upon him to Explain Will. Penn's sense in this Matter viz. That Christ as Christ always had a Manhood And seeing He had it from Everlasting therefore it cou'd not be the Human but the Heavenly Manhood Flesh Blood and Bone What then was that Flesh and Blood which he took of the B. Virgin wherein He suffer'd and Rose again And of which he said Behold my Hands and my Feet Luk. xxiv 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see Me have To this says G. W. ibid. p. 139. 140. yes Christ Had such Flesh and Bones but he did not Consist of them I distinguish between Consisting and Having Says he i. e. A man Hath anything that he Possesses or wears I Have a Cloak but I do not Consist of that Cloak that is It is no Part of my Nature and I may Put it on or Throw it off without any Change of my Nature And no otherwise do the Quakers reckon of the Body and Blood which Jesus our B. Lord took in Time in the Womb of the Virgin Not that He took it into His Person so as to Consist of it as a Man do's Consist of Both Natures of his Body and Soul But only that He Had it that is Made Vse of it and wore it for a Time as a Vail or Garment which He has now laid aside and subsists in Heaven only in that Heavenly and Eternal Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones which He had as Christ from Eternity And they make it a Contradiction to say That Christ do's Consist of any other Flesh and Bone that is of Human Flesh and Bone they think this to be a Contradiction to Christ's being the Eternal Word because they hold that He cou'd not be the Word or Christ without Consisting of Flesh Blood and Bone And therefore That if He had None but the Flesh c. of the Human Nature which was Created in Time it must follow That He was not the Word or Christ from Everlasting Thus says G. W. ibid. p. 139. Is there not a Plain Contradiction between Jesus Christ Consisting of Flesh and Bone Human Nature And that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal word from Everlasting c. Therefore you see it is Necessary for us in order to Oblige these Quakers to Discover their Meaning that we Insist upon the word Human And that they will Answer whether they Allow Christ to have Now in Heaven any Human Body Or whether He do's Consist Now of that Body or did Consist of it while He was upon Earth But will the Word Human hold them Have they no Dodge nor Shift whereby to use even that word Plainly in a sense in which they know that
Sn. p. 230. And if the many Thousands of their followers in England do believe as they Profess that what these their Leaders and Prophets have said is all from the Mouth of The Lord the Consequence besides the Blasphemy of it must be very Dangerous especially since they have already Publisht their Declaration wherein they Assert their Right and Title to Possess the Vttermost parts of the Earth and their Principle to Fight even with the Carnal Sword to Re-Gain it whenever they see their time vid. Sn. p. 212. Now if they will not let this be taken from them upon the Account of Madness believe it it is time to Look after them However it is Good to keep a Sword out of a Mad-Man's hand See hereafter Sect. iv p. 38. and we go on to yet Plainer and even Ocular Proofs In their Preter-Natural Quaking c. 5. A fifth Instance of Madness or rather of Diabolical Possession is the Monstrous Quaking and Shaking which for Ten years together after their first setting up was strangely noted among them and from which they had the Name of Quakers It has much Abated since the Restauration 1660. Yet Remainders of it are still left amongst them To this G. W. says p. 6. N. 6. How proves he that this proceeds from Delusion and Diabolical Possession p. 44. and not from the word and Power of God But George How canst thee have the Confidence to ask such a Question when thee knowest right well that this is Prov'd fully in the Sn. But thee Slidest over all the Proofs and then Gravely Askest How Proves he The Reader will see Proofs sufficient in the Sn. Sect. xxi even the very Confessions of those who were so Possess'd But G. W. Quotes a particular Page of the Sn. how proves he p. 44 this is of the First Edition it is p. 298. of the Third Edit He had hopes that no one wou'd look so much as into any one page which he Quoted but take all upon his word For in that very Page ther is a Proof which G. W. Conceals instead of Answering G. Fox in his Westmorland Petition p. 5. And in his Saul's Errand p. 7. said that whoever spoke and not from the Mouth of the Lord were False-Prophets Conjurers c. These passages had been with several others to the same purpose Quoted before in the Sn. And in p. 44. which G. W. Names as having no Proof these are again Referr'd to and the Inferrence is made that if all the vile stuff which the Quakers have Printed be not from the Mouth of the Lord then by G. Fox's sentence they are Conjurers and another Instance of G. Fox's Senslesness is added In that same Place which was not Quoted before viz. his making it Heathenism and Idolatry to have any Creature in Heaven or Earth as Sun Moon or Star a Man Beast Fish Fowl or Tree Painted upon a Sign-Post but only something of Man's making as a Fork a Saw a Bed-staff or the like Then his Pronouncing as from the Mouth of God against the slit-Peaks behind on the Skirts of Women's wastcoats Mens Skimming-Dish-Hats and such like Childish and Ridiculous stuff And it is there Urg'd that if All this was not from the Mouth of the Lord then G. Fox had Pronounc'd himself to be a Conjurer and so of the other Quakers And if they were Conjurers then those Monstrous Quakings and Shakings which Possess'd them were from the Devil and no Divine Inspiration as they Pretended And G. W. answers not a word to any thing of this but asks still what Proof is ther in p. 44. when this very Proof is in p. 44. And I Desire him now to Answer it Was all that stuff which is there Quoted of G. Fox's from The Mouth of the Lord if G. W. will say Yea I suppose I shall need no further Proof of his Madness as well as of G. Fox's If he says Nay then I must ask him whether G. Fox said True when he wrote That whoever spoke and not from the Mouth of the Lord was a Conjurer If not True George was a Lyar and if True he was a Conjurer And if a Conjurer his Quaking and Shaking was the Possession of the Devil and did not Proceed from the word and Power of God as G. W. wou'd turn it And asks How Proves he Do George Ask that Question over again and it will be as Good an Answer to this as it was to the Sn. And you may Quote this Page too if you will as well as p. 44. of the Sn And tell the Reader that ther is not a word of the Matter neither Here nor There But George is a Cunning Whipster he had a farther Design in this than he was willing shou'd be seen He put in his Plea for their Quaking as Proceeding from the word and Power of God by saying How Proves he i. e. the Contrary But George Knew well enough that this Plea wou'd never Hold therfore he wou'd not assert it Positively only by an Innuendo And then in the same p. 6. N. 7. he puts in another Excuse which he will as little stand by as if this Quaking was only Fits of Convulsion for thus says he Vnless some have been taken therewith i. e. with this Quaking in some Convulsion Fits which are Common to some Persons among Divers sorts of People As to this I desire George to Consider That this Plea Destroys the Former For if their Quaking be only Fits of Convulsion then is it no mark of the Extraordinary Workings of the Spirit in the Quakers as they have Boasted and wrote in Defence of it nay and call'd it an Holy Duty Sn. p. 298. and compar'd it to the Quaking of Moses and the Prophets It will be very Profane to put all this upon Fits of Convulsion But it will not do in the Case of the Quakers For it is very obvious that these Quakings of the Quakers did not proceed from any Natural Cause 1. These Quakings Possest them only or most Generally at their Meetings And then wou'd Seize Many of them together 2. They came Suddainly and left them Entirely when they went away And had not such Symptoms or left such Marks behind them as Natural Diseases 3. They were not Remov'd by Phisick or any Natural Means 4. They who had them Pretended to Visions even of Spirits Dancing about them Speaking to them and Directing them to do many Extravagant things to follow Flys Burn their Leggs in the Fire and some to Kill themselves as in the Relations which Gilpin Tordervy and others have given of themselves And were told by these Spirits that these Quakings were the workings of God's Spirit in them And therefore bidden to Rejoyce in them And when they came on t of these Fits they Express'd the Great Joys they had in them tho' mix'd with Intolerable Pains And therefore many Long'd for them 5. They Exceeded any Convulsion or Natural Disease See the account in the Sn.
1.19 is Perverted when taken in that sense and averrs that the Apostle there Doth not tell of Human Blood to Redeem them with for says he Human is Earthly What Blood is it then which Redeems Us He go's on to tell in the next words But Christ whose Blood is Spiritual is Lord from Heaven c. And then he Asks Was that Human Blood which Christ saith except a Man Drink he hath no Life in him and which Cleansed the Saints from all Sin who were Flesh of Christ 's Flesh and Bone of His Bone G. W. means that this cou'd not be the outward-Flesh But that it was the Eternal and Spiritual Flesh before spoke of Which the Quakers suppose that they have within them and this is it which they call their Light within But I will Answer this Quere of G. Whitehead's because I believe he ask'd it thro' Ignorance and that many Quakers are Deluded by it Therefore I say That it was Human Blood of which Christ said Except a man drink of it c. But the Figure lies in the word Drink not that we were literally to Drink the very Material Blood of Christ but to Feed upon it in our Hearts by Faith i. e. in the Satisfaction and Atonement thereby made to God for our Sins But to put the Figure upon the Blood as if that were only Figurative and not True Real Material and Human Blood which Christ offer'd for us but a Notional Spiritual which is not Real Blood this is the Fandamental Error of the Quakers and which overturns the whole Christian Faith And now what do's it signifie to bring Quotations out of the Quaker Books which speak of the Blood of Christ and bear witness to it while they mean not Real or Human Blood of our Nature but only the Inward Spiritual Life of Christ in our Hearts And do not Distinguish this at all from His Blood As G. W. says in the same Book before Quoted Truth defending c. p. 63. Whose Christ's Blood is not differing from His Life which Redeemeth from sin as thou Imaginest says he to his opponent Christopher Wade who having said as G. W. Quotes him That our Blessed Saviour did Instruct men to lay fast hold of and to abide in such a Faith which Confideth in Himself being Without Men. G. W. Replies p. 65. That 's Contrary to the Apostles Doctrin And the Saints Faith stood in the Power of God which was In them Again ibid. G. W. opposes this of C. Wade's which he Quotes That the true Christ doth by infallible Arguments prove Himself not to be a Spirit i. e. not a meer Spirit as in the next page G. W. Quotes him And G. W. gives the like Answer to this which is says he Quite against the Apostles Doctrin who Preach'd Christ In them the Hope of Glory and a Quickening Spirit That Christ is a Spirit and Ever was no Christian Doubts But that He has not likewise a Body not from Eternity as Quakers and Muggletonians madly Dream but an Human Body of our Nature which He took into His own Nature in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin and will for Ever Retain United in His Person true God and Man and therefore is not now a meer Spirit as before His Incarnation none can Deny but the Grossest of Hereticks And G. W. here Denies it and says That to affirm Christ not to be a meer Spirit is contrary to the Apostles Doctrin who Preach'd Christ In them No Christian denies but that Christ by His Blessed Spirit and Influence do's Dwell in the Hearts of Believers But therefore to Deny the Demonstration which Christ gave Luk. xxiv 39. That He was not a Spirit but had true Flesh and Bones is such a Degree of sottish Infatuation as has Possest none amongst us but these Miserable Quakers Why else did G. W. oppose C. Wade for urging this Scripture in Proof that Christ was not a Spirit but had a True Real Human Body G. Whitehead's meaning was as before shew'd p. 18. that the Person who then Appear'd to the Apostles was not the Christ. No but only a Vail or Garment of Borrow'd Flesh and Blood which He Wore And by which the Quakers expect no Justification but only by their own Works wrought In them by the Spirit Thus ibid. p. 62. G. Whitehead brings in C. Wade saying thus That God doth totally exclude works whether wrought by Men or by any Spirit in man whatsoever for Mens Justification He do's not Exclude Works as being a Necessary Effect of Faith and as Requir'd by God and without which when Possible true Faith cannot be nor can men otherwise be made Partakers of the Benefit and Purchase made for Us by the Obedience and Death of Christ But that our works tho' wrought in us by the Operation of the Holy Spirit as all our Good Works are yet must not come in for any share of the Merit and Satisfaction for Sin and our Justification thereby Psal xlix 8. For it Cost more to Redeem our Souls so that we must let that alone for Ever Our Works tho' necessary to Qualifie us and make us Susceptible of that Justification which Christ hath Purchased for us by His Blood yet are they Totally Excluded from being any Part of the Meritorious or Procuring Cause of our Justification And to this G. Whitehead's Answer is This is a Doctrin of the Devil The same Answer He and Will. Penn Repeated in their Serious Apologie Printed An. 1671. to shew they Alter not p. 148. to those who objected to them That they Deny'd Justification by the Righteousness which Christ hath fulfilled in His own Person for us wholly without us and therefore Deny the Lord that bought us To which their Answer is in these words And indeed this we Deny and Boldly affirm it In the Name of the Lord To be the Doctrin of Devils and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption which do's now Deluge the whole World It makes ones Hair stand on End to Hear such outragious Blasphemy against the very Heart and Foundation of the Christian Religion Against which the Cursed Spirit do's thus Gnash his Teeth to see his Chief Principle Attackt of making men trust for their Justification and Salvation to what is wrought in their Hearts by the Spirit of God as they suppose for which they oft mistake as in the Present Case the most Venemous Suggestions of the Devil Now if the Quaker method of Contrary Testimonies wou'd be allow'd See 2d Part. Sect. ii N. 3. they might Easily get off from all this by what Will. Penn has wrote in Point blank Contradiction to what is above Quoted in his Primitive Christianity Printed 1696. p. 79. where he owns Justification only for the sake of the Death and Sufferings of Christ And nothing we can do says he though by the Operation of the Holy Spirit being able to Cancel old Debts or wipe out old Scores You see he says here Though by the
from the Drudgery my Self I. Therfore I will turn to shew that the worst Payers are the Hard est Cravers 2. The Quakers Insolence and Threatning to any who Oppose them That these Quakers who take so free Liberty with others are the most Impatient to have any thing said to Themselves They are Touchy upon the least Punctilio and Improve any Reflection upon them to the utmost Strech George Whitehead last year Printed a Book which he Intituls A sober Expostulation with some of the Clergy c. wherein he writes in a very Threatning stile to two of the Establish'd Clergy Mr. Smithies and Mr. Archer for the suspicion that lay upon them of shewing some Countenance to Francis Bugg in his writing against the Quakers If thou says he p. 11. doth not put a stop to his mischievous Attempts it will Affect thee and the Cry will ascend Higher than to thy self Here is an Innuendo against the whole Clergy And p. 20. says he Bugg's Abuses are in their own Nature Intolerable and we do not Intend to Lie under his Foul Calumnies Pag. 106. If you will be mute in this matter says he to these Clergy-men and suffer him to Persist without your Publick Dislike then may you be further Justly call'd in Question and Expos'd thereupon for your neglect of Justice This is Magisterial indeed Here Whitehead Acts the Metropolitan and corrects these Clergy-Men with a Super-Episcopal Authority What! must they be Accountable for Bugg's writing against the Quakers And if they do but stand Mute in the Case that is if they do not take Part with the Quakers against Bugg or any who shall hereafter come over as he has done from the Quakers to the Church of England and Endeavour to Detect the Errors of the Quakers What then Here Whitehead threatens that they shall be call'd in Question for it and Expos'd thereupon He says that Bugg's Abuses are in their own Nature Intolerable I am sure such Insolence as this is in its own Nature and according to the Nature of all Government or but the Shadow of a Church very Insufferable To see a Sniveling Quaker thus Brave it in the Face of the whole Church and in Print to Threaten Her Clergy for doing of their Duty It is not Toleration will serve these mens turns Ex Pede Herculem We may know by a Little what a Great Deal means Their Principles are Calculated for Empire Their Motto is Do no Right and take no Wrong John Gilpin in his Narrative call'd The Quakers Shaken before Mentioned happen'd to call them a Faction saying of a Pamphlet That it was set forth by some of that Faction in York To which they Answer in The Standard c. Quoted before p. 8. Thou full of Subtilty is this thy Revenge to Nick-Name the Truth calling the Children of the Lord by the Name of a Faction Which is Invented by the Devil whose servant thou art The Provocation was Greater to which Will. Penn Replys in his Scirmisher Defeated p. 10. In answer to this viz. That the womb of Iniquity was in the Quakers writings upon which W. P. Crys out He has Invaded my Body and Soul Religion and Life for Lam by my Doctrin if the Priest may be believ'd an Heretick a Blasphemer an Atheist c. And what remains but that the Dogs or Lyons devour me the Rabble or the Government sacrifice me c. And if Will. Pen may be Believ'd what are our Priests as he calls them That Cursed Bitter Stock of Hirelings who have made Drunk the Nations whilst they have Cut their Purses Serious Apology p. 156. and Pick'd their Pockets Tophet's Propared for them to Act their Eternal Tragedy upon whose Scenes will be Renewed Direful Anguishing woes of an Eternal Irreconcilable Justice The Idle Gormandizing Priests of England run away with above 150000 l. a year Guide mistaken p. 18. Printed 1668. under Protence of God's Ministers No sort of People have been so Vniversally thro' Ages the very Bane of Soul and Body of the Vniverse as That Abominable Tribe for whom the Theatre of God's most Dreadful Vengeance is Reserv'd to Act their Eternal Tragedy upon c. And for the Dissenters he calls them An ill-bred Pedantick Crew Quakerism a new nick-name c. p. 165. the Bane of Religion and Pest of the world the old Incendiaries to Mischief And the best to be spared of Mankind against whom the Boyling Vengeance of an Irritated God is ready to be Poured out And now has not he to use his own words Invaded their Body and Soul Religion and Life for besides Damnation which he never misses he makes them Cut-Purses and Pick-Pockets and The best to be spared of Mankind Do's not that look like throwing them to the Dogs or the Lions or setting on the Rabble or Government to Sacrifice them All this is made the Tragical Inference of Disputing against the Heresies and Blasphemies of the Quakers And yet the above Language and Furie of Hell which is Belch'd out with the Utmost Virulence against the Church of England and the Clergy of all sorts must be Ramm'd down their Throats while the Quakers will Fly in any mans Face and send him to the Devil who Dares call Them but a Faction And if any of our Clergy seem to Countenance the Conversion of any from Quakerism or but stand Neuter and not Hinder others from Writing against them he shall be Magisterially Threatn'd as here by Whitehead that is by the Body of the Quakers who own his and the other Books Licens'd by their Second-Day's-Meeting as has been told before And I think they have here Given a very Good Handle to Return their Complement upon Themselves That if they stand Mute and not Censure Will. Penn and the Rest of them who have spu'd their Venom in the like Furious and Standalous Manner against the Church of England And Disown their Books at least the Fore-Nam'd and other such like Passages that are in them then that the Cry shou'd Ascend Higher than to these Particular Authors even to the Second-Day's-Meeting that owns them if they will stand Mute and not shew their Publick Dislike as Whitehead here Requires from the Clergy-Men then That they may be further Justly call'd in Question and Expos'd thereupon for their Neglect of Justice Who will not do Justice let Justice be done to them Do's Bugg's Disputing against the Quakers and Giving them less than their Due seem Intolerable to Them And do they tell us plainly That they do not Intend to Ly under his Foul Calumnies And must the whole Church of England and the State too Ly under the Thousand times Greater and more outragious Calumnies that the Quakers have over and over again Loaded upon their Backs And they will not to this Day Retract one word or Letter on the Contrary they vouch it in several Places of this Appendix And have Printed it in the Post-man See Collection N. 6. That they are the
28. And their Appealing from their Printed Books to the Original Copies See hereafter N. 7. of this same Section And how came it that none but G. W. Corrected this Monstrous Blasphemy Were not the Rest of the Quakers likewise Concern'd Well if this will not do they have another Excuse They say ibid. That G. W. positively Disowns the words and Affirms they are None of his and that he writ not that Part of the Answer to Townsend And G. W. was sorry his Name was to that Paper without Distinction between what he writ and what he did not write in it wherein those words are which gave the Occasion Let this Advertisement Clear G. W. and Others and suffice every Charitable Reader as we hope it will And G. W. sets his Approbation upon the Margin in these words To this I subscribe George Whitehead And now George thinks he is Lick'd Clean No Spark of Dirt can Stick upon him But how is it that G. W. let his Name stand to this Book for 44 years without Vindicating of himself or cou'd not his Infallibility of Discerning Discover this Blasphemy all that time Especially considering that Christoph Wade wrote against this Book and objects this very Blasphemy And that both George Fox and George Whitehead wrote severally Answers to Wade And yet Neither of them found any Fault with the Writing or Printing of these Words But if this shou'd Clear G. W. how will the Others get off upon whom G. W. lays the Blame The Quakers say Let this Advertisement clear G. W. and Others And upon the Title Page of their Book it is said to be Sincerely Tendered in behalf of the aforesaid People and their Ancient Friends Now these Ancient Friends whose Names are Affix'd to that Precious Book Ishmael along with G. W.'s are here fairly Left in the Lurch Disown'd and Abandon'd with all this Dreadful Blasphemy upon their Heads And yet they will not Disown them No. They Pretend to vindicate their Ancient Friends still and that they have not Chang'd from the Beginning As they tell not only in their Books but in the Printed News-Papers that All the World may take Notice of it They are still Infallible Every one of them in Particular See Sn. p. 34.284 And they are Conjurers who speak and not from the Mouth of The Lord. Now how came G. W. to write a Book jointly with Conjurers And to set his Name to it along with theirs And that without Distinction between what he writ and what he did not write in it For which he says now that he is Sorry But they who Jointly Sign a Book or a Bond are Answerable Jointly and Severally Such a Poor Excuse as this cou'd not be taken from any Man of Common Animadvertence For who wou'd set his Name with others as Joint Authors of a Book if he had not weighed as well what the others had wrote as what Himself wrote Yet this is all the Defence that the Quaker Infallibility can make for it self that is That it did not Mind but let things Slip at Peradventure But then to Inscribe their Heedless Indigested Stuff as the Word of the Lord which these Quakers do This is Intolerable And the Blasphemy not to be Endur'd For this they give such another Excuse in the same place of The Christianity of the Quakers p. 28. putting it again upon the Printer They say that instead of Which is the Word of the Lord it shou'd have been From the Word How sensless is this for that which is From the Word of the Lord is not that The Word of the Lord But say they We shall not stand by the said Title as 't is worded without such Amendment Yet Charitably think it was worded Contrary to the Intent and Meaning of the Author This is Pretty But how then came the Quakers even the Great Fox himself to say of their vile Scribles as they almost do every where This is the Word of God See Instances particularly of G. Fox in the Sn. p. 89 90. Can we suppose that this was Contrary to the Intent and Meaning of the Author How then shall we know what was their Meaning They may Alter all their Books and every word in them Truly this wou'd be their Best way They will never be Right or their Books passable till this be done And if we cou'd take them at their Word they are in a fair way towards it For here they say That they will not stand by the said Blurrs in their Books as 't is worded without such Amendment Among other of their Infallible Errata I have spy'd two Letters in this same Page which I suppose must go into the Basket next time the Dust-Man comes about They are two Letters which are grown very offensive to the Quakers of late viz. G. K. But they say here We know no reason to Disown our Friends G. K. or R. B. for we have a True Tender and Christian esteem of Both. These were George Keith and Robert Barclay And p. 26. say they We have cause to Assure our selves that both G. Keith and R. B. wou'd Abominate this False-Brother's Attempt to make Divisions between them and their Ancient Brethren Yet now G. Keith is the Great Incendiary and Accuser of the Brethren An Apostat and as such Excommunicated by the Sanhedrin of the Quarkers But what Cause they had to Assure themselves of this G. K. will fall foul upon their Infallible Spirit of Discerning which they Insist upon Now as strongly as ever See hereafter Sect. v. And say that none can be a Minister of Christ who cannot Discern what Spirit is in any Man whether a Good or an Evil Spirit at the first sight without Speaking ever a word See Sn. p. 33. c. of which a Pleasant Instance is hereafter given of G. Fox in Sect. v. But to Return we have seen the Silly Excuses which the Quakers have made for that Most Horrible and Cursed Blasphemy before Quoted which they have Belched out against the H. Trinity of Damning the three Persons into Hell But they have another Put off which tho' they have not Adventur'd upon in Print that I know of yet some of them make use of in Private Conversation which is That it is only the word Persons which they Doom to the Lake and to the Pit with those who use that Vnscriptural word with Relation to God or Christ But then they must send Will. Penn thither too who in his Sandy Foundation p. 15. speaking of the Son of God the True Light which Lightneth every man c. says Who in Person Testify'd c. Tho' G. Whitehead in his Quakers Plainess p. 24. says That is not our Phrase that I know of or Remember And That the Title Person is too Low and Vn-scriptural to give to the Christ of God Now then let him Remember now let him Know That his Friend Will. Penn has us'd it And let them Reckon for thus Contradicting and Thwarting one
upon the Author of the Sn. to Justify these Works and to produce the Original Copy But may not that Author more Reasonably Ask him how this Passage of E. B's came to be Twice Printed without any Correction And why it was never taken notice of as any Mistake these Forty years that it has been Printed till just now Suppose that Author had been taken Napping at any False Quotation or Charge upon the Quakers and shou'd put it off from the Printed Sn. and bid the Friends Produce the Original Copy and accuse them of Quoting him Vnfairly and Partially because they Quoted out of his Printed Book I desire to know from the Quakers particularly from G. W. Come George I 'll take thy word for once but not to make a Custom of it tell it now in good sober sadness woud'st thou have so Excused him woud'st not thou have made an Hideous Out-Cry and Clapt thy Wings for Victory But mark me George I do not mean only a bare Error of the Press or what cou'd possibly be so constru'd but a whole Passage such as this of E. B's and not only saying such a thing but going about to Prove it as he there do's That the Sufferings of the Quakers were more Vn-just than the Sufferings of Christ Why Because says he What was done to Christ was Chiefly done by a Law and in great part by the Due Execution of a Law c. But that it was not so with the Quakers which he there Indeavours to shew most Horridly Blaspheming As to his Arguments I Referr to Sat. Dis. p. 82. But as to our present business G. W. is brought at last to say in the same page p. 254. We will not stand by the Comparison Well This is something This is the first Confession that ever we got from the Quakers They will not stand by the Comparison of their Sufferings and Christ's But what then will they do as to E. B. who made the Comparison Will they say that he was in an Error No. Barr that For he gave forth all he Wrote as the Immediate Word of The Lord God And all his Editors G. W. c. have Attested this for him And he stood the Highest among the Quakers next to the Great Fox himself Who has Determin'd as before Quoted That whoever speaks and not from the Mouth of the Lord is a False Prophet and a Conjurer And if E. B. was a Conjurer then G. W. may come in and All of them And then let the Quakers see how they have been Led Let them Now see Here G. W. says it in the Name of the Rest We will not stand by E. B's Comparison for indeed it is Blasphemous to the Highest Degree And thereby you are given to understand That you are not hereafter to Trust any Quaker Books that are Printed even tho' Publish'd and Recommended by the Greatest amongst you For such are E. B's Works And if now after they have been put so many years into your hands as the Words of The Lord Part of them is Disown'd how can you be secure of other Parts of them or any Part of them at all How are you secure of G. Fox's Writings or of any others of your Prophets Have you seen all their Original Copies You must either Disown G. W. in this Affront he has put upon E. B. or Down comes All whole Quakerism at one Blow Ther is but one Book amongst you that I can hear Except G. Fox's Marginal Notes of Oleser c. before mention'd which will Escape by this Rule if that will It is Humphry Norton's for I have seen a very Ancient Manuscript of it which for ought I know may be the Original It was Printed at London for so I sind it Quoted in a Book of Roger Williams's call'd The Great Fox duggâ— out of his Burrows p. 45. And this Precious Passage cited out of him where he is after the Quaker-fashion Ridiculing the Second Coming of Christ in these words Is not Christ God and is not God a Spirit You look for a Christ without you From what Coast or Country shall He come What Country-Man is He you stand Gazing up to the Clouds after a Man but we stand by you in White chiding of you Thus as he is there Quoted How it is in the Print I know not for I have not seen it but in the Ms. it is p. 71. thus Whence must this Christ come you wait for And in what Generation And of what Family And out of what Country And of whom must He be Born That they may no longer be Deceiv'd by you who have kept them Gazing after a False Christ Well may it be call'd Gazing but leave it and mind those in White Apparel which Reproves you for it Act. 1.10 11. by which they mean their own White Lights within I suppose R. Williams might take it short These are among several other Queres of the like Nature which Humphrey put to the Professors Ther is Abundance of such Blasphemous Hideous stuff in that Book which shews Demonstratively what the Genuine Doctrine of the Quakers is concerning the Resurrection Ascension and Second Coming of our Lord Jesus turning it only to the Rising Ascension and Coming of the Light within them The outward Christ H. Norton here calls a False-Christ He was a Great Apostle of the Quakers sent into Ireland thence to the West-Indies And most Highly Recommended by Edw. Burrough and Francis Howgil two Principal Pillars to be Receiv'd by the Friends as a True Messenger of the Lord. But because this Book is but in Few hands and those of the Friends who will not now let it be seen I have in the Collection added a Trans-script out of the Ms. of some Passages in it worth the Readers Notice which Abundantly Confirm the Charges given against the Quakers and I thought this more Proper than to Thrust them in here out of their Place where we are Considering of the Quakers Manner of Defending themselves against these and other such like objections 8. The Last of their Cleanly and Clever Method Their falsifâ—ing the Sense of what is Objected against them For which by W. Penn's Rule they are Excluded from being Christians of Answering which I shall Mention at Present is Their Ignorant or most Commonly Wilful Mistaking of what is objected against them and so Answering Quite out of Purpose That by starting of new Game they may Divert the Pursuer from the Cent of an Absurdity or Heresie in Distress This they think a venial Politique in Themselves But this Mote becomes a Beam in their Brothers Eye And when they Charge it against others then they can see Clearly into the Heinousness and Utmost Deformity of this Sin Then they Improve it into a Total Loss of the Character or Name of being a Christian. This is one of the Heads upon which W. Penn wou'd Prove Thom. Hicks his opponent not to be a Christian in his Reason against Railing p. 158.
Father A Manifestation can not take Flesh be Born Suffer or Dye then it must be the Father Himself and none other who was Born Dy'd c. then it was the Father who sent Himself and Return'd back to Himself and was Received of Himself who upon the Cross Pray'd to Himself and Complain'd to Himself that He had Forsaken Himself And when He Dy'd Recommended His Spirit into the Hands of Himself c. This the Quakers are Desir'd to Answer and it will soon Discover their sensless Sabelliamsm And Farnsworth's Testimony says nothing at all against this 2. They Leap now Ten years forward for the next Testimony p. 13. which is of Rich. Hodden An. 1661. in his Book call'd The one Good way of God Where he tells of the Great Mystery of Jesus Christ come in the Flesh which he says no Man can Understand by Hearing Reading Telling or Talking of Him or Concerning what He Did Said or Suffer'd How he is Formed In his Servants How they take up the Cross or what that Cross is How they are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones What the Church is or how his Body or what it is to Eat his Flesh and Drink his Blood c. This as before told is the Body Flesh and Bones of God which they suppose He had from Eternity and which now Dwells in the Quakers not the Flesh of our Nature which Jesus assum'd in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin That is not the Flesh which we Eat c. And they that think so he tells know nothing of the Mystery of Christ which they say cannot be learn'd by Hearing contrary to what the Apostle thought Rom. x. 17. of what Christ Did Said or Suffer'd Which shews that they meant not the outward Christ but Their Christ the Light within otherwise how is it that as he says none but the Quakers understand what the Church is how it is the Body of Christ or what it is to Eat his Flesh or what his Cross is c This shews plainly That they have another Meaning for All these things than we have And Consequently this is so far from being a Contrary Testimony to the Charges produc'd upon this Head that it speaks the same and might well have been put among the Charges instead of the Contrary Testimonies 3. The third Testimony is p. 14 from Geo. Bishop that Loyal good Subject See Sn. p. 227. to 232. in his Vindication of the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers An. 1665. where he speaks too of Christ made Flesh c. But then tells us what Christ he means Christ In you says he that is their Light within which they call Christ. He says p. 15. as here Quoted That where this Christ is there is not the Body that Suffer'd at Jerusalem that was Flesh that Proceeded from the Virgin Mary c. that is not within Men. No. who ever said it was tho' Christ may be there by the Blessed Influences of His Holy Spirit But then what Body of Christ is it which the Quakers say is within them For G. Fox will not allow Christ to be Absent from His Saints as touching His Flesh Gr. Mystery p. 210. And Edw. Burrough p. 146. of his Works says in Answer to this Question which he there puts Is that very Man with that very Body within you yea or Nay And this he do's not Deny but Answers in the Affirmative The very Christ of God is within Vs we Dare not Deny it He do's not mean as Bishop says well the Body of our Nature which Suffer'd at Jerusalem for that is not so much as in any one says Will Penn in his Christian Quaker p. 97. But they mean as before has been shewn The Heavenly Body of the Human Nature of God which He had from Eternity And this Vile and most Absurd Heresie is that Deep Knowlege which the Quakers Boast they have in the things of God beyond all other Men. This is the Great Mystery of Quakerism And this Testimony of G. Bishop's do's rather Confirm than Contradict it 4. The fourth Testimony is p. 15. from Isaac Penington Concerning the Sum or Substance c. This is he who in his Question to the Professors before Quoted in every Page almost tramples under foot the outward Humanity of Christ or that which He took of our Nature And sets in opposition to it as the Foundation of the Quaker-Faith that which he calls Christ's own Humanity or their Sensless Notion of the Humanity of the Heavenly Nature Now let Us hear what this Man will say to the Contrary How much he Attributes to the outward Humanity and Sufferings of Christ. First he puts the Objection That the Quakers look not to be sav'd by the outward Christ but by a Christ in us says he And to this he Answers 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 Vs So that their Salvation is from the Attonement c. which is wrought Within them And what Salvation do they mean That of Heaven No not of any outward Heaven but the Heaven within Themselves See Sn. at the end of Sect. xii and consequently it is that Salvation which they have Attain'd Already in their several Measures for ther are Degrees of Glory even in Heaven But now that All is given to the Inward Christ what do's he ascribe to the Outward Truly as little as may be only to take Notice of Him he says That the Salvation wrought by Christ within is yet not withont Relation to what he did without us and had its Place and Service in the will and according to the Counsel of the Father What Place and Service was this For that he leaves you to Guess he will come no Near. Every Good Action nay every Good word of any Good Man has its Place and Service This is the Noble Testimony of Isaac Penington which is brought as a Vindication of the Quakers from throwing the Least Slight upon the outward Humanity Death and Passion of our Blessed Lord Jesus and the Satisfaction and Full Propitiation thereby Made for the Sins of the whole World And to Clear them from Transferring of this to the Propitiation which they suppose made within them by the Heavenly Flesh and Blood of their Light within 5. The fifth Testimony is p. 16. from G. Keith's Immediate Revelation where he do's sufficiently Express what Manhood of Christ he meant for he speaks of The Man Jesus whom Simeon Imbraced with his Arms according to the Flesh And the Quakers will not say That it was the Light within which Simeon had in his Arms or the Manhood of the Heavenly Nature which cou'd not be Seen or Felt. And then as to the Inward Presence of Christ in the Soul G. K. do's not speak of the Body of Christ there as the other Quakers but says
And to Him Only Yet but the very page before p. 148. they fiercely oppose Justification by the Rightcousness which Christ hath fulfilled in His own Person for Vs wholly without Vs Not that the Effect is wholly without us for it is rather wholly within us that is the Application of that Justification which Christ hath wrought for Us when it is brought home to our Consciences But the Price the Satisfaction for our Sins which is our Justification that is Wholly without Vs we are no Part of the Meritorious and Procuring Cause of our Justification that is only Christ His Blessed Death Sufferings and Perfect Rightcousness Perform'd in His own Person wholly without us But this is far from the Quaker meaning tho' it seems to be the Import of their Words And in the above Quotation where they ascribe their Sanctification Justification c. to our Lord Jesus Christ to Him Only and to His Blood they mean the Blood within and Christ within But as for Justification by the outward Christ as above they Return this Prodigious Answer which I have before Quoted And indeed this we Deny and Boldly Affirm it In the Name of the Lord To be the Doctrin of Devils and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption which do's now Deluge the whole World This is within less than the Compass of one Page to the above Quotation And but two pages before this they Deny that Person who Suffer'd that is our Lord Jesus Christ to be Properly the Son of God whom in this Quotation they Seem to call His only Son And this is not Contradicting themselves For the Mystery lies here they allow that Christ took Flesh but not into His own Person so that it was not His own Flesh only as He Borrow'd and wore it for a while And therefore that it was not His Person which Suffer'd only the Person of that Man Jesus in which He Dwelt The Person they Deny to be the Son of God but the Light within that Person they call the Christ the only Son c. And all this comes upon them because they do not truly believe the Incarnation of Christ or that He took our Nature into His own Person Which is the Charge against them and these are all the Testimonies which they have brought to Clear themselves And these do by no means Clear them But have Detected their Artifice much the more And Render'd them Doubly Guilty I have taken All the Quotations before-mention'd upon Trust except that out of the Serious Apology which I had by me for I wou'd not Causelesly suspect others of Deceit tho' themselves do it And because these Testimonies here brought by Appen are nothing to their Purpose as has been shewn Of the Reality of the Sufferings and Death of Christ II. The next Sect. 3. in Appen p. 19. c. contains Testimonies to the Truth and Reality of Christ 's Death and Sufferings But I may save the Reader and my self the Pains of Examining these Because if Christ was not Truly In-Carnat He cou'd not Truly Suffer And tho' He be said to Suffer Die c. yet that is not cannot be meant Properly by those who think that the Person which Suffer'd was not Properly the Son of God But they call these the Sufferings of Christ only because He permitted that Body to be Crucify'd which He assum'd as a Cloak or Vail but did not take it into His own Person by which Means only those Sufferings cou'd be said to be His Properly Therefore all they can say of the Death and Sufferings of Christ will never Clear them while they tell us that they mean it not in a Plain and Proper Sense But as our Sufferings may be call'd the Sufferings of Christ Col 1.24 Which in a Large Sense is True But our Dispute proceeds of Christ's Sufferings only in the Strict and Proper Sense Not as the Quakers think their own Blood to be the Blood of Christ And that same Blood by which we are sav'd Thus they told some who they said had shed their Blood You will by no means be thence Cleansed but by the same Blood which you so Cruelly shed This is in a Book Publish'd by them An. 1657. call'd The Guilty Clergy-Man Vnvail'd c. p. 17. Many Quotations of the like Nature can be Produc'd out of their Books But I stay not here Of the Resurrection and Future Judgment III. Appen Sect. iv p. 25. begins the Contrary Testimonies concerning The Resurrection and Future Judgment Where observe first their stating of the Case ibid. p. 25. We are more Learned say they in the School of Christ than to Deny or be Ignorant of so Inestimable an Advantage as is The Resurrection by Christ to Eternal Glory and of that Future Judgment by which the States of Men must be Determined Now nothing at all of this is the Question The Quakers have been told in the Sn. and Sat. Dis. of their Notion of an Inward Resurrection of Christ or the Light in their Hearts and of a Judgment there likewise Past upon Sin But the Question is of the Resurrection of the Body of the Same Body that Dy'd And concerning this ther is not one word of a Contrary Testimony among all those here Produc'd The word Body is not so much as nam'd in all these Testimonies except one which is a Testimony brought from Will. Penn. p. 29. where he says as there Quoted We own the Resurrection of the Body according to the Pleasure of God And every Seed shall have its own Body What Body they mean by this is told in the Sn. Sect. xii That by a Spiritual Body they mean no Body at all but only the Soul freed from the Natural Body which Natural Body they do not allow ever to be Raised again or Joyn'd to the Soul And there it is shewn at large That Will. Penn allows no Resurrection of the Body that Dies and Denies Positively That that Description of the Resurrection 1 Cor. xv Relates to the Resurrection of the Body at all but to the two States of Man in the Natural and Spiritual Birth And this same Appen instead of Contradicting do's Re-assert and endeavours to Justifie the Testimonies of the Quakers against the Resurrection of the Body And Repeats their old Argument against it p. 31. thus As for the Body 1 Cor. xv 37. Thou sowest not that Body that shall be Thence they Inferr That it is not the Same Body that Rises This is fully Answer'd in the Sn. Sect. xii of which no Notice at all is taken by Appen But the old Objection still Insisted upon And this where they Pretend to bring Contrary Testimonies to those Produc'd which Deny the Resurrection of the Body Yet this hinders not their Constant Boast which concludes Every of their Arguments of having fully Clear'd themselves and totally Overthrown their Adversaries Here says Appen p. 30. I have brought Twelve Witnesses to Testifie contrary to this Man 's
And they Bow after the same Fashion Who wou'd speak Three words to Purchace their Ungainly Conges as Stiff and Grave as an Elephant's or to see them thrust out a Limb for a Salute as if they were going to make a Pass at you But ther is a Mystery at the Bottom of Iniquity and Rebellion All that was Couch'd under the Parallel that is made to them of Judas and his Gaulonites And we may the Rather Believe this because the Quakers in this Appen do in plain Terms Justifie Judas for having Repeated his Principle as given in Prim. Heres out of Josephus That he and his Followers wou'd Expose themselves to all Torments rather than call any Mortal Man Lord or Master Appen Answers p. 49. Now Believe me Friends I cannot See the Heresie of this Doctrin Here then the Charge is Confess'd And the Parallel Acknowleg'd to be Just betwixt Judas and the Quakers who own That they Maintain the same Principle with Him And who can Doubt but that it is to the same End They Quarrel Prim. Heres for bringing the Testimony of Josephus as they wou'd make the Reader believe instead of one of the Primitive Fathers which Appen p. 48. calls Canonizing this Jew Whereas Josephus is only Quoted to shew the Principles and Sect of Judas Galilaeus not for the Condemning of them That is shewn from the Apostles And what Canonizing is hear of Josephus Can the Reader bear with this Trifling But these men will Complain nay Boast if they are not Answer'd But whether is this so much a Canonizing of Josephus as Appen do's of Judas who Justifies his wicked Heresie And Consequently must Rank his Sufferings for it upon the score of Martyrdom as of the Quakers for the same Cause And is Every Primitive Father that is Quoted therefore Canoniz'd But what Patience can hold out to see these Quakers make objections for want of Primitive Fathers And to Quote them too as Gibson before and others Do they lay any stress upon the Primitive Fathers or Pretend to Follow Them O yes by all means They wou'd fain be in Good Company And they call Quakerism now of Late Primitive Christianity in which Book ther is not one Syllable of what the Primitive Fathers held not one Quotation from one of them nor any of them so much as Nam'd How then do's their Christianity appear to be Primitive No matter for that Primitive is a Good word especially to stand upon a Title-Page which 100 Read for one that Reads the Book This shews They wou'd be Primitive or have the Reputation of it And so they have As Primitive as Judas whose Doctrine they Espouse and the Apostles Oppos'd But if they are so much for Primitive what say they to those Quotations which are brought in Prim. Heres out of the most Ancient and Vn-doubted of the Fathers And which Confront their Tenets very Expresly For them They care not two pence for as many more of them Appen p. 10. 11. calls them Stale Tracts of Vncertain Persons Do's he shew how they are Vncertain No not he Let them look to that or have the Quakers any Better Editions or other Works of those Fathers than those which are come to our Hands No no no They have None of them they Hate and Abhor them they were a Company of Bishops and Doctors But ne'r a one among them like George Fox or Edw. Burrough or G. Whitehead or Little Appen No not one of them Therefore says Appen p. 10. We shall not need to be at all Afrighted if we do find our selves to Differ from what is to be found under the specious Names of Ignatius Polycarp c. tho' Living within 150 years after Christ nor under the Great Names of them call'd Fathers in the Succeeding Ages And p. 5. It will not Avail tho' he bring many Clouds of such Witnesses And notwithstanding he calls this a Cavil we learn'd from Elder Dissenters we are not Afraid to stand by it and therefore Pay little Reverence to those nor any thing not Purely Apostolical But Ignatius and Polycarp liv'd in the Apostles Days and were Disciples to the Apostles What is that to Us Quakers It is no matter what they were or where they were We will have None of them So set your heart at Rest We have Better at Home We never Lik'd G. Keith since he was so Insolent to Compare the Books of our Friends to them call'd the Greek and Latin Fathers as supposing Friends Books to have been written by no Better Guidance See Sat. Dis Sect. iv n. v. p. 47. nor Clearer Light than theirs who Lived and wrote in those Dark times For which Thom. Ellwood has Pay'd him to Purpose And it is no wonder that he has left Us. For when any once get Fathers and Councils and Antiquity and such stuff into their Heads they can never Endure Us afterwards Therefore we Hate all Schools and Colleges and Learning and Human Reason for all these things make against Us. And now that we are Setting up Schools c. of our own I 'm afraid we shall not be Long-Liv'd That by the bye Therefore Appen wisely throws off all your Fathers and Primitives which serve us only for Title-Pages But says p. 5. Indeed if he can Absolutely Determin the Question by the Scriptures the work is done Yet in the Last Case against Judas and the Quakers the Proof was brought from Scripture and from nothing else And yet the work is not done For then you call'd for the Fathers then he has not Perform'd his Promise of Giving us Quotations out of the Fathers but puts Josephus upon us and Canonizes him for a Father But will the Scriptures do Then indeed the work wou'd soon be done Will you let the Scriptures be the Rule we will Ask no more Appen Denies it as shewn before Yet they will stand to what the Scripture Commands Provided the same thing be Requir'd by Their Own Spirit Anew See Sn. Sect. vii p. 92 93. that is if they Like it They cannot Deny but that the Scripture Requires Honour to be Pay'd to Magistrates Or that Taking off the Hat is not a Paying of Honour as Prov'd above And therefore Except the Reason I have Given which they will not Give I cannot Conjecture the shadow of a Reason for their Refusing it They say as Howgil before That God has not Commanded it Not Particularly as to the Hat Neither has He Commanded to take off our Hats at Prayer Why then did they Contend so zealously for that They Render themselves Self-Condemn'd They will as Judas call no man Lord or Master Why then do they call any Man Father for both are Forbidden in the same Place Matth. xxiii 9. And in whatever Sense they take the one they may take the other But their Practice shews their meaning They do call their Quaker Masters by the Name of Masters And they do now use the word Lord Speaking of or to Noble-Men but
no Medium And not only thus Negatively have they Asserted it But Positively and in the Affirmative They say that the Soul is Infinite even Infinitness it self and without Beginning Which nothing can be but God And if the Soul be God it must follow that ther is no Soul but God Which R. Farmer p. 27. above Quoted do's charge upon the Quakers That they say Ther is no Spirit but One and so Deny any Angel or Spirit Which page G. Fox do's Quote in his Answer Gr. Myst p. 173. but says nothing at all to this he cou'd not Deny this to be the Quaker Principle And the Consequence of this is That ther is nothing Natural in Man for if all in Man be God then ther is no Nature of Man but only the Nature of God This is the true Ground why the Quakers will not allow any Light that is in Man to be Natural no not that Light or Reason which is Common to All Men. Nor will be Content to say That this comes from God No. They will have it nothing Less than God Himself It was Granted to G. Fox That the Eternal word Enlightneth All men with the Common Light of Nature This G. F. Repeats and Opposes The Light says he which Every Man that cometh into the world is Enlightned withal is not Natural Gr. Myst p. 172. What is his Reason Because says he The Light was before any thing was Made and all things that was made was made by it which Lightneth every Man that cometh into the World By this Argument nothing at all can be Natural to Us because not only our Light but out Life and Every thing we have is from God And Consequently we nor any other Creature can have any Nature at all And then ther can he No Creature at all but All is God This was the Ranters Blasphemous Notion That God is Every thing And Every thing is God Thus they Understand that Text That God is All in All. i. e. That Every thing comes by Emanation from God or that Every thing is the Nature and Essence of God Extended and Vary'd which Returns again into its self as Rivers come from and Return into the Sea And so All things Return into the Nature of God whence they Came. And that ther is no Nature or Being but only that of God And this the Quakers have Lick'd up from the Ranters from whom they came And tho' they seem to oppose them yet from them they Learn'd And still Propagate this with others of their Vile Errors This is the very Language of the Quakers Is not this that cometh out from God which is in God's hand Gr. Must p. 100. Part of God and from God and to God again is not this of God's Being And doth not the Scripture say God is All and in All Is not the Soul without Beginning ib. p. 90. coming from God Returning into God again who hath it in His hand Which brings it up into God which came out from Him hath this a Beginning or Ending And is it not Infinite in it self and more than all the world Now Consider what a Condition they call'd Ministers are in ib. p. 29. They say that which is a Spiritual Substance is not Infinite in it self but a Creature That which came out from the Creator and is in the Hand of the Creator which brings it up and to the Creator again that is Infinite it self And thou says ib. p. 91. the Soul is a Spiritual thing and yet a Creature But the Bishop of their Souls Christ the Power of God brings the Soul up into God from whence it came whereby they come to be One Soul Thus G. Fox which he had learn'd from his Lear-Father as he was call'd John Hinks a Chief man among the Ranters Who allow'd no Distinction at all betwixt God and Creatures but said that All was God And after him the other Quakers proceed in the same strain Christoph Atkinson sets down this as a False Principle which he opposes viz. That God who is Creator Sword of the Lord. p. 3. is Eternally DISTINCT from all Creatures in His Being and Blessedness And Replies in these words The Being of God is not Distinct from them that are Begotten of Him for as the Father and the Son are one without Distinction so are they that are Begotten by Him And p. 5. he Denies that Christ or God is a Distinct Person from all Saints and Angels For says he Christ is but one in All and not Distinct And this says he in his Title-Page I was moved by the Lord God of Life to lay open as it was made Manifest in me from the Lord. And now we see the Reason why G. Fox did not oppose what R. Farmer charg'd upon the Quakers of their Denying and Created Angel or Spirit and holding no other Spirit but God This G. Fox cou'd not Deny to be the very Principle of the Quakers Nay he Contends and Disputes for it In his Gr. Myst p. 207. he sets this as an Error of the Professors that they say God hath a Christ Distinct from all other things whatsoever whether they be Spirits or Bodies And Answers God's Christ is not Distinct from His Saints nor His Bodies So that by this not only all Spirits but all Bodies are God's Bodies nay every Body as well as Spirit is God For so it must be if God is not Dictinct from them This is true Ranterism And is the Dreggs of that old Corrupt Heathen Philosophy which made God to be only Anima Mundi the Soul of the World and consequently every thing to be Part of God of His Essence and Being The Blasphemous Absurdity of which has been Expos'd by many of the Heathens themselves And is now lick'd up again by the most Gross of Heathens the Quakers Mr. Farmer in his Book before mention'd is Large p. 58. c. in shewing now the Quakers took up this from the Ranters That they Approv'd of the Ranters Principles But Blain'd them for not keeping up to them to the Light that was in them as they say of their own Quakers when they Listen to the Flesh and are taken Napping In a Book wrote by G. Fox and Jam. Naylor An. 1654. call'd A word from the Lord unto all the Faithless Generation of the World c. p. 13. they give this Testimony to the Ranters You had a Pure Convincement I witness which did Convince you and you started up to be as Gods And Gods they thought Themselves and were thought by the Quakers till their Vileness as of the Quakers now was so fully Discover'd that meer Shame Drove all People from them Their Great Edw. Burrough and Fr. Howgill wrote an Answer to some Quaeres put by one Reeve of which this is the Second viz. What the true Creator was in his own distinct Essence Nature and Glory from all Eternity in Time and to all Eternity And wherein Elect men and
Human Nature of an Human Soul and Human Body And likewise Truly and Properly the Son of God Contrary to Will. Penn. And that He is not such in Any Other Person Whatsoever Not in the Person of Will. Penn G. Whitehead or Any of the Quakers Reader forgive me for using so many Words Less Particular and Positive will not do with these Men. It is for their sakes that I do it That I may by any Means if Possible Open their Eyes to Discover their Horrible Delusions They have by this Means of Allegorizing the Incarnation and Birth of our Blessed Saviour from the Letter to their Imagined Conception Birth Passion Death and Resurrection of the Light within taken away all Certainty whereby we may know Whether ever ther was Such a Man in the World as Jesus Christ or that He ever did any Miracle or had any Attestation from Heaven for His Ministry That Most Express of the Glorious Appearance of a Light from Heaven Descending Leasurly and Hovering upon the Head of Jesus at His Baptism after the Manner that a Dove Lights upon the Ground the Quakers have Deny'd that is turn'd it to an Allegorie Doest thou believe says G. Whitehead to his Opponent in his Truth Defending the Quakers p. 42. That it was visible to the Carnal Eye as a Created Dove is or its Lightning I believe he Meant Lighting upon Him as a Dove was in respect of its Nature and Comliness By this they Mean That Innocency and Simplicity like that of a Dove was all that did Light upon Jesus or which Exprest His Nature and Comliness at that Time And then indeed they might well Ask Was it visible to the Carnal Eye But by this they have Quite Overthrown the Validity of that Miraculous Attestation given to Christ And so they have done to all the Rest That as I said they have not left One Single Proof that Ever ther was such a Man in the World For that can not be known but by Outward Acts and Attestations And if they can be thus Turn'd ther is an End of all Proof from them But they wou'd have no other Proof for Christ or His Mission than ther is for their Own Since they vouch Themselves to be Christ and God! Indeed as many Gods as ther are Quakers For if as they say the Seed in them can Grow up to be God That God do's BEGET Himself in them Then I do not see how they can avoid the Consequence of a Multiplication of Gods Of God's having a Beginning and being Created For if He be Begotten in Time Every Day in Every New Quaker He must be Created and so is both the Creature and the Creator If He be Capable of Encrease of Growing up from a Seed to a Child c. He must likewise be Subject to Dissolution He must be Lyable to Infirmities and Passions as We are And this the Quakers do not Deny Nay they Argue Expresly for it They take in a Literal Sense those Expressions in Scripture Where God is said to Repent to be Weary to Suffer c. several of which G. Whitehead Quotes in his Divinity of Christ p. 56. as Isai 63 10. Amos. 2.13 Hos. 11.8 9. Psal 95. Gen. 6.6 Psal 78.40 Isai 1. and chap. 43.24 These he brings as an Answer to the Argument of Thomas Vincent against whom he Disputed That Christ as God Cou'd not make Satisfaction for our Sins because as God He cou'd not Suffer The Contrary of which G. W. here Endeavours to Prove and brings these Texts to shew That God can Suffer These are the Natural and Necessary Consequences of this Mad Foundation of the Quaker Faith in Setting up their Light Within for Christ and God I am Weary in Pursuing their Blasphemies But it is Necessary in Order to Un-Deceive the Simple and Deluded among them Who know not these Depths of Satan into which they have been Led Especially Considering the Tenacious Obstinacy of their Leaders Who tho' they know these things Yet for Popularity or other Ends will not Suffer their Implicit Followers to Repent But Buoy them up with all the Artifice and Cunning they are Able to Believe That all is Well And to adhere firmly to All that they haue Taught them from the Begining And that IN ALL THE PARTS OF IT Some Texts Rescu'd from the False Glosses of the Quakers to favour the Universality of what they call The Light within 3. Let me for a Conclusion Rescue some Texts of Scripture which the Quakers have wrested to their own Destruction And upon which they build their wild Notion of the Light-Within That being undeceiv'd in this they may by the Blessing of God see their Error and Return Their Chief Text which they have Constantly in their Mouths is Rom. x. 8. The word is Nigh thee even in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that is the word of Faith which we Preach This word of Faith they take to be the Light which is in Every man of the World and not to Refer to the outward Christ or to the Faith in Him His outward Sufferings and Death but to the Faith in their Light within which Every man has even those who never heard of Jesus of Nazareth But the very next words ver 9. shew the Apostle's Meaning to be quite otherwise and to Refer wholy to Faith in the outward Christ This is the word of Faith which we Preach says he That if thou shalt Confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt Believe in thine Heart that God hath Raised Him from the Dead thou shalt be saved Now that by Faith the Apostle did not mean that Light which is Common to All men is plain from 2 Thess iii. 2. For all men have not Faith Says he You see here That in the very next verse following Rom. x. 8. which is the Quakers Text the Apostle do's Limit it Expressly not to the Light within but to Faith in the outward Jesus So in Deut. xxx 11 12 13 14. Whence the Apostle Quoted it the very next Verse immediately Before viz. Ver. 10. do's Limit these words in Moses to the outward Book of the Law and not to their Light within For thus says he If thou wilt hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep His Commandments and His Statutes which are Written in this Book of the Law For this Commandment which I Command thee this Day is not far off It is not in Heaven or Beyond the Sea c. And Chap. xvii 18 19 20. The King is Commanded to Write him a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that before the Priests the Levits And to Read therein all the Days of his Life That he might thereby Learn to Fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them Was he to write a Copy of the Light within in a Book out of the Levits Book And by Keeping the words of this Law was no More
Meant than to Keep to his Light within Cou'd that have told him all that was Commanded in the Law of Moses How came all the Heathen then not to Know it for they had the Light within As little cou'd it of it Self without the Help of outward Revelation have Discover'd a Messiah the Son of God to be Incarnat and offer'd up a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World This Faith as the Apostle truly Says All men have not None Ever had it by Means only of their Light within But either by Express Revelation such as was Given of it to Adam to Abraham and the Prophets or by the outward Means of Hearing as the Apostle says in that same Chap. of the x. Rom. ver 17. Describing how that same Faith commeth of which he spoke ver 8. And he says That it cometh by Hearing viz. The outward Preaching of it For as he says ver 14. How shall they Believe in Him of whom they have not Heard And how shall they Hear without a Preacher So Mad and Void of all Common Sense as well as most Impious and Heretical Is that Quaker Exposition of Deut. xxx 14. And Rom. x. 8. Whereby they wou'd Exclude the outward Christ from being the Object of the Christian Faith And Blasphemously Translate it to Themselves that is to their own Light Within And by this make the Christian Faith Common to all Mankind even to those who never Heard of the outward Christ Which is To make Him His Blessed Death and Passion Vseless and Vn-necessary to the World Another Text they urge mightily for the Vniversality of their Light within is Joh. 1.9 That was the true Light which Lighteth Every man that cometh into the World This they Understand of Faith the True Saving Faith and so suppose that Every Man must have it But the Apostle from the beginning of this Chap. was speaking of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Word by whom All things were Made And therefore not only what Light but what Life Every man or any Creature has is from Him Act xvii 25.28 Seeing He giveth to All Life and Breath and All things For in Him we Live and Move and have our Being Now that Light which He giveth to All Men is not the Light of Faith which All Men have not But the Natural Light of our Vnderstanding which is Common to All Men. And is a Ray Communicated from the Supreme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reason The Quakers to Avoid this set about that Mad Task of Proving that All men have not Reason as before is shewn And yet wou'd give All men Faith of which no man is Capable without supposing him to have the use of his Reason Otherwise a Tree or a Stone might Believe as well as a Man I will Name but one Text more upon which they Chime Exceedingly that is 1 Joh. 2.20 27. But ye have an Vnction from the Holy one and ye know All things And ye need not that any man Teach you but as the Same Anointing Teacheth you of All things This they Interpret of the Light within which is Common to All Men. But then by this it wou'd follow That All Men do know All things Quite contrary to what the Apostle there Supposes who speaks of those who Knew not the Truth And Applys this of the Anointing only to those who Knew the Truth Ver. 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the Truth but because ye Know it c. Therefore this of the Anointing was spoken only To and Of the True Believers and not of Infidels or Generally of All Men as is Plain to any who Read that Chapter These are the Chief Texts they Insist upon for the Vniversality of Faith which they call The Light within And they All prove Directly against them Ther are others so Forc'd and Strain'd as need not Confutation As 2 Pet. 1.19 We have also a more sure word of Prophesy c. which they apply to their Light within Whereas it was plainly spoken of the Holy Scriptures as the next Verse do's Expressly Determin it Knowing this first that no Prophesy of SCRIPTVRE is of any Private Interpretation I wish the Quakers wou'd Reflect Seriously upon this It wou'd correct the Exorbitancy of their Private Interpretations by what they call their Light within Different from the Sense of the whole Catholick Church in All Ages And let them see and Consider that ther was Great Reason for that Caution given in this same Epistle Ch. iii. 16. That the Vnlearned and Vnstable do wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction The Quakers pretend sometimes to be Determin'd by Scripture and to admit of no Interpretation which is not in Express words of Scripture See a Book of theirs call'd The Divinity of Christ Wrote by G. Whitehead and G. Fox where in the Epistle they speak thus Where do the Scriptures speak of three Persons in the Godhead in these Express words Let us see where it is written Come do not shuffle for we are Resolv'd the Scriptures shall Buffet you about And where doth the Scripture speak of a Human Nature of Christ in Heaven And where doth the Scripture say the Soul is Part of Man's Nature Give us plain Scripture without Adding or Diminishing Come let us see Chapter and Verse c. Now the Quakers cannot Refuse the same Measure which they have Meated to others Therefore let us see Chapter and Verse where The Light within is spoke of In these Express words wher is ther any thing of Faith in the Light within of Believing In The Light within as this Appen do's often speak Where is it said that Christ was not the Lamb but that the Lamb was in Christ where is ther a word of the Manhood of God of Christ's Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones of His Flesh that was Crucify'd when Adam Fell Where is His Body call'd a Garment or a Vessel where shall we find the Distinction of Christ Without and Within of an Outward and an Inward Christ of the Shedding of His Blood within Vs of the Blood and Bones of our Light within where is it said that the Person who Suffer'd upon the Cross was not Properly the Son of God He is oft call'd The Son of God what Text says that He was not Properly so In these Express words Come Produce Chapter and Verse Where are the Holy Scriptures call'd Beastly ware Serpents meat Death and Dust Where is the Text for Theeing and Thouing and for not taking off your Hats For your Silent-Meetings For the Ceasing of Baptism and The Lord's Supper For Womens Preaching and Womens Meetings which you call the Good Ordinance of Jesus Christ what Text do's Abolish Tythes in these Express words or Declare all going to War to be unlawful To keep Holy-Days or Marry by a Priest Where is it said that the Quakers are Infallible That their Preachings are of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and GREATER And
their Sufferings more Vnjust than the Sufferings of Christ That the Blood of Christ was no more than the Blood of another Saint That ther is no Heaven or Hell but Within Men That ther shall be no Resurrection of our Dead Bodies or General Judgment at the End of the world These are the men who call for Scripture for every thing And will allow of no Inferences But will have All in Express Words And yet they have set up the most Vn-scriptural Jargon that ever was heard of in the world They Demand Scripture for Christ's having any Human Nature in Heaven because they Deny it They Require Scripture for the Soul being Part of Man's Nature because they make it a Part of God as before shewn Let them then Produce Scripture for the Soul being a Part of God Gr. Mystery P. 90. for its being Infinit and without Beginning which they Assert in these Express words Will. Penn speaking of Baptism and The Lord's Supper Denies them to be Ordinances of Christ And for this Reason says he Reason against Railing p. 108. The Appellation Ordinances of Christ I therefore Renounce as Vn-scriptural and In-Evangelical Yet the Quakers call Womens-Preachings and Womens-Meetings set up by G. Fox The Good Ordinances which Christ Jesus hath set up in His Church And Accus'd those who oppos'd them Solom Eccles â—â—tter to 〈◊〉 Sto-John Babels Builders 1st Part. p. 15. of no less than Rebellion against the Living God This to all Considering men is sufficient to Render them Self-Condemn'd But they have a Salvo which will carry with their Deluded Followers that is That their Appealing to Scripture is only an Argumentum ad Hominem against those who do own the Holy Scriptures for their Rule which the Quakers do not but Resolve all into the Guidings of their Light within which they make the only True Gospel and Faith And my Design is not so much to Confound as to Convert them Therefore I wou'd Intreat the Sober-Minded among them to Consider of that Gospel and Faith which the Apostles Preached Whether they Taught a Faith in the Light within or rather a Faith in the Outward Jesus What was it which St. Peter Preach'd to Cornelius Ther was not a word of the Light within or Reading within Listning to that Within or the like But of Faith in the outward Jesus of Nazareth Act. x. 38 c. That through His Name whosoever Believeth in Him shall receive Remission of Sins And Cornelius had the Light within before and the Attestation of God that he had truly Follow'd it ver 2. And if that had been sufficient for Remission of Sins what needed another Faith in an Outward Man Jesus of Nazareth have been Preach'd to him And why was that Faith which Peter Preach'd call'd Words by which Cornelius and all his House shou'd be saved And that God had granted to the Gentiles Repentance unto Life Act. xl 14 18 by allowing the Faith in Jesus of Nazareth to be Preached unto them if Faith in the Light within and obedience to that had been Sufficient without any thing else If Good Cornelius had Dy'd before the Gospel had been Preach'd unto him as I before have said I will not take upon me to Determin of him but leave him to the Vn-covenanted Mercy of God But if Cornelius had Rejected the Faith in Jesus of Nazareth for the Remission of his Sins when Preach'd to him all his Former obedience to his Light within had not been Sufficient to Save him And therefore the case of the Vn-converted Gentiles upon which the Quakers do so much Depend will be no Relief to them who do after the Preaching of the Faith in Jesus of Nazareth set up their Faith in their Light within as Sufficient without It for the Remission of their Sins I do beseech these Quakers likewise to consider that large Description which the Apostle Paul gave of the Gospel which he Preached whether it was the Faith in Jesus of Nazareth His Outward Sufferings Death and Resurrection or the Faith in the Light within Moreover Brethren says he I Declare unto you the Gospel which I Preached unto you by which also ye are saved 1. Cor. xv 1 2 c. if ye keep in memory what I Preached unto you unless ye have Believed in vain For I Delivered unto you first of all that which I also Received how that Christ Dyed for our Sins according to the Scriptures And that He was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve After that He was seen of above Five hundred Brethren at once After that He was seen of James then of all the Apostles And last of all He was seen of Me also This cannot be Apply'd by any means to the Light within which cannot be seen of any body And this Great Article of the Resurrection of Christ was the Chief thing in consideration of which Matthias was Chosen in the Room of Judas Wherefore of these men which have Company'd with us Act. 1.21 22. all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from the Baptism of John unto the same Day that He was Taken up from us must one be Ordained to be a witness with us of His RESVRRECTION This was the Great Foundation of the Christian Faith 1 Cor. xv 14. for says St. Paul If Christ be not Risen then is our Preaching vain and your Faith is also vain Do's not this make the Faith in the Light within to be a Vain Faith At least this is a Demonstration that it was not the Faith which the Apostles Preached For the Apostles do Testify that the Faith which they Preached had been Vain if Christ be not Risen Yea and we are found False Witnesses of God say they because we have Testify'd of God that He Raised up Christ whom He Raised not up ver 15. if so be that the Dead Rise not But against all this Conviction the Quakers will not let this be Meant of the outward Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth but of the Rising up of the Light in their Hearts And therefore they come in for Witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ jointly with the Apostles Which is Monstrous to Believe But it is true For thus says Edw. Burrough in his works p. 42. We witness the same Christ made Manifest in Vs and His Resurrection not because Paul said so But we have seen it And are Witnesses of it And Will. Penn in his Primitive Christianity p. 103. Describing those who are True Ministers of Christ says Ministers of Christ are his Witnesses And the Credit of a Witness is that he has Heard Seen or Handled And thus the Beloved Disciple states the Truth and Authority of their Mission and Ministry 1. Joh. 1.1 3. That which we have Heard which we have Seen with our Eyes which we have Looked upon and our Hands have Handled that Declare we unto you I say if Christ's Ministers are His Witnesses they
and Faith that is in us to every sober Enquirer and indeed are glad of an opportunity to satisfie any such Person who may be in doubt of the soundness of our Faith in the saving Fundamentals of the Christian Religion we have with the full and Unanimous Consent of this our said Yearly or General Meeting given a plain positive and we hope Christian Answer to each of the said Queries which that they may give thee full and ample satisfaction of our soundness in the Christian Faith in the sincere desire of Us who in behalf and by appointment of the said Meeting do subscribe and remain They Loving Friends Rich. Dungworth John Hampton Thomas Martin Geo. Hutcheson John Hart Thomas Budd Here follows Dr. Lancaster's Queries with the above-named Meetings Answer to each Query To the Quakers assembled in their Yearly Meeting at London this Whitson Week 1695. GReat objections have been made against you in many Books which of late Years have been writ as well by those who have departed from your Communion as by others But because we would not willingly take an Account of you only from your Adversaries no nor yet the advantage which may be had from some of your own Apologists we have chosen this solemn Time of your most general Assembly that you have in the World where there comes of your Number out of all parts where any of your Profession live even as far as from the West Indies on purpose to attend this your Yearly Meeting at London We have chosen this most solemn and convenient time for you to vindicate and clear your selves and to give satisfaction to the World particularly to the Church of England as to these great and grievous objections which are made against you It is said of you that as Hymeneus and Philetus 2 Tim. 2.18 did construe the Resurrection spiritually saying It was perform'd inwardly within our Souls and so avoided the litteral and outward Resurrection of the Body which the Scripture calls Overthrowing the Faith so that you do construe the Resurrection in the same spiritual manner to be the rising again of Christ or the Light in our hearts and consequently that the Saints generally have attained the Resurrection already and that ther will be no Resurrection of these our Bodies after they lie down in the Dust And not only this but That you construe likewise those Scriptures which testify of our Lord Jesus Christ in this Allegorical manner to mean no more than what you call the Light within and That this Christ or Light is Born and Crucified Dyes is Buried Rises again Ascends and is Glorified within you That it sheds its Bloods within you and thereby quenches the Wrath of God in you as your Sacrifice or Propitiation And that Christ has now no other Blood or Body than what he has within his Saints or other than he had with his Father before the World began That the outward Blood of that Man Jesus that was shed at Jerusalem was not the Propitiation or any Satisfaction to the Justice of God for our sins but only the spiritual Blood shed inwardly within us And by these means when you are asked Whether you believe in Christ that Dyed for our sins Rose again and Ascended and that by his Blood we are saved c. You can readily answer Yea That you believe all this and yet mean it all in an inward Allegorical sense that is The Blood shed within you The Light or Christ suffering within you c. and thereby deceive others and your selves and keep your meaning hid and double that the Truth of what you hold may not be known which if in plain words told and asserted would grate all Christian Ears and shew you to be those miserable Hereticks before told who brought in damnable Doctrines denying the Lord who bought them Therefore that you may clear your selves from this great and grievous Charge you are desired to give a plain positive and direct Answer to these following Queries Your Reasons or Explanations are not required this not being intended for a Dispute but only your plain Yea or Nay to each of these Queries that your Doctrine and Faith may be known Query 1. Do you believe in a Christ without you now in Heaven The Christian Quaker answers Yea. Qu. 2. Hath he now in Heaven the same Body tho' changed in Qualities and Glorify'd which he assumed in the Womb of the blessed Virgin in which he Suffered Dyed was Buryed Rose again and Ascended outwardly Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 3. Will he return in that same Body outwardly or without men to judge the World in the last day Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 4. Will our dead Bodies arise the same Bodies though altered in Properties and Qualities which we now have and shall lay down in the Dust Or do you believe an outward and litteral Resurrection contrary to Hymeneus and Philerus Do you believe that the Saints generally have already attained the Resurrectien either before or since Christ came into the World Ch. Qu. To the former part of this Query we answer Yea To the latter Nay Qu. 5. Do you believe that Christ or the Eternal Word was so made Flesh as that he truly and really became Man as truly Man as he was God and not only as the Socinians say that he dwelt in or did inhabit the Person of that Man Jesus Christ as a Garment or a Vail as he dwells in or inspires other holy Persons though not in so high a Degree or as Angels assume Bodies like men wherein they appear without taking them into their own Nature or thereby becoming Men Ch. Qu. answ Yea. Qu. 6. Is Christ now at this day and for ever to come truly and really a Man in true and proper humane Nature without all other men Ch. Qu. To this we answer Yea under the Qualifications contained in the second Query viz. changed in Qualities and Glorify'd Qu. 7. And lastlv Was his outward Blood outwardly shed at Jerusalem the true Propitiation and Satisfaction for our sins Is this the true saving Faith Was not his outward Blood that Blood without sheding of which there could be no Attonement Heb. 9.22 Ch. Qu. Answer Yea not excluding the work of the Spirit of Christ in our hearts The above Queries were signed by Dr. Lancaster Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of London and delivered Fryday the 17th of May. 1695. into George Whitehead's own hands in their general Assembly in Grace-Church-street and there publickly read They were desired to return their Answer to Dr. Lancanster at Mr. Wiseman's House a Chyrurgion in Long-Acre But we hear of no Answer that they returned Wherefore the said Queries were presented to the Yearly Meeting of the Quakers in Philadelphia That Party which have Excommunicated Mr. Keith returned Answer as set down in the Preface But that Party which joyn with Mr. Keith presently returned the Answers above inserted after each Query THis is Verbatim what was Printed at Philadelphia
by their subtilty to ensnare them yet now George Keith has given a plain answer to their Question he tells them Christ's Body is Ascended into Heaven and is in Heaven Note this fallacy G. W. knew well enough that what I had asserted about Christ's Body his Ascension into Heaven did contradict both his and his Brethren's Doctrine He doth Contradict what Friends had formerly said but is possitive and plain in his answer to the Professors question So my opposers ceased any more to object against me upon that Head The Second Particular they charged against me was that in my Book I had said the Friends did pray to Christ Jesus and did Worship and Pray unto the Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus the Anointed King Priest and Prophet of his People who also is God over all blessed for ever pag. 123. of The way cast up And whereas I had set down some words of prayers that I had said I had heard some use in our own Meetings and I had used as Jesus son of David had mercy on us pag. 121. O thou blessed Lord Jesus that wert Crucified and Dyed for our sins and shed thy Precious Blood for us be gracious unto us c. the which prayer containeth a whole page in Print wherein also the forgiveness of our sins is prayed for a thing many say they never heard in a Quaker's Meeting to this these two men observed that it was a sort of Popery but with this difference that the Papists prayed both to the Mother and the Son George Keith though he prayed not to the Mother yet he prayed to the Son Some present said it was a part of Common Prayer to say Son of David have mercy on us but these two before mention'd Persons my chief opposers put me hard to it to give some Instance where ever I heard any ancient Friend of the Ministry that was an English man pray to Christ Jesus It is possible said they thou hast heard some Scotch Friends pray so whom thou hast taught so and were thy Proselites I confess I was at a stand to name any one English man that ever I heard so pray though in Scotland I would have named one But William Penn prevented me and said Friends I am an English man and a Freind of the Ministry I have oft prayed to Christ Jesus to my great comfort and have been answered And not long ago being under some great weight upon my Spirit and like to have been swallowed up by a power of Darkness I uttered these words its true I was in private Lord Jesus who was Crucified for me have mercy on me and immediately I was eased and comforted They objected that William Penn was but a young Minister Let George Keith give an instance what ancient English Friend of the Ministry he ever heard pray to Christ Jesus As I could remember none so nor did any in all the Meeting give an Instance But said George Whitehead it is not what William Penn or George Keith saith let the Scripture decide it whereupon he call'd for the Bible and reads in 1 Cor. 1.2 Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus call'd to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ both theirs and ours What say ye to this Friends ye see that Paul did-approve the Corinthians that called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Note Reader one would think that if G. Whitehead had made it his practise to pray to Christ Jesus being an ancient Minister and using to pray frequently in the publick Meetings of the people call'd Quakers he would have named himself to have been one who had prayed to Christ Jesus or some that had oft heard him ther present might have given him for an instance but no instance was brought of any English ancient Friend of the Ministry who had ever been heard so to pray and had it been a frequent practise among them to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ it could not be supposed to be possible that these two men my opposers could have objected it against me as a novelty or such a singular practise as that no English ancient Friend could be produced as a witness for that practise their answe to George Whitehead's Question was Paul was dark and ignorant in that thing as George Keith is for our parts we know better George Whitehead reply'd hold Friends say not so Ye know we have been accused by divers that we esteem our selves equal to the Apostles which for my part I never did how will this be received by Professors if they shou'd hear that we did set up our selves above them and above Paul one of the chiefest of them after he had so plentifully received the Holy Ghost and had planted so many Churches Pray let us not exalt our selves above Paul it is very well if we be where he was But they still continued blaming my assertion in my Book for saying that Christ was to be prayed unto and especially they blam'd the manner of praying to him by the name Son of David objecting against one of the prooffs in my Book how Bartimeus pray'd to Christ in these words Son of David have mercy on me Poor blind Bartimeus said they had George Keith no better Arguments for him than blind Bartimeus he was as blind in his Soul as he was in his Body Thomas Hart replyed to them Friends say not so ye are under a great mistake to think he was blind in his Soul he was greatly enlightned in his Soul and had a great Faith and Christ answered him and said thy Faith hath saved thee which proveth he was not blind in his Soul when he so prayed They still remaining dissatisfied and greatly blaming that manner of expression Son of David as improper William Penn said Friends we know that Christ after his Ascension call'd himself the root and off-spring of David Now why may it not be supposed that a Friend may be moved in prayer to say O thou root and off-spring of David have mercy on us Some also brought that place in Acts. 7.59 how Stephen being fill'd with the Holy Ghost at his death call'd saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit so after several words of discourse made by other Friends present mostly approving my assertion they passed to their Third particular charg'd against in my Book the passage in my Book that they blam'd is in pag. 123. Compared with pag. 136. where I had said pag. 123. He is that mighty one upon whom the Father hath laid help for that although the Father himself loveth us and is most willing and ready to help us in all our Necessities yet we can no otherwise receive his help but as it comes to us by the Conveyance of the Man Christ Jesus our alone Mediator And pag. 136. I had said But still as in respect of Union Manifestation
And Prophesy'd of the Mighty things which GOD had to do with them In order to which the QVAKERS gave them their Directions from THE LORD how to Manage But their SPIRIT of DISCERNING Fail'd them here as it us'd to serve them For within seven Days after the Date of this their Address to that Parliament they were Turn'd out by Lambert Which they little suspecting but thinking that they were to hold the Reins of Government for a longer time gave their Wise Instructions in the above Quoted Councel and Advice to Employ the QVAKERS in their Affairs And then all would do well without Doubt Tho' by the Advice they Gave the Quakers were of all Men the least Fit to be Employ'd They Hit Themselves Exactly in the Description they gave of other Men For they Advis'd not to Employ WILLFVL and HEADY Men not VN-CONSTANT and CHANGEABLE Men nor TRAYTORS that have Turn'd for self Advantage and will CHANGE with the TIMES to any way of Government c. But especially they Guarded against the Return of Hereditary Monarchy as before Quoted Yet as soon as that Return'd in the Restauration of the Royal Family which was within 7 Months after this was wrote then the Quakers were for the King and Monarchy And without any Blush Vpbraided and Accused the other Dissenters to the King as Changeable Men who Turn'd to Every Power and every Government as it Turn'd And therefore not fit to be Trusted See their Two Declarations in Sn. p. 224. and p. 227. And from this time they Began to Chop and Change Curtail and Alter their Former Books in the Re-printing of them And this not only in leaving out whole Chapters and some Intire Treatises as those before Instanc'd which were so Rank as could not possibly be Screw'd to mean any thing short of Bare-fac'd TREASON and REBELLION But they took care likewise of Words and Expressions that might give Offence for Example 3. In The Trumpet of Burrough's before Quoted p. 7. he Accuses the Officers and Souldiers for Exercising the like Tyranny as the King had done The same Oppression says he and Kingly Power of Cruelty stands in Dominion under another Appearance But in his Works Re-printed p. 99. the word Kingly is left out 4. In a Letter to Oliver with whom he Rejoyceth and Congratulats for the Many Victories Honourable and Remarkable which says he to OLIVER were given thee over them who had Exalted themselves above God And Ruled in Tyranny over his People whom the Lord pitied and thou an Instrument in his Hand was ordain'd by him to lead forth a People whom he Blessed with thee against a Cruel People and Generation of Oppressors who Exercised Tyranny over the Lord's Heritage till they were taken away and cast out and is a Reproach unto the Lord and his People unto this day and even so shall all be that follows their Example and are Oppressors and Tyrants over the seed of God as they were And this thou knowest c. This Letter is in p. 552. of Burrough's Works Re-printed But all within the Crotchets in Roman Letters is left out which I have Copy'd out of the First Edition of what he Intitules Good Councel and Advice Rejected Printed An. 1659. p. 4. And it bears this Direction For the hands of the Protector This Book consists of Letters from Burrough to Oliver and Richard Protectors And on the Title-Page he says Put to Publick View by one that wished well to them in their Day But this is likewise left out in the Re-print Ther are several other such like Passages of this Book left out in the Re-printing of it among the Rest of Burrough's Works As 5. In p. 17. Where Instigating Oliver against his Enemies Scatter'd through all these Nations who is full of Wrath and Ravening Envy towards thee Even of those known by the Name of MALIGNANTS party in whose hearts to this day ther is continual Hatred and evil surmising lodgeth against thee and all thy offspring And not slipping any Advantage how to Revenge themselves and the Cause of their King The above words within the Crotchet viz. Those known by the Name of MALIGNANTS Party are left out in p. 559. of Burrough's Works And the last words in this Quotation viz. The Cause of their King are Changed thus To Promote their Cause 6. In the same Page he says thus to Oliver of the King and the Malignants I know the Lord hath Cursed them and their Endeavours to this day and thou hast had Dominion and Power given thee of God to Bruise them and Break them to Pieces And what thou hast done unto their KING should not be Reckoned against thee by the Lord if now thou wert faithful to what he Requireth of thee for because of the Wickedness of that Generation which was Grown to the full did the Lord Raise thee up c. These words within the Crotchets are left out in his Works p. 560. Whereby neither King nor Malignants being Nam'd the Quakers may have a Latitude to Pretend when Challeng'd That they did not mean Them but some other Wicked People Especially they wou'd not Desire to have it known That they Pronounced Absolution from the Lord to Oliver for his Murther of the King 7. In p. 38. He writes To the Protector 's Kindred his Wife and Children and says God gave you the Palace of Princes And threw out the High and Mighty before you because of their Wickedness which was Great in the sight of the Lord Even for that Cause was the Generations of the STEWARTS cast out And if you walk in the same steps c. These words within the Crotchets are left out in p. 569. of Burrough's Works Tho' in the same above cited p. 38. he says Remember that you are now Warned from the Lord God by whom I am moved to Write this unto you in Dear and Tender Love to you all What Spirit then was it which moved the after Quakers thus to Diminish and Curtail these Words which Burrough said he was Moved of the Lord to Write 8. The following words in p. 64. are left out in p. 580. of his Works viz. And as concerning the Armies abroad let Faithful and Just Men that will not seek themselves be put in trust for the Army is of Great Consequence to thee to stand or Fall by them as to Mans account And the War against Spain be faithful to God in it and let Trusty Men have Authority The Lord may Accomplish something by it to his Honour and to Thine if thou be Meek and Humble and Walk with the Lord. And to say no more about it ther is something in it known to the Lord and he may bring it to pass in his Season The after Quakers left out this Prophetical Admonition for it was Given to Richard in the Beginning of his short Protectorship the 18. of the 8. Month. 1658. And they had Reason to be Asham'd of those Auspicious Hopes which their Light within
had made them Conceive of his very silly Reign Especially considering that according to their wont they gave forth the above Quoted words to Richard P. in the Name of The Lord for Immediately after those these words follow And thus Friend according as it lay upon me from the Lord I have Written this unto thee in Dear and Pure Love God is Witness And yet they have Hypocritically Nibb'd This out of the aforesaid Letter to Hide their Shame And God is Witness of that too 9. Ther are several other Instances of the like Practise in other Parts of this same Book as in p. 23. where the Quakers Boast to the Protector and his Council of their own Merits thus Who have in times past as faithfully as your selves serv'd their Nation with their Lives and Estates to the Purchasing of this Peace and Freedom out of the Hands of TYRANTS But in the Re-print p. 563. of E. B's Works instead of the word Tyrants they put the word Oppressors that it might not look so Directly upon the Kings Cha. I. and II. but be Turn'd to any other as they saw Cause Tho' it cou'd not properly be Apply'd to any other For the Government was in Their Hands and therefore cou'd not be Purchas'd out of Other Hands And therefore They the Kings were the Tyrants here meant at least Principally and Chiefly They having the Chief Part in the Government and it was against them that Oliver and the Quakers took Arms. 10. Again p. 35. they say to Oliver in the like strain as that before Quoted to his Son Richard And as concerning thy War and Armies abroad in Spain something ther is in it known to the Lord seek not thine own Honour in it but be faithful and leave the Issue of all things to the Lord Make no Covenant with Idolators but Tread down their Idol Gods that they have set up and Hew down their Mountains in which their Confidence stands and Plow up their Ground that the seed may be sowen after thee it 's Honour enough to be the Lord's Plow-Man All this is left out in the Re-print p. 568. of E. B's Works They had conceiv'd mighty Hopes of that Army in Spain Which they Hollood thus to Shed Blood without Mercy see Sn. p. 239. what is there Quoted out of this same Book Councel and Advice That they might Sow their Seed in the Ruin and Destruction of whole Nations This they then Greedily Gaped for and Expected They were sure Something ther was in it known to the Lord. But the Lord knew that ther was Nothing in it For Oliver Dy'd about a Month after they had Wrote this Letter to him which bears Date in the 6. Month. 1658. And was then Deliver'd to him at Hampton Court as is told at the end of this Letter p. 36. But their Confidence did not Dye with him One Disappointment is a small matter with a Quaker Prophet Two Months after they renew'd the same to his Hero Son Richard as before Quoted And then they were as sure To say no more about it That ther was something in it But he fail'd them too And now they have Dasht out Both these Prophesies for Spite or Shame Yet they are not Asham'd However will say no more about it 11. In this same Edw. Burrough his Message to the present Rulers of England An. 1659. p. 6. these words viz. He God overthrow the oppressing Power of Kings Lords and Bishops both in Church and Civil State And brought some Tyrants and Oppressors to Just Execution for their Wickedness are left out in the Re-print of E. B's Works p. 591. Yet this Message E. B. said he had from the Lord God whose Ambassador he stiles himself and says p. 1. In his Name and Authority I am come unto you And as such Affixes an Imprimatur to his Book in these words I order this to be Printed and given to their Particular Hands with Speed E. B. 12. In what he calls A Just and Lawful Tryal of the Teachers and Professed Ministers of England The Re-print instead of England put of this Age and so in several other places in this Book And p. 8. where they Reproach other Mens Preaching to be At the best but what the Saints of the Lord said before them And this is no more then stealing of the Prophets words They seeing how this must Expose them and make them Stealers too if they said any thing of what the Saints said before them in the Re-print they Add to these words thus And this is no more AS DONE BY THEM then Stealing c. i. e. It is Stealing in Others but not in the Quakers 13. Ibid. p. 9. E. B. says of the Ministers of England or of this Age as they now turn it Most of them are Lovers of Wine c. But his new Editors knowing the Wicked Falshood of this Charge and how it must Expose their Boundless Malice have taken away the word Most and put in the Re-print only SOME of them are Lovers of Wine c. So that if they can fix this but upon One or Two they may come off with the word SOME The like Trick is us'd in several other Places of this Book And thus they take upon them to Alter and Mend E. B's Message which he said he had from The Lord God! It is not worth while to make Reprisals upon the numerous Train of Wet-Quakers That is not the business now 14. But if they take from the full Extent of his Message in one Place they Add to it in another Speaking of those who Profess themselves to be Orthodox Divines he says p. 16. They seek to Allure all People to follow them in their way of Wickedness But the new Editors of his Works thinking this not to be Angry enough instead of their way of Wickedness put it their Idol Worship 15. Ibid. p. 22. Says E. B. I have accounted and I find the Sum of their the Ministers Maintenance yearly in this Nation being Reckoned in a whole Sum is about or above Fifteen hundred Thousand pounds a Year This was wrote in the year 1657. And the Quakers being sensible how Grossly their Prophet had over-shot himself to make the Mistake more Easie in the Re-print they leave out the words I have Accounted and I find which being so Possitive an Assertion wou'd Render this Horrible Prophet a most Impudent Blasphemer to Father what he knew to be a Lye upon the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost And to Deliver it as a Message from the Lord God! But E. B. goes on to Prove it ibid. If any doubt of this Account says he and shall think this not to be like to be true upon an even Reckoning it may be Proved and made Appear considering how many Parishes ther is in England and Reckon what belongs to every Priest's Parish But this very Reckoning will Prove him to be a Blasphemous Lyar for what was Allotted to every Parish Priest as he calls
them in England in the year 1657. will not Amount to near that Sum. Well then having bethought himself he after this in p. 25. Inflames the Reckoning thus Considering all things it can come to no less their Funeral Sermons their Great Tythes and Small Tythes and Marriages and Sprinkling of Infants and Churching of Women with other such Penuries claimed by the Priests in the Re-print it is changed into the Church of England with what is given to them out of the Nations Treasure which is many Hundreds of pounds a year Here he confounds the times of the Dissenters and of the Church of England For the Dissenters did not use the Churching of Women in 1657. And the Clergy now have not Stipends or Annuities out of the Treasury as some of the Dissenters had But put all these together it will not come near 150000 pounds Therefore his Editors have endeavour'd to help him out by Adding to what is before Quoted thus Also considering how much a year is spent at 2 or 3 Colleges in this Nation c. as to bringing up some to Attain to the Ministry with abundance of such Charges consumed the Nations Treasure which is wasted as in Relation to this Ministry spoken of I do not speak against Good Education and Learning which is in its Place a vertue as for Travellers and many others neither do I account such Money wasted But only as to the Ministry of Christ or Inable them thereunto but that Money which is spent is Wasted And how much is spent for such an end only wise Men Judge which will make up a long Sum in the whole All this is Inserted in the Re-print And yet do's not help this Lame-Dog over the Stile They may as well Reckon the Charge of Nursing any Child his Parents design for the Ministry if he should Prove fit for it for on that Condition it is that they send their Children to Schools or Colleges in order to Qualify them for the Ministry And to Reckon this a spending the Treasure of the Nation to Swell the Account To call the Charges of Education which comes out of Private Pockets a Burden upon the Nation is as Ridiculous as it is over and above Malicious to Account this among the Expences which the Clergy put the People to And this must go in to make up Will. Penn's Reckoning who in his Guide Mistaken p. 18. Ann. 1668. gives the same Account of the Revenues of the Clergy then whom he calls Idle Gormondizing Priests of England who Run away with above 150000 pounds a year c. as be fore Quoted 2 P. p. 34. He comes up last of all with the same Bill Alt a Mall But this is not the subject I am upon I am now shewing how the Quakers deal with their Dead Prophets in the Re-printing of their Works And the Instances Increase so fast upon me that I will shorten my Labour for the present because it wou'd make a Volume by it self to go through with them And a larger Collection is Ready if it be thought serviceable In the mean time the Reader will I suppose be easily Persuaded from the Tast that is here given out of two or three of their Small Pamphlets wrote by E. Burrough that their is not one of their Books which they have Reprinted of their Deceased Friends that is given to us Truly as they were first Printed Tho' God knows they have left enough behind to make them the Greatest Monsters that this or Perhaps any other Age has Produc'd Ther are are several Instances scatter'd in the Sn. of this their Mutilating Adding and Altering the Testimonies of their Ancient Friends to serve New Turns as p. 216 217 218. you will see some Instances in the New Edition of of Howgil's Works But especially p. 212. ther is a Passage Greatly to be notic'd of their Concealing and Leaving out in the New Edition a most Material Bloody and Threatning Clause in a Declaration they Publish'd An. 1659. wherein they Assert their Right even to the Fighting with Carnal weapons and Killing of Mens Persons to Establish their Heirship to Possess the Vttermost parts of the Earth And that they do Expect the Time to come tho' they say it is not YET come This is in p. 8. and 9. of the said Declaration and left out in the New Edition of Edw. Burrough's Works p. 603. This is put among his Works because he was the Pen-man And the Declaration ends p. 14. with these words The substance of this was given forth the Twentieth day of this Tenth Month being moved of the Lord by His Spirit thereunto through E. Burrough and is now Judged Meet to be Published to the Nation in behalf of Vs and our Friends under our Hands GER ROBERTS THO. HARTE GILB LATYE JOH AND ERTON J. OSGOOD and others of them to the Number of Fifteen all whose Names are subscrib'd But the Names are left out in the New Edition together with these last words viz. And is now Judged Meet to be Published to the Nation in behalf of Vs and our Friends under our Hands It was then Meet in December 1659. when Tumults in London the Rump Re-admitted and an Abjuration of K. Char. II. and the whole Line of K. James when ther was no settl'd Government in the Nation but all things in that Confusion that it seem'd a fit Time for the Quakers to strick in and Assert their Vniversal Heirship But in 1672 when the King was happily Re-Established and the Kingdom Strengthned in his Hand then this was to be kept Close till some other fit Occasion should Offer The Disclosing of it then wou'd have given the Government a Just Jealousie of them Therefore it was stifl'd at that time in the New Edition of E. B's Works And instead thereof the Quakers Printed Declarations full of Loyalty and Affection to the King and Renouncing the Principle of taking to the Carnal Sword upon any Pretence whatsoever as shewn in Sn. p. 224. 227. and 229. In the Re-Print of the said Declaration ther are several other things Left out and Alter'd according to the Times as in p. 4. 7. 12. c. the words Kings and Tyrants are left out in their Railings And other such like Amendments The 15 Instances which are before related of the Quakers new Coyning Adding to and Diminishing from the Works of their Ancient Friends are all taken out of two or three small Pamphlets only of Edw. Burrough which came to my hands Judge then what a Volume it wou'd make if we had the First Editions of that Great Folio of his Works which is Re-Printed to Compare all the Alterations they have made in them And so in the Many and Large Volumes of the Works of their other Prophets which they have Re-Printed Of which I will give but an Instance in two or three and so Leave them for this time 1. In Sn. p. 113. ther is a Notorious Instance of this Forgery of the Quakers in the
them over night next day when I sent for them not one of them was to be had When he is Dead that too must pass the Index Expurgatorius with the Rest of his Works If Quakerism be not out of Fashion before that time which I Hope he may Live to see If they wou'd Call in or Commit to the Flames all their Old Editions I shou'd be very well Pleas'd to Rake no More into them But let them and their Heresies Die together And let the Present Quakers slide Gently from their Errors without the Shame of Recanting For it is their Conversion not Victory over them that we seek But when these Old Quaker Books are still kept as Sacred Relicts by the Generality of the Ignorant and Besotted Quakers And their Now Governing and Subtile Teachers in all the Apologies they have of Late Published still Pretend to stand by and Confirm All the Testimonies and Writings of their Ancient Friends and that In all the Parts of them And that they are thus Enjoin'd by the Yearly Epistle of their General Council as supposing them all Infallible and Dictated by the Immediate Inspiration of the Holy Ghost as they Horridly Pretend yet are not Afraid to Alter Correct and Amend them It becomes Necessary and our Duty to Search out and Expose them That being the Most Likely Means to Open those Eyes which are not Seal'd up to their own Destruction And now let others think That if the Figure of Quakerism be so Abhorrent even as Represented to Us in their Re-Printed and Corrected Books How ten times more Deform'd and Frightful it wou'd Appear if taken off their first Rude Draught if their Original Books were Expos'd to Publick view if the Publick wou'd take some Method to have them Collected and Reserv'd in some safe Place till ther shou'd be no Longer Use for them but what they first Deserv'd the Animadversion of the Hang-Man and a Faggot In the mean time Let the more sober among the Quakers Reflect how the Words of their Prophets give a Certain sound as Boasted in the Title-Page of BVRROVGH's Trumpet before Quoted when they are Chopt and Chang'd as we have seen and made Speak the Language of Every Turn tho' in Direct Opposition to one Another And if their Words are the Immediate Dictates of the Holy-Ghost as they Blasphemously Pretend then must the Curse of Adding to or Diminishing from the Word of God Light upon those who have Added or Substracted or Alter'd any thing in Any of these Quaker-Writings Which Curse they May Read in the Book of Rev. xxii 18 19. To have their Part taken away out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City and from the things which are written in this Book And to have the Plagues which are written in this Book added unto them This they must take to Themselves or else Confess as the Truth is That the Words of these Quaker-Prophets were not Wrote from the Spirit of God And if so then because they do Pretend to be so Written they must be Acknowleg'd to have been Wrote by the Spirit of Blasphemy that is the Devil And that this is the Spirit which has Possess'd these QVAKERS To Sir Thomas Lane Lord Mayor of London HAving been Lately Summoned before Thee by Dr. Linford and Marmaduke Hopkins who are more Diligent to seek thy Warrant to take Our Goods than to seek us thereby shewing That it 's Ours more than We they desire and Love Which to us shews That they have no more Right to esteem themselves Ministers of Christ than as such to take Tyths or Plead for them For Christ said to his Ministers freely ye have received freely Give He did not Advise nor Teach That if any would not Give they should take from them whether they would or nay Therefore Consider whether such who take by force abide in or transgress the Doctrine of Christ If they Transgress as certainly they Do who abide not in his Doctrine Then his Apostle declares their Condition 2. John 9. And we Intreat thee Mayor seriously consider how he either bids God speed to such or assists them in such a Work For Thou and All must receive a Reward from the hand of the Righteous God According to your Works We have also herewith sent a small Collection out of the Book of Martyrs Fol. 669.670 To shew that the Priests have no Right to Tythes and that it was anciently so Testified by other Consciencious men besides us and made an Article against them as well as it is against us Read and consider the following Collection is the Request of us who are Sincere Well wishers to the Mayor and All men and truely desire that We nor any Other may Do that here that we cannot Answer hereafter in the Great Day of Account John Feild Will. Bingley The Collection IN the New Law neither Christ nor any of his Apostles took Tythes of the People nor Commanded the People to pay Tythes neither to Priests nor Deacons But in the 1000 year of Our Lord 211. One Pope Gregory the 10th Ordained Tythes First to be Given to Priests Again Paul saith He was not Chargeable unto them but with his hands got his Own Living It were Good Councel That all Priests took Good heed to the Heavenly Learning of Paul not Charging the People for their Bodily Livelyhood And Paul saith since the Priesthood is Changed its necessary a Change also be made of the Law so that Priests Live without Tythes For the Priests that Challenge Tythes say in effect That Christ is not become Man nor that he Suffered Death for man's Love Again the Taking of Tythes and of such other Duties that Priests Challenge now wrongfully neither Christ nor his Apostles Challenged nor took such Duties Therefore these taking of Priests now are to be called and holden The Sclanderous Covetousness and because of the Covetousness of Priests and Pride it stirreth God to take Vengeance both upon Lords and Commons which Suffer Priests Charitably This is Verbatim according to the Original Letter which I have in my Possession The Collection added out of Fox's Martyrs is not as here set down But gather'd out of several places of the Answers of one Will. Thorp an Ignorant Zealous Man but no Martyr in the Reign of Hen. 4. I wou'd not Mend any of the words to make sense of them as In the 1000 year of our Lord 211. but give them just as Quoted by the Quakers Who took what was for their Purpose 1. To make Tythes to be Anti-Christian as being a Denyal of Christ's having Come in the Flesh 2 That the Clergy are not to be supported Nor so much as God Speed be given to them 3 That the Vengeance of God is upon both Lords and Commons who suffer Priests Charitably The Arguments of the Quakers against Tythes I have Promised to Consider in a Treatise by it self But I have Printed this Letter of theirs to shew what Moderation they now at
no body Understands it in this Case What if we spell it Humane for Human and take Humanity in the Moral and not Natural sense of the word as when we say that such an One is a Man of Great Humanity i. e. of Good Nature Gentleness Goodness c. And Christ or The Word having Great Goodness in His Nature consequently we will allow Him a Humane tho not a Human Nature I am Confident the Reader do's now think that I am Fooling with these Quakers and Mean this only as a Banter For that he must Conclude it Impossible for any Men to shew themselves such Knaves as well as Fools to Dodge at such a silly and Impudent rate with Mankind while they Pretend to the Greatest Plainess and Sincerity of any Men upon the Earth Therefore let him Read a Quaker Book Intitul'd A Testimony for the true Christ and His Light in the Conscience in Confutation of Robert Cobbit 's Testimony against the Truth c. Printed An. 1668. And said on the Title Page to be From some of them called Quakers But suppos'd to be Penn'd by G. Whitehead There p. 4. and 5. they say As he Rob. Cobbit speaks of Humane with Relation to Nature or Body it hath Relation to the Earth or Humus the Ground of which Man was made which the First Man is of not the second though He was Really Man too but Humane or Humanity in the other sence with Relation to Gentleness Mercifulness and the like this we know was and is in the Image of God in which Man was Made and His Gentleness Kindness Mercifulness c. is Manifested in Christ And the true and Real Humanity as Oppos'd to that Cruelty Envy and In-Humanity which is got up in Man since the Fall so that Humanity und the Unreasonableness of Beasts are two things Thus the Quakers Here they Deny Christ the Second Man to have been Made of Humus the Earth as the First Man was And yet say they He the second Man was Really Man too How was this It cou'd not be in the same sense as the First Man who was Made of Humus the Earth if Christ did not take our Nature or Humus upon Him No The Quakers do not mean it in that sense as if Christ had ever taken our Human Nature so as to Consist of it or let it be any Part of His Person And yet they say That He is Really Man too By which they Mean only That Eternal and Heavenly Manhood before Mentioned And so Banter the World with their Plain Confessions in Double Meanings Yet have they the Confidence to Cry Whore first And Boldly Challenge others with what Themselves are the most Notoriously Guilty of any that Live upon the face of the Earth Sam. Fisher one of the Chief Rabbies of the Quakers Sam. Fishers Works p. 177. Charges the Priests against whom he Disputes with Shameful shiftings from sense to sense miserable marchings from Meaning to Meaning so that we can hardly know where or How to find them nor what they mean But we says he mostly or ever keep to the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the words as they lie open and Clear to every Ordinary and Common Capacity And G. Whitehead Intitul's one of his Books The Quaker's Plainess detecting Fallacie Whereas their Books are such Un-intelligible Jargon that one must serve a Prentiship before he can understand one word almost of what they wou'd be at Nay they Glory and often Boast that their Words as well as Names are Hidden from the World And this not only in their Books but I Appeal to all that Converse with them whether the same Mysteriousness be not in all their Conversation concerning Religion When you ask them the meaning of their Light within their Christ within their Life Read c. They Answer Commonly with a Grunt of Disdain or Pity as they wou'd have you take it And when they Vouchsafe to Speak it is to this Purpose These things are Hid from thee and from the World Read within there thou wilt find them But we know them and have Sweetness and Life in them c. Their Language is as much a Cant as the Gipsies And this has Preserv'd them so long Vn-discover'd in the World Yet they make up a Mouth and Pretend to Plainess beyond all others But you shall never get them to Answer Directly or to the Purpose To give a Plain Yea or Nay to any Question concerning their Heresies If they say I wrong them let this be the Test That they will either Own or Disown this their Notion of an Heavenly and Eternal Manhood of Christ And tell us in Plain Terms which of the Manhoods that which is Created or that which they say is Vn-created they mean when they Confess to the Manhood of Christ now in Heaven And till they do this which I Guess will not be in Hast let my Charge stand good against them Which I may Reasonably presume from all Judicious Readers But ther is no stop in the Art of Heresie This their Mad Notion of an Heavenly Body in God or Christ has brought them to Fancy that they themselves have the same Heavenly Body And thus they Understand our being Members of Christ not as being Members of His Church of which He is the Mystical Head But as Members of this His Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones And therefore say that Their own Bodies shall never Dye G. Fox when one minded him that he wou'd Dye Will. Rogers his Christian Quaker IV. Part. p. 49. and turn to Dust and therefore that he ought to be Humble Answers in his Letter which is Printed Thou sayest when I am turned to Dust and Dead Is this thy Doctrin Are the Members of the Heavenly Body turned to Dust and Dead This Doctrin proceeds from Darkness and not from the Light of Christ. This is very Intelligible And Easie to the Meanest Capacity This is the Quakers Plainess It was not said that his Soul shou'd turn to Dust this was spoke of his Body And here he denies it of the Body Why Because it was a Member of the Heavenly Body of God And yet they do not doubt but their Bodies must Dye in the True Honest Ordinary and Plain purport of the Words to which they Mostly or Ever keep But this Mystery is Vn-Riddl'd in the Second Part. Sect. vii n. 2. where it is shewn That they hold their Bodies as well as Souls to be God It is told in the Preface how the Quaker Heresies were Borrow'd from the Ancienter Sectaries amongst us And this their Answer to the Seven Queres shews that they have Inherited their Plainess and Sincerity in Representing their own Principles to the World The Family of Love who Prevaricated in every Article of the Creed Printed a Confession of their Faith in the very words of the Creed An. 1656. But how they meant it Mr. Knewstub has shewn us which is Inserted in Heresiography p. 97.
where by Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord they mean only Righteousness which they call Christ and Sin they call Anti-Christ and the Seed of the Woman they make to be only a Principle or Quality in our Hearts and not any Person which are the very Words and Sense of Will. Penn in his Part of The Christian Quaker p. 97 98. And in his Address to Protestants p. 118 119. What is Christ says he but Meekness Justice Mercy c. And thence Infers that every Meek Man must be a Christian But the Familists go on in the words of the Creed Who was Conceiv'd of the H. Ghost Born of the Virgin Mary that is in their Cant as every one of them is Conceiv'd of the H. Ghost by the Renewing of the Spirit in their Hearts Born of the Virgin Mary i. e. In their Virgin Hearts Thus the Quakers understand it See Will. Bayly's Works p. 291 292 293. where this is at Large Insisted on And the standard of the Lord. p. 17. says in this same sense That where Christ is Born He is Born of a Virgin that is In them as there Explained Again Suffer'd under Pontius Pilat was Crucify'd Dead and Buried and Descended into Hell i. e. That Jesus Christ or The Light is Crucify'd c. In Men under Pontius Pilate i. e. The Wicked one or our Corruptions and Lusts. Et sic de Caeteris And the same Author tells p. 100. That because of these Double Meanings of the Famalists ther was no way to Discover them by any Words or Tests that cou'd be fram'd But only by making them Renounce and Disown their Ring-Leader one Henry Nicholas and to Condemn his Doctrin which they wou'd not do And thus must we deal with their Spawn the Quakers while they Refuse to Disown the Pernicious Doctrins of Fox Whitehead Penn c. we must Conclude That they still do own them notwithstanding of all their Jesuitical and Janus-Confessions which they have Copy'd after the Like Plain-Dealing Familists Of whom you may see more in the Authors I have Quoted Who wrote before ther was a Quaker in the World or the Name known But this shews who were the Fathers that Begot them For they were the Sons of Many Fathers All the Pestiferous Sects of Forty One Whose Vomit they have Lick'd up and Render'd it ten times more Nauseous and Deform'd And the Legions which Possess'd these Sons of Belial are Enter'd with Double Force and Malice into this Herd of Swine whom They have Captivated both Souls and Bodies in an Higher Degree than any of the Former or than Any perhaps that have been known in any Age Which I come next to shew with G. Whitehead's Defence of them His Sober Caution consider'd as to these Quakers who were Possest with the Devil wherein the wonderful story of John Gilpin VI. His Sober Caution as he call's it contains the first 12 pages of his Book And it is all spent in warding off the several Instances which cannot be Deny'd of Quakers Possess'd with the Devil in most wonderful and Astonishing Manner The Bulk of his Reasons is that such Instances can be no Reflection upon the People call'd Quakers or upon their Principles more than if they had happen'd among any others of other Communions 1. But this is Answer'd in the Sn. Sect. xxi p. 309. c. where it is shewn that such Enthusiastical Madness and Possession do's proceed from the Principles of the Quakers and is caus'd chiefly by them And besides it is a most Notorious Mortification to their Pretence of Perfection and the Spirit of Discerning beyond all other Men. 2. But G. W. adds some other Arguments here as p. 3. he Asks How Satan is transform'd into an Angel of Light when he appears like a Mad-man a Witch a Devil a Blasphemer Ans. Who says that he appears then like an Angel of Light You must allow him sometimes to take his own shape But Secondly The Pretence of Godliness and High Illuminations which these Possess'd Quakers make such Great Boast of that is the Sheeps Cloathing and the Disguise of Light which Satan then puts on and with which many are Deceiv'd 3. G. W. adds next that Men thus Mad or Possess'd are fitter Objects of Compassion than of that Wit and Raillery which the Author of the Sn. bestows upon the Quakers Ans. That is true And that Author bestows none of what G. W. call's Wit or Raillery upon them unless G. W. reckons himself as one of them The Author of the Sn. do's not esteem All the Quakers in that High Degree of Enthusiastical Madness as Gilpin Toldervy c. And therefore G. W. ought to take that little Familiarity us'd sometimes with him as a Complement as supposing him not in that Excess as others as not yet Quite without the Boundaries of Reason out of which when he shoots sometimes with Extravagance so Excessive as to Pass the Reach of Argument then is he in kindness to be Reduc'd by shewing him his Folly in it's Plain Dress which he call's Wit and Raillery Nor is this without its Pity and Compassion though Laughing may be the Cure as to Hypocondriacks who cannot be Reason'd yet sometimes are Jested out of their Delirous Imaginations Which when any man comes to be Persuaded are the Immediat Dictates of the Holy-Ghost then is his Madness in Perfection And the Quakers have never yet been able to give us any Mark or Rule or shew of Reason that they do not thus mistake All their own Wild Imaginations for the Inspiration of God We see and G. W. cannot but own it to what Excessive Heights this Enthusiastical Principle has driven some of the Quakers therefore let the Rest beware for they are upon the same Rode They have lost their Compass while they set their Light above the Scriptures And have no other Assurance that they are in the Right but their own Assurance that they are so Which sort of Assurance not only Sometimes but Always do's accompany every Error For no Man can be in any Error who do's not think himself to be in the Right Else he were not in an Error but in a Willful Obstinacy if he Persisted in it after he knew it it to be an Error Now to Christians who believe the Divine Revelation of the H. Scriptures these are a Rule by which we measure our own Imaginations and if any thing comes into our Heads contrary to these we are bound to Reject it But to believe it a Divine Inspiration and so not Controulable by Scripture this is to be Mad to be given up to all Delusion to surrender our Hearts as a Blank Table for the Devil to write what he pleases upon and to pass it as the Ingravings of the Finger of God! And if ther be no Light that is no Vnderstanding in us but what is Divine we must think every thing Divine that is written there And then we are Seal'd up in Error from which ther