but deny a Trinity which is to confess the same thing in English and deny it in Latine Trinitas being only Latine for the Three they Profess to Believe in the Holy Three or Trinity of Father Word and Spirit as Penn tells you in his Key p. 15. but not as Three Persons But if not Three Persons What Three are they But for your satisfaction give Ear to the Ancients in their Ministry to that end hear what their Great and First Apostle George 〈◊〉 says in his Great Mystery p. 246. who earnestly opposed his Adversary one Christopher Wade for affirming That the Holy Ghost was a Person and that there was a Trinity of Three Persons before Christ was Born The Scripture saith he doth not tell People of a Trinity nor Three Persons bâ—t the Common-Prayer-Mass-Book speaks of Three Persons brought in by thy Father the Pope And Will. Penn tells us in his Sandy Foundation p. 13. Printed 1668. That if we pretend to Credit the Scriptures we must necessarily Conclude our kind of Trinity a Fiction And lest the Reader should not be satisfied with his Scripture Proofs and Interpretations he labours hard to refute it from right Reason so called by him as in p. 13 14. to give you a Taste of them The Divine Persons are either Finite or Infinite if the first then something Finite is inseparable to the Infinite Substance whereby something Finite is in God If the last then Three distinct Infinites Three Omnipotents Three Eternals and so Three Gods Secondly If each Person be God and that God Subsists in Three Persons then in each Person are Three Persons or Gods and from Three they will Increase to Nine and so ad Infinitum c. Again in p. 32. he tells us That our Trinity or our imagined Trinity as he Terms it in p. 16. has not so much as a Foundation in the Scriptures it being but Man's Invention and doubtless it hath occasioned Idolatry See further George â—â—itehead and Three other Quakers in their Book Entituled Ishmael and his Mother cast out p. 10. where is this Passage He i. e. Mr. Townsend a Minister in Norwich against whom they Disputed is shut up with the Three Persons in perpetual Darkness for the Lake and the Pit I shall add here nothing by way of Inference but leave it to the Reader to judge whether they own the Trinity being Those Three Divine Witnesses that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Spirit But what Heaven is that which the Quakers mean not the Glorious Heaven above but it is the Heaven within thee where these Three Divine Witnesses are for says Geo. Fox in his Gr. Myst p. 214. There is none have a Glory and a Heaven but within them Again see his Trial at Lancaster Assize c. p. 21. I was moved to Pray and the Thundering Voice answered I have glorified thee and will glorifie thee again and I was filled so full of Glory that my Head and my Ears was filled full of it Mark Reader here was Thunder within Glory within yea full of Glory aurum tenus up to the Ears And says W. Penn in his Rejoinder p. 179. To deny the Locality of Heaven is not very offensive and that it looks too Carnal and indeed Mahometanism viz. to assert it Now Reader let this serve to Construe their meaning in their Pamphlet when they speak of Three Divine Witnesses bearing Record in Heaven that is to say the Heaven within them Quest Do you believe the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God or that Jesus Christ is truly God and Man Answ Yes we verily Believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and Man according as Holy Scripture Testifie of him viz. God over all Blessed for Ever the True God and Eternal Life the One Mediator between God and Man even the Man Christ Jesus OBSERVATION Now let us see whether they believe as they say or whether it be only Paint or Varnish to deceive the Hearts of the Simple To that end see Geo. Whitehead s Nature of Christianity p. 41. where he thus speaks That Christ Existeth outwardly Bodily without us at God s Right Hand What Scripture proof hath he for these Words See also his Truth Defending the Quakers p. 22. where he affirms Christ s coming in the Flesh to be but a Figure or Example Which is also the saying of R. Hubbertborn and Justified by G. Whitehead in his Judgment Fixed p. 336. who tells you plainly what Man Christ the Quakers own i. e. their Light within only His words are these Therefore the Man Christ Jesus was before he came in the Body or Flesh And Christopher Atkinson in his Book called The Sward of the Lord drawn which was written as he pretended from the Mouth of the Lord and this I cannot omit quoting for tho his Person was disowned and denied after he was Hanged for Felony by some of the Quakers at West-Dereham Church at the Conference yet I never heard it before No he was a good Man then and Inspired however fallible afterwards and therefore those his Writings must be Valuable and Venerable and that they are by them so accounted is evident from matter of fact for when the Quakers were pressed by a Clergyman and others there present at the Second Day Conference to reject and disown his Writings under their Hands they would not be brought to such a reasonable compliance I must therefore beg leave to insist upon this Book where in p. 5. he hath these words Your imagined God beyond the Stars and your Carnal Christ is utterly denied and testified against by the Light And that this Christ is God and Man in one Person it is a Lie And again Because as Will. Penn says it is not reasonable that a Body of Men should be Concluded by the Word or Act of any one Member vid. his Brief Answer to a false and foolish Libel c. p. 25. Printed 1678. I shall therefore add One or Two more to that end see G. Fox Gr. Myst p. 206. If there be any other Christ but he that was Crucified within he is the false Christ And says Smith in his Primer p. 8. Printed 1668. They that are false Ministers preach Christ without and bid people believe in him as he is in Heaven above but they that are true Ministers they preach Christ within and direct People to wait to feel him in themselves And in p. 9. he affirms That these have no more fellowship than the East hath with the West Nay Will. Penn in his Address to Protestants p. 119. makes Christ nothing but Meekness Justice Patience Charity and Vertue in perfection In short nothing but an Holy Princiciple as he elsewhere hath it Now whether these Quotations do not amount to a plain denial of the Humanity of Christ let the Reader Judge whatever in this Pamphlet or in Will Penn's Key is pretended to the contrary But yet once more to corroborate
Office tho' the Scripture tells us of one Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2. 5. the Quakers tell you that Christ was never seen with Carnal Eyes nor heard with Carnal Ears Woolrich's Declaration to the Baptists p. 13. But did not the Jews that Crucified him see him Yes no doubt they did What then is their Meaning Why their Meaning is that was not Christ that the Jews Saw and Crucified that was but the Outward Garment which the Quakers can never call Christ See Pennington's Question to Professors p. 33. As a Confirmation of this they teach That Christ hath no Body but his Church See Josiah Coale's Works p. 332. It appears then from hence that they deny the Mediator the Man Christ Jesus Nay further if they deny the Blood of the Sacrifice which Christ our High Priest offered upon the Cross it must then be granted that they deny the Priestly Office of Christ and that they do scornfully Contemn the Blood of Christ I have already shown how then can they own Christ s Priestly Office Neither indeed according to their Principles is it at all requisite they should own this or stand in need of a Mediator for if they are Perfect as see G. Fox's Great Mystery p. 282. and without Sin ib. 101 and 231. and are come to the end of Faith as Lawson says in his Untaught Teacher p. 10. and if Edw. Burrough in his Works says true p. 33. That God doth not accept any where there is any Failing or who do not fulfil the Law and answer every Demand of Justice and if Will. Penn's Assertion be true That Justification is from the Actual performing and keeping God's Righteous Statutes see his Sandy Foundation p. 25. then what need have they of the Mediatory Office of Christ Without any further Enlargement this may suffice to satisfie any Impartial Reader that the Quakers do not own the Priestly Office of Christ But then Thirdly Do they own his Prophetick Office Yes verily says the Quakers we believe and own him to be Prophet to and over his Church and People and we are to hear him in all things But pray observe how can this be when they so plainly deny His Humane Body as above shewed The Scripture indeed tell us That we are obliged to hear this Prophet Christ speaking to us as in Acts 3. 23. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you And it shall come to pass that every Soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the People This is He that God the Father from Heaven testified of Mat. 17. 5. saying This is my Beloved Son hear ye him And the Quakers seem to join issue with us in this Matter saying in their Pamphlet p. 6. We are to hear him in all things but notwithstanding this Profession they neither do nor will hear Him no their Christ within which is that which they are obliged to give ear to tells them other things than our Outward Christ or Prophet does For Instance our Prophet Christ frequently preached from the Scriptures Matth. 21. 42. For saith he Did ye never read in the Scriptures the Stone that was set at nought by you Builders the same is become the Head of the Corner Matth 22. 19. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures John 5. 39. Search the Scriptures c. And what was more frequent than for our Lord Christ to preach from the Scriptures and to convince his Adversaries by them But the Quakers reject this Way For when one Matthew Caffyn had affirmed That the Scripture was the Touchstone to try Spirits withal Lawson's Untaught Teacher p. 14. his Answer was this That is another Lie the Scripture is not the Trier of Spirits And whereas Matthew Caffyn affirm'd ibid. p. 15. That the Law without Man is that which convinces Man of Sin He answers That is another Lie See Saul's Errand to Damascus p. 7. Where you may find that it was objected to the Quakers that they had said Whoever took a Place of Scripture and made a Sermon of it or from it was a Conjurer and his Preaching was Conjuration To which G. Fox answered All that do study to raise a Living Thing out of a Dead to raise the Spirit out of the Letter are Conjurers and their Teaching is from Conjuration which is not spoken from the Mouth of the Lord. Thus do the Quakers oppose the Teachings of Christ's Prophetick Office And further that the Quakers deny the Prophetick Office of Christ is even demonstrable by their denying his Gospel Ordinances which leads me to the Examination of the next Head in their Pamphlet p. 6. Quest Do yo believe or own Baptism as essential to Christianity or necessary to Salvation and for the Ingrafting us into Christ and His Church Answ We believe and are fully perswaded that Baptism which is essential to Christianity and the saving Baptism or the Cause without which none can be true Christians or saved is the Inward or Spiritual Washing of Regeneration by the Word of Life This is the Saving Baptism into Christ and His Church which produceth the Answer of a good Conscience towards God of which the Outward was a Figure 1 Pet. 3. 21. This is that one Baptism of Christ by one Spirit into that one Body whereof Christ is Head and for Dipping or Sprinkling Infants or young Children we find no Precept or Precedent in Holy Scripture for the Practice thereof and Ergo we cannot think our not believing it essential or necessary to Salvation or making Christians a sufficient Argument to prove us no Christians c. p. 6 7. OBSERVATION By this their Answer they do not Insinuate to but plainly tell the World what Baptism it is that is essentially necessary to Salvation or making Christians that is the Inward or Spiritual Washing of Regeneration by the Word of Life the Washing or Cleansing of the Heart or an Inward Conversion to God by this their Confession it is evident enough that they make void and abolish the Sacred Ordinance of the Outward Baptism by Water Whether Infants are to partake of this Outward Ordinance is not my Business here to prove but whether Outward Baptism by Water is the Sacred Ordinance of Christ as necessary to be believ'd and saving or Inward Baptism i. e. the Washing or Cleansing of the Heart or an Inward Conversion to God Let them first own the Outward Baptism by Water as our Saviour's Baptism then they may expect a Proof of our Practice in admitting Infants to be made Partakers of this Ordinance but this they utterly reject and disown and for the Proof of it observe that we have Christ's own Command his own Example and the Practice of the Apostles for it the Words of our Saviour by way of a Command to His Apostles are plain Matth. 28. 19. Go and teach all Nations or as the Original has it Go and disciple all Nations Baptizing or Washing them
Institution and Promise of Christ Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost How dare then any People or Society of Men slight or reject it He that despised Moses's Law died without Mercy of how much sorer Punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who have trodden under foot the Institution of the Son of God and count it an indifferent or an Unholy thing doing despight to it inventing contemptible Names for it and even ridiculing the Administration of it Whether such ought to be called Christians I leave the unbyass'd Reader to judge and so proceed to the next Question p. 8. Quest Do you believe or own the Lord's Supper either as a Sign of the Love that Christians ought to have among themselves or as a Seal of the Saints Communion and Commemoration of Christ's Death for us or as Figurative of Christ's Body and Blood Spiritually receiv'd by Faith Answ The Supper of the Lord we Own and renderly Consider in a Twofold Sense 1. In the Figure 2. In the Substance 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ at his Supper with his Disciples did eat the Passover which was for the Fulfilling and Consummation of the Feasts under the Law see Luk. 22. And at this Supper he did Take and Minister Bread and the Cup to his Disciples for there was no Transubstantiation saying This do in Remembrance of me And said the Apostle As â—â—st as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lord's Death till he come 1 Cor. 11. After this they did more clearly know his coming and Christ after the Spirit Jesus Christ in them 2 Cor. 13. 5. and 5. 16. 2. And Christ said to his Disciples I will not drink henceforth of this Fruit of the Vine until the Day I drink it new with you in my Fathers Kingdom Matth. 26. 29. And likewise of the Bread I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God Luk. 22. 16. And he further said I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath apâ—ointed to me that ye may eat and drink at â—y Table in my Kingdom c. Luk. 22. 29 30. â—n these things we believe he spoke Mysteriously and that every Member of his Spiritual Church doth daily Spiritually partake of â—is Body and Blood by Faith c. OBSERVATION The Reader may here discern how by their deceivable Words and manifold Corruptions of the Scriptures these Horrid Impostors set themselves at work to Evade and make Null the Holy Ordinance of the Lord's Supper as Instituted and Administred in Bread and Wine which they deny to be now a standing Ordinance in the Church of Christ and to be practic'd by Christians The Supper of the Lord they own but how Not as now to be continued and preached for the breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine which we are commanded to do in remembrance of our Saviour's Body broken and Blood shed for us was but a Temporary Command and was to be continued no longer than till he came again As oft as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lord's Death till he come 1 Cor. 11. v. 26. but say they Christ is come already in them Ergo this Ordinance is not to be continued p. 9. After this they did more clearly know his coming and Christ after the Spirit Jesus Christ in them They interpret this passage of Scripture not of Christ's Outward and Personal coming at the Resurrection which as Hymeneus and Philetus 2 Tim. 2. 18. they say is past already but of that which is inwardly performed by the Spiritual Resurrection of Christ or the Light in their Hearts And they say that the Institution of the Lord's Supper was only to continue till that inward Coming or Forming of Christ in their Hearts which they have obtained as they blindly presume therefore they throw off the outward Supper But I would ask them Was not Christ formed in the Hearts of the Apostles to whom Christ gave his Holy Supper as much as in the Hearts of any of the best Quakers now in the World Was he not come Spiritually to Paul after his Conversion And before his Command above Quoted of continuing the practice of the Lord's Supper till his coming See A Discourse of Water-Baptism by the Author of the Snake c. p. 48. As also the Answer to Will Penn's Key p. 93 94 95 96. And did not the Apostles and the Primitive Christians partake of this Ordinance even after the Holy Spirit that Christ promised to send was come which they call the Second coming of Christ That they did so appears from Acts 2. 42 46. And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers And they continuing daily with one aecord in the Temple and breaking Bread Acts 20. 7. And the Disciples came together to break Bread And that the Second coming of Christ so called by them is not that coming here meant is further evident in that St. Paul and the Primitive Christians did not believe the giving forth of the Spirit to be the Second coming of Christ because it is plain they Believed and Expected him to come in a Personal Glorious and Visible manner Phil. 3. 20. We look for the Saviour who shall change our Vile Bodies and make them like his own Glorious Body That being one thing which will be done at that which we call Christ's Second coming And this his Second Personal coming St. Paul and and the Christians did look for because they were told Acts 1. 11. That the same Jesus should so come in like manner visible in his Body of Flesh and Bones as ye have seen him go in Heaven and as Christ himself shewed his Disciples Matt. 24. that his coming should be Glorious and Visible and St. John in Rev. 1. 7. saith long after the Spirit and Comforter was come Behold he cometh every Eye shall see him and they that Pierced him shall Mourn 1 Thess 4. 6. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the noise of the Arch-Angel and the Trump of God c. This may suffice not only to clear these Texts of their corrupt Perversions but also to Confirm and Satisfie the Reader of the Continuance or Perpetuity of this Sacred Ordinance of the Lord's Supper in his Church till his coming again in his Person to Judge the World And as to those other Texts 1 Cor. 10. 15 16 17. Rev. 20. Prov. 9. 4 5 Jo. 6. Pag. 10. not to mention that of St. Matth. 26. v. 29. Luk. 22. 16. 23. 30. in their Ninth Pag. which they offer to the View of the World I cannot discern or imagine to what end and purpose this is done unless it be to amuse the Reader abuse the Scriptures or Confute themselves I make
NO SENSE can properly be called the Word of God c. yet with Respect to their own Scriptures I mean what is given forth by their Light within is in some Sense the Word of God else why did G. Fox in his Several Papers given forth for the spreading of Truth and in which Book he also calls the Scriptures Dust Death and Serpents Food p. 3 4 45 46. thus writes p. 62. To you all this is the Word of the Lord I charge you in the Presence of the Lord God to send this Book among Friends and Brethren every where to be READ in ALL Meetings to you all THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD. Now if Fox did not believe this Book of his to be in NO SENSE the Word of God why did he charge his Disciples to send it up and down as THE WORD OF GOD to charge and command them to read it as THE WORD OF GOD in SOME SENCE at least and that in all their MEETINGS whilst they say as above noted the Scriptures are not the Word of God No not in ANY SENCE And therefore as Mr. Bugg has well observed that in all the time of his being a Quaker which was 25 Years they never Read one Chapter in the Bible or one of the Epistles of the Holy Apostles in ANY ONE of their Meetings nor can they disprove what he says in THAT as well as in OTHER things Now whether they have such a great Esteem and Veneration for the Holy Scriptures valuing and preferring them before all other Books extant in the World as in their new Creeds they tell us and as they made frequent Outcries at West-Dereham Conference before Thousands let the Reader judge Quest Do you believe the Doctrine of the Resurrection from the Dead and of Eternal Judgment and the Immortality of the Soul Answ We sincerely believe and confess the Doctrine of the Resurrection from the Dead and of Eternal Judgment according to Holy Scripture Heb. 6. 2. That God will raise the Dead and judge the World in Righteousness by His Son Jesus Christ in the Day appointed even in the great Day of Judgment and that Harvest which is the end of the World Tho' the Soul of Man tho' Created is Immortal and never dies even as these Doctrines are more fully testified in Holy Scripture by Jesus Christ and His Apostles 1 st For the Doctrine of the Resurrection see Mat. 13. 43. c. p. 15. OBSERVATION The Answer is VVe sincerely believe and confess the Doctrine of the Resurrection from the Dead according to Holy Scripture that is according to their Sense and Interpretation of Holy Scripture which is no ways agreeable to the Sense and Interpretation of any Orthodox Christians To that end see Will Penn's Reason against Railing p. 134. it is objected That the IT in the Text 1 Cor. 15. be not the same Body how can that be called a Resurrection For that supposeth the same To which Penn answers If a thing can yet be the same and notwithstanding changed for Shame let us never make so much stir against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation for the Absurdity of that is rather outdone than equalled by this Carnal Resurrection Ibid. p. 138. It was objected by his Opponent That the Joys of Heaven would be imperfect if the Bodies did not Rise He Answers Is the Joy of the Ancients now in Glory imperfect Or are they in Heaven but by halves if it be so unequitable that the Body which hath Suffered should not partoke of the Joys Caelestial Is it not in measure unequal that the Soul should be rewarded so long before the Body But why must the felicity of the Soul depend upon that of the Body Is it not to make the Soul a kind of Widow and so in a state of Mourning and Disconsolateness to be without its beloved Body Which State is but a better sort of Purgatory In short if the compleat Happiness of the Soul rests in a Re-union to a Carnal Body for such it is Sown then never cry out upon the Turks Alcoran for such a Heaven and the Joys of it suit admirably well with such a Resurrection See his Invalidity of John Fâ—ldo ' s Vindication p. 369 370. I do utterly deny that this Text 1 Cor. 15. 44. is concern'd in the Resurrection of Man's Carnal Body at all but the two States of Men under the First and Second Adam Men are Sown into the World Natural so are they the Sons of the First Adam but they are Raised Spiritually thro' him who is the Resurrection and the Life and so are they the Sons of the Second Adam who came to Raise up the Sons of the First Adam from their Dead to his Living their Natural to his Spiritual Estate But perhaps it will be objected that the 47 vers The First Man is of the Earth Earthly and part of the 49 vers We that also bear the Image of the Heavenly seem to imply a Bodily Resurrection but let the whole Verse be considered and we shall find no such thing c. See Tho Ellwood in his Answer to G. Keith's first Narrative p. 149. Printed 1696. In 1 Cor. 15. 37. he makes the Apostle thus speak The Body that shall arise is not the same Carnal Body that Dies and is put into the Grave No the Body that is put into the Grave or is Sown is a Natural Body but the Body that is Raised is a Spiritual Body It is Sown a Natural Body it is Raised a Spiritual Body Ver. 44. And that none might think this Spiritual Body was the same with the Natural Body he adds There is a Natural Body and there is a Spiritual Body He does not say the Natural is made a Spiritual Body or the Natural Body and the Spiritual Body is but one and the same Body But he sets them in Opposition as two distinct Bodies and that none might think this Spiritual Bodies was the same he adds there is a Natural Body and there is a Spiritual Body Further see Rich. Hâ—bberthorn's Collections p. 119. he there tells his Opponent That he Lies concerning the Saints on Earth saying The Saints in Heaven hoped for the perfection of their Bodies at the Resurrection c. And his Envy hath reached to Heaven to prove that the Saints in Heaven are not perfect but wait for the Redemption of their Bodies which now if People mind the Scriptures there is no such Doctrine in it as the Saints in Heaven have not receiv'd the Redemption of their Bodies And again Ibid. p. 121. These are they viz. the World's People or Truth 's Enemies that say that the Saints Glorified in Heaven do yet hope for the Resurrection of their Bodies and so not come to the end of their hope tho' in Heaven But whatever whimsical Notions they are possessed with and whatever false Glosses they put upon Scripture yet I hope all Good and Orthodox Christians will readily believe and say with Job c. 19. v. 25
no doubt but all good Christians own Christ to be the Bread of Life and have Spiritual Communion with him in his Holy Ordinances which Communion I dare affirm they cannot have whatever bold pretences they make who do not obey Christ in these his Holy Institutions but slight vilifie and contemn the same and that the Quakers do so see Parnell's Shield of the Truth written from the Mouth of the Lord as the Title Page shews p. 13. We are accused says he to deny the Supper of the Lord He answers The Supper of the Lord we own which is the Body and Blood of Christ that is considered Spiritually for Saints are Spiritual and their Communion is Spiritual and Eternal And here all Drunkards are shut out and all Liars Adulterers Proud Covetous c. And are without feeding upon the Husk and shadow which is Carnal and Natural and only feed the Outward Carnal Body and goeth into the Belly and so passeth out c. And so likewise the Cup which they drink and so the Communion and Fellowship of the World passeth away but this is no nourishment to the Soul And here is no Communion but Natural Outward and Carnal Full of filthiness and uncleanness which is the Table of Devils eating and drinking their own Damnation not discerning the Lord's Body which is Spiritual which the Natural Man discerns not And here stands the World's Communion and Fellowship which is Carnal p. 14. And here they are without feeding upon the Husk and Shadow without See Smith's Primer p. 36 37. says the Child I would know Father how it is concerning those things called Ordinances as Baptism and Bread and Wine which are much used in their Worship The Father answers Why Child as to those things they rose from the Pope's Invention who had Power in the Night of Apostacy and hath set up his Devices which are yet continued in England tho' he seemingly is denied and the whole Practice of those things as they use them bad their Institution by the Pope and were never so ordained of Christ Neither did He Ordain Bread and Wine to be so Used and Received c. Geo. Fox in his News coming up out out of the North c. p. 4. Your Baptism and Sacrament as you call it and all your Ordinances and Churches and Teachings it is Cain ' s Sacrifice And p. 14. Their Sacrament as they call it is Carnal Their Communion Bread and Wine it is the Table of Devils and Cup of Devils And W. Penn in his Reason against Railing c. p. 108. I affirm says he that the Paschal Lamb is as much in force as Bread and Wine And p. 109. And we can testifie from the same Spirit by which Paul Renounced Circumcision that it is to be Rejected as not now Required Quest Do you believe and own the Holy Scriptures contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration and to contain all Matters of Doctrine and Testimony c. necessary to be believed and practised in order to Salvation and Peace with God Answ Yes we do and by the Assistance of the Grace of God which gives the true Understanding of the Mind of God and Mâ—â—ning of Holy Scripture we always desire to live in the Faith Knowledge and Practice of them in all things appertaining to Life and Godliness Holy Scripture being given by Divine Inspiration is Profitable for Doctrine Correction and Instruction that the Man of God may he perfect thoroughly furnished unto every good Work able to make the Man of God wise unto Salvation thro' Faith in Christ Jesus OBSERVATION Here is like unto the rest a Plausible Profession but whether Sincere or not I leave to the World to judge when they shall have read and considered these following Quotations See John Whitehead and Rob. Ruckhill their Quakers Refuge p. 17. Whether the first Penman of the Scriptures was Moses or Hermes Or whether both these are not one Or whether there are not many Words contained in the Scriptures which were not spoken by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit Whether some Words were not spoken by the Grand Impostor some by wicked Men some by wise Men ill applied some by good Men ill expressed some by false Prophets and yet true some by true Prophets and yet false c. Sam. Fisher in his Appendix p. 752. Printed 1679. has these Words speaking of the Text of Scripture Which Transcriptions and Translations were they never so certain and entirely answering to the first Original Copies yet are not capable to be to all Men any other than a Lesbian Rule or Nose of Wax This worthy Author in his Works has the Testimony of Luke Howard Hallelujah Fisher and Will. Penn and Lawson's Untaught Teacher p. 2. To say the Word of Truth is called the Scripture or that the Scripture is the Word of Truth is a Lie and Sam. Fisher p. 460. The Scriptures not the Saints Rule but the Spirit and Sword of the Lord drawn p. 1 2. The Scriptures are not the Saints Rule of knowing God and living unto him And Edw. Barrough p. 47. No Command in Scripture was any further binding than as we are convinced of the Lawfulness thereof by the Light within For says he That is no Command from God to me what he commands to another neither did any of the Saints which we read of in Scripture act by the Command which was to another not having the Command to themselves See G. Fox's Gr. Myst p. 246. The Scriptures are not the Word of God yet he says of his own Writings p. 225. To you all this is the Word of the Lord. Nay James Nayler in his Answer to the Jews p. 22 25. It 's Blasphemy for any to say the Letter is the Word of God it is the Devil that contends for the Scriptures to be the Word of God This Will. Penn at a venture vindicates tho' he confesses he never saw the Book out of which it was quored see his Pamphlet Entituled A Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel called The Quakers Opinions p. 15. Printed 1678. The Question being asked the Quakers see Will. Penn and G. Whitehead their Serious Apology p. 49. Do you esteem your Speakings to be of as great Authority as any Chapter in the Bible The Answer is in these Words That which is spoken by the Spirit of Truth in any is of as great Authority as the Scriptures and Chapters are and greater See Lawson's Threefold Estate of Antichrist p. 9. The Scripture is Dust and Death Beastly Wares c. And for a Conclusion of this Head see G. Fox's News out of the North p. 14. Your Original is Carnal Hebrew Greek and Latin and your Word is Carnal the Letter Their Original is Dust which is the Letter which is Death and their Gospel is but Dust Matthew Mark Luke and John which is the Letter Again see Will. Bayley's Works p. 195. viz. The Scriptures in
26 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter Day upon the Earth and altho' after my Skin Worms destroy my Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God Whom I shall see for my self and not another Mine Eyes shall behold him tho' my Reins be consumed within me We say the Quakers sincerely Believe That God will Judge the World in Righteousness by his Son Jesus Christ in the Day appointed even in the Great Day of Judgment and that Harvest which is the End of the World Observe their sincerity to that end see G. Whitehead's Light and Life p. 41. What is that Glory of the Father in which his Coming is Is it visible to the Carnal Eye And when was that coming to be Is it now to be looked for outwardly We do acknowledge the several Comings of Christ according to the Scriptures both that in the Flesh and that in the Spirit but Three Comings of Christ not only that in the Flesh at Jerusalem and that in the Spirit but also another Coming in the Flesh yet to be expected we do not read of Vid. his Nature of Christianity p. 29. Dost thou look for Christ as the Son of Mary to appear outwardly in a bodily Existence to save thee if thou dost thou maist look until thy Eyes drop out before thou wilt see such an Appearance of him c. To this purpose see Dewsbury's Discovery of Man's Return written from the Spirit of the Lord p. 7. Printed 1654 where he quotes Rev. 20. 12 13. I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of thâ—se things which were written in the Books according to their Works and the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works And 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Bâ—â— Observe here his gross Perversion he applying all this to the Light within and the Judgment within so that the outward Judgment at the Last Day which is here so plainly described is not by him professed as a thing to be expected His words are these Every one arise out of your Earthly Wisdom and mind the Light in thy Conscience and wait on the Power of the Lord in it and it will bring thee to Judgment before the Throne of the Lamb viz. within thee where the Righteous Law will be opened in thy Heart that will cry through thy Earthly Heart for Righteousness and Judgment and the Book will be opened IN THEE where thou shalt see all written that thou hast done in the Body and shalt give an account for every idle word i. e. to the Light within and receive thy Reward for what thou hast done and thy Reward is Wrath and Condemnation which will pass upon thee from the presence of the Lamb within thee for thy Disobedience and breaking of the Righteous Law And thus according to Scripture i. e. according to their Interpretation of Scripture do they believe the Doctrine of Eternal Judgment viz. the Judgment of the Heart or Conscience accusing or excusing them We Believe say the Quakers That the Soul of Man tho Created is Immortal and never dies c. OBSERVATION They seem here to Confess and Believe That the Soul is a Created Being and indeed to it is as also Immortal But hear what G. Fox says in his Gr. Myst p. 100. where he makes the Soul to be part of God Is not this that cometh out from God which is in God's Hand part of God And is not that which came out from God which God hath in his Hand taken up into God again which Christ the Power of God is the Bishop of is not this of God's Being lb. p. 91. Christ the Bishop of their Souls brings the Soul up into God from whence it came whereby they come to be one Soul If it be of God's Being it cannot be a Creature And that it is not a Creature see further G. Fox's Myst p. 29. One Magnus Byne had said The Soul is not Infinite in it self but it is a Creature and saith R. Baxter It is a Spiritual Substance c. To which he answers Now consider what a Condition these called Ministers are in They say That which is a Spiritual Substance is not Infinite in it self but a Creature That which come out from the Creator and is in the Hend of the Creator which brings it up and to the Creator again that is Infinite in it self And p. 90. Is not the Soul without beginning coming from God returning into God again who hath it in his Hand And Christ the Power of God the Biship of the Soul which brings it up into God which came out from him hath this a beginning or ending And is not this Infinite in it self A Infinite in it self it must be God nothing being Infinite in it self but God consequently the Soul is then no Creature or Created Being These Passages are vindicated by W. Penn in his Tract Entituled A Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel c. p. 16. after a very Brief Vindication he thus concludes Where is the Heresie of this For a Conclusion if the Quakers be Sincere in this their Profession if this little Pampalet under Consideration as well as many others of the like nature of late dispersed about the World do really truly and unfeignedly contain their Faith it is but then reasonable to expect that they should by some Publick Act of theirs Retract Censure and Condemn all those Tenets or Doctrines which as I have shown are directly opposite and contradictory to these New Creeds THIS INDEED and NOTHING but THIS can satisfie or convince the World of their Honesty and Sincerity But how little of Sincerity there is in these Confessions I leave it to the Reader and the World to judge for they are so far from Censuring Condemning or Disowning those Books which contain in them these Horrid Blasphemies that they tell you They have not deviated in any one Paint of Doctrine which they first held For Joseph Wyeth in his Primitive Christianity Continued p. 6. Printed 1698. thus affirms That our Principles are now â—o other than what they were when first a People And in their Yearly Epistle Printed 1696 they say We cannot but recommend unto you the holding up the Holy Testimony of Truth which had made us to be a People and that in all the Parts of it for Truth is one and CHANGES not And in a Piece called the Quakers Cleared p. 7. thus they declare God is the same his People the same and their Principles the same And says G. Whitehead in his Counterfeit Convert Printed 1694. p. 72. I may see cause otherwise word the Matter and yet our Intentions be the same Thus do they stifly maintain That they are not changed in any Point of Doctrine they do but word the Matter otherwise they mean the same with them only it is convenient now to disguise our Meanings for at the same time we will stand by the Testimonies of our Ancient Friends as being all given forth by the immediate Dictates of the Holy Ghost to this end they inserted a Paragraph in the Postman Numb 568. upon occasion of the late Conference at West-Dereham in Norfolk wherein are these wards The Quakers not questioning but to acquit their Ancient Friends and their Writings from those black Charges nor being Conscious of deviating in any ONE POINT of Doctrine from what they first held So that as I said at first there is just Cause to suspect them in all they say FINIS