with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the throne and the smoak of the Incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand Now that Altar was Christ and that Incense was nothing else but Christs merits and mediation by which alone the prayers of all Saints are perfumed and so become acceptable with God or before him for we do not conceive that Christ now in Heaven maketh any vocal prayers to to God the Father for us but that he doth continually present the virtue of his Death and Sufferings before his Father whereby not only our persons are accepted but our services also Now whoever doth deny this intercession or mediation of Christ doth in effect deny Christ because they deny the end of Christ his coming and all such the Apostle John saith That whoever denyeth that Jesus is the Christ is Antichrist and many deceivers are entred into the world which confesse not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh this is a deceiver and an antichrist Now all those that do deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh do deny his coming in the flesh and all those that deny perfect Justification from all sin in and by Christs Death Resurrection and Intercession alone do deny the end of Christs coming and that you Quakers do for you say you are made perfect not by what Christ did and suffered but by what the Spirit worketh in you I some of you have affirmed that Christ never rise from the Grave and that his body is rotted in the Grave and some of you have made a mock of this Doctrine of Justification by the Imputation and Intercession of Christ and some have written against it in theis Pamphlets Now I pray you that revile against all others that are not of your minde calling them Antichrist and the brood of Antichrist Now see whether you are not the Antichrists your selves and the deceivers spoken of by the Apostle We know from whence you learned this Doctrine better than your selves and that is from your Fathers the Papists as I said before for all you cry out against them and all others that are not of your minde to be Popish and as this Doctrine of the Papists and yours doth make Christ and his Mediatorship void and uselesse so it doth make Faith to be uselesse for if a man be justified and saved not by what Christ hath done and suffered for us but being free from sin inherently in us by following and obeying the light within us then we need not believe our perfection because we see and feel it in our selves Now the Apostle defining Faith what it is saith That Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen and the just shall live by Faith and we walk by Faith and not by sight even as Abraham the Father of the faithfull is said by the Apostle to believe against hope and believed in hope and being not weak in faith he considered not his own body nâ—w dead neither yet the deadnesse of â—arahs wombe though he did see and feel nothing in his body nor Sarahs whereby to believe that he should have a Son yet he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in Faith giving glory to God And being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousnesse Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification Now the Apostle doth argue that as Abraham believed the promise contrary to what he saw or felt in himself so also should we And as this doctrine doth make Faith void and uselesse so doth it also make Repentance uselesse for if a Christian can live without sin then he need not repent for sin Now the Doctrine of Repentance is of use in the Church as we may see by what the Apostle writeth saying Godly sorrow causeth repentance never to be repented of also Christ saith to the Church of Ephesus I know thy works and thy labour and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles and are not and hast born and hast patience and for my name sake hast laboured and hast not fainted Such a commendation as never any Quaker deserved and yet Christ said neverthelesse I have somewhat against thee remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works Now these were the first Churches and lived in the purest times and yet had need of repentance and dare you Quakers say you are more perfect than they I know you are so in your own eyes but Christ knoweth you are solely pride and â—ypocrisie and how you hold and maintain the Popish doctrine That a man is not justified and saved by Faith in believing only what Christ hath done and suffered for us and for our salvation but those workes of the Spirit in us in being obedient unto the light within us Now that you may see and know that this is an old Popish doctrine I shall shall shew you what Luther writeth concerning the Papists judgement in this particular who knew better than you do because he was trained up many years in the same Religion having been one of their Monks I shall write his very words in his Exposition of the Epistle to the Galathians upon chap. 2. ver 16. Know that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ We have alwaies saith he recourse to this article that our sins are covered and that God will not lay them to our charge not that sin is not in us minde as the Papists have taught saying that we must be alwaies working well untill we feel that there is no sin remaining in us Yea sin is indeed alwaies in us and the godly do feel it but it is covered and it is not imputed unto us of God for Christs sake Also on the chap. 3. ver 20. Who loved me and gave himselfe for me the Papist saith he use this Verse God will no more require of man Than of himself performe he can Moreover they say that nature is corrupt but the qualities of nature notwithstanding are sound and uncorrupt upon which ground they reason that mans will and understanding are sound and uncorrupt are pure and perfect in him and therefore do infer that a man is able of himself to fulfill the Law and to love God with all his heart and so consequently to be justified thereby It is well known by all that have read the Jesuites writings or have had
and holding it awry with dejected countenances which as I said before is usuall among you Quakers Now to shew you your error in these things mind what the Lord saith by the Prophet Isaiah concerning the Hypocriticall Jews in his time to bow down the head as a bulrush and Christ doth describe the hypocrites in his time by the same saying they are of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces Now consider how contrary these practises are to what the Scripture holds forth in the dayes of the Gospel the Prophet Isaiah prophesiing of Christs coming in the flesh saith Sing unto the Lord a new song and his prayses from the end of the earth ye that go down to the Sea and all that is therein the â—sles and the Inhabitants thereof By the Isles some Interpreters do understand our Islands of Britain And fear not I have redeemed thee I have called thee by my Name thou art mine Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Sion and mind everlasting joy shall be upon their head they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away I even I am he that comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid How beautiful are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace that bringeth good tidings of good that publisheth salvation thy watch-men shall lift up the voice With the voice together shall they sing break forth into joy sing together mind The Ministers of the Gospel their feet are beautifull they bring good tidings of peace and salvation they shall lift up the voyce with the voice together with the people shall they sing contrary to the practice of your teachers or praters who revile against singing But the Prophet David prophesiing of Christs Kingdom saith The voice of rejoycing and salvation is in the Tabernacles of the the righteous and this salvation made the Virgin Mary to sing My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour and this salvation caused the heavenly Host to sing Gods prayses saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men And Christ said to his Disciples Rejoyce that your names are written in heaven and the Apostle Paul saith The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost The Apostle did not place the Kingdome of God in meat and drink nor apparel as you Quakers do And the same Apostle exhorteth the Philippians to rejoyce in the Lord and to rejoyce in Christ Jesus and rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce and he commendeth the Thessalonians that they received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost and exhorteth them to rejoyce evermore and this joy of the soul though it be inward in the heart yet it is manifested in the countenance an outward gesture as Salomon the wise saith A merry heart maketh a chearful countenance and a sad heart a dejected countenance aâ—â— example we have in Cain having a guilty conscience it is said his countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou worth and why is thy countenance fallen The Lord would have Cain know that his countenance did discover the guilt of his inward part his soul I cannot believe that those who have true inward peace and joy can have such heavie dejected countenances as most of you Quakers generally have I can know you by your countenances though I never saw you before nor heard you speak and I wonder not that you are generally of such heavie dejected countenances because you do not believe that you are justified by faith but by what you do act and work or by what is acted and wrought in you Now the Apostle saith Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we access by Faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts and not onely so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the Attonement Oh that the Lord would by his Spirit perswade your hearts to believe this Doctrine of Iustification by faith alone and then I doubt not but you would soon change your countenances And yet I know the natural constitution of the body doth much prevail with many for those that are of a melancholy constitution cannot so well express the joy and comfort in the heart as those that are of another temper and it is my charity to believe that most of you Quakers are of that melancholy temper which doth much help forward your Quaking fits and your dejected countenances But if your hearts were well grounded in the Doctrine of Justification by free grace it would bring you some of your quaking fits and would make you strive to express the peace and joy of your hearts by your countenances for I believe it is a sin to walk so heavily with such dejected countenances because I conceive it bringeth dishonour to God that his people should walk so as if God had never sent a Christ to save them and redeem them and purchased heaven for them is he not gone to prepare a place for them It is for wicked men who have not tasted nor seen the goodnesse of the Lord in the Land of the Living whose portion is only in this Life so to walk Also it is a sin because it is a means to hinder others from coming into the society and company of the godly for will not they think and say Surely these are none of Gods children that look as though they never had any joy or comfort in all their lives I have heard some persons say when they have come to the Quakers meetings to hear them and seeing in what posture they sit hanging down their heads sighing and groaning I will never be of this Religion for these people look like a company of condemned persons that were going to be executed liker then Christians that hoped to be saved by Christ Wherefore I conclude this particular that this your practice of Quaking and dejected carriage is a sin and therefore you are not perfect And so I come to the tenth and the last which I shall trouble you and my self with The tenth perticular practise much used by you Quakers is Lying now that ling is a sin I need not trouble my self to prove I hope you will all confess it I wish I could convince you that you are guilty thereof which I hope I shall plainly prove and first Do not you say that you are perfect free from all sin which I have already proved to be false therefore you maintain a lie nay you do make God a lier
the Scriptures They did not hearken to a light within them to see whether they were true But if you Quakers had such an infallible spirit that you cannot erre as you say you have then all that you speak and write musts need be truth and then we need not examine them by the Scriptures to see whether you write and speak the truth But I am not of that implicit faith to beleive what you write without examining the same by the Scriptures and by them I find you have a falable lying spirit that leadeth you into error but seeing you say you are so infallible that you cannot erre give me leave to examine some of your Books in Print Besides what I have already examined and proved many gross errors in them therefore not written by an infallible spirit so as that you cannot erre I shall examine some particulars in your new Primer made by George Fox the younger and some others in which there is as many errors as Pages I shall mention some few particulars by which we may discern what the rest are of the said Primer Children such are Deceivers who tell you that the way to come to know the truth is by the Scriptures Now if this be a true Doctrine then was Christ and his Apostles Deceivers for they taught the same Christ exhorteth to Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they that testifie of me Now if the Scriptures testifie of Christ then the reading of the Scriptures is a means to know the truth unless you deny that Christ is the truth if you do he affirmeth it saying I am the truth It was a true saying of a good man that The whole Scriptures are the swadling band that foulds the Child Jesus Also Christ saith to the Saduces ye erre not knowing the Scriptures Then by consequence the way to avoyd error and to know the truth is by the knowledge of the Scriptures and therefore Christ would have all to search the Scriptures And the Apostle Paul said that Timothy had known the Scriptures from a Child which are able to make thee wise unto salvation and that is by knowing the truth And the Apostle Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto you do well that ye take heed But you are enemies to the reading the Scriptures or expounding them Pag 15 Of the said Primer Children such are no Ministers of Gods word who tell you the Scriptures are the word of God Now if this be an infallible truth then I say the Prophets and Apostles were fallible and were no Ministers of Gods word for the Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and most of the small Prophets said that The word of the Lord came unto them and they spake the word of the Lord. I beleive you may find what the Prophets preached called the word of the Lord or God above a hundred times and in the 20. of Exodus God spake all these words and what God spake is Gods word and what Christ spake and preached is the word of God unlesse you deny Christ to be God Also the Apostle James exhorteth Be ye doers of the Word and if any be hearers of the word and not doers c. And do you think the Apostle meaneth the word of man or the word of God Also the Apostle Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed And if the Apostles call the Scripture the word surely they are Gods word and by the word of Prophesie can be meant no other word I marvel that you Quakers who pretend to an infallible Spirit to know all things do not know that as Christ is called the eternal word of God so are the Scriptures written called the revealed will or word of God or his word revealed As when we write our mind or cause another to write our will or mind to another we are properly said to send word or what is so written to be our word Pag. 33. Of the said Primer That by the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you from all sin is meant the life of Christ Now I would know where you ever read in Scripture that we are cleansed from all sin by the life of Christ or whether the blood of Christ were ever taken for the life of Christ in Scripture I would fain know your meaning of this dark mystical expression Whether you do believe that the blood which Christ shed upon the Crosse when he suffered without the Gates of Jerusalem be that blood that cleanseth from all sin I know partly your meaning by what I have heard from several of your company and read in several of your Books wherefore that I may shew you what I beleive concerning the same according to the Scriptures mind the Apostle saith Without shadding of blood is no remission And he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight And having made peace by the blood of his crosse But I fear you are strangers to this blood of Christ and it is a mystery hid from your eyes who pretend to know all mysteries but they are mysteries of iniquity while you count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing And as you are strangers to this blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin so I fear you are Ignorant of the life of Christ For I would know whether by the life of Christ you mean the life that Christ lived in the dayes of his converse on earth from the time of his Birth to the time of his suffering death on the crosse or the life he now liveth in heaven or whether by the life of Christ you do not understand the life of a leigned Christ in you or a life imitating Christ his Life I know by what I have heard from the mouths of several and read in several of your books that you are strangers to the true life of Christ mentioned in Scripture and is a mystery hid from your eyes But mind what the Scriptures saith For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them By which texts of Scripture you may see that we are justified or saved by Christ his life living now in heaven to make intercession for us But I never did read in the Scripture that our sins are washed away and that we are saved by what Christ wrought in us nor by imitating the life of Christ and yet I say that all those who are saved by the blood and the life of Christ have faith wrought in their hearts by the Spirit of Christ
you went out from us And the Apostle Paul saith Antichrist sitteth in the Temple of God Now the thing that I am to prove is that you do deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh and to that end I shall first shew what was the end of Christs coming in the flesh The Apostle Paul to the Romans saith Through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus Whom God hath set forth or sent to be a propitiation through faith in his Blood To declare their righteousness for the remission of sins To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the Justifier of them which beleive in Jesus Where the Apostle sheweth that the end of God his sending Jesus Christ was that he might be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare Christ his righteousnesse for the remission of sins that he might be just and the Justifier of all them that beleive in Jesus Now you deny this for E. B. saith that our Ministers tell people a Lie and why they tell him that Christ is his righteousnesse to justifie him which he denyeth for you teach that Christ did come to send a light into every man and by hearkning and obeying that light he shall be saved which is the old Popish Antichristian Doctrine Also the Apostle to the Hebrews saith to Christ Loe I come in the Volume of the Book it is written of me to do thy will O God By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Having therefore bretheren boldnesse to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the vail that is his flesh By which words it is plain that the end of Christs coming in the flesh was to do the will of God by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all And by that one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified But you deny that we are sanctified and perfected for ever by Christ his doing the will of God and through the offering of his body once for all and that we have boldnesse to enter into the holyest by the blood of Jesus a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through his flesh But you teach that you are sanctified and perfected by hearkning to a light within you and obeying the same by which you deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh and are of the Spirit of Antichrist Also you do some of you deny that Christ rose from the dead with his Body but his Spirit rose and deny that he ascended into Heaven with a Body and there remaineth with a Body by which you deny the Scripture and deny Christ 〈◊〉 Mediatorship For the Apostle saith There is one God and one Mediator between God and men mind The Man Christ Jesus Now if Christ have no Body how is he a Man Do not you make Christ a monster if he be a Man without a body what a Mediator do ye make And great is the Mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh received up into glory according to that Scripture in the Acts Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into Heaven and that he shall so come Christ himself hath declared and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of heaven with power and great glory Now those that deny these Articles of our Faith are not they of the spirit of Antichrist for they do invent a fantastical Christ in their brains But you say you have a Christ within you and by that Christ within you you shall be saved Christ in you the hope of Glory To which I answer that I deny that you or any man have a Christ within you you cannot have the body of Christ within you because the Heaven must contain it untill his second coming unless you be of the Papists opinion that say they receive Christs body into their mouths and then must Christ have many bodies or his body must be torn into many pieces Wherefore that I may if it may please God shew you your ignorance even in this particular I shall shew you how I do believe Christ is in every true Christian and that is by his Spirit These things have spoken unto you being yet present with you But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name But now I go my way to him that sent me and it is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you By which Christ sheweth that he must depart and go to the Father and that he must there abide But his Father should send that Comforter his Spirit which should abide in them But how doth Christ by his Spirit abide in a Christian Answ Not essentially as the Familists hold and aver to many Quakers but operatively by the operation and working of the same Because ye are Sons God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts whereby you cry Abba Father In whom after ye believed ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our Inheritance to be strengthned by his Spirit in the Inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith By which Scriptures and many more we may see how Christ is in us by his Spirit of Adoption by his Spirit sealing the promises of the Gospel by strengthning us in the inner man and Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith and as Christ is said to be in us by his Spirit and by faith so we are said to be in Christ and to dwell in Christ which is by faith If any man be in Christ for ye are all one in Christ but of him ye are in Christ Jesus That we may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus And that Prayer of Christ That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they all may be one in us I in them and thou in me that they may he made perfect in one And as Christ is said to be in us by his Spirit and by faith and we are said to be in him by faith and by the Spirit because the same Spirit that dwells in Christ doth act and work in us So also we are said to be in Christ by Love and Christ to be in us by Love as Christ teacheth that the Love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them
abroad if the reading of other books beside the Scriptures be not necessary unless you believe what some of your fellow Quakers have said that James Naylors books are of as Divine authority as the Scriptures because he is inspired by the same Spirit the Prophets and Apostles were when they writ the Scripture in which you are like your Fathers the Familists for such like Titles and Stiles I have read in their books written by H. N. and have heard some Familists call them his Gospels and that they 〈◊〉 of equal authority with the Gospels of Jesus 〈…〉 such blasphemous Familists and Quakers errors good Lord deliver us And the Lord open your eyes that you may see your errors that you have patched up your new Religion with the old errors of the Papists Arminians Anabaptists Antinomians and Familists and the Lord give you hearts to repent and do your first works A POST-SCRIPT Courteous Reader SInce the writing the foregoing answer to the Quakers I had some conference with a woman Quaker one of my ancient friends whose name I forbear to mention about the said answer after which the said friend did write me a letter the Contents whereof were as followeth That my written paper is higher then Vanitie because as she saith I confessed that I was not led by the infallible Spirit therefore it must needs be flesh for the Spirit of God is infallible and cannot erre which she desireth I would consider by the light of Christ that convinceth me of sin and that lest I be found fighting against God wherefore she saith in love to thy soul I warn thee Wherefore lest the said woman or any other Quakers should say that I have not answered all their Objections I resolved to answer the said letter though the things objected in the said letter are in part answered before yet for a more full answer I desire the said friend and all other Quakers whether friends or enemies to mind and consider what I have written in answer to the said letter Having received thy letter I was moved to write an answer to shew thee thy error in misunderstanding and misreporting my words for I neither writ nor said that I was not led by the infallible Spirit but said that I doe not pretend to an infallible spirit so as that I cannot erre For I say that all the faithfull are led by the Spirit of Christ which Spirit is infallible but I say they are not so led by that Spirit that they cannot erre which is the thing you maintain but I deny And yet I say that all the Prophets and Apostles were led by the Spirit infallibly guiding them in writing the Scriptures so as that they could not erre and that all the faithful are led by the Spirit so as that they erre not in the foundation or fundamentals of Religion but in other things I say they are subject to erre and the best men that ever lived that that we read of in Scripture have erred Christ Jesus who was God and Man excepted and this I shall plainly prove by Scripture the Prophet David a man after Gods own heart and a Penman of holy Scripture said Lord who knoweth the errors of his life clense me from my secret sins Psal 19. 12. and he having a mind to build the Temple and spake his mind to the Prophet Nathan the Prophet said to the King Go do all that is in thine heart for the Lord is with thee they being both Prophets were both mistaken they were not infallible for that night the Word of the Lord came to Nathan to the contrary that David should not build the Lords House but his Son Solomon but you Quakers will say this was before Christ his coming in the flesh and before the fulness of the Spirit was sent wherefore mind what is written in Scripture after that time There arose a dissention and a disputation among the brethren about Circumcision and Paul and Barnabas with others were sent to Jerusalem to the Apostles and Elders to have their advice and there were great disputations between them about it no one pretending by an infallible Spirit to determine the same were not Paul and Barnabas led by an infallible Spirit what need they then to have gone to Jerusalem to the rest of the Apostles and Elders surely if they had been infallible they made a needless journey and the rest of the Apostles and Elders made a needless disputation Also there arose a doubt amongst the Corinthians about believing husbands having unbelieving wives and believing wives having unbelieving husbands and other things concerning which they wrote unto the Apostle Paul to determine the matter Was there never a man among them that had an infallible spirit so as that he could not erre surely then they were no Quakers for then they needed not to have sent to the Apostle to have the matter determined and the Apostle in his answer concerning some thing saith I speak this by permission and not by command and concerning Virgins I have no commandment from the Lord yet I give my judgement I suppose saith the Apostle but had he been a Quaker and of your opinion would he not have said why or what need you write unto me to know the lawfulness of these things are you not all led by an infallible spirit that cannot erre But the Apostle was so humble and modest that he said I suppose he would not say I am sure or I know certainly I having an infallible spirit I cannot erre No the Apostle confesseth of himself and others we know but in part But you Quakers say you have such an infallible spirit that you cannot erre But God resisteth the proud and hath promised to teach the humble also the Apostle saith If any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble where the Apostle plainly proveth that Christians do sometimes build upon the foundation wood hay and stubble that is some things of their carnal spirits for there is some carnality in those that are in Christ for saith the Apostle I speak unto you as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ now there being flesh as well as spirit and sence and reason as well as faith in every christian is it any wonder that they sometimes erre And therefore honest Luther saith That there being flesh as well as spirit and sence as well as faith in the best men that therefore sometimes that will fall from their tongues and their pens that savours of the flesh as well as of the spirit and of sence as well as of faith and therefore saith he All Christians should be like the clean beasts that chew the Cud and devide the Hoofe that is they should meditate and examine what they hear and read by the Scriptures and devide the truth from the error as those men of Barea did they searched the Scriptures to see whether those things which they heard were according to
whereby they beleive this blood of Christ shed for them and that Christ now liveth in Heaven to make intercession for them and this faith is not a dead idle faith but a lively working faith working love to God and man Faith worketh by Love But this faith doth not save as it is an act or work in us but as it apprehendeth and layeth hold on Christ the Object And what ever infallible knowledge you pretend unto without the knowledge of this you are in Ignorance and know nothing as your ought But the Devil hath beguiled you as he did Adam and Eve when he made them beleive they should be as Gods knowing good and evil but they became like the Devil by sin And as the Devil hath deceived you so hath the Pope your Grandfather deceived you by sending his Iesuits and Friers here to seduce and delude you as Mr. William Prynne that Patron and Defender of his Countries Laws and Liberties hath plainly proved in his Book called The Quakers unmasked in which he proveth that several Friers of the Franciscan order have been chief Speakers in your metings as Coppinger and others And I know none but the Pope and his Church and you Quakers that do pretend to an unerring infallible Spirit and I know none that hold and maintain more errors then the Pope and you Quakers whom I conceive are made drunk with Popish errors for all your pretending to an infallible Spirit that cannot erre by an inward light What I have here written is by the light within me which you advise me to consider and hearken unto because it convinceth of sin Concerning which we had some discourse when I affirmed that the Law in the heart doth convince man of sin in the estate of Nature according to the Apostle Paul his words The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while else accusing or excusing one another Also those that accused the woman taken in Adultery Christ said He that is without sin cast the first stone and they that heard it being convicted in their own conscience went out one by one the Law in the Conscience convicted them of sin And as the Law in the heart convinceth men of gross sins though they never had the Law written So doth the Law written convince of lesser and smaller sins As the Apostle Paul saith I had not known sin but by the Law and that he meaneth the moral Law is plain for saith he I had not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not lust Also the Apostle writing to the Corinthians to reform the evil custome of men wearing long hair saith Doth not nature it self teach you that it is a shame for a man to wear long hair And if it had not been sin they had no cause to be ashamed and the Apostle saith That nature doth teach it to be a shame But I see some Quakers that are not ashamed to wear long hair for I have observed some of those men Quakers wear longer hair then ordinarily Ruffins or Roysters wear and in stead of shame do defend and maintain the same to be lawful But I shall not beleive them for all their pretended infallible Spirit but rather think they are such as Christ spake of whose light is darknesse If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darknesse like those Locusts that came out of the smoak of the bottomless pit who are said to have hair as the hair of women But this by the way But you objected then that Christ saith the Spirit will reprove the world of sin To which I Answer that Christ and the Apostle doth not contradict one another I shall shew how they agree The Law in the conscience convinceth them of sin by discovering what is sin as the Apostle expoundeth I had not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not Lust Rom. 7. 7. But the Spirit reproveth for sin by shewing or discovering sin to rest upon the conscience by reason of unbelief as Christ expoundeth the meaning of sin because they believe not in me that is the Spirit shall convict by their own conscience that because they believe not in him there is nothing but sin for because of unbeleif sin resteth on the conscience and by beleiving in Christ only sin is abolished and taken away Wherefore Luther saith If the whole world did believe in Christ God would see nothing but a meer cleansing according to that of the Prophet David Thou hast forgiven the iniquitie of thy people and covered all their sins Selah Psal 85. 2. This have written in love to thy soul and the rest of your profession to undeceive thee and others who are lead by a fallible erring spirit Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures I desire you to examine what I have written by the Scriptures and let them be the Judge between us Whether those that are lead by the Spirit are not subject to erre though the Spirit of God is infallible and cannot erre yet the man that hath the Spirit is fallible and doth erre and so I commit you and what I have written to the blessing of Almighty God and remain a friend and lover of thy Soul FINIS 1. Answ Acts 1. 20 21. 22. Act 1 23 24 25. Act. 14. 23. Titus 1. 5. 1 Tim. 4. 14. 1 Tim. 3. 1 Tim. 4. 22. 1 Tim. 1. 4. 1 Cor. 12. 28. Rom. 12. 7 8. Heb. 13. 7. 13. 17. Numb 16. 1 2 3. Numb 16 Matth. 23. 2 3. Acts 1. 17. 1 Tim. 5. 22. 1 Cor. 14. 18. Act. 22. 3. 1 Tim. 3. 6. â— Pet. 3. 15 16. Act 2. 3 4. Fox the Quaker 1 Tim. 4. 13 14 15 16. 2 Tim. 2. 15. Rom. 12. 7 8. 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6 7 8. 1 Thes 5 21. Tit. 1. 9 10 11. Tit. 1. 12 13. 1 Cor. 9. 14. Math. 10 10. Act. 4. 37. Act. 5. 1 2 3. 1 Cor. 9. 4 5 7 8 9 10 11. 1 Cor. 9. 13 14. 2 Cor. 11 8. Gal. 6. 6. Luther on Gal. 6. ver 6. fol. 246. 1 Tim. 5. 17 18. 1 Tim. 3. 2. 〈◊〉 3. 8 9 10. Matth. 23 23. See Sir Henry Spelman Cancil Anno 855. 1 Object Answ Mal. 3. Ezek. 34. 3. Esa 56. â—0 11. Zeph. 1. 3 4. 2 Object Answ 3 Object Answ 1 Cor. 9. 4. 1 Cor. 9. 20 21 22 23. Acts 16. 3. Minde 1 Tim 4. 15. 2 Cor. 7. 1. Ephes 4. 24. Colos 3. 10. Act 13 38 39. Rom. 4. 5 6 7. 2 Cor. 8 18 19 20 21. Heb. 10. 14. 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. Levit. 16. 21. 22 23. Minde Esa 53. 4 5 6. Dan. 9. 24 25 26. Zach. 3. 8 9. Joh. 19. 30. Colos 2. 13 14. Colos 1. 21 22. Colos 1. 28. Heb. 10. Ephes 5. 25 26 27. Numb
salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousnesse And as this righteousnesse was typified prophesied of and promised in the Old Testament so did Christ accomplish the same for saith Christ It becometh us to fulfill all righteousnesse wherefore the Apostle Paul saith But of him are ye in Christ Jesus not in your selves who of God is made unto us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption He is made wisdome for our folly he is made righteousnesse for our unrighteousnesse and sanctification for the corruption of our conception birth and conversation and redemption for our bondage the same Apostle also to the Romans saith But now the righteousnesse of God without the Law is manifested being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets even the righteousnesse of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ The Apostle calleth it the righteousnesse of God because wrought by him that is God to shew the worth virtue and excellency of the same also the Apostle saith For if by one mans offence death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousnesse shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Therefore as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Minde the Apostle saith as and so that is as by Adams sin or disobedience we were made sinners so by Christs obedience we are made rigteous this is the wedding garment without which we have no acceptance but are abominable and filthy in Gods sight as Christ saith to the Church of Laodicea Thou saist I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and do not you Quakers say the same in effect for they thought they were rich by doing good works and had need of nothing do not you Quakers say you are so perfect by what you do and suffer that you have no need of any teaching or exhortation reproof or admonition But what said Christ to them and take it home to your selves And knowest not that thou art poor and wretched and miserable blinde naked because they were destitute of the true wisdome righteousness of Christ hasted to a wisdome righteousness in themselves But Christ saith I councel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou maist be rich white raiment that thou maist be cloathed and that the shame of thy nakednesse do not appear which is the merits and obedience of Christ to put him on as the Apostle saith this is that righteousnesse that Christ said Except your righteousnesse shall exceed the rigteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven The Pharisees thought themselves the only righteous people in the world as you do for said the Pharisee I thank God I am not as other men nor as this poor Publican for I do many good works like those Hypocrites spoken of by the Prophet Esay Stand farther off for I am holier than thee But they were ignorant of the righteousnesse of Christ as the Jewes were who went about to establish a righteousnesse of their own works for saith the Apostle They being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their own righteousnesse have not submitted themselves unto the righteousnesse of God Again What shall we say then that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousnesse have attained to righteousnesse even the righteousnesse which is of faith But Israel which followed after the law of rigteousnesse hath not attained to the law of righteousness Wherefore because they sought it not by faith and this the Apostle knew by himself as may appear by his own words Touching the righteousnesse of the Law blamelesse But he was an enemy to this righteousnesse of Christ because he was ignorant of the same and are not you Quakers ignorant of this rigteousnesse Faith for some of your Speakers have said to me when I have spoken the same things among you that here with Hold thy peace and speak no more thy dirty puddle thy stinking stuff and some of you in your printed Pamphlets have written against this Doctrine of Justification by faith But may I not justly return the same unto you hold your peace and speak no more nor write no more your dirty dungy righteousnesse For if the Apostle Paul counted all his righteousnesse to be but dung in comparison of the righteousnesse which is of God by Faith well may I count and call yours so for while you pretend to be the only friends of Christ you are his greatest enemies I Traitors to Christ and his Gospel Traitors to his Church and Children and Traitors to your Bodies and Soules seeming great friends to all these but betraying every one of these with a Judas his kisse because you are enemies to this perfect righteousnesse of Christ by faith by which alone we are justified and saved But you maintain a perfection within you by the Spirit saying that you are freed from all corruption of sin Wherefore having at large proved that all believers are perfect by Justification I shall now prove that all those who are perfectly Justified are not perfectly freed from all sin and corruption in themselves and then I shall answer your objections against both And to make this appear to be true according to the Scriptures I shall first lay down this proposition That all Believers are Justified by the blood and righteousnesse of Christ are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ which Spirit of Christ doth remain and abide in them together with the body of sin which I shall plainly prove to that end know that this body of sin is sometimes in Scripture called Flesh sometimes Concupisence Now you do deny that there is both Flesh and Spirit in one person which is the thing that I undertake to prove by the Scripture Wherefore minde what Christ saith to his Disciples The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak The Apostle Paul saith It is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me and after that When I would do good evill is present with me and yet in the next verse I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But saith he I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my minde Now dare you say the Apostle had not the Spirit of Christ at that time seeing he saith he delighted in the Law of God which none can do that have not the Spirit of God Besides consider what a grosse error and absurdity will follow by denying the same which is this that if Paul had not the Spirit at that time then was not the Spirit the author
before Christs coming in the flesh than we Christians in the dayes of the Gospel since his coming for to be out of the pale of the Church was counted an unholy unclean condition I they were counted Doggs by Christs own words It is not lawful to give Childrens bread unto Doggs and without are Doggs and if the children of the Church of the Jews were externally holy by being visible members of the Church and Christians children unholy because no visible members of the Church Are not our children in a worse condition than theirs and so we have lesse priviledge than they now the Scripture declareth that the Church and People of God in the dayes of the Gospel have far greater priviledges than the Church of the Jews and this Christ himself sheweth where he saith Verily I say unto you among them which are born of women arose there not a greater then John Baptist notwithstanding the least in the kingdome of Heaven is greater than he whereby Christ would teach us that John the Baptist was the greatest among all the Prophets that went before him because he had the presence of Christ pointing at him Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world and yet the least believer in the Kingdome of Grace is greater than he because Christ had not then actually suffered for sin nor was not risen from the dead but the least believer doth now by Faith see Christ hath actually taken away sin by his Death and Suffering and is risen again for our Justification Also Christ saith Blessed are your eyes for they see and your eares for they hear for verily I say unto you that many Prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them And are not these great priviledges Also the Apostle writing to the Hebrews in the eleventh Chapter writeth a Catalogue of the faithfull and in the end concludeth And all these having obtained a good report through Faith received not the Promise God having promised some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect The Apostle Peter also testifieth the same Teaching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie when it testified before hand the Sufferings of Christ Minde and the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are nâ—w reported unto you of which Salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you By which Texts of Scripture ye may plainly see that the Church and people of God in these times of the Gospel have greater priviledges then the Church of the Jews and therefore our Children as well as theirs have the priviledge of being outward visible Members of the Church which is only by Baptism But you Antibaptists and the Anabaptists say that although Believers have now greater priviledges then the Jews yet it doth not follow that our Children are to be admitted visible Members of the Church because there is no express command nor example for baptizing Children To which I answer that whatsoever may be proved from the Scripture by consequence to be the scope and meaning of the Scripture it is sufficient proof and that is already made good But seeing you do both stand to have express word of Command or express Example I shall desire you or either of you to shew me one command or example in Scripture for the baptizing of those that are grown up whose Parents one or both were Christians by professing the Gospel of Christ Now if you have no rule nor example in Scripture as I am sure you have not why do you condemn another when you Anabaptists are more guilty in that you baptise those that are of years whose Parents profess the Gospel of Christ and were formerly baptised in the name of Christ Unless you count all those that profess the Gospel of Christ to be Heathens that are not of your Churches which is a most uncharitable opinion But you farther object that the Apostles baptibaptized none but such as did beleive and make a profession of their Faith To which I answer that it is more then you can prove seeing the Apostle baptized Housholds and it is more then you can tell there were no Children in those Housholds unlesse you know it by revelation Secondly I say that those whom the Apostles baptized who were of years were such as were converted from Judaisme or Heathens and neither they nor their Parents ever professed the Gospel of Christ and did any of you or any other know any of our Ministers baptize any Jews Turks or Indians not professing the Gospel they have baptized some that have come from those parts after they have been converted and made a profession of their Faith according to the example of the Apostle Thirdly I answer that elect Infants may have the root or habit of Faith though not the act of Faith if you believe Christs words For Christ called a little Child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said who so shall receive one such little Child in my name receiveth me but whoso shall offend one of these little ones mind which believe in me By which words it doth appear that elect Infants may have the seeds of grace in their hearts we read that some have been sanctified from the womb and that must be by the Spirit for so the Text saith speaking of John Baptist And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost mind even from his Mothers womb It is the opinion of many ancient and modern Ministers that elect Infants do ordinarily recieve the Spirit in or at their Baptism as Christ at his Baptism had the Holy Ghost descending like a Dove and lightning upon him Now Christ was full of the Holy Ghost before for in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the God-head bodily And therefore the descending of the Holy Ghost at that time was to teach us to have a high esteem of that ordinance as most of our protestant Ministers do hold and teach and as Dr. Burges doth at large prove in his Book called Baptismal Regeneration Where this point of elect Infants ordinarily receiving the Spirit or seal of the Spirit in their Baptism is fully handled with all objections against it answered and I do the more press this point because the Baptism of Infants is so much slighted neglected and contemned by many in our days For I suppose that elect Infants being meer patients in the work of Regeneration are as capable of the Spirits sealing or applying the blood of Christ for the remission of their sins as those that are of Age for if there were a power in Adam by hâ—s sin
opinions And face doth not more answer face in a Glasse then you do answer each other as I can shew you in several of their opinions and practises compared with yours as their hearkning to a light within them and revelations which they followed contrary to the Scripture some of them running about the streets naked as many of you have done some of them burning their clothes as some of you have done although at their first springing up they seemed to be such meek humble Saints that they would suffer any thing yet after they had gotten a sufficient number and strength then they shewed themselves in their Colours for then it was revealed that John of Leyden may be a King and that all the wicked must be destroyed and King John and his Disciples must govern all and have all the goods of the wicked because they had no right to them to which end they fortified Munster against the Emperor perswading the people that God would feed them by a miracle it being so revealed to them by which the poor people were many of them starved and at last King John and his company taken himself and two more of his chief companions hanged and put in three Iron Cages and set on the top of the three high Towers or Steeples the rest banished two ships laden with them the Author saith came into Great Brittain where they first sowed those seeds of Heresie from which have spang up all those errors of Anabaptism Familism Antinomianism Adamites Seekers and Quarkers I hope you will be convinced by all that I have written that your Practise in denying the ordinance of Baptism is contrary to the example of Christ and his Apostles and therefore in that you are not perfect And now I come to a second particular in which I shall prove that you walk contrary to Christ command and example and the example of the Apostles and that is in that you deny the partaking of the Lords Supper and teach that it is abolished and not to be used in the Church of Christ as Jona Dell in his Book called A Voyce from the Temple writeth and several others Wherefore I shall briefly prove that it was Christs command and Example and the practise of the Apostles and all the reformed Churches ever since the Apostle days Now Christ before his Death did institute and appoint this ordinance as you may read in Matthew Mark and Luke And he took bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying this is my body which is given for you this do remembrance of me Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Where we are to take notice that Christ saith this do in Remembrance of me which is a command for them to do as he had done and that it was Christs meaning to have them do the same after his Ascension is plain because the Apostles did practise the same afterwards which they would not have done had it not been Christs command and the Apostle Paul doth plainly prove it to be Christ command For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you and what was that but the Supper of the Lord as the words following shew but you will say how long was the practise of that to continue The Apostle doth tell you For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come But you say Christ is come by his Spirit to every believer and that is the meaning of it till he come To which I answer that I wonder you Quakers are not ashamed to give such a sense of the words and had I not heard it from several of your Mouths and read it in several of your Books I should not have believed it Wherefore to convince you of your error pray tell me Whether Christ was not come to his Apostles by his Spirit and to all others that believed the Gospel of Christ If Christ was not come to the Apostles by his Spirit how did they write the Scriptures Besides the Scripture saith That the Apostles were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues and yet the Apostles practise was to break bread after that and therefore the meaning of the Apostle to eat this bread and to drink this cup for so often as you eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he comes must needs be meant of Christs second coming namely his coming at the end of the world when he cometh to Judgement when the Saints bodies shall be raised out of their Graves and those that are then alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever abide with the Lord where then we shall have no need nor use of Sacraments because faith then shall cease being swallowed up in vision But till then we have need of these outward ordinances to help strengthen our faith the Supper of the Lord being appointed by Christ himself to that end where we may see a representation of Christ crucified before our eyes to help strengthen our faith for the Apostles themselves had need of these ordinances the Apostle Paul saith VVe know in part For now we see through a glasse darkly But then face to face mind Now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known Now is it not a horrible pride in you to say you are more fuller of the Spirit than the Apostles that you have more knowledge and stronger faith than the Apostles for you see the Apostles made use of this ordinance to strengthen their saith and if you say you have no need of this partaking of ordinances do not you declare your selves to be more perfect than the Apostles But Jona Dell in his Voyce from the Temple doth affirm that you Quakers have such an infallible knowledge that you cannot erre but we can smell from whence you sucked in this poyson even from your Father the Pope the great Antichrist who only claimeth this infallible Spirit But this by the way Also Jona Dell in the said Book saith that this outward ordinance of the Lords Supper hath been much abused and therefore not to be used in the Church any longer as that Ceremony of the brasen Serpent after it was abused by the Israelites to Idolatry it was broken in pieces and not to be used any more and so he calleth it a Ceremony and shadow and all other ordinances which having been abused ought to be abolished For Answer to which I shall only mind you of the Example and practise of the Apostle Paul concerning the same in his Epistle to the Corinthians who had so abused the Supper of the Lord as I have not heard of greater nor the like for saith
Congregation and if any through ignorance doe sing that which is not sutable to their condition may not or must not others in the same congregation sing those things that are sutable to their condition That the Psalmes to be read by such is no sin unless you count reading the Scripture to be sinne and why may they not as well sing them as read them seeing the one is a duty as well as the other they may sing them doctrinal as well as read them doctrinal as the truths contained in the Psalms and such may be convinced by singing them as wel as reading them as in the particulars objected O Lord I am not puft in mind may not a proud person be convinc'd that he ought not to be proud and when a wicked man singeth My heart is bent to keep thy Law may not he thereby be convinced and taught by that Doctrine that his heart ought to be bent to keep the Law That it is ignorance of a mans own condition and of the matter contained in the Psalmes to think or say that the Psalmes are not sutable to our conditions for every Psalm setteth forth either the Attributes and workes of God and his Christ or else describeth the estate and wayes of the Church and People of God or describeth the estate and wayes of the wicked or else it doth lively express mine own affections and afflictions temptations and comfort But whatsoever the matter of the Psalm concerneth either of God or his Christ the godly or the wicked my self or others the good or evil estate of one or other it ever ministreth fit matter and occasion to me of singing forth the prayses of the Lord since the name of God is to be blessed in and by all whether it goe well or ill with our selves or others and I believe that there is no condition the Church is or can be in in general nor no condition which any Member is or hath been in but there are Psalms sutable to the same and several Clerks are able to chuse such Psalms as are fit and sutable for all times and for all states and conditions of the Church and sutable for all Ordinances and sutable to all Doctrines And lastly the general practice of the Churches of Christ is to me a thing much to be considered and that it was the practice of the Churches of Christ after the Apostles dayes several Histories do testifie as Mr. Cotton doth largely prove in his book written in defence of this Ordinance of singing of Psalmes against the Antipsalmist But you follow the Papists your Fathers who are as great enemies to singing of Davids Psalmes as your selves and I could wish that some Protestants were not too much tainted with that Opinion The Papist in contempt of singing of Psalmes call them Genevah Jigs as you Quakers and other Sectaries the brood of Antichrist scoff at our Ministers and people for singing of Psalmes calling them Hopkins Jigs But I hope I have sufficiently proved that we follow the example of Christ and his Apostles and all reformed Churches and that you do sin in not following the command and example of Christ and his Apostles and therefore are not perfect and so I pass from this particular in which I have been the longer in regard I have been so often opposed by you for practising this duty And now I come to a fourth particular in which you walk contrary to the rule of the Scripture and that is your practice in suffering and maintaining women to teach in your meetings which you call your Church Now this practice I have not only heard of but am an eye and ear witness of having heard two several women speak and teach in your meetings where I heard them speak such nonsensical erronious stuff that it is a shame to write it And this practice is justified and maintained in Print by one of their chief teachers Richard Fanworth for so he saith is his name in the flesh who hath written a Pamphlet called A woman forbidden to speak in the Church the Grounds examined the Mystery opened the Truth cleared and the Ignorance both of Priests and People discovered where by the way take notice that where ever the letter of the Text doth speak directly against your errors then you say there is a Mystery in it and that none can open but your selves But where the Letter of the Scripture seemeth to speak for your errours then you say away with your mystical meanings the Scripture is to be understood as they speak according to the Letter which I have often heard from your own mouths and read in your books Wherefore I shall indeavour to prove Mr. Fanworths Mystery opened to be the mystery of iniquity proceeding from the spirit of Antichrist being directly against the Doctrine of Christ contained in the Scripture For saith the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians Let your women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them aske their husbands at home for it is a shame for women to speak in the Church also the Apostle to Timothy Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence Object But you Quakers say that there is a mystical meaning which none know but your selves And that is that by the woman is meant the flesh and by the speaking is meant the Spirit which is in the Saints and that may speak in the Church whether in man or woman male or female this Farnworth writeth in opening the Mystery Also Sarah Blackbury when I alledged the Apostles words to her in William Bonds House after she had been three or four hours there a teaching or prating on the Lords day she made me this Answer thou art the woman for thou art Flesh that is weak and therefore thou art to keep silence and I may speak because I have the Spirit by which the Scripture was written but thou hast not the Spirit and therefore hold thy babling for thou knowest not the meaning of the Scripture To which I replied but what is meant by the Husbands that the women are to learn of and to ask them at home To which Susan Bond answered Christ was the Husband and of him they were to be taught and Sarah Blackbery seemed to like the Answer well for she made no exceptions against it neither can she nor any one else if their doctrine be true that they all have an infallible Spirit and cannot erre else they cannot be perfect for error is sin and I shall prove this to be an error when I have taken away the false Vizzard which you have put upon the these Texts of Scripture Wherefore to shew you your error I shall shew you the great
absurdities that do follow upon your interpretation and for a full clearing of the text in the Corinths consider the words before The Apostle saith ye may all prophesie one by one that all may learn For God is not the Author of confusion Now lest the women from the word all should think themselves permitted to prophesie as well as the men the Apostle to prevent their mistake whom he knew loved to speak too much saith Let your women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak where take notice that the Apostle speaketh in the plural number women and not permitted unto them to speak The Apostle always when he speaketh of the flesh speaketh in the singular number flesh also the Apostle speaketh in the plural number Husbands and not in the singular Husband by which you may see what most barbarous conclusions will follow upon your interpretation For if by the women be meant the flesh and by asking their Husbands be meant Christ then is Christ the Husband of the flesh and that there are more Christs then one seeing the Apostle saith ask their Husbands at home by which word home it will follow that Christ and the flesh dwell together and that Christ is the fleshes home so that you may see by maintaining an error you run into many grosse errors But you will say the Apostle to Timothy saith woman in the singular number To which place I answer that there will several errors follow if by the woman be meant the flesh in that place Let the woman learn in silence if by the woman be meant the flesh then is the flesh to learn But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence If by the woman be meant the flesh then the flesh can teach and can usurp authority over the Spirit for Adam was first formed then Eve if by the woman be meant the flesh then is the flesh Eve and was of Gods forming Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in Faith and Charity and Holynesse with Sobriety if by the woman be meant the flesh then may the flesh be saved in child-bearing and may have Faith Charity and Holynesse with Sobriety Now let your selves and others judge whether you have an infallible Spirit the same Spirit that the Apostles had that writ the Scripture and that you know the true meaning of the Scripture And whether such are fit to be Teachers of others Whether men or women that give such interpretations of Scripture and maintain such grosse errors Also the example of all the Churches of Christ is a ground why women ought not to speak in the Church But if any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome neither the churches of God But you object that several women did prophesie as Deborah and that one man had four Daughters and Virgins and they did prophesie And your Sons and Daughters shall prophesie Answer that those women and virgins who prophesied were extraordinarily called by an extraordinary gift which is now ceased and they did not take upon them to be Teachers in the Church but did prophesie of such things as were extraordinarily revealed or done in the Church for the prophesie in the Prophet Joel the same was accomplished in the Acts for saith the Apostle Peter These are not drunken as ye suppose But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel I will poure out of my spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie I would have any of you shew any one example where a woman took upon her to be a Teacher in the publick Church if any did take upon them so to do the Apostle teacheth that they did transgresse for it is to usurp authority over the man which is a sin and for a woman to take upon her to be a Teacher unto men is to exercise the authority of a man for we read of no women Teachers in the Church But you say that none are to exercise authority over others But are all in the Church equal and alike which bringeth me to a fifth particular wherein your practise is contrary to the command example and practise of Christ and his Apostles and therefore are not perfect The fifth is your not giving any reverence honor nor civil respect unto your Superiors and those that are in authority but are in your carriage tou Superiors more like Heathens then Christians Now it remaineth on my part to prove that Christ and his Apostles did both command and walk contrary to your practice herein Christ said Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods Now the name Caesar was a word of Honour given unto all the Roman Emperours what ever their names were as we used to call our Supream Magistrate King Now Christ though a King himself did not say Give unto William or John the things that are his but give to Caesar He gave him the same title of Honour that the Romans gave him though a heathen Emperour Also Christ teaching his Disciples humilitie When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest room left a more honorable man then thee be bidden of him and he come and say Give this man place he being a more honourable person but when thou art bidden goe and sit down in the lowest room that when he that bad thee cometh he may say unto thee Friend goe up higher then thou shall have worship or honour in the presence of them that sit at meat by which Christ doth teach that some persons are more honourable then others and such are to be honoured of others But which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattel will say unto him by and by go and sit down to meat and will not rather say unto him Make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thy self and serve me till I have eaten and drunk and afterward thou shalt eat and drink now though this be to teach us that we are all Gods servants and that when we have done all we are commanded to say we are unprofitable servants We have done that which was our dutie yet Christ useth this similitude because of the equitableness and justness of the same And as it is contrary to what Christ taught so is it contrary to the practice and doctrine of the Apostles for when Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles was brought before Agrippa to speak for himself Paul said I think my self happy King Agrippa because I shall answer for my self this day before thee mind The Apostle doth not onely say Agrippa but King Agrippa though he were a Heathen King And when he spake for himself Festus said with a loud voice Paul Thou art beside thy self much learning hath made thee mad Paul said I am not mad mind most
that ye be not judged saith Christ and in the fifth Verse sheweth that this rash judging is a note or character of an Hypocrite Thou Hypocrite first cast the beam out of thine own eye Also the Apostle Paul to the Romans Thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgeth Judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of Darknesse and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts But why dost thou judge thy Brother or why dost thou set at nought thy Brother for we shall all stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ Then every one of us shall give accompt for himself to God Let us not therefore judge one another Who art thou that judgest another mans servant he standeth or falleth to his own Master We are all the Lords servants and are all at his disposing and appointment and therefore what have we to do to judge any particular man or woman Much less to judge and condemn all the Churches that are not of your minds and judgements to be Antichristian and in the state of condemnation and that they know only the Letter and History of the Scripture and that you only know the mystery and meaning of the Scripture like the Pharisees that judged and condemned all that were not of their Sect. Thâ—â— people that know not the Law are cursed Now consider what a most horrid uncharitable thing it is to judge all the Protestant Churches before you sprang up to be false Heretical Churches for then Christ had no Church for sixteen hundred years for there were none of your opinions heard of while these late years and then Christ was a head without a body And is it not a most unchristian thing to judge and condemn all for Hereticks and the brood of Antichrist that are nâ—t of your wild opinions Surely you make the Church of Christ to be a very small remnant far lesse than Christ hath made them for though Christs flock be a little flock comparatively in regard of the great multitude of the world yet consider them apart in themselves they are a great multitude as you may read in the Revelation of St. John the Divine if the word Divine do not offend you And I heard the number of them which were sâ—aled and there were scaled an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the Children of Israel After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues But if none but Quakers are of the number surely they might soon be numbered By all which you may see that your practise in judging and condemning all that are not of your opinions is contrary to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles and therefore you are not perfect and now I come to a seventh particular of your practise The seventh particular is your rayling and revyling against those that are against your opinions for proof whereof I need go no farther then your own Letter where you say my speaking was barking like a Dog that I vomited up my poysonous stuffe and you call all our Ministers Antichrists Ministers Hierlings such as recieve the wages of Balaam and are in the way of Cain and is it not the same Language you all use both in your writings and conferences Witnesse Naylors books and Fox his books and Burroughs and Tomlinson in which there is such rayling reviling Language as cannot be paralell'd from any differing from us in Religion calling our Ministers dumb dogs wolves sorcerers serpents wandering stars seducers deceivers false prophets Antichrist lyars and say all our preaching is an Idol with many other such like stuffe and for your words in reasoning with any that is contrary to your opinions I believe you can and do go beyond any Billingsgate Scolds I have had experience of your Language by what I have heard Thou Lyar thou great Whore of Babilon thou Serpent thou Divel thou Heathen with many other such like reviling speeches to my self and others Now I pray consider how contrary this is to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles Our Lord and Saviour when he was reviled reviled noe again See that none render evil for evil unto any man Speak not evil one of another He that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the Law Christ and his Apostles when they were brought before the Priests and Elders being falsly accused never used such reviling Language as you do use The Apostle Jude met with such spirits in his time these despise Dominion and speak evil of dignities Yet Michael the Arch-Angel when contending with the Devil about the body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation But said The Lord rebuke thee But these speak evil of those things which they know not Michael the arch Angel durst not bring a railing accusation against the devil but you dare bring railing accusations against men I against good men against the Ministers of Christ and against Magistrates Christ commanded his Disciples to love their enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you but in stead of loving your enemies and praying for them you revile them and curse them with which I shall conclude this particular that you are not the perfect innocent Lambs of Christ as you call your sevles in your letter The eight particular practice used by you contrary to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles is your silent meetings which is a usual practice among you to come together and sit still hanging down your heads like so many dumb Idols liker then Christians Now when Christ did come with his Disciples he opened his mouth and taught them and when he was with his Disciples alone his practice was to teach and instruct them either by asking questions or instructing them but never read of his sitting still and being silent Also the Apostle exhorteth the Hebrewes Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another The Apostle never said assemble your selves together and be silent that ever I could read And the Apo. Jude saith these be they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit but ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost It seems that those who separated themselves as you do had not the Spirit and did probably when they met sit still and be silent and yet pretended to be the onely holy people but they did not build up themselves in the faith praying in the Holy Ghost but ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith in the Holy Ghost But if they sit still and be silent they doe
not build up themselves on their faith nor pray as is your practice and for Prayer some of your company are not ashamed to say and write that Ministers praying before and after Sermon is a will-worship and that you know not one example left for it either by Christ or any of his Apostles and that praying is for the honor and magnificence of our Idol and that is preaching they are Tomlinsons own words But let all sober minded persons judge whether your silent meetings or praying and preaching is will-worship and an Idol If you have no example of Christ and his Apostles of such silent meetings then it is an Idoll and a will-worship of your own devising which I challenge all you Quakers to bring any one example of Christ or his Apostles of any such meetings or any example of any Church since the Apostles dayes whether Separate or any other and do you think that the Apostles and all the Churches were ignorant of any part of the Service of God while now of late dayes you Quakers have found it or rather invented it had not they the light of Christ within them to direct them seeing you say all men have the light of Christ within them Wherefore I conclude that this your light is darkness and this your practice is a meer invention of your own brains and therefore are not perfect A ninth particular practice used amongst you is your Quaking fits with which many among you are strangely taken falling on the ground their arms and leggs shaking their mouths foaming their bellies swelling and some of them purging to which I may add your strange kind of disfiguring your faces and countenances hanging down your heads or holding them awry looking like a company of forlorn dejected condemned persons that were afraid to look up to Heaven Now for those quaking fits from whence you have the name of Quakers many are of opinion that they are Diabolical by a kind of witchcraft and to that end I have heard strange relations of inchanted ribins of giving of drink after which the persons have been taken with quaking fits and some say possessed with the divel And when I have read John Gilpins Book called The Quakers shaken and John Toldarns Book called The foot out of the snare in which they relate such strange kind of actings and workings of their bodies besides the relations of several others and compare them with those whom we read of in the Evangelist Luke I confess there is a likeness and a resemblance between them And lo a spirit taketh him and he suddenly crieth out and it teareth him that he foameth again and bruiseth him All which actions the Quakers have had in their quaking fits as you may read in the two forenamed books and many have been eye witnesses of the same effects in others in which fits some of the chief Quakers have said that now the good spirit was driving out of the bad But however if it be not a bodily witchcraft sure it is a spiritual witchcraft whereby the minds of the people are bewitched to believe that those shakings and quakings of the body are from the Spirit of God I have read in the Scripture that the Mystery of iniquity in the spirit of Antichrist even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power signes and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie I believe these are some of those signs and lying wonders with which the followers of Antichrist shall be deceived The Papists who have deceived you Quakers as that divine Lawyer M. Will. Prin doth at large prove in his book called The Quakers unmasked Also I have read in the Scripture that God hath caused such shaking and trembling to fall upon wicked men as a punishment for their sins as Belshazzar that his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another And in the Philistians Camp or Loft there was trembling and among all the people the Garrison and they all trembled so it was a very great trembling and among those curses pronounced in Deuteronomy against wicked men this is one The Lordshal give thee a trembling heart And it is threatned as a curse upon the wicked Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loyns to shake I wish it be not your condition that your eyes be not darkned in that you take shaking for a blessing when it is a curse the Devils are said to tremble But you object that we read in the Scripture of shaking quaking and trembling rejoyce with trembling Psalm 2. 11. and work out your salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2. 12. and Paul is said to tremble Acts 9 6. and the keeper of the prison came trembling before Paul and Silas Acts 16. 29. By trembling I understand no other then the fear and trembling of the heart generally spoken of in Scripture and not a quaking and trembling of the body as is usual amongst you Quakers and that fear and trembling is twofold First that which is at the first Act of conversion as that of Paul and the Jaylor whose trembling I understand of the soul and if it were of the body it was extraordinary and not to be brought to a rule and that fear or trembling of the soul at the first act of conversion is general to all that are truly converted called the spirit of bondage Ye 〈◊〉 not received the spirit of bondage again to fear and those that were converted at Peters Sermon being about three thousand souls they were pricked in their hearts We read not of any trembling or quaking of their bodies but that they gladly received his word and this fear or trembling of the soul at the first conversion is not in all alike but in some more and in some less though in all some We read that the Lord opened the heart of Lydia hearing the Apostles that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul and she was baptized and her houshold We read not of any fear or trembling much less quaking and yet no doubt but she had a conviction of her own unworthiness the Apostle John saith that perfect love casteth out fear that is all slavish hellish fear Secondly there is a son-like fear after conversion which is a fear whereby the soul is fearful of doing any thing that is contrary to the will and mind of such a good loving and kind God and Father and this fear or trembling is no wayes agreeable to the quaking and trembling of the body practised amongst you nor to the disfiguring your faces with holding down the head
onely by detaining the Ministers dues from them but by disturbing them in the exercise of their Ministery and of this I have heard several Relations upon which the Ministers for their own quiet were forced to complain to the Magistrates and when they have been brought before them they have abused them upon which severall have been sent to prison and I think justly But that any Ministers committed any to prison for not paying Tithes that I deny and say it is a false lie for suppose that some Quakers in those Countries or other Countries would not pay the Ministers their dues and these Quakers have been sued and the Jewry according to Law hath given their verdiet for payment of so much mony and they refuse to pay but will rather go to prison then pay their dues they put themselves in prison to save their money for neither the Minister nor the Law could put them into prison if they would pay their dues and that Tithes are the Ministers due I have already proved and suppose they were not due of Divine Right yet being due by a Civil right in regard of the Laws and Customs of the Nations I say they have as good right to them as any man hath to any house or land or money and if you plead it is against your conscience to pay Tithes as you do say I say suppose you should say it is against your conscience to pay any money you borrow as I hear some of you have done being asked for money lent have answered what conscience have you to ask me money seeing Christ saith Give to him that asketh if you should be sued and would not pay might not you justly be cast into prison and no sin in him that seeketh his own and I say the case is the same and Christ by his example never taught you to deny payment of Tribute for when they demanded Tribute of Christ though saith he the children be free yet lest we should offend them go and take the money out of the mouth of the fish and give them for me and thee because it was a Law and a Custome Christ would not offend them And by this you see all your great clamours and accusations against our Ministers are proved to be meer lies and slanders with which I shall conclude that you Quakers are not perfect because you do publish so many lies I have proved ten several Particulars against you all of which shall be witnesse against you that you are not the perfect holy innocent Lambs of Christ as you call your selves But you may all confess as it is in our English Liturgy We have left undone those things that we ought to have done and we have done those things that we ought not to have done and there is no truth in us And pray as Christ in that perfect form of Prayer And forgive us our trespasses Though some have said they thank God they have forgotten that Prayer And may not we say so of you as Agur said There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness But I know your Objection by what I have heard from you in disputing with you and that is that what I speak is not from the Spirit but from flesh and from the Letter that I have read in other mens Books or lines with which you think to wipe off all that I have said or written For Answer to which I desire you to consider and examine what I have written by the rule of the Scripture and if it be not according to that rule or what ever part is not according to that rule I shall confesse it is from the flesh neither do I pretend to an infallible Spirit so as that I cannot erre as you do and I desire you to examine your own by that rule and let that be the Judge between us according to the Prophet Isaiah his exhortation To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Where mind that the Law and the Testimony is called this word and those that speak not according to this word there is no light in them if no light in them then no Christ in them Now you say all men have the light of Christ in them I say they have not because the Scriptures say if they speak not according to this word it is because their is no light in them So that all men have not the light in them But seeing you say all men have the light of Christ in them I may say then I have the light in me as well as you and why may not or why doth not the light inlighten me to speak or write the truth as well as it teacheth you This I do declare to you and all that shall read these lines that what I have here written is according to that light within me and I hope from Christ the true light For I beleive there are false lights with which many are decieved as there are false fires that leadeth people about in dark nights into bogs and water And I beleive that what you write and speak is according to the light within you But I fear it is a false light that hath led you into many dirty errors It is your own phrase wherefore let what you have written and what I have written be layed to the line the Law and the Testimony and let that be the Judge between us whether the light in me be the light of Christ or whether the light in you be the light of Christ Try the Spirits whether they be of God for many false Prophets or spirits are gone out into the World The Apostle sheweth how to know such Spirits as are of God and such as are of Antichrist Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that Spirit of Antichrist Now let us examine who they are that deny that Christ is come in the Flesh I say you are they and what I say I shall prove for whomsoever doth deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh doth deny his coming in the flesh But you do deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh Therefore you do deny his coming in the flesh For when the Apostle doth write of such as deny Christs coming in the flesh he doth not mean the Jews or other Heathens which denyed that Christ was come But of such as did confesse that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and yet did deny he was come in the flesh because they denyed the end of his coming in the flesh Now that the Apostle doth speak of such is plain For the Apostle saith Now are there many Antichrists They went out from us but they were not of us even as
and I in them and we have known and beleived the Love that God hath to us God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him And that I may make it more plain I will set this forth by a similitude We know that the Sun doth shine and give light and heat by its beams or operation and we do say the Sun shineth into such a house or room and the Sun doth warm such a place and such a creature Now the body of the Sun remaineth in the Firmament but its beams and light and heat are in several places here below So in like manner Christ his body is in Heaven but he sendeth abroad his light and heat several operations and workings of his Spirit in the hearts of his people and this Metaphor of the Sun is often used in Scripture wherefore I shall alleadge some of those Scriptures because they do fitly serve to illustrate this truth The Prophet Malachy prophesieth of Christ saying but unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings And as it is the property of the Sun to give light and warmth or heat and to expel mists and fogs that do infect the Air and to compleat and enliven things that seem to be dead in the Winter so is Christ to his Church and people here on earth though he be in Heaven he is the light of his Church as the Prophet Isaiah saith Arise shine for thy light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising And this Sun of righteousnesse is said to expel the of his people as a thick cloud is expelled by the Sun And the Lord is said to be a Sun to his people that is in Christ for out of Christ he is a consuming fire Object But you say that Christ doth enlighten every man as the Sun giveth light to all and by hearkning too and obeying that light all may be saved I have answered this before but for a farther answer Answ That I confesse Christ doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world in some sense for as the Sun in the Heaven doth give light and heat unto all so doth Christ as the Creator give a common light of nature He maketh his Sun so shine or rise upon the evil and the good All that common light of Knowledge and understanding that wicked men have and all outward blessings come from Christ In him saith the Apostle we live move and have our being but that Christ doth give a spiritual light of grace unto all that are born that I deny For we are all born blind and dark in regard of spiritual light so saith the Apostle ye were once darkness and St. John saith That the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not as the Sun shining on a man that is born blind he receiveth no light from the Sun and every man that hath this spiritual light hath it or receiveth it from God in and through Christ as the Apostle Paul saith For God who commanded light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ This light is a free gift and we were not born with it If we were what need Christ have dyed for our sins Or what use is there of his intercession if all men have a light within them by hearkning to which and obeying it they may be saved I have taken this by the way because it is one of your cheif grounds upon which you build your religion But it is a sandy one that hath no foundation on Christ or the Scriptures For you do not make the Scriptures to be the rule of your faith and practise but some revelations or impulse of Spirit And therefore you object against what is spoken or written by reading or study or reading other mens works which is the last of your objections that I know of with answering of which I shall conclude For Answer I say that your slighting of reading and studying the Scripture and reading of the writings of godly Ministers and others that have written on them is a chief cause of all your errors For Christ exhorteth all to search the Scriptures and that cannot be without reading them And the Apostle Paul exhorteth Timothy To give attendance to reading and to meditate upon these things and give thy self wholly to them Surely Paul knew Timothy was no Quaker for some of you Quakers have said that they may not read the Scriptures But the Apostle commendeth Timothy That from a Child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation If he had not been a Reader of Scriptures he had not known them for although many read the Scriptures that never knew the will and mind of God revealed in them yet ordinarily none knoweth the Scripture but those that have read them or heard them read or preached upon and as faith cometh by hearing so by reading some have been converted if we may believe their own testimony in History which bringeth me to the second part of your objection The reading of other mens Books or writings To which I say that the Apostle Paul though a man indued with extraordinary gifts of revelations Yet he did read other mens Books or writings as you may see by his writing to Timothy When thou comest bring with thee the books but especially the parchments Now if the Apostle did not read them what need he to have sent for them but that the Apostle did read other books besides the Scripture is plain for the Apostle writeth of Jannes and Jambres withstanding Moses and he must read it in some other book or writing then the Scripture for there is no such thing there Also the Apostle to Titus doth alledge what one of the Cretians own Prophets said which he had read in some of their books and the Apostle Jude saith that Michael the Arch-angel strove with the Devil and disputed about the body of Moses and Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophecied of such men saying Behold the Lord cometh with thousands of his Angels Now we read of none of these in the Scripture and therefore the Apostle did read them in some other books or writings and will you say the Apostles did not bost in other mens lines as you say of us surely if the Apostles made use of other mens writings much more may we and to what end hath God given gifts unto men if they may not improve them by writing for sometimes they have not opportunitie to exercise them otherwise unless you would have them hide their Talents and to what end doe you Quakers write so many books and spread them