show according to that Latine Verse Fabula narratur mutato Nomine de te i.e. Change the Name and the Tale is told truly of thy thy self CHAP. III. IN his first Argument he accuseth me to be guilty of a Lye in matter of Fact and that I pretend to an assurance for it from the Spirit of God and the Lye he alledgeth in matter of Fact is That I charge their Confession of Faith for holding that the Scriptures ought to be believed for their own outward Evidence and Testimony and not for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in mens Hearts And to prove this to be a Lye he citeth some words of that Confession which saith Our full perswasion and assurance of the infallible Truth and divine Authority of the holy Scriptures is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our Hearts And for a further Confirmation he alledgeth John Owen saying That the Scripture be received as the Word of God there is a twofold Efficacy of the Spirit c. withal affirming That I cover Lye with Lye To which I Answer Cotton Mather and not I is guilty of two gross Lyes or Falshoods in this Charge first That I pretend to an assurance from the Spirit in matter of Fact concerning what they hold is a manifest Perversion for I bring my assurance in matter of Fact not from the Spirit but from their Confession of Faith which I have diligently examined but the knowledge I have that their Doctrine in that particular is false I bring from the Spirit of God that hath given me the understanding thereof and is Truth and no Lye 2 dly That he saith Their Confession doth grant that the Scriptures are to be believed for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in mens hearts but this it doth not say nor can it be gathered by any just consequence to be their sence seeing they deny with C.M. and his Brethren all inward objective immediate Testimony and Revelation of the Spirit And whereas the Confession mentioneth the inward Work of the holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word viz. the Scripture in our Hearts This doth sufficiently prove That their Confession doth not mean or intend any inward Testimony of the Spirit reallâ— and properly so called as having a standing Evidence of its own bâ—â— only borrowed from the Scripture and therefore is no true and proper Evidence at all but only and altogether improper yea as improper as if I should say when I hear but one man give Evidence to the Truth of a thing and that I read it also in wâ—it from his hand that three Evidences or Witnesses have given their Evidence to that Truth as 1 st the Maâ— â— dly my Ear that heard him 3 dly my Eye that hath reâ—d his writ But what sober Man will say these are three Witnesses or Evidences And would it not be a great Cheat to say That whereas the Law requireth two Witnesses and there is but one man that giveth witness to Cotton Mathers hearing that C.M. should alledge his Ears are other two Witnesses because they have heard him and so they are three in all And as great a Cheat and Fallacy is it to call the witness of the Scripture the inward Witness of the Spirit when they confess the inward Work of the Spirit is only Effective to open the Ear to hear the outward Witness of the Scripture but not to speak by any distinct Witness to the inward Ear And it is like that other Fallacy as if James being required to give his Witness he giveth it not by himself but by John and John being required to give his Witness he giveth it by James but neither of them by himself or at least the one not by himself for when they are asked By what do they know the Scriptures to be the Word of God they answer By the Spirit And again By what do they know the Spirit they answer By the Scripture And thus the Fallacy and Falshood both of the Confession and of C.M. is detected and G.K. is cleared from being no wise guilty of any Lye in the case And what I said of John Owen is true for the Title and design of his Book is concerning The Self-Evidencing Authority of the holy Scriptures only he confesseth the Spirits inward Work is necessary to let men see or know it but that is no proper Witness more than a mans hearing is one Witness and the thing heard is another I do therefore Appeal to all sober impartial and judicious Readers Whether not I but Cotton Mather be not convicted of gross Lying or Falshood and whether the Society he belongs unto ought not to bring him to Repentance for such Crimes to use some of his own words His Second Argument is That I am guilty of having committed most horrible Blasphemy against the holy Spirit of God which is the unpardonable Sin And though he doth charge this one while positively yet another while If I have not the certain yet fearful Marks of it and my Sin is very like that Sin and yet again charging it positively on me That I have taken part with the Pharisees in dorg that impardonable Injury to the Eternal Spirit of God But how doth he prove any thing of this to have the lest show or shadow of truth Why because as he alledgeth I called his and his Brethrens Prayers more than once a Conjuring of the Devil and do put on them the stile of Charms and Spells by which Prayers he alledgeth he and his Brethren did cast out the Devil that did Bodily possess some Young People and that therefore their Prayers were the special Operations of the holy Ghost which I blaspheme and that therefore I have committed the Vnpardonable Sin But I Answer 1 st As I said in my Book called A Refutation c. I am little concerned whether or not these Young People were bewitched or had a Diabolical Possession further than to take notice That C.M. will have it to be so to make the simple believe that his and his Brethrens Prayers did conjure the Devil and cast him out by which it is most clearly apparent to every one of common sence that I did not mean that his or his Brethrens Prayers were done by any Diabolical Art or Craft of Conjuration for I do not think them to be Conjurers but that they would have People believe that by some divine Power of Exorcism as was frequent in the primitive Church they did conjure the Devil which is as widely different from his Perversion as East from West Now I cannot believe that they had this divine Gift of Exorcism which was a Miraculous Gift in those primitive Times that Popish Priests do also pretend to have and many strongly affirm they have cured many by their Prayers because they commonly say That Immediate Revelaiion with the Gifts of Miracles are ceased How then can
the whole Godhead is perfect and infinite in Being and Power and Wisdom and Goodness in which all his Attributes are comprehended but yet a distinct Vnderstanding of them all is not of absolute necessity to Salvation That this God is the Creator Preserver and Disposer of all things and the Owner and Ruler of Mankind most Just and Merciful that as he is the beginning of all so he is the ultimate end and the chief good of Man which before all things else must be loved and Sought Concerning the Son we must moreover believe That he is the same God with the Father the second Person in Trinity Incarnate and so became Man by a Personal Vnion of the Godhead and Manhood He omitteth his being conceived of the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary which was needful to have been exprest it being a great Article of our Christian Faith That he was without Original or Actual Sin having a sinless Nature and a sinless Life That he fullfilled all Righteousness and was put to Death as a Sacrifice for our sins and gave himself a Ransom for us and being buried he rose again from the dead and afterward ascended into Heaven where he is Lord of all and interceedeth for Believers That he will come again and raise the dead and judge the World the Righteous to Everlastâ—â—â— Life and the Wicked to Everlasting Punishment That this is the onâ— Redeemer the Way the Truth and the Life neither is there access to thâ— Father but by him nor Salvation in any other Concerning the Holy Ghost we must believe That he is the same one God the third Person in Trinity sent by the Father and the Son to inspire the Prophets and Apostles and thaâ— the Doctâ—ine inspired and miraculously attested by him is true that he iâ— the Sanctifier of these that shall be saved renewing them after the Image of God in Holiness and Righteoâ—sness giving them true Repentance Faith Hope Love and sincere Obedience causing them to overcome the Flesh the World and the Devil thus gathering a holy Church on Earth to Christ who have by his Blood the Pardon of all their sins and shall have Everlasting Blâ—ssâ—dness with God This saith Richard Baxter is the Essence of the Christian Faith as to the Matter of it And now as concerning that judged by Richard Baxter the Essence of the Christian Faith as to the Matter of it I declare sincerely without all Equivocation or mental Reservation in the true and genuine sence of the Words that I have transcribed out of his said Treatise that I know not wherein I or my Brethren of my Faith and Perswasion differ from him in any one particular as to the matter of it or substance therein contained the only exception we have is against that unscriptural Term or Phrase of Three Persons or a Trinity of Persons but we own sincerely That our Faith ought to be and is in God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost and that these Names are Names of Relation respecting the Relations as well as the Relative Offices and Works of those Three and this being granted by us in the sincerity of our Hearts we are excused or cleared by John Calvin for whose Memory I suppose C. Mather hath as full and great esteem as for R. Baxter for in his first Book of Institutions cap. 13. n. 5. he saith expresly Vtinam quidem sepulta essent se inventâ— Nomina as he expresly calleth them Trium Personarum constaret modo hec inter omnes Fides Patrem et Filium et Spiritum esse unum Deum nec tamen aut Filium esse Patrem aut Spiritum Filium sed proprietate quadam esse distinctos neque enim tam precisa sum austeritate ut obnudas voculas digladiari sustineam In English thus I wish saith he the invented Names viz. of Three Persons were buried providing this Faith were manifest among all that the Father the Son and the Spirit is one God and yet that the Son is not the Father nor that the Spirit is the Son but that they are distinct by a certain Property to wit in their â—â—lative Attributes as that the Father did beget the Son and the â—on was begotten of the Father and that the holy Spirit did proceed â—â—om both for I am not of such precise Austerity said Calvin that â—or bare small Words I would contend and withall he confesseth That the Orthodox antiently did not agree about these Terms or invented Words â—â—at he acknowledgeth were invented since the Apostles dayes to guard â—gainst the Arrian Sabellian and other Heresies And therefore since we are altogether free of these Heresies and that we detest them from our very Souls no sober Christian will judge uncharitably of us in that respect And as for the word Distinct if some of our Friends taking it to signifie distant or seperated asunder one from another as in remote and distant places have refused it in this and other matters as indeed sometimes at least vulgarly it doth so signifie as when we say America is distinguished from Europe by a great spacious Sea interveening they ought not to be accused for so doing seeing in that other sence of the word Distinct that is more in use among Schollars as when we say Things are distinct when the one is not the other they own a Distinction as that the Father is not the Son the Son is not the Father though he is our Father and is expresly call'd in Scripture the Everlasting Father and Christ's Manhood and Body is not the Godhead and yet one Christ as the Body of a Man is not his Soul and yet Body and Soul is one Man and in this second sence we do allow the word distinct And as to the Manner of receiving the Christian Faith we grant with him first That it must not only be received as true into our Understanding by a special divine Illumination that is supernatural but must be imbraced by the Will Heart and Affections as good yea exceeding good and worthy of all acceptation by a special divine Motion and working of the holy Spirit that is supernatural in upon the Will Heart and Affections 2 dly That as touching all the peculiar Mysteries and Doctrines of Faith the Scriptures have been Instrumental by and together with the immediate working of the Spirit to beget in us the true Faith of them But in this we differ I suppose from him as well as from C. Mather and his Brethren of New-England that whereas they hold That the Spirit of God worketh in Believers Effectively but not Objectively or by way of sensible Object or sensibly and perceptibly by its own Self-Evidence and Demonstration to mens Hearts and Souls We affirm That the Spirit of God worketh in Believers both Effectively 〈◊〉 also Objectively or by way of sensible Object or sensibly and â—â—â—ceptibly by its own Evidence and Demonstration to mens Heaâ—â—â— and Souls And this divers call'd Protestants have
to Rom. 1.21 22. but in this as mostly every where he perverteth my words and sense for he hath left out my following words according to the present state And what I mean by them I show a little after That such who have a measure of sincerity in their Gentile state but having no Faith in Christ crucified are but Servants and not Sons of the free Woman but are under the Law and though accepted so far as sincere in the Servants state as I proved from Acts 10.1 2 34 35. yet not thereby justified as Sons for I have acknowledged that without the Faith of Christ crucified and raised again without us none are or can be so justified yet they are as the Kings Prisoners and as the Man-slayer was in the City of Refuge under the Law till he heard of the Death of the High-Priest and such are shut up under the Safeguard of the Law as Beza translates it unto the Faith that is afterwards to be revealed Gal. 3.23 So there is a place of Refuge although C.M. know it not Nor doth Rom. 1.21 22. contradict it for that place speaketh not of all Gentiles but these of the worst of them 2 dly That some may be saved without outward hearing or preaching is granted by the Westminster Confession in the case of Infants and Deaf and Dumb Persons and therefore how devout and Conscientious Gentiles can be saved hath not the least shadow of greater difficulty to understand And that none are eternally saved wiâ—hout the Faith of Christ I have granted in my Catechism and other Treatises and do still grant see Sect. 4. Quest. 10. but how this Faith it wrought in such is best to leave it until God be pleased further to open it seeing as the Westminster Confession saith God worketh by his Spirit when where and how he pleaseth and as Christ said The Spirit bloweth where it listeth the greek word can well be translated Spirit and is so by some Translators 3 dly That the Principle of the New-Covenant is in all Men is not contradicted by Ephes 2.12 but is confirmed by Rom. 10.8 9 10. compared with Deut. 30.14 and Christs Parable of the Seed sown in four grounds And why may not the Seed of the New Covenant lie in the hearts of unregenerate Men for a Season as the Seed of Wheat may lie not having root in the cold dry ground for a Season till it be moistened warmed with the Showers Sun's warmth in the Spring 4 thly That having more Wives than one was unlawful under the Law is not contrary to Mat. 19.45 48. for altho' Man had but one wife given him at the beginning yet the Law that permitted such a thing to men as the like in the case of Divorce came in afterwards And it is absurd to think that Abraham sinned against the Law in his Conscience writ in his very Nature and therefore commonly call'd the Law of Nature in having two Wives at once for all sins against the Law of Nature are hainous sins and of great aggravation as the Westminster Confession acknowledgeth But seeing no such sin is charged on Abraham and that he was in great favour with God at that very time it cannot be said to be against that Law writ in his Nature though it be against the Law of the New-Covenant now under the Gospel 5 thly That we are to wait in Silence for some aid and assistance of the Spirit to help us to pray doth not contradict Acts 8.22 for as Peter commanded Simon Magus to pray so he bid him Repent and Pray and that he had not the Spirit was his own fault as it is the fault of all others who have it not to assist them both to wait and pray also Nor doth mens want of the Spirit because they depart from it and resist the gentle Motions thereof excuse their neglect of Prayer no more than a mans want of Money excuseth him to pay a just Debt yet he must not go to pay his debt with falsâ— Coyn no more should a man pray with a Hypocritical Spirit Nor 6 thly doth Rom. 3.28 prove that Repentance as well as Faith is not a necessary Condition and Instrument of our Justification for true Gospel Repentance is not the Work of the Law but of Faith and his Reverend R. Baxter doth hold with the Quakers against him That Faith and sincere Obedience are necessary Conditions and Instruments of Justification and to teach so he doth not think Popish as doth sufficiently appear by what he hath printed on that subject see his Aphorisms of Justification pag. 80. where he saith Some Ignorant Wretches gnash their Teeth at this very Doctrine as if it were flat Popery viz. That Men are justified by Faith as it is an inward Obedience Nor 7 thly doth Rom. 9.11 prove that Esau was a Reprobate before he was born or at any time afterwards yea Cotton Mather with his Boston Brethren in their former Book dare not affirm That Esau was a Reprobate and that men are not born Reprobates though some are preferred to others before they are born but become Reprobates after they have nothing good left in them is clear from Scripture that calleth reprobate men Dross after the precious Mettle is extracted from it and Chaff that hath no grain of Wheat in it Nor 8 thly doth Acts 8.38 prove that Christs Baptism is with Water for as the Practice of Circumcision after Christs Resurrection doth not prove it a Gospel-Precept no more doth the practise of Water Baptism but both Christ and John did teach That Christs Baptism was with Fire and the holy Ghost but no where is it said that Christ baptizeth with Water Nor 9 thly doth 1 Cor. 11.26 prove That Believers may not feed upon Christ by Faith and so sup with him and he with them as well when they eat not as when they do eat together outwardly remembring the Lords Death with Solemn Prayer and Thanks-giving which we grant is good frequently to be done And thus I have fully answer'd all his frivolous and weak Objections against my Catechism so that he hath not discovered the least grain of Error in it nor doth any thing that I have said in my other printed Treatises contradict the Doctrine of my Catechism as he doth falsly alledge perverting my words in most things to a sence contrary to my mind or to what they can bear so far is he from that Candor of giving them a favourable Construction But I intend not to follow him in his manifold Impertinences to weary either my Reader or my self and shall come to give a brief and plain Answer to his Five Arguments whereby he would perswade the People in New-England to turn away from hearing me the which Arguments savour more of bitter Prejudice and extream Folly and Rashness than of â—â—y Wit or Judgment and hath nothing of Truth in them and might be easily retorted upon himself where they have the best seeming
Now what was lost by Adam is 〈◊〉 by Christ the same Righteousness only it is not 〈◊〉 but super-inducâ—â— nor Integral but interrupted but such as it is there is no difference 〈◊〉 that the same or the like Principle may be derived to us from Christ as there should have been from Adam that in a Principle of Obedience a Regularity of Faculties a Beauty in the Soul and a state of Acceptation with God And we see also in men of Vnderstanding 〈◊〉 Reason the Spirit of God dwells in them wâ—ich Tatianus describing 〈◊〉 these words The Soul is possessed with the sparks of the Power of the Spirit and yet sometimes it is ineffective and unactive sometimes more sometimes less and does no more do its work at all times than the Soul does at all times understand Add to this that if there be in Infants naturally an evil Principle a Proclivity to sin an Ignorance and Pravity of Mind a Disorder of Affections as Experience teacheth us there is and the perpetual Doctrine of the Church and the universal Mischiefs issuing from Mankind and the sin of every man does witness too much why cannot Infants have a good Principle in them though it works not till its own season as well as an evil Principle If there were not by Nature some evil Principle it is not possible that all the World should chuse sin In free Agents it was never heard that all Individuals loved chose the same thing to which they were not naturally inclined neither do all men chuse to Marry neither do all chuse to abstain and in this Instance there is a natural Inclination to one part but of all the men and women in the World there is no one that hath never sinned If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us said an Apostle If therefore Nature hath in Infants an evil Principle which operates when the 〈…〉 out is all the while within the Soul eithâ—â— Infants have by Grace 〈…〉 into them or else sin abounds where Grace does not 〈…〉 against the Doctrine of the Apostle Noâ—â— All this doth most manifestly agree to what I have said both concerning the Seed of Sin and the Seed of Gods Grace being in all men in my printed Book 〈◊〉 The Presbyterian and Independent Visible â—â—â—rches brought to the 〈◊〉 pag. 90 91 92. Concerning certainty of Salvation pag. 3. sect 13. n. 9. The sum 〈◊〉 this All that are in the state of Beginners and Imperfection hav◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—tinual Certainty changeable and fallible in respect of us for we 〈◊〉 not with what is in Gods secret Purposes changeable I say as their Will and Resolutions They that are grown towards Perfection have more reason to be confident and many times are so but still although the strength of the habits of Grace adds degrees of moral Certainty to their Expectation yet it is but as their Condition is hopeful and promising and of a moral Determination But to those few to whom God hath given Confirmation in Grace he hath also given a Certainty of Condition and therefore if that be revealed to them their Condition is in self certain but their Perswasion is not so but in the highest kind of Hope an Anchor of the Soul sure and stedfast Note This doth manifestly agree to what I have said on that subject in my foresaid Book pag. 136. Concerning Faith Part 2. Sect. 10. N. 4. For the Faith of a Christian hath more in it of the Will than of the Vnderstanding Faith is that great Mark of Distinction which seperates and gives Formality to the Covenant of the Gospel which is a Law of Faith The Faith oâ— a Christian is his Religion that is it is that whole Conformity to the Institution or Discipline of Jesus Christ which distinguishes him from the Believers of false Religions And N. 6. It viz. Faith is of the same Condition and Constitution with other Graces all which equally relate to Christ and are as firm Instruments of Vnion and are washed by the Blood of Christ and are sanctified by his Death and apprehend him in their Capacity and Degrees some higher and some not so high but Hope and Charity apprehend Christ in a measure and proportion greater than Faith when it distinguishes from them So that if Faith does the Work of Justification as it is a meer Relation to Christ then so also does Hope and Charity or if these are Duties and good Works so also is Faith and they all being alike commanded in order to the same end and encouraged by the same Reward are also accepted upon the same Stock which is that they are Acts of Obedience and Relation too they obey Christ and lay hold upon Christs Merits and are but several Instances of the great Duty of a Christian but the Actions of several Faculties of the New Creature But because Faith is the beginning Grace and hath Influence and Causalty in the production of the other therefore 〈◊〉 others as they are united in Duty are also united in their Title and Appellative they are all called by the Name of Faith because they are parts of Faith as Faith is taken in the largest sence and when it is taken in the strictest and distinguishing sence they are Effects and proper Products by way of Emanation N. 8. So that Faith and Charity in the sence of a Christian are but one Duty as the Vnderstanding and the Will are but one reasonable Soul only they produce several Actions in order to one another which are but divers Operations and the same Spirit Note This doth manifestly agree to what I have said in my foresaid Book pag. 129 130 131. Dr. Cave concerning Justification in the Life of Paul Sect. 9. N. 15. Works of Evangelical Obedience are not opposed to Faith in Justification in that Faith as including the New Nature and the keeping Gods Câ—â—mandments is made the usual Condition of Justification nor 〈…〉 otherwise when other Graces and Virtues of the Christian Life are made the Terms of Pardon and Acceptance with Heaven and of our Title to the Merits of Christs Death and the great Promise of Eternal Life citing Acts 2.38 cap. 3.17 Mark 11. 25 26. 1 John 1.7 Note And so doth this well agree to the Contents aforesaid Joseph Glanvel Fellow of the Royal Society in his Treatise of Witchcraft Part 1. § 13. pag. 49. saith Gods more near and immediate imparting himself to the Soul that is prepared for that Happiness by divine Love Humility and Resignation in the way of a vital Touch and Sence is a thing possible in it self and will be a great part of our Heaven That Glory is begun in Grace and God is pleased to give some excellent Souls the happy Antepast That holy men in antient Times have sought and gloried in this enjoyment never complain so sorely as when it was with-held interrupted That the Expressions of Scripture run infinitely this way and the
so to be and that a charitable Construction cannot be safely and sincerely put upon them but that they do contradict the holy Scriptures and the wholsom Doctrine therein delivered by the holy Prophets and Apostles we do sincerely deny and disown them and declare our being ready with all possible sincerity to disown them upon due notice and advertisment for though we affirm That the Spirit of God in us and all Belieâ—ers in every discovery it gives is infallible yet we have never judged our selves absolutely infallible nor did we ever place or fix an absolute Infallibility upon any Man or Number of â—â—â—iety of Men since the Apostles dayes but through Gods mercy 〈◊〉 are sensible of our danger of being liable to Mistakes as well as â—â—her men if we be not duely humble watchful and careful to keep â—lose and chaste to the pure openings teachings and leadings of the infallible Spirit of Truth And we readily grant the great benefit we have by the holy Scriptures as being instrumental by and with â—he immediate working of the Spirit to preserve us from Error or if any be overtaken in an Error and beguiled by the Enemy to Recover and Restore them there-from therefore it is that in all respects we prefer the Scriptures both to our own and all other Writings and if any Doctrine or Practice be found contrary thereunto upon due and impartial Examination we say it ought to be disowned and denyed for the Scriptures of Truth and the Spirit of Truth that gave them forth can never contradict the one to the other CHAP. II. IT cannot with any colour of Justice be expected by Cot. Mather that I should give a particular Reply to all things in his Book called An Address said or alledged against the People called Quakers in general or me in particular until such time that he give a distinct particular Answer to my former Book called The pretended Antidote proved Poyson c. particularly directed to him and his Brethren and to the several Chapters and Sections thereof which he hath not so much as essayed wherein notwithstanding almost the whole matter he doth muster up against us in his late Address is sufficiently and solidly answered and therefore until he give a full and distinct particular Answer to the said Book I judge not my self obliged so much as to notice many things contained in his said Address being filled with manifest falshoods perversions and abuses sufficiently already Replyed unto partly by others and partly by me but containing no new matter against us excepting his Personal Reflections against me which yet I think not to spend much Time or Paper to answer most of them being so manifestly false and foolish that of themselves they fall and evanish only I intend to give a short glance or hint at some of the most considerable Abuses and Perversions he musteret◠〈◊〉 against us Pag. 3. He saith If I have one spark of Light in me Quakerism 〈◊〉 but a profound and deadly pit of Darkness Answ This Assertion doâ—â— not come from any true Light in him but from his Darkness Pag. 4. Quakerism under pretence of advancing the spiritual Objeâ—â— of Religion goes to annihilate all the Sensible Ans False Again pag. 4. There is hardly any one Fundamental Article of thâ— reformed Religion whereby we look to be saved that is not undermined by Quakerism Ans But of this he has not given one true instance And as to what he alledgeth that some of us have said The Letter is not the Word of God to wit properly and without a figure he himself hath said as much see pag. 59. And that some of us have call'd their Books Light risen out of Darkness Shields of Truth c. they understood it not but metaphorically or figuratively by some Metonymy as is common in all Titles of Books but we have alwayes preferred the Scriptures to our Writings And that the Scriptures may be call'd the Word of God in a figurative Speech and also that the True Sense signified in them is the Word of God I have acknowledged and so I do still but that the inward Testimony of God in our Hearts is more properly and immediately the Word of God than the outward Testimony of the Scripture I still affirm with Augustine and other antient Writers As for his citing William Penn's words agruing against that same Numerical Body its rising at the Resurrection it is clear that he understandeth the same exact Number of the small Particles or Dusts neither more nor less than what is commonly buried and what hurt is there in that doth not C.M. and his Brethren generally say as well as W. Penn That at the Resurrection all shall rise Men and not Infants nor lame nor defective in any part and yet how many Thousands dye Infants and defective in some Bodily Members That some have denyed the Saints as such to be miserable Sinners it ought to be considered that according to the common stile of Scripture Saints and Sinners are distinguished and the unconverted are called Sinners for the denomination of a thing is taken chiefly from that which is the greatest part but â—ecause in all Saints even the weakeâ—â— Grace and Holiness is the chief and gâ—eatest part therefore from that they receive their Denomination and are said to â—e righteous and clean and not to do Iniquity That one said The Scripâ—â—â—â—â—s not the means by which Faith is wrought it can receive a candid â—â—â—â—â—pretation as to say the only means excluding the inward Grace 〈◊〉 Operation of the Spirit as some say Medicine is not the means of 〈◊〉 Cure though a Means it is understood not the only means â—nd whereas he querieth If their Primmer hath yet been corrected 〈◊〉 they read False Teachers preach Christ without and bid People 〈◊〉 in him as he is in Heaven If he mean William Smith's Primmer 〈◊〉 I believe he doth I Answer Yea it hath been Corrected in the 〈◊〉 Edition of his other Treatises joyned with it as is plainly to be 〈◊〉 thus That false Teachers preach Christ only without but true â—â—eachers preach Christ both without us and also within us And what William Penn argueth as concerning Three Persons he â—nly argueth against the invented Names Persons as Calvin doth â—cknowledge them as above-said which in all proper Language doth signifie Substances and not meer Properties or relative Attributes which W.P. will not deny to be in God Nor are W. P's words so to be understood concerning Justification as if he excluded Christ's Righteousness which he fulfilled in his own Person but only he denyeth that any can be justified by that alone without Faith and Repentance c. As for Bodily Tremblings that they are not so common among these called Quakers as formerly as good or better Reason can be given as that these or the like unusual Motions that seized on the Bodies of some Presbyterians in Scotland about fifty Years ago are not now so common among them
which the Author of The fulfilling of the Scriptures doth plainly acknowledge was about that time among them and indeed many of these Tremblings and extraordinary Motions that seized on the Bodies of some Presbyterians many call'd Quakers in these dayes did proceed in great part from the small experience of and little acquaintance that these Persons had at first with that sensible manner of the working of Gods Spirit and that there were but few at first that could well advise them to bear with more composure and quiet of Body that manner of workings whereas by more frequent Experience many did and do at this day witness and feel sensibly not only as great but oft greater inward Workings of the Spirit of God on all accounts and yet can bear them and most willingly and gladly submit to them with little or no Observation of any Bodily Trembling for as in going to War and heariâ—◠〈◊〉 dreadful Sound of Guns Trumpets and Drums the young Soulâ—â—â—â—â— are oft afraid even to a degree of Bodily Trembling yet aâ—â—â—â—wards having more Experience they feel not either that Bodâ—â—â— Trembling nor such fear that is the cause of it and as Water aâ—â— Fire at its first breaking forth is more violent and yet afterwarâ— is fully as effectual without such Violence so at the first hearinâ— of Thunder and seeing the terrible Flashes of Lightning Persoâ—â— are much more afraid than after when they are more acquainteâ— with it by frequency thereof so it might be and was so that the Power and Spirit of God did work in former dayes with a more seeming Force upon many and yet since doth work as effectually now and sometimes more without it so as not to come under such frequent Observation and yet even Bodily Tremblings are still witnessed proceeding from the inward working of Gods Spirit among us as the Apostle saith Knowing the Terrors of the Lord we perswade men Pag. 12. For the words of Humphry Norton alledged by C.M. I have made inquiry at divers but can find no intelligence of any such words in any Book of his but if any such have dropt from him or any other tending to deny the Faith of Christ's being in Heaven in his glorified Body of Man without us we shall be far from excusing them for we zealously believe That the Man Christ is in Heaven without us in his glorified Body of Man the same for Being he had on Earth but wonderfully changed in Manner and Condition as is clearly and fully expressed in that late Treatise given forth by our Friends in Rhode-Island called The Christian Faith c. Vindicated c. But yet we cannot approve of the too carnal Conceptions of many carnal and ignorant Professors that have too carnal Imagination of Christ and confine him altogether to such a Remoteness that they wiâ—â— not allow any Measure of him to dwell in Believers plain contrary to the Scripture Pag. 12. And whereas he saith If they own those Principles why won't they give us leave to own them I Answer We blame you not for owning them providing ye did own them as ye ought to do in the true and right Faith of them that proceedeth from the Spirits inward Inspiration and Revelation sensibly working by way of sensible Object upon the inward and spiritual Senses of mens Souls but this ye deny and therefore it is not the matter but manner of your ownâ—â—â— them that we commonly blame even as some said that the Lord â—â—â—ed yet they swore falsly because they did it hypocritically not â—nowing him to live in them but yet sometimes in these very things ye err also in the matter Pag. 15. That the Quakers adore G.K. either for his outward Learning and make him their Head or for any other thing is false nor doth he seek any such false Honour it sufficeth him to be loved by his Friends and neither he nor his Friends make any other account of outward Learning but to be the foot-stool of Christ and subservient to his Truth and as the Spoils of the Aegyptians were made serviceable to the Israelites And that he saith This Keith it is who has given the greatest advantages to Quakerism and that with no little Alterations How this is consistent with his representing me as if I were Mad pag. 44. and extreamly Ignorant doth not appear And as for Alterations great or small that I have made in the Quakers Principles as rightly understood delivered by our most Antient Friends of best account in general he hath not proved He calleth my late Catechism A wily Catechism wherein Quakerism is so disguised as that one would almost suspect him a real Protestant and yet he will needs have it that the Juice of Toads is as wholsom a Potion But it is strange that such a Wily Catechism and so politically contrived should proceed from a Mad-man and extreamly Ignorant as he would have me to be But however I say that Catechism is writ and given forth in true sincerity without any disguise and doth as really bespeak me a true Protestant as all true Quakers are as it doth seem to represent me to be and will be found to have nothing that 's hurtful in it but profitable and wholsom I hope upon impartial Examination That the inward excusing or condemning Principle as he chargeth on us p. 15. which all men are born with is the Man Christ Jesus is not asserted by any called Quakers that I know unless by a figure called Synecdoche of giving the Name of the whole to the measure and by a Metonyme as where in Scripture the second Adam is called the quickening Spirit and the Light of the World but the Quakers so called generally acknowledge that the Spirit Light and Life dwelleth in all fullness only in the glorified Body of the Man Christ Jesus without them and the measures of it not seperated from the Fullness more or less as he is pleased to give in Believers Nor do the Quakers saâ—â— that men bring with them into the World these inward Illumination and Convictions and other Operations of the Light or Spirit whether common or special that men feel by experience in them when at Age although none can come into the World but as the Almighty Power and Arm of God who formed them in the Mothers Womb doth bring them and as that eternal Word without which nothing is made doth appoint them in their several Ages and Generations And for Christian Lodowicks Challenge against our Friends in Rhode-Island it is already answered and they are cleared from his Calumnies and our Christian Religion sufficiently distinguished from either Paganism Judaism or Mahumatism And the Exceptions he makes against my Catechism are soon answered if his Perversions were but detected 1 st That some who are left without either the help of the holy Scriptures or holy Men do yet so rightly improve the inward help of Christs Light as to be accepted with God This he saith is altogether contrary
they have them And I appeal to all sober Readers Whether Cotton Mather hath not grosly perverted my words that because I did not own them to have a divine Power of Exorcism whereby to conjure the Devil as if I did affirm their Prayers were a Conjuring of the Devil which instead of affirming I strongly denyed as the Reader may see in my Book called A Refutation c. and by this and his other man Pervertions of my words I may take measure how he is too like to have perverted grosly the words of my Friends in his alledged Citations that I have not seen in their Books when he doth so palpably pervert my words to a plain contrary sence that is obvious to them of the weakest Capacity Nor did I call his and his Brethrens Prayers Charms and Spells as he alledgeth see my Book p. 71 72. only I said That seeing they generally mock at any at this day laying claim to divine Inspiration and Revelation I cannot own their Prayers to be true they are liker to Charms and Spells of superstitious Persons c. But this will not infer that I did really call or judge them Charms or Spells for I think they are not Witches except in that sense used by Paul Gal. 3.1 because they bewitch not the Bodies but the Souls of People from believing and obeying the Truth for I may say one thing is liker to another thing and yet not say it is that very thing As if I should say C.M. is liker to a Pharisee or Mass-Priest than to a true Minister of Christ doth it therefore follow that I judge he is really a Pharisee or Mass-Priest or to use his Phrase were the Transmigration of Souls a Truth if I should say Cotton Mather is liker Demetrius the Silver-Smith who accused Paul because his and his Brethren's Craft was in danger to be set at naught Acts 19.27 than to a true Minister of Christ Doth it therefore follow that I judge that C.M. is Demetrius risen again from the dead By no means And for his comparing me to Alexander the Copper-Smith it is foolish and envious I honour and esteem highly both Paul's Doctrine and himself and all the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord and therefore I do nothing resemble Alexander the Copper-Smith but C.M. and his Brethren do too much resemble not only Alexander the Copper-Smith who opposed Paul but Demetrius the Silver-Smith that they are in such fear their Craft be set at nought by the People call'd Quakers else why do they make such a stir about their Wages and Hire Whereas if they were true Ministers of Christ they should preach his Gospel freely as the Apostles and others do and as true Ministers of Christ now do And His accusing me of having committed the Vnpardonable Sin upon a meer Forgery of his own hatched in his Brains by the Father of Lyes puts me in mind of what I have read in the Church History writ by Lucas Osiander How when two of the Patricy of Rome that were Christians whom Pope Sixtus had Excommunicate for their accusing him to have been too familiar with some of the consecrated Virgins had begged of him to be Relaxed professing their Repentance and urging Christs Doctrine If thy Brother Trespass against thee and return not only Seven Times c. thou shalt forgive him The proud Pope refused to Relax them affirming They had committed that Vnpardonable Sin because they had offended him And like to this the English Hobbs who is no good Philosopher and a worse Divine saith in one of his Books by way of a smart Satyr against the Clergy That if any offend a Clergy-man alias a black Coat â—e will tell them they have commitâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Vnpardonable Sin of Blasphemy against the holy Ghost as Cotton â—â—â—her hath here served me but without all just cause I bless God and therefore the sober People of New-England have cause to consider better what sort of men these are who make Lyes their Refuge and their Weapons whereby they fight against us Nor do I yet find the least cause to incline me to believe that C. M's Prayers did cast out the Devil out of these Children as he alledgeth seeing they say Miracles are ceased and Divine Exorcisme was one of these Miraculous Gifts of Gods Spirit and C.M. himself helpeth us to understand if these Children were really bewitched how they were cured by some other means than his and his Brethrens Prayers to wit as he plainly confesseth pag. 44. compared with pag. 12. That one thing in the Childrens deliverance was the strange Death of an horrible Old Woman who was presumed to have a great hand in their affliction And pag. 12. he telleth When the Witch was going to her Excution she said the Children should not be relieved by her Death for others had a hand in it as well as she And thus from C.M. we have found other means of the Childrens cure than his and his Brethrens Prayers the which seeing he calleth them Dirt and Dung in his Book were not likely to be means of dispossessing the Devil out of those Children indeed we read that Christ wrought a miracle with Clay and Spittle but no where that I remember that ever he wrought a Miracle with Dirt and Dung beside he seemeth to be more guilty of Blasphemy that calleth their Prayers which he saith are the special Operations of the holy Spirit Dirt and Dung as he plainly doth And with as little success doth C.M. seek to defend his false Gloss on Christs words as if Christ had taught That Sathan is not divided against Sathan Whereas I said Sathan is divided against Sathan there being no true unity in his Kingdom and therefore it must fall and not be perpetual nor in thâ—â— do I in â—he least wrest from Christs Argument against the Jews because I did acknowledge that Christ argued most strongly against them ad hominem And supposing that Sathan at times did cast out Sathan yet that is but that Sathan may enter again some more dangerous way or fully as dangerous but whom Christ cureth he so cureth that Sathan by his means doth not again enter but the holy Spirit of God as was fullfilled in Mary Magdelen And whereas he saith He is mistaken if he hath not the generality of Interpreters on his side he hath not showed who this generality is and he showeth how little he is versed in Antiquity otâ—â—â—wise he might have remembred how Origine above thirteen hundâ—â—â— Years ago doâ—h contradict him and say the same with me for thus he writeth expresly in his Comment on John pag. 424. of his 2d Tom. printed at Basil 1557. Cum enim admisissâ—t esse quendam Beelzebub et que illias presidio Demonia ejiceret dissidam â—eluti quoddam Satane operari eo quod secum ipse dissideret hec in quit i.e. When Christ had allowed that there was a certain Belzebub and that he who did cast out Devils by his Power
hath perverted my words and belyed me in many things then he cryeth out Ignorance and other things that are Scripture Truths he calleth my Ignorance whereas it is but his Ignorance that doth not understand better And I doubt not but Judicious and Impartial Readers who compare his Books and mine will have another Judgment concerning me and acknowledge to Gods Praise the Gifts both of sound Knowledge and Expression with his manifold other Mercies bestowed on me for which I desire to praise him forever And for my saying That Light being used as a Name of God is no Figurative or Tropical Expression I have already above explained my sense of it That the Natural Light is the Figure of God that Divine Light but the Divine Light is not the Figure of the Natural as Figures of Metaphors and Tropes in Natural things commonly are quite otherwise And Augustine De Genes ad Lit. lib. 4. cap. 28. expresly affirmeth That Christ is Properly and not Figuratively called Light and yet who will say that Augustine was not a more knowing Man than Cotton Mather and who can deny but Light is immediate though it comes through a Medium of the Air to our Eyes and through the medium of the Eye to the sense of sight for do we not as immediately see a Candle as we see a Man and yet the species or image of both come to our Eyes through the medium of the Air So that in this as in many other things he showeth his own extream Ignorance that 's not worth time to mention And that he reckoneth it my Ignorance that I say Christ commanded not these words to be used in Baptism In the Name of the Father and of the Son c. commonly called the words of Institution As he can neâ—er prove any such Institution so he hath Zuinglius whom he maketh his President in another case against him for Zuinglius saith expresly Lib. de Bapt. pag. 66. tom 2. Christus Jesus Baptism formulam qua uteremur his verbis non Instituit quem ad modum Theologi bactenus falso Tradiderunt i. e. Christ Jesus did not institute the form of Baptism in these words to be used as the Theologues have heretofore falsly delivered And he is intoxicated with a Spirit of Ignorance and not I as he falsly alledgeth on me to assert That Exod. 20.8 9. so commandeth one day of seven as that it may be First as well as the Seventh Whereas if Natural dayes be meant it cannot be the First but the Seventh for it is not said Remember to keep the First Day for Rest and after that labour Six dayes And that he denyeth and mocketh at an inward and spiritual Day showeth him extreamly Ignorant of spiritual Things as well as his Scoffing showeth his frothy airy Spirit scarcely to be parallell'd Is not the Day of Gods Power Psal 110. an inward and spiritual Day And where it is said Let us walk honestly as in the Day Rom. 13.13 and until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 And is not this an inward Day And that he reproacheth me with Giddiness for saying The Sabbath is Christ to wit the thing figured by the Jews Sabbath In this he reproacheth as well his pretendedly much esteemed Calvin who saith expresly the same lib. 2. cap. 8. n. 32. of his Institutes where he saith Christ is the Truth at whose Presence all the Figures evanish the Body by whose sight the Shadows are left He I say is the fullfilling of the true Sabbath And a little after he chargeth it as Superstition upon them that would make the Observation of the First Day of the Week for a Sabbath to be a Divine Institution and doth fully agree with us That it is to be kept by choice for good Order and assembling together for divine Worship and other good Reasons but not by divine Precept injoyning the strictness of the Jewish Sabbath As for that silly Jest of Baxters that C.M. pleaseth his airy mind with telling the Quakers That their to wit Presbyterian Bells are not carnal else they would not sound so high he might have used it as much against Paul for saying Our Weapons are not carnal as implying that the Sword was a carnal Weapon but according to Rich. Baxter there can be no carnal Sword for then it could not cut whereas things are called Carnal from the hand that useth them as for other causes and the Levitical Laws were called Carnal Ordinances in Scripture And whereas he saith None preach the most intimate Vnion and Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ more than he and his Brethren is a most bold and impudent Untruth seeing 1 st they say expresly That Christ is not at all within us but only without us in Heaven and no wise in us but by â—is Operations as if he and his operations could be divided 2 dly That they deny the Working or Operations of the Spirit of God in the Saints to be Objective or that the Spirit worketh as any sensible Object upon the inward and spiritual Senses of the Saints Hence with Jesuits and Papists from whom they have borrowed that Distinction as I can prove as namely from Sacroboscus a Jesuit Def. decret trident p. 93 94. they say The Spirit worketh Effectively and Subjectively but not Objectively And therefore do they not one whit more preach any nearer Union and Communion with Christ than the darkest Papists yea some Papists that own sensible Workings of the Spirit as some do go far beyond them viz. C. Mather and some of his Brethren in that particular But that I have slandered the Assembly in their saying The Souls of the Righteous are not perfected in Holiness till after Death which C.M. hath twice cast upon me I desire the Reader for his Satisfaction and my Vindication but to read the place that I cited viz. cap. 32. n. 1. where they say expresly thus The Bodies oâ— men after Death return to Dust and see Corruption but their Souls which neither dye nor sleep having an Immortal Subsistence immediately return to God who gave them the Souls of the Righteous being THEN made perfect in Holinss c. Where it is plain that the Adverb of Time Then refers to the word in the first line viz. After Death yea and as would seem then when the Bodies return to Dust and see Corruption that sometimes is a considerable time after Death where dead Bodies are Embalmed but this last part I suppose is an oversight in them And seeing they plead for sin for term of Life yea to the last instant what difference there is that they can make betwixt dying in their sins and living in their sins for Term of Life is not intelligible for in Scripture-phrase Not to have Iniquity purged away till men dye and to dye in Iniquity is all one for the instant of Death is quick as a Thought That I said Notoriously Scandalous Persons Lyars Deceivers Drunkards
from being any design of our Religion that it more than any tendeth to humble the Creature for man can never be truly humbled until he see himself in the Light of God shining in his heart and that will greatly humble him as it did Job and Isaiah and all the holy men of God were humbled and kept humble by bowing down and subjecting thâ—â—r Minds and Thoughts with all their Desires and Affections to that divine Spirit Light and Life of Christ in them that bringeth men to the true Denyal of Self and to cease from all Self-Actings Willings and Runnings that only proceed from their meer Natural Paâ—ts and Abilities whether in Prayer or any other Religious Performance and however such Prayers and Devotions that are performed without the Spirit of God may please mans carnal Mind and give 〈◊〉 false and carnal ease and peace and exalt Self in Man yet they can neâ—â—â—â—â— profit them who use them nor please God for God who is a Spiâ—â—â— will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth And whereas in his 8th page he accuseth the Quakers for their horribly Prayer-less Lives withal asking how many Prayer-less Houses and Prayer-less Tables are to be found among the best of them I Answ In that he is very uncharitable as that the best of us had neither Prayer in our Houses nor at our Tables which is false for not only the most grown up in the Truth but even the least Babes in the Truth are not without frequent Prayer both in their Houses and at their Tables altho' not so very frequent vocally yet sometimes vocally as God is pleased to give an utterance and at other times only with our Hearts which God accepts for vocal and external words of Prayer are not so essential to Prayer but that true Prayer may be and is most frequently without it yea Samuell Rutherford a great Presbyterian saith in his Epistles Words are but the Accidents of Prayer yet Prayer with Words uttered with the Mouth as God is pleased to enable us we gladly own both in our Assemblies and Families and if any be wanting in their Families in Prayer or any other part of Devotion it is their own fault for which they must answer and ought not to be charged upon the innocent And we believe Gods holy Spirit will be wanting to none duely to move them and that most frequently to Prayer who watch thereunto both with words or without them And if they watch not unto Prayer their Neglect of watching and likewise of Prayer is their sin and chargeable upon them and they will bear their burden for it But that any faithful man owned by us hath said as C.M. alledgeth not from any Quaker but from a partial Adversary That in many Years they have not had a motion to Prayer we do not believe if any feel not their hearts moved to Prayer and that most frequently it is their own fault and sin for indeed every faithful Soul his Life is a Life 〈◊〉 Prayer and he prayeth in his heart as frequently as he breatheth in the air for true inward Prayer rightly understood is the â—â—â—â—inual Motion of the heart towards God The Spirit helping our 〈◊〉 with Groans that cannot be uttered for even Paul said We know not what to pray for as we ought Rom. 8.26 And also he hath solemn Times and that frequently for solemn Prayer and Meditation and Thanksgiving but the most sincere Christians do not always make the greateâ—â— show or outward appearance to pray as the Phariseâ— did of 〈◊〉 And I might easily retort this Question How many 〈…〉 and Independents have either Prayer lesâ— Houses and 〈…〉 very formal and Hypocritical and are wholly Strangers in the 〈…〉 Life and Mystery of Prayer Though we have Charity 〈◊〉 some of all sorts and as we judge neglect of Prayer a great 〈◊〉 so we judge 〈◊〉 Formality and Hypocrisie to be no less both which Extreams are to be avoided Some Collections of Passages out of Jer. Taylors Book 〈◊〉 The History of the Life and Death of the holy JESUS Part 1. Sect. 9. of Baptism N. 29. JVst as we use to deny the Effect to the Instrumental Cause and attribute it to the Principal in the manner of speaking So we say it is not the good Lute but the skillfull hand that makes the Musick it is not the Body but the Soul that is the Man and yet he is not the Man without both Note And so the Quakers commonly say It is not the Scriptures but the Spirit that revealeth to us divine Mysteries yet by so saying they deny not that the Scripture is an Instrument of the Spirit to reveal the Doctrinal Principles peculiar to the Christian Faith as Christs Birth of a Virgin his Crucifixion c. as much as the Lute is the Instrument of the skillfull hand that makes the Musick Infants Baptism Part 2. N. 8. No man can conclude that this Kingdom of Power that is the Spirit of Sanctification is not come upon Infants because there is no sign nor Expression of it it is within us therefore it hath no signification it is the Seed of God And it is no good Argument to say here is no Seed in the Bowels of the Earth because there is nothing green upon the face of it And N. 19. For as the reasonable Soul and all its Faculties are in Children Will and Vnderstanding Passions and Powers of Attraction and Propulsion yet the Faculties do not operate or come abroad till Time and Art Observation and Experience have drawn them forth into Action so may the Spirit of Grace the Principle of Christian Life be infused till in its own day it is drawn forth for in every Christian there are three parts 〈◊〉 to his integral Constitution Body and Soul and Spirit and all these have their proper Activities and Times but every one in his 〈◊〉 Order first that which is Natural then that which is 〈…〉 what Aristotle said A Man first lives the Life of a Plaâ—â— then of 〈◊〉 and lastly of a Man is true in this sence and the 〈◊〉 spiritual the Principle to the longer it is before it operates because â—â—re things concur to spiritual 〈◊〉 than to Natural and these are 〈◊〉 and therefore first the other are perfect and therefore last 〈…〉 who is he that so 〈◊〉 understands the Philosophy of this third Principle of a Christians Life the Spirit as to know how or when it is infused 〈◊〉 how it operates in all its Periods and what it is in its Being and proper 〈◊〉 and whether it be like the Soul or like the Faculty or like a 〈…〉 to what Purposes God in all varieties doth dispense it thaâ— which is 〈◊〉 is that the Spirit is the Principle of a new Life or a new Birth 〈…〉 the Seed of God and may lie long in the Furrows before it springs up that from the Faculty to the Act the passage is not always suddain and quick And a little after
best of Modern good men do from their own Experience attest it That this spiritualizeth Religion and renders its enjoyments more comfortable and delicious That it keeps the Soul under a vivid sense of God and is a grand security against Temptation That it holds it steady amid the flatteries of a prosperous state and gives it the most grounded Anchorage and support amid the Waves of an adverse Condition That 't is the Noblest Encouragement to Virtue and the biggest assurance of an happy Immortality I say I considered these weighty things and wondered at the carelesness and prejudice of Thoughts that occasion'd 〈◊〉 suspecting the reality of so glorious a Priviledge I saw how little reason there is in denying matters of inward sense because our selves do not feel them or cannot form an apprehension of them in our Minds I am convinced that things of Gust and Relish must be judg'd by the sentient and vital Faculties and not by the poetical Exercises of speculative Understandings And upon the whole I believe infinitely that the divine Spirit affords its sensible Presence and immediate beatifick Touch to some rare Souls who are divested of carnal Self and mundane Pleasures abstracted from the Body by Prayer and holy Meditation spiritual in their Desires and calm in their Affections devout Lovers of God and Virtue and tenderly affectionate to all the World â—â—ncere in their Aims and circumspect in their Actions inlarged in 〈◊〉 Souls and 〈◊〉 in their Minds These I think are the Dispositions that are requisite to fit us for divine Communion and God transacts not in this 〈◊〉 way but with prepared Spirits who are thus disposed for the manifestation of his Presence and his Influence And such I believe he never fails to bless with these happy fore-tastes of Glory John Norris M.A. and late Fellow of All Souls Colledge in Oxford in his Treatise Reflections upon the Conduct of Humane Life Reflect 2. N. 9. pag. 69. saith The Right and only Method of Inquiry after that Truth which is Perfective of the Understanding is to consult the divine Logos or Ideal World for this is the Region of Truth and here are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge This is that great universal Oracle lodged in every mans Breast whereof the Antient Vrim and Thummim was an expressive Type or Emblem This is †Reason this is Conscience this is Truth this is that Light within so darkly talk't of by some who have by their aukward untoward and unprincipled way of representing it discredited one of the Noblest Theorys in the World Note If perhaps some have been short in that thing yet it hath been well demonstrated by many or most of that People here by him reprehended But the thing in it self rightly understood is true and if any shall call it Quakerism or Enthusiasm I shall only make this Reply at present That 't is such Quakerism as makes a good part of St John's Gospel and of St Austin's Works But to return This I say is that divine Oracle which we all may and must consult if we would inrich our Minds with Truth that Truth which is Perfective of the Understanding And this is the true Method of being truly wise and this is no other Method than what is advised us by this divine Logos the substantial Wisdom of God Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my Gates waiting at the Posts of my Doors Prov. 8.34 And again says the same substantial Wisdom Whoso is simple let him turn in 〈◊〉 And again I am the Light of the World he that follows me or as the word more properly signifies he that consorts or keeps company with me 〈…〉 in Darkness This therefore is via Intelligentiae the way and 〈…〉 of true Knowledge to apply our selves to the divine 〈…〉 felt the Ideal World †i. e. not Humane but Divine 〈…〉 THE END