his only begotten Son into the World to save the World and not to condemn the World as he doth who saith they have not a light to save them and they have not the spirit of God but that the World through him might be saved and moreover Christ saith I am the light of the World now he doth not say I am the light of the Saints only as John Wiggan saith but of the World which be in darkness And Christ saith believe in the light whilest ye have the light shewing that they have the light before they are believers that they may be children of the light John 12. and also he John Wiggan makes void the grace of God as may be seen in his Book which hath appeared to all men as the Apostle speaks to Titus which brings salvation and this grace is sufficient and so his work is to prove that the World and wicked Men have not a saving-light nor have not the Spirit of God contrary to the Scriptures of Truth as will be proved hereafter and so â—â— makes people believe through this that Christ did not come to save the World so is of that race that would frustrate the grace of God and of them that forbid the Apostles to speak to the Gentiles but hath not John Wiggan had one Hundred pound a year of the States and taken Collections of such as he looked upon to be wicked people and had not the Spirit nor a saving Light yea and preached the Scriptures to them which are the things of God and all people you know that no man can know the things of God without the Spirit of God you know the Scriptures saith so And whether all men will not judge whether this man is not grown sensless or he hath cracked his Brain through his foolishness Nay would not this John Wiggan preach if the Powers would give him two or three Hundred pounds a year to preach the Scriptures which are the things of God to the World which he saith hath not the Spirit of Christ nor a saving Light hath he not the conscience to take this and bless them though the World did not understand the things of God and what do you think of all the Independants that he preached too and hath left and now turned Baptist it may be he thinks that is a better Commons and Pasture to maintain him in for hath John Wiggan restored that which he had of them at Manchester and other places for we say that it is but just that he should do so For to preach to a people that hath not a saving light nor the Spirit the things of God they that cannot understand them without the Spirit and to take money of them is it not a robing of them and a cheating of them and ought he not in justice to make restitution for we do not know a greater enemy to Christ and his Apostles and plain Scriptures this day in England then he is as his practice hath made it manifest and as for all his slanderous expressions in his private papers we shall not send abroad but let them lie upon him together with his lyes nor lay open his nakedness we need not for he hath laid it open in his own Book sufficiently as will be manifest to every impartial Reader First That Paper which was sent unto Thomas Hardy by Thomas Curwen it was not sent up and down in the Country as his was but if he had sent for a Coppy of it he might have had one so we did not serve him as he hath done us and if there had been any errors they should have been made manifest but he hath not that the Reader might have read them for we are not afraid of our deeds coming to the Light And our Paper was neither partial nor confused as it will manifest it self and it is to the honour of truth And it s he that swallowes up the simple in errors as he speaks of and hath vomited out the same again how many hath he vomited out about Manchester but swallowed them up but for gain and that which he hath vindicated is error And whereas he saith he was provoked to this debate with the Quakers that is false for it was his own Challenge for friends would have discoursed with him in a Christian way in his own Chamber which he denyed and bid them depart his Chamber and when Friends have come up in a Christian way to him he hath threatned them by calling for the Jaylor and another time when Thomas Curwen came up in a Christian way he shaked him by his Coat as though he would have tore it from off his back to thrust him out of his Chamber though often he came into our Chamber and we never served him so but discoursed as long as he would But this is the thing Major Wiggan in calling the Jaylor he wanted his Magestrates Sword like a persecuting Jew Help men of Israel against the Apostles for these are the men that turnes the World upside down And this is John Wiggans patience and Christian spirit as he calls it and he being a Prisoner we would never have brought him to publick shame but he himself hath brought it therefore he may blame himself And whereas he speaks of being provoked to the debate in defence of truth Nay John thou art out of love that art so soon provoked and its truth that torments thee because thou canst not defend thy errors thou canst not chop and change with truth as thou didst with the people at Manchester And what thou hast set down afterward will appear And the contention of the Meeting was through thy self for thou wast the first man that brake the order which was that all might speak one by one and burst out into a laughter when others were speeking of the things of God in an uncivil and immodest way which begot thy own people into the same and so raised up the rude and uncivil spirit in thy own people that some was fain to rebuke thee who were speaking of the things of God for the things of God are weighty and as the Scriptures saith the fools heart is filled full of Laughter and that is the mark of a fool and thou wast too hot and passionate to talk soberly And dost thou not remember what a passion thou was in when thou discoursed with Richard Hubberthorn at Manchester when one of thy own people did reprove thee and doest thou not remember what violent hands thou laid upon John Abrams when he and James Harrison came to discourse with thee of the things of God in a Christian way and what a rage fury and passion thou wast in is not this a mark of a Novice soon angry and are not these unclean hands lifted up to God will God accept them And whereas thou speaks of Boasting that is thy own the Principle that thou would discourse upon was thy own chusing though nothing thou hast cleared to this
in manifesting the things of man even the secret and hidden things of the belly but it is also able to feel and seek after God his Creator Acts 17. 27 28. and is in a capacity of knowing much of him as a Creator at least his eternal power and Godhead by the things that are seen Rom. 1. 19 20. thus far the light and Law within every man may go Ans What jumbled stuffe is this and confusion and contradictions can the light the spirit of man as thou callest it know his Creator at least his eternal power and Godhead and to feel and seek after God when thou saidst before the natural man knew not the things of God nor the spirit of a man knew but the things of man now if all those knew the Creator and the eternal power and Godhead and to feel and seek after God thou hast proved then that all have the spirit of God and by this overthrown thy own assertion as thou hast done often before and if they know the Law of God which soul and conscience effects upon as thou faist then they knew the things of God for the Law of God is the things of God and they are known by the spirit and so thou brings the spirit of Man and the old Covenant which thou calls light to oppose the new Christ Jesus with thy dark wisdome and that in the Rom. which saith That which may be known of God was manifest in them by which they did the things contained in the Law which was spiritually shewing the work of the Law written in their hearts which was spirituall and this was beyond the spirit of a natural man and when they transgressed this God did judge them in righteousness by which every mouth was stopped they were guilty before the Lord for that which God had manifested in them witnessed against their actions and made them to confess Gods judgments to be just and that which made Adam to confess and hide himself was beyond a natural Mans spirit for he knew God and so he had the spirit of God to discern him and after he knew the promise of God concerning Christ which the faithfull and his posterity trusted in it Christ the Covenant of Light to the Gentiles which thou fights so against And Judas was made partaker of the Ministry of Christ and confest he had betrayed the innocent blood and so he had knowledge of the Covenant who is the end of the first Law and Covenant and this knowledge of his was beyond the Light which thou calls the spirit of a Man and beyond thy ignorance for David saith Let another take his Bishoprick mark that and this is no Answer to my Queries H. W. as thou saist it is neither hast thou done honestly in not puting my Querie down nor all my Queries that people might have seen them its like thou was ashamed and afraid of that and therefore here are my Queries that all people may see them and the Paper I stuck upon the Door when thou would not answer them John Wiggan For the Seed sake I cannot be silent Therefore as touching the Queries which I spoke to thee of face to face and was not satisfied from thee but thou slighted my Query therefore I call upon thee to Answer me either face to face or by writing for thou maist remember that thou yielded unto me that he that did believe had the witness in himself but thou did not satisfie me where the witnesse was that did condemn that is the thing I would know from thee and in thy discourse that day thou said all had not the spirit and thou instanced Judas now I would have thee tell me what that was that caused Judas to bring back again the silver and confessed that he had sinned in that he had betray'd the Innocent blood I would have thee to write a distinction that so I may know a difference between that which caused Judas to confess and the spirit and thou seemed to prove out of Jude that some had not the spirit but Jude said those were such as separated themselves and seeing thou holds separation and dost gather a people after thee therefore clear thy self that thou be not one of those and further one of thy hearers spoke with a loud voice and said That Balaam had no more spirit then his Horse Therefore consider how thou and thy Hearers perverts the Scripture read the 24. Numb and the 2 3. v. and when thou hast read them then tell me when the spirit of the Lord came on Balaam's Horse And thou John Wiggan said That faith was denyed to some and Christ sent forth his Disciples to teach all Nations Now if they must teach All then none was exempted but the Pharisees said Have any of the Rulers believed on him but these people that know not the Law are cursed So thou and thy Hearers it seems doth not much let to oppose the Apostles Doctrine which saith the Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men Therefore I would know of thee whether this Grace be a Teacher yea or nay and if any refuse to be taught by it whether the cause be his own or in the Grace which hath appeared to all as aforesaid And thou or some of thy Hearers said That Christ did not shed his blood for all and that Christ dyed not for all Clear thy self of these things and see how thou canst make them good and answer them in Writing and then if thou present any Queries to me I shall not refuse to answer so far as the Lord opens it in me Henry Wood. These Queries have been unanswered at least a quarter of a Year And whereas thou saist it is a great Light and yet but a Candle Light a created Light springing up with Man in his natural birth leading him to know something of his Creator and of his duty to him also discovering transgressions against the Law of workes which he was under the Tenor whereof is this doe this and live Rom. 9. And this it may doe where Christ the way the truth and the life is not so much as heard of thus it was in Adam when he had sinned as before the promise of grace was held forth in the seed of the Woman Gen. 3. 15. the Light and Law within him discovered sin unto him but mark the effect horrour and amazement seized upon him I was afraid and hid my self Gen. 3. 10. for this Law speakes nothing but wrath to all that are in the fall Rom. 4. 15. notwithstanding amendment and the most exact future obedience they can yield to it Answ Where Dost thou read in the Scriptures of a created Light God created the Sun Moon and Starrs and was this the created Light that made Adam to hide himself and did this created Light springing up with man in his natural birth which thou calls the candle and spirit of the Natural man which knowes not the things of God
Light that doth enlighten every man that comes into the World is an Anti-christ and Deceiver but here Priest Wiggan hath called John an Antichrist and Deceiver who came for a witness to bear witness of the true Light that lightens every man that comes into the world and I am the Light said Christ believe in the Light I am come a light into the world Joh. 8. 12. and they that did believe in the light had fellowship in it and the light that shone in their hearts gave them the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 1 Ioh. 1. and so thou hast proved thy self to be an Antichrist and doth deny Christ come in the flesh who enlightens every man that comes into the world and thou calls the true light of Christ which the Saints and we walk in the Natural mans spirit and a Created light and a Natural light As to thy Objection which is against John who saith this is the true light that enlightens every man that comes into the World Would John have bid them believe in it except it had been Christ Joh. 1. 7 8 9. and this is an invincible proof against thy assertion and all the people thou dost deceive and John was a true Witness but thou art a false and John bore a true witness to the Light but thou bears false witness against the light and so thou turns people from light to darkness and the true Apostle turned them from darkness to the light Acts 2. 6. And whereas thou say'st We write in several Books as may be seen this light Christ is God the Lord God and the Lamb the Object of Faith and this true Light which is Christ enlightens not some but every man coming into the World and therefore it must needs be saving and that this light can be meant for no other then of Christ they further alleage John 3. 12. 12. 35 36. where it is plainly exprest that Christ is the Light Answ In this thou hast manifested thy ignorance of the Scriptures and of the Saints Testimony and thou scoffs because we say Christ hath not enlightened some but all and so thou art he that makes Sects amongst the people in saying he doth not enlighten them all thou may as well say his love was not to all in giving his Son for all and we say Christ the light is the object of Faith the true light that enlightens every man that comes into the world by whom the world was made and this is our Testimony to all men for the Lord and Christ is the light and the Lamb and God is light And this is our Message which we have heard of him that God is light and in him is no darkness at all and Christ and God will dwell in man whom we witness Glory to him for ever through which we see over thee who hath long deceived some of us Whereas thou say'st We have perverted many Scriptures That is false for we speak them as they are but it is manifest thou hast per verted many and quoted many false and many people that doth not know thy subtle devices but takes all things for granted without any trial such thou may deceive for thy Book manifests it self sufficiently if it had not been answered but only for the sake of the simple which thou keeps under thee in thy error and delusion that they might see thee and come from under thy snare for we are satisfied as to our selves for thy work is only to keep people in darkness from the light and we are come from under thy Captivity and see thy subtlety and snares and know what thou can say and long enough since saw thy confusion And thou say'st when it is said that was the true light which enlighteneth every man that comes into the World It must be considered first who this true Light is secondly how he doth enlighten every man that comes into the World for first the Scriptures do witness that this true Light is the word God by whom the World was made thus it is said Joh. 11. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God all things was made by him that is by the Word God John was sent to bear witness of the Light that is of the word God that was the true Light that is the word God even he by whom the World was made he was in the World and the World knew him not which was the Creator and former of all things Ans In this you may see how he hath perverted the Scriptures and overthrown his Assertion and his former Writings in his Books for he saith that the light which lighteneth every man that comes into the World which John bore Testimony of is the word God by which all things was made and created which men was to believe in this was not a saving light saith he though it be Divine and doth he not call it a Created light a Natural light and the spirit of a Natural Man and now it is God and not saving for the Scripture saith the Word was with God Joh. 1. and this speaks of Christ and Christs Name is called the Word of God Rev. 19 13. and the Word was with God that thou hast left out and this Word became Flesh So he goes about to prove that Christ was not the Word with the Father before the World began which is contrary to the Scripture which saith I was with him in the beginning as Solomon saith and Christ saith Glorifie thou me with the same Glory which I had with thee before the World was Joh. 17. And again thou say'st The Word God thus considered is the true light the fountain and original of all lights according to the Scripture 1 Joh. 1. 5. God is light and in him is no darkness at all this is he in whom was life and the life was the light of men in whom we live move and have our being we are his off-spring and he is the fountain both of light and life to all beings according to their capacities as their Creator and thus we may see what this true light is the word God Answ And yet thou saist before this was not saving this true Light this word God how dark art thou is not Christ called God and his Name the Word of God Emanual God with us and 2 Pet. 3. 7. the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store c. And Heb. 11. 3. Through faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God c. And Christ is the Light and Life of Men and not saving and is not he saving and is not he spiritual and saving whom all has a being in and moving in didst thou not call him before a natural Light and a created Light and a natural Mans spirit and would prove it out of Cor. 2. and now it is God and Creator and not Christ
contrary to the Scripture which saith he is the light of the World and in the begining was the Word and the Word was with God and his name is called the Word of God and so people may see how thou would divide God and Christ with thy dark wisedome And thou saist 2ly How doth he enlighten every man that comes into the world and saist in another place the word God or God the word as Creator of all things doth enlighten every man that cometh into the World by setting up in every man a spirit and Law in his heart by which he lives which is called the Candle of the Lord Prov. 20. 27 of which Spirit and law I have spoken before Ans This light which thou callest the Law and Spirit of a Natural Man and a Created light this thou hast not proved before as thou saist but it s perverted before for by this thy proof John came to bear witness of a Natural light and of a Natural mans spirit which knows not the things of God and by that John bid people believe in this so this is thy dark wisdom and like unto thy Preaching and it is no wonder people forsakes thee and that thou shouldst be unestablished thou needst not be offended for babes seeing thee for thou caust not be hid for John came to bear witness of the true light Christ and not of a natural Created light as thou imagines but of him the Prophets testified of he that was preferred before John Joh. 1. 3. the light of the Gentiles and the Glory of his people Israel and thou may see in the 15. vers which proves and 16 17. that was the Christ John bore witness of him and cryed saying this was he of whom I speak He that cometh after me is preferred before me and called Christ the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the World and this Light by which all things was made and Created He came unto his own and they received him not some hated the Light and stopt their ears and shut their eyes and would not see lest they should be converted as thou dost But to as many as received him he gave power to become the Sons of God them that believed in his Name and his name is the Word of God Rev. 19. And John saw and bore Record that this Light was the Son of God Joh. 1. 12 15 34. So this is an unfaithful and untrue account of the Light which thou hast given of the true Light Christ that doth enlighten every man John 1. 9. And whereas thou say'st It may be further observed that Christ is not once named in all or any of the first nine Verses of the first of John but only the Word Answ See how ignorant this man is of the Scriptures for it saith the Word was with God Mark that and doth thou deny this to be Christ whose Name is called the Word of God Rev. 19. Heb. 1. how God hath spoken in these last dayes unto us by his Son by whom the World was made And so here again he would make a difference betwixt Christ and God and because the word Christ is not there see how he shuffles and how ignorant he is for Christ is called the Light Life Truth and Word c. and Christ is called the Lamb of God Joh. 1. and John doth expresly say That he is the Light of the World Joh. 8. and doth enlighten every man that comes into the World which true Light John bore witness of that all through him might believe And thou has denyed Christ to be the Word who is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every man that comes into the World There is three that bears Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost so thou hast denyed this Record in Heaven who saist the Word is not Christ who was with the Father spoken of in John the Word was with God and 1. John 552. VVe are in him that is true in his Son Jesus Christ this is the true God and Eternal Life And so thou goes about to make people believe Christ is not God and we know the VVord was made Flesh and dwells in Men which thou saist he Tabernacled amongst Men as though he did not now which we must tell thee he doth now by the light which shines in their hearts Cor. 2. 4. And whereas thou saist Christ the word being imbodied in Flesh he is thenceforth called Christ the Lord or the Lords Christ and no otherwise doth he bear that Name but as he is the word made Flesh to be seen and believed on it is not the word alone nor the flesh alone but the word and flesh in union that is called Christ and is a Light to lighten the Gentiles till then there was no such thing as a Christ or a Light to the Gentiles but only in a promise Ans Whereas thou saist there was no such thing as a Christ till he was imbodied in flesh nor light to the Gentiles but only in a promise Then what was that Light which let Nebuchadnezzar see the Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands and let Job see his Redeemer and doth not Stephen say that was Christ they thrust from them and turned back again in their hearts into Egipt Acts 7. And was not that Christ the Word which Moses spoke of to the Children of Israel that they should hear and need not say who shall ascend or who shall descend and did not the Apostle say that was Christ in Rom. 10. And this the Righteousness of Faith that Moses spoke of to the Children Deut. 30. 12. the VVord was in their hearts and mouthes and doth not David call him the Anointed as in Psal 2. 2. and is not the Anointed Christ And Daniel calls him Messiah which is Christ Dan. 9. and saw him before he came and is not the Word Christ which is according to the Law and Testimony Isa 8. And how was he a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World and is it not said in Gen. 3. 15. the seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents heads and is not the Seed Christ Gal. 3. 16. and Christ said Before Abraham was I am and thus saith the Lord to his Anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have upholden to subdue Nations before him And what thinks thou by this what is Anointed is Christ no where spoken of before he was imbodied in Flesh and we believe he was made flesh and know it and are of his flesh according to the Scripture and we do know the Union of Christ and the Word that was made flesh but thou believes not in this Christ the Word which was made flesh who is the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel and he could not be Christ without God who is manifest in the Flesh which is a mistery to thee and we know that Christ thorow the Gospel has brought life and immortality to
spirit of God for thou crucifies that in thy dark deceitful heart while thou art making and setting up another spirit and light which thou calls natural and not the light of Christ And here thou art worse then Surplice-men or Homily-men for they will confess that the light in them which shews them sin is the light of Christ and yet thou seems to confess that the light in every man is the Law written in the heart and if so the new Covenant Answ All this heap of confusion which thou hast heaped together doth but manifest thy darkness and thou ministers out of it and art an enemy to the light of Christ and so thou must needs be a minister of darkness Though thou hast been a minister long I ask thee this question Didst thou ever preach the light of Christ to people or didst thou ever turn peoples minds to the light of Christ in their Consciences or didst thou ever turn any from the power of Satan to the power of God If thou hast set us out some of thy flock that they may be tryed but there are a great deal that will cestifie against thee that has been of thy flock that is turned from thy darkness to the light of Christ which thou art an enemy to and with it they see thy deceit and darkness wherein thou didst deceive them and can praise the Lord for ever that they are turned from thy darknesse But now for the proof of thy false Doctrine And 1. Is not the light which is in every man the light of Christ that convinceth a man or woman of sin and evil and is there another Saviour besides Christ that takes away the sin of the world And what was that Image of God in which Adam was Created wilt thou not have Christ to be God And thou sayes there remained a part in Adam after he had transgressed which made him hide himself but thou calls this the spirit of a natural man and a created light Is the light that is in man a created light and is the law which is written in mans heart and the spirit which is put in the inward parts created and was that Image of God which was in Adam a created Image How was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Revel 13. 8. Rev. 5. 12. But in plain words Did God create any light in the beginning but what he set in the Firmament of Heaven Is an invisible light created which sees God which is invisible It s pitty to put these things to thy gross darkness but that for the Seed's sake it may be serviceable to others And dost thou say The Law of God that he writes in the heart and his spirit which he puts in the inward parts is this a created light Oh the gross darknesse that is in thee How dare thou take upon thee to teach Is not God Light and is the Image of God in man a created light and is that created and natural and is not Christ light and his spirit light and is not the Law light and is not the Law spiritual and did not Moses say to the children of Israel Deut. 30. 11 12 13 14 15. For this commandement that I command thee this day is not hidden from thee neither is it far off c. but the Word is very nigh thee in thy mouth and heart to hear it and to do it See I have set before thee life and death Was this that would have led them into life natural and created and is not this Law righteous and spiritual and just and good as the Apostle witnessed of it Act. 7. 5. 3. Rom. 7. 12. who said They received the Law by the disposition of Angels c. And did not Christ Jesus say He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it and that one jot or title of the Law should not passe till it was all fulfilled and is not Christ the end of the Law for righteousnesse and is this the spirit of a natural man that knows not the things of God that Christ is the end of Art thou not in this a minister of darknesse and an Idolater And doth not the Apostle say Rom. 7. 4. That they were become dead to the Law by the body of Christ wherefore he saith the Law is holy and the commandment holy just and good ver 12. But this dark Doctrine of thine makes thee clearly manifest that thou art in the flesh and the motions of sin works in thy members which brings forth fruit unto death and never knew the life of the Law yet nor the life of the Commandment but art alive without the Law and so art alive unto sin and wickednesse and knows it not not having the Law to be thy Schoolmaster to correct thee for thy wickednesse which would revive and set thy sins before thee that thereby thou wicked might die But thou has not been at this School yet for all thy learning and divining it has been all in the darknesse thou has never come to the Law yet which is light which is the schoolmaster unto Christ This thou sits judge upon and sayes its spirit of a natural man and so living without the law is dead in thy sins and darknesse and so never knew what it is with thy mind to serve the law of God as the Apostle did he delighted in the law of God according to the inward man but this is too mean for thee this thou calls Created and Natural and so lies drowned in darknesse and sin and wickednesse thy mind and all thy members committing sin and drinks up iniquity as the Ox drinks up water How should thou do other being thou art an enemy both of Christ and his Law and his Light and his Spirit and what art thou not a minister of darknesse in all this and the Apostle who was obedient unto the law of God in his heart and the spirit of God in his inward parts by this he saw the body of death which made him to cry out c. But he also saw his Redeemer Christ Jesus for he was a minister of the light and turned people from the darknesse to the light in them and so could confesse then the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made him free from the law of sin and death So the Apostle doth not make such a separation bet wixt the Law and Christ as thou dost who saist it is natural and created but this is but the Judgment of thy dark spirit for the Apostle saith That God sent his only begotten Son in the likenesse of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 7. 8. God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the law Gal. 4. 4. I desire the Reader to take notice of this mans darknesse and ignorance of this Light
and Law and Spirit of God and also of his Idolatry who has made and framed another Image which he calls a Created light and a natural light and a dim light and the spirit of a natural man And whether this Law and Spirit of God which was given unto the children of Israel into their hearts be natural and also hath been the guide and teacher of his people in all ages for Christ himself saith unto the Jews It is written in the law you shall all be taught of God and the prophet Isa said That all the children of the Lord should be taught of the Lord. And how should they be taught and be established in righteousness but by the Light of righteousness the righteous Law of God written in their hearts and this is none of J. W's Molten Image which he has set up which he calls created and naturall and dim Light and spirit of a naturall man c. And so here the reader may read by what is here proved by plaine scripture J. W. first to be a minister of darkness by his denying the Light of Christ to be the law of God the pure new covenant which he hath lighted every man with and his law which is written in every heart since the new covenant and also he may read him an Idolater in that he has made a molten and graven Image which he calls created and natural and the spirit of a Man which is neither Light of Christ nor Law of God nor new Covenant and now I. W. thou hast raced thy self out both from the knowledge of the Law and the Law-giver So thou art proved by the plain Scriptures of Truth 1 A Blasphemer 2 A Minister of Darkness 3 An Idolater 4 I am now to prove thee an Antichrist which was to come in the last time which denyes Christ come in the flesh And that is to say 1 Thou goes about to prove and has laid it down in thy Book as though Christ which lighteth every Man that comes into the World were not God and the new Covenant or Covenant of God which was before the Foundation of the World 2 Thou laies down that Christ is not that Word and Light which John Beares witnesse of but saith it is the word Creator And 3 Thou makes a difference between the Father and the Son and so sets up two Lights and two Words and so two Gods except thou denyes Christ to be God Answ And first in answer to that thou dost oppose which is that Christ the Light is not Gods Covenant was not the Covenant which God made with Abraham in Christ Jesus did not the Apostle say the same Gal. 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his Seed was this promise made he saith not unto Seeds as of many but as of one unto thy Seed which is Christ and this I say that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ c. here the Aposte doth not say as thou dost that Christ is not Gods Covenant of Light and also the Apostle saith that Christ hath redeemed us from under the Curse of the Law that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles here Christ brings the Gentiles into Covenant with Abraham and the Jews but this is a mystery thou never saw and is he not the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob in his Everlasting Covenant Christ Jesus And is not the Covenant of the Lord with David his Seed for ever in Christ Jesus And hath not the Prophet Isaiah said in the 42. and 6. I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant to the people and for a Light to the Gentiles to open blind eyes and to bring out the Prisoners out of Prison and them that sit in darkness out of the Prison-house who is this that should do this if it be not Christ Jesus whom wilt thou have it to be and again Isa 49. 8. It is a light thing that thou should be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore again the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a Light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the Earth who is this thinkest thou this torments thee this that reaches unto all the ends of the Earth Light shining in all this torments thy dark spirit thou makes accompt in thy Book this is a created Light as thou saist in thy Book where thou quotes 2 Rom. vers 14 15 16. who hath the Law written in their hearts which accuses or excuses them in the day when God shall judg the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Let the Reader judge whether this be a natural created Light which judges the secrets of Mens hearts by Jesus Christ Is not this Gods new Covenant of Light to the Gentiles which he has written in their hearts and doth not the Apostle say in Hebr. 8. 6. speaking of the old Covenant and Priesthood but now hath he obtained a more excellent Ministery and by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which is established upon better promises is not this Christ for the Jews broke their Covenant and their Law that was written in Tables of Stone which gendered to bondage and there was then a Law added because of Transgression until the Seed Christ came Gallat 24. 25. yet the promise and Covenant that was made to Abraham in Christ Jesus stands still and is the same and cannot be disanul'd as the Apostle saith Gal. 3. 19 16 17. Hebr. 8. 10. The Law that was added 430. years after the promise was made could not disanul it for the Apostle saith if the first Covenant had been faultless then there had been no place found for the second and so this is the Covenant of God writing his Law in their hearts and puting his spirit in their inward parts for the Jewes had outward Laws written in Tables of Stone which Laws they broke but now Christ Jesus the everlasting Covenant of God which is Light made unto Abraham never can be broken but is an everlasting Light in the hearts of his people and an everlasting Law written in their hearts and an everlasting Covenant of life and peace and so brings all into unity and fellowship for there is neither Jewes nor Greeke there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for they are all one in Christ Jesus and if they be Christs then they are Abrahams Seed and Heires according to the Promise Gal. 3. 28 29. And so here thou art proved thus far an Antichrist and a denyer of Christ Jesus the Light to be Gods Covenant who according to the flesh is the Son of Abraham the Son of David Rom. 1. 2 3 4. and according to the spirit the Son of God Paul was made a Minister of that Gospel which was promised But
I have told them the truth and not for any other cause c. Ans That which thou hast spoken hath been against the truth and is lyes and the Reader may see thou calls Christ an Idol a natural Light a created Light and spirit of a Natural man contrary to the Scripture and so thou being against Christ the Scriptures and Gods people therefore have we writ to thee and spoken to thee being according to thy own Challenge in love and in a Scripture way and it is for Christs sake thou hates us And whereas thou speaks of another sheet that thou will present to discover the mystery of iniquity Bring out all the strength thou hast for it will further discover thy own iniquity and thou shalt not find Christ Natural or Created nor an Idol but in his strength we shall answer thee And whereas thou saist to the inquirer and weak Take heed of the Religion that begins with a lye for it is certain a great judgment of God to be given up to believe lyes 2 Thes 2. 10. and that the first step to this peoples Religion is an abominable lye and that every one is taught and required at his enterance into this Religion to believe this lye I have shewed in my former Paper Ans It is thy own Religion which is begun with a lye therefore all people are to take heed of it who denies Christ the Light Joh. 1. 8 12. and art given up to believe lyes and utter the same 2 Thes 2. And whereas thou maliciously saith To turn people from the darkness to the Light of Christ being our first step is a lye Ans In this thou hast proved thy self a false Minister and contrary to the Scripture and the Apostles Ministry which was the same which is the first step in this thou hast manifest thy envy as all yong people may see who enquireth after the Lord Acts 2. and the abominable lye is thy own and little else but lyes in thy Book and so thou may expect the judgment of the Lord to be thy portion And whereas thou bids them take heed of that spirit that denyes Christ come in the Flesh least they be partaker of his evil deeds by biding him God speed Answ This is thy own condition thou art the Man who denyes him to be come to enlighten all Men and denyes his Light to be convincing and so has denyed John's testimony a Man sent from God John 1. And so none that feares God can bid thee God speed in thy evil work therefore thou art offended and we shall not be partakers with thee of thy evil deeds for no other Christ do we own but he who dyed at Jerusalem above sixteen hundred years since who sits at the right hand of God and is revealed in us according to his promise who saith I will come and dwell in you as in Joh. and the Cor. 1. Cor. 3. 16. Act. 3. 20. and Collo 1. 26. 27 28. and all who are called Christians confess Christ to be come but deny the end of his coming to destroy the Devil and his works 1 Ioh. 3. 68. and to take away sin but they must have sin while they be upon the Earth this is your general Doctrine and denyes Christ to be come a Light into the World according to both the Prophets and Apostles And whereas thou saist Take heed of that people who have no better weapons then censures cursings judging threatnings Answ Our weapons are spiritual and we have related over to thee thy due according to the Scripture as the Scriptures threatens thee and pronounces these Plagues to be due to thee who addes to it and we teach that people might follow Christ Jesus the Light of the World and not follow thee who saist he is a natural Light and an Idol and a created Light and James 3. 9. is thy condition and so thou art the Man that deceives people with vain words Ephe. 5. 6. and with fair speeches the hearts of the simple Rom. 16. 18. And as for giving satisfaction thou art not likely who denyes the Light Christ Jesus and any who reads thy confused Book may see there is no satisfaction given in it though thou hast perverted many Scriptures and as for thy further debate upon thy assertion we tould thee we were ready and tell thee so now again who hast challenged us twice in this thy Book to meet us before the Sheriff which thou might have spared this Challenge in thy Appendix for we had given thee an Answer before we would meet thee to wit Thomas Curwen Husbandman William Houlding Blacksmith William Wilson Taylor and Henry VVood a dayly Labourer Seeing thou art the Man who hath challenged us we shall in the strength of the Lord meet thee when thou wilt and appoint a time and place for we were the Men whom thou hadst first to deale withall in this place and what dost thou scoffingly put Shoo-maker in which was not in which is a word of thy own forging as though thou was not able to Answer us or durst not stand to thy own assertions but shuffles from them And one would have thought John Henry VVood had given thee disputing enough before when thou was so gravel'd and stopt thou fled away from the Table and now it seemes thou hast put it of till the Magistrates call us out as though they had nothing to do but to medle with thy Antichristian wayes Nevertheless it stands on thy head and do not say we provoked thee for it was thy own Challenge for thou hast taken that in hand thou canst not make good by the Scriptures without adding or diminishing we know that before hand And whereas thou saist He that saith and affirmeth the Light in every man to be Christ is a deceiver and an Antichrist Ans The Light that lighteth every man that comes into the World he that affirmed this was no Antichrist Joh. 1. who said As many as receives him he gives them them power to become the Sons of God and here thou hast shewed forth thy malice against Christ and against the Apostle who bore witness of him and in plain words calls him an Autichrist and against us who are in the same Doctrine and teach the same thing and thou hast proved thy self to be an Antichrist 2 Joh. 9. for Christ is the Light and Salvation to the ends of the Earth who doth enlighten euery man that comes into the world Joh. 1. Joh. 8. Luke 2. 32. And thou saist what feeble shifts are those my Assertion striks at their very foundation and before they make that good they would run into other matters they seem to be weary of their cause but I must hold them to it till their Corner-stone and mine be so thorowly tryed that it may evidently appear whither of us be of the true Rock Christ Jesus Ans Thy Rock which thou so calls is tryed and found to be no Rock but confusion who denies Christ Jesus
Lord became their enemy Ifai 63. 10. vers Zach. 2. The Spirit of the Lord remain'd among the Children of Israel I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel saith the Lord God So here thou may see they that erred from the faith and erred from the spirit and hated the Light had it contrary to VViggan's Doctrine aforemention'd Did not I make one yet had he the residue of my spirit that he might seek a godly Seed therefore take heed unto the spirit The Gospel which yee have heard which was preached to every Creature under Heaven Warning every Man that they might present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus That by the Grace of God Christ should tast of Death for every man Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World And many more Scriptures might be aledged which doth overthrow Wiggan's Assertions that proves wicked Men had the light and the spirit and Christ dyed for all Men. John VViggan In stead of Answering to the Assertions thou tels us of a natural and created Light springing up with Man's nature and natural Man's spirit which is an Idol worse then Jeroboams and the Papists nevertheless thou saist this light will let them know much of God and of the eternal Power and God-head Now that this Light which is an Idol will shew the Eternal Power and God-head and yet shew nothing of Christ in whom the fulness of the God-head dwells How stands this together John And can a natural Light an Idol know the Eternal Power and God-head know much of God and seek and feel after God Idols are dumb Haba 2. and hath eyes and sees not as the Scriptures faith and was this natural Light an Idol which reproved them for their sins Doth not the Scripture say Adam was made in the Image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness and was this an Idol he was made in which reproved him for sin And Judas who was made Partaker of the Ministry and the Light which John was sent to bear witness of was a created Light and an Idol worse then Jeroboams which as many as received him that thou calls an Idol which cannot hear nor see he gave them Power to become the Sons of God by this natural Light and Idol the World was made by thy account and this which thou calls a natural Light and Idol was in the World and the World knew him not and this Light which thou thus calls shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not This is Wiggan's Assertion but my Queries I sent unto thee which thou shufles of and dost not Answer them since thou talks so much of Bread and Wine whether it be Christ or no seeing some of thy fellow Baptists Teachers are turned Papists who were wrangling against the Light and now say the Bread is Christ after they have blest it and therefore we suspect thee seeing thou art posting on the same Rode against the Light so fast And instead of Answering thou hast taken upon thee to be a Judge of Christ a Judge of the World and a Judge of the Saints conditions and confusedly patches all together and thou divides God and Christ and calls Christ the Light a natural and a created Light and an Idol worse then Jeroboams and the Papists which all sober people may see what a pack of confusion thou hast heaped together in thy Book for a natural light and Idol cannot bring people to seek and feel after God nor know the Eternal Power and God-head neither was it a natural Light and Idol that shewed Judas his sin when he had betrayed Christ neither was the Image of God which Adam was made in and God the word that enlightens every Man that comes into the World a natural light and an Idol John Wiggan thy eye is blinded it is time for thee to give over thy Trade with thy erroneous principles and doctrine And Christ when he bid them Believe in the Light Joh. 12. It was not an Idol he bid them believe in but it was in Christ the Light and in Christ was life and the life was the light of Mon and this was not an Idol and this is the same principle and doctrine which we suffer for there was a Man sent from God whose name was John he came for a Witness to bear witness to the true Light and that was the true Light which enlightens every man that comes into the World that all through him might believe and as many as received him to wit the light wherewith all be enlightned he gave them power to become the Sons of God Joh. 1. to the 12. vers And so this Light which doth enlighten every Man that comes into the World shines in the darkness but VViggan's darkness cannot comprehend it and thus he judgeth the things of God with his darkness in calling the Light of Christ and also that which convinc'd Adam c. a natural and created Light and an Idol and the spirit of a natural Man which knows not the things of God and also he compares the Light in every Man to the state of the natural Man there spoken of 1 Cor. 2. calling Light darkness and to the natural and sensual state in Jude for nature being subjected is in it self not sensual but being gone out of its course becomes sensual but this is like to the rest of his meanings he hath given to other things in his Book but we do intend to put him to make them good by plain Scriptures without adding or diminishing for our foundation for ever stands sure for we speak not of the natural Mans spirit but of Christ the Light the second Adam the Lord from Heaven nor do we speak of the Law of works nor the first Covenant but we speak of the new Covenant in the heart Christ the light our Foundation whom all the Prophets foretold of who is come to teach his people himself who Joh. VViggan pretends to remove and so hath run himself into further confusion And Ioh. VViggan saith that the Light which doth enlighten c. is the word Creator and yet he saith it is natural and created and an Idol worse then Ieroboams And thus all may see he confesseth that the Light is the word Creator and and yet he saith it is an Idol Joh. Wiggan saith God the Word enlightens every Man that comes into the World and a more excellent light and life comes in by the Son which none receives but who receives the Son and are born again Answ They which receives this Light which thou call the word Creator in thy own assertion becomes the Sons of God for John said this was the true Light which lighteneth every Man that comes into the World and as many as receives him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God and this word is Christ
is proved by Jude that some are natural not having the spirit this of Jude proves that they had it and went in the error of Ballaam from the Spirit and these could speak the high words but it was in hypocrisie and so this Scripture clearly overthrowes thy argument which thou takes for a proof against John's Doctrine who saith Christ doth enlighten every man that comes into the World And John the 14. 17. which thou brings to prove that Christ doth not enlighten every man that comes into the world with a saving Light which saith no such thing but proves thy own weakness and ignorance for how should the world know Christ or see him when they hate his Light that comes from him and will not come to it because it doth reprove them and there Christ the Light testifies against the World because their deeds be evil read John the third and other places Again thou bringest Romans the 8. 9. to prove thy assertion and sayes some men have not the Spirit of Christ Now people see if this Scripture doth say in plain words that some men have not the spirit of Christ and see how he has wronged the Apostle and perverted his words and whether the Apostle did not tell them in the first of the Romans who were wicked people That that which might be known of God was manifested in them yet they Reprobated from it and so their hearts were darkened and so was not led by the Spirit as the Saints was and so they that quench the Spirit and will not have it to lead them how are they Christs and so mark the same Chapter in the following words They that are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God And so thou may see how thou goes about to overthrow the Apostles words and Christs Doctrine thou hath a strange Doctrine and Preaching of thine to preach to the world and tell them they have not the spirit nor a saving Light And so all thy Testimonies thou hast brought doth not prove thy Proposition to be true that Christ doth not give his Spirit to every man that comes into the World which the 16. of John overthrowes thee And I disliking thy assumption as thou callest it but many ignorant people doth not know what thou meanest but thou would cover thy self by thy dark words for no proof that thou brought was to purpose for that of Jude which speaks of such as went in the way of Cain I say Cain had talked with God and heard his voice though he was a wicked man and this thou brings to prove that wicked men have not the Spirit and doth not know the things of God but Cain knew God for he talked with him and that must be by the Spirit and those that Jude speaks of were such as had been with them and went from them into the way of Cain or how could it have been said they had err'd and had not the spirit and the way And here people may see thou neither knows the Scriptures nor the power of God as wise as thou thinks thou art for my words were not that they lost it but that they err'd from it according to the Scripture and why could thou not put in all my words I spoke but perus'd my words and so left out that which pinched thee for I have borne my Testimony amongst many of your people both in England Scotland and Ireland and other places which many is come from you and sees your deceitful wayes of darkeness opposing the Light for I my self was one of you and now walkes in the light of the Lamb Glory for ever to the Highest And why doth thou wrong me for I denyed thy Proposition and held forth Christ the Saving Light And whereas thou sayest by the way If a Scripture pinch us we will not stick to give a meaning to it and such an one as may best suite our purpose Answ This is false for I gave no meanings to the Scriptures but as they are and there is no Scripture that thou brought which pinched any of us but they nipt and pinched thee as thou callest it And thou say'st thou replyed that it could not be that those in Jude ever had the Spirit because they were sensual and natural and went in Cains way and here all may see thou left out the word how they went in the way of Cain and error of Ballaam and Cain talked with God and that must be by the Spirit as I said before and God said should he not be accepted if he did well c. therefore Cain had the spirit of God and they that went in his way from the Christians err'd from the spirit the righteous way and so became natural and sensual in the self seperation from the spirit where thou art and that in the second of Corinthi is answered before and now people see if Jude and the first of Cor. 2. c. doth say that natural and sensual Men had never the spirit and you may see how this man perverts the Scriptures and wrongs them for his own ends for these Scriptures speaks no such things as he doth and how can the natural man discern the things of the Spirit of God when that he grieves the spirit of God by which he should receive them and errs from it as in Jude and is not led by it Cor. 2. and Rom. 8. and they that quench the spirit of God in themselves will oppose it in others as thou dost and those that are led by the spirit of God they are they that discern spiritual thing and they that quench it doth not and thou repeats the 2. of Cor. 2. to no purpose for thee and they cannot decern the things of God that quenches the spirit and errs from it but they can decern the things of God that are led by the spirit of God as in the 1 Cor. 2. and this doth not say he hath not the spirit of God thou wrongs the Scriptures in that and adds to the Apostles words for all people may see that reads thy words and the Scriptures what a pittiful meaning thou gives to the Scriptures here and speaks thy own words and would make people believe they are the Apostles words and so wrongs and belies the Apostles And as for thy charging us with disorder as I said before thou was the first man that was disorderly and thou spake when another was speaking and thy people many of them spake together and why dost thou complain and say some of us spake one after another for this was the agreement that one should speak after another and that thou could not have time to answer and thou had more time then any but it s thou that did not speak to the matter in hand but fell to preaching to the people and thou wrongest us for we spoke orderly one after another except we spoke when you were speaking disorderly and of your speaking unreverently of the things of
are baptized and made to drink into the one spirit and doth the Apostle say to every Saint and every one that is baptized into the spirit and not to every man that comes into the World doth the Apostle say these words but are not his words every man and not every Saint and for the same words used in the 11. of Corinthians makes nothing for thy purpose that all men have not the spirit for that is spoken to them that came together into one place there the Apostle distinguishes his own words what shifts art thou put too for to pervert the Truth And whereas thou sayest this is said to every man of them and not every man that comes into the World and now people see whether the Apostle saith the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one of you only and see how he contradicts himself with the Scriptures he brings and would pervert it for the Apostle saith the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man and not to every one of you 1 Cor. 12. 7. and it s given to them to profit withal whether they do or not and Gods spirit is poured upon all flesh and so this Scripture makes nothing for thy purpose And as for Exodus 19. 5. this doth not oppose Gods pouring out of his Spirit upon all Flesh Acts 2. and Nehem. 9. was brought how that God gave his good spirit to such as rebelled against him which thou affirmed that wicked men had not the Spirit of God and we know that the Jewes was called the Church and people of God though many of them fell for their wickedness but these that rebelled against it had it that were wicked people which thou denyed and said that no wicked people had the Spirit of God which after thou confessed and so hast overthrown thy Assertion and so thou saith and unsaith Secondly Thou saith though it be said he gave them his good Spirit it will not follow that every particular or individual Israelite had this good Spirit but such as were Israelites indeed Ans Thou hast confessed that the Righteous hath the Spirit of God so thou art to prove that the wicked hath it not and in Joshuah the first there is nothing spoken in that Chapter that God doth not pour out his Spirit upon all Flesh and that wicked men hath not the spirit there is nothing at all for his purpose all that reads it may see And as for Romans 2. 28 29. this confounds thee all that reads it may see for this brings people to the spirit of God in them that they may be Jewes in the spirit and the Romans its known they had been Heathens and wicked people yet they had the Spirit and all being not Israel that be of Israel Rom. 9. 6. we know that neither are all true Christians that saith they are Christians but are such Israelites and Christians that quench the spirit as thou dost but thou denies that all men have it and so opposes the very Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets And whereas thou say'st that saying in the 9. of Nehem. must be reserved thus Moses had that good Spirit and God promised to take off that good spirit that was upon him and put upon the seventy Elders Numb 11. 17. thus Joshuah was a man in whom was the Spirit Num. 27. 18. and had another spirit than many others had and was fitted thereby for the conduct of the Congregation Numb 27. 16. but it cannot hence be inserted that all or any of the fleshly seed of Abraham or such as were born after the flesh had the spirit but such onely as were born after the Spirit Gall. 4. 23 29. Ans This is Wiggan's conclusion and meaning upon these Scriptures which he hath brought to prove that every man that comes into the world hath not the Spirit which are not to that purpose at all and doth the 9. of Nehem. speak that Joshuah had the spirit and Moses and that it was put upon the Elders and was these them that Rebelled and slew the Lords Prophets and turned against him what Prophets of the Lord did they slay because thou sayest that in Nehem. must be reserved that Moses had the good Spirit c. and they after the flesh or any of the fleshly seed of Abraham or such as were born after the flesh had not the spirit but such as were born after the spirit c. and Nehemiah said generally he gave his good spirit unto them not only to Moses and Joshuah but such as turned their backs on the Lord which thou cannot prove that ever Moses or Joshuah slew the Lords Prophets c. and that God deliver'd them into the hands of their enemy to be vexed and troubled and as for Numb 11. 17. doth not prove that the Children of Israel had not the spirit of God nor Numb 27. 16 18. for that saith God is the spirit of all flesh that proves against thee for the Children of Israel had heard the voice of God and knew the power of God when thy came out of Egipt and knew his Law and so he was called their God and so they knew the things of God which they could not have done but by the spirit of God and Moses said they were the Children of God and were a holy people Deut. 14. and they were to hearken diligently to the voice of God c. and he had set his people the Jewes the seed of Abraham after the flesh above all Nations of the Earth Deut. 28. and yet thou fayest all Israel nor any after the flesh had not the Spirit and Gall. 4. 23 29. doth not prove that Israel after the flesh had not the Spirit because they were not born after it for those that persecutes them that are born after the spirit grieves the spirit of God in themselves as Christ said the Kingdom of Heaven was in the Pharisees that persecuted and the Jewes that stopt their Eares and shut their Eyes and would not hear nor see least they should have been converted and healed and that which they stopt their Eares and shut their eyes too plainly appears it was the Spirit else what did they backslide and erre from and quench and grieve so it is evident that all these Scriptures thou hast brought is to no purpose to prove that all men hath not the spirit And whereas thou brings Gall. 4. 6. of such as were Sons of God they may and oft do grieve the spirit of God it doth not say they may and oft do grieve the Spirit in the Ephes 4. 30. but this thou brings that the Sons of God grieves the Spirit of God and quenches it and not the wicked was there ever the like heard for we say and the Scriptures saith it is the wicked that grieves the Spirit of God and thou sayest it is the Sons of God and as for Acts the 7. 5. which we alledge which speak of their rebelling vexing and resisting
as be without God in the World and strangers have not the spirit of God in themselves to grieve and vex thou saith for that which may be known of God was manifest in them and when they knew God they did not glorifie him as God but became vain in their imaginations and changed the truth of God into a lye such becomes strangers to the life of God Rom. 1. so these Scriptures overthrowes thy assertions and proves that wicked men grieves the spirit of God in themselves as well as in others And whereas thou saist Joh. 16. 7 8. if I depart I will send the Comforter c. thou saist by this promise Christ makes is to send the holy Ghost after his departure it is evident enough that this Scripture can be no proof of thy assertion to wit that every man that comes into the world hath not the holy Ghost for if every man had him when he came into the world what need was there he should be sent to them after Christs Ascension nay rather this shews they had him not before he was sent and so not till after Christs departure which destroyes thy opinion yet thou grants the holy Ghost is come after Christ ascended to the Apostles and to reprove the World so by this thou hast overthrown thy own opinion and assertion and we say that Christ doth enlighten every man that comes into the World and is a Saviour and the Light is saving and the holy Ghost is given to reprove the World and lead the Saints and it s proved before that the wicked resisted the holy Ghost before Christ came in the flesh and the holy Ghost was given to the Disciples after Christ was ascended and he should reprove the World but thou denies it and sayes they have it not and so demes plain Scripture and perverts our Words for our Words is That Christ doth enlighten every Man that comes into the World and sayes believe in the Light and the holy Ghost reproves the World for their unbelief in the Light which leads the Saints unto all Truth Secondly Thou sayes this promise is made particularly to the Disciples of Christ I will send him to you and not unto the World Answ Why dost thou wrong the Scriptures doth it not say when he comes He shall reprove the World of Sin Righteousness and Judgment of Sin because they believe not in him was he sent then only to the Disciples and not to the World read Iohn 26. 7 8 9 10. over again and see thy own ignorance and darkness and it s sufficiently proved that the wicked resisted the holy Ghost before Christ came as also they that killed the Prophets and also it s proved that Christ did send the Comforter to his Disciples after his Ascension which Spirit should reprove the World and though the Disciples were led into all truth by the Spirit by which they was to preach the Gospel to all Nations that the name of Christ might be spread over all this doth not disprove the spirit of reproving the World which thou in thy ignorance brings to prove that the World hath not the spirit to reprove them and in the 17. of John Christ saith that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in them that the World may believe that thou hast sent me Now how can the Worldbelieve if they have not the Light and the Spirit in them to believe in seeing Believers hath the witness in themselves and as for Christs Miracles and signes which some believed and some gain-said for some said he did Miracles by the Prince of Devils such stop their eares and closed their eyes least they should be converted as Acts 27. And thou sayest the holy Ghost was poured upon none but who repented and believed this is thy saying who art ignorant of the Scriptures which saith God would pour out his Spirit upon all Flesh Acts 2. Joel 2 Joh. 16. and such as repented and believed received the holy Ghost and others resisted it and quenched it so that here is a difference betwixt the Believers and Unbelievers for the one receives it the other rejects it though it be powred out upon all as Christ saith The Word was sowne in the Field which is the World it was sowne upon all Grounds upon the Thorney the Bryrie the High-way and the stony Ground but who brought forth fruit but the good Ground Mat. 13. and this sufficiently proves that the spirit is powred upon all flesh and Heb. 6. which speaks of such as were once enlightened and had tasted of the Heavenly gift and was made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted of the good Word of God and if they shall fall away it were impossible to renew them again to repentance seeing they crucify the Lord of Glory the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame and now Priest Wiggan sayes these wicked men had not the spirit nor was not enlightened yet they crucifyed Christ afresh and put him to open shame and thus with his wisdome he abuses the Scriptures though he hath long made a Trade of them And whereas thou makes a preamble upon our words wherein we replyed to thy assertion to wit that no wicked man had the spirit of God but only the Saints and thou did affirm that Balaam had not the spirit of God and we proved that Balaam had the spirit of God and heard the word and voice of God as Numh. 24. and now thou hast overthrown thy own assertion and confesses that Balaam and Saul had the spirit of God which thou confesses was wicked men and thus thou hast split thy self upon the Rock and overthrown thy Foundation for before thou affirmed none had the spirit of God but believers and Balaam prophecyed of great things to the Jewes and God spoke to him and we know there is a difference betwixt those that grieves the spirit and those that walks in it and before thou was ignorant of these Scriptures as Balaam and Saul having the spirit of God and now thou confesses that wicked men may have it upon some occasions but sayes all wicked men hath it not read over again Joh. 16. Acts the 2d That the Holy Ghost should reprove the World and God would powre out his spirit upon all flesh which before thou would limit only to Believers with thy dark imaginations and how darest thou preach the Scriptures which are the things of God to wicked people who sayes they have not the spirit of God and here again thou overthrowes thy assertion and thou sayes it is the spirit of God in the Ministers of Christ that must convince the World and when as we bid thee who lookes upon thyself to be a Minister of Christ convince us of any evill we have done thou shufled it off and said God must convince us and so confuted thy Assertion and whereas thou wrests and perverts the Scriptures and sayes Balaam did not see the Starr
of Jacob which it is said at a full stop by Balaam there shall come a Starr out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel Now how could he prophesie of it if he did not see it and this overthrowes thee and thy Assertion who never saw so far as Balaam did And whereas thou sayest they shall see him when every eye sees him by this thou confounds thy own assertion for none can see God or Christ without the Light of the Spirit and thou confesses every eye shall see him and we may help thee a little further for every tongue shall confess and every Knee shall bow at the name of Jesus if thou knew what his Name is then thou mightest know that the Light of the body is the Eye which sees God And whereas thou brings Job who said when I see for my self and with my eyes and this thou brings to prove that Israel and Balaam should not see till the latter day and thou maist read Job and confute thy self Job 42. who saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now my eye seeth thee here Job was a true Prophet for before he said he should see him now he sayes he did see him and thus thy ignorance knowes not Scriptures appeareth and we know what the Believers saw and are satisfyed and we believe thou hast not come so far as Balaams Asse nor heard the voice of God as he did though thou would sit as a Judge of the World and in the Saints conditions And whereas thou sayest that the Spirit of God dwelt no more in Balaam then the Angel of the Lord dwelt in the Asse and one of thy people said which thou say'st is no Baptist that Balaam had no more spirit then his Horse he was one of thy followers and took thy part and thou didst not gain-say him then and now thou say'st in effect the same that he did And that the spirit of God dwelt no more in Balaam then the Angel did in the Asse then let all people read Numb 22. Numb 23. Numb 24. did Balaam's Asse praise the Tents of Jacob and bless Israel and prophesie to many people and will God bring Balaam's Asse to Judgment as he doth Balaam for Balaam erred from the Spirit but thou cannot say his Asse did so and loved the wages of unrighteousness and hast not thou been there to run greedily after the error of Balaam for gifts and rewards does not thou remember a difference bewixt 40 l. and 100 l. for preaching about Manchester and who should have had this John and God testified against the error of Balaam but not against the Asse as in Jude and here it s proved Balaam had more spirit then his Horse as you called him which overthrowes the assertion of thee and thy fellowes And whereas thou makes a great transgression because we said he was a Baptist if thou be a Baptist he maintained thy Principle and was one with thee and why dost thou deny him now And whereas thou sayest there is a Light or Law in every man which convinceth and reproves of sin and this made Judas bring the money back again and this thou sayest doth not reprove of unbeliefs Judas was made a partaker of the Ministry and had he no more then a natural man is this according to thy knowledge of the Scripture did this which convinced Judas not reprove him of his unbelief did it not make him confess he had sinned in betraying the Innocent blood did he not see his unbelief and wickedness here Mat. 27. and to prove thy assertion thou brings Rom. 2. 14 15. which sayes the Gentiles that have not the Law do the things contained in the Law shews the work of the Law written in their hearts their consciences bearing witness c. and if thou read the 16. vers thou may see that this witness speaks in the day that God shall judge the Secrets of Men by Jesus Christ hereby it plainly appears that in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ this spirit which lead the Gentiles to do those things contained in the Law will justifie them and this uncircumcision the Apostle saith shall be counted Circumcision as vers 26. and doth not this Light which judges the secrets of all hearts by Jesus convince of unbelief so here thou hast belyed the Apostle and whereas thou sayest this was before that promise in the 16. of John we know that and whereas thou sayest that this spirit of truth was to convince the World of Sin as in the 16. of John and unbelief here thou hast overthrown that which thou asserted in the publick meeting for therein thou asserted that none had the spirit but Believers and this Scripture was to convince thee for that which convinced the Gentiles was within by which they knew God and was not that by the Spirit else how came they to be baptized in the spirit and circumcision in the spirit and thus one while thou confesses and another while denies and so is in confusion and goes about to bring one Scripture to overthrow another to thy own destruction for when the Holy Ghost was come when the Apostle preached to the Romans and the Gentiles which he spoke of and preached to was become the true Circumcision in the spirit and the Holy Ghost was come then which was promised And in all thy Answers it doth not disprove the Scripture which saith the World hath the Holy Ghost to reprove them but Christs words which is our assertion stands and thou and thy assertion by thy former arguments is shaken and so it is proved that the wicked and unregenerate hath the Holy Ghost which thou confesses is the spirit of Christ though they grieve it and all the Scriptures thou brought proves nothing to the contrary but overthrowes thy assertion and John 14. 17. is answered before for the World and thou art unlike to receive the spirit of truth when you reject and oppose the Light and will not receive it which you should believe in for if you receiv'd it it would not reprove you but you would have fellowship in it why dost thou judge the World hath it not when thou confesseth thou hath it and is in the same nature of the world in envy malice and revenge and Rom. 8. 9. proves nothing to thy assertion but saith the Saints was not in the flesh and they that quench and grieve the spirit of God and will not have the spirit of God but it reproves them for their sin c. how can they be said to be Christs when they will not have the spirit of Christ to lead them and Jude 19. is clear against thy assertion which speaks of such as had the spirit and erred from it and so became like Sodons and Cain and Core and Balaam these thou brings to prove that wicked men has not the spirit of God over and over Balaam had the spirit
thee that thou hates the light and when thou said the Plagues of God was upon Thomas Curwen this is not rayling with thee and said the spirit of the Devil spoke in him when he spoke truth to thee and this was thy fury and madness who art not fit to talk of the Saints conditions and so it is manifest thou knows not what spirit thou art of who dost not know the light of Christ to be saving neither hast thou shewed forth the fruits of the spirit of Christ with its workings And whereas thou would know where any of the Ministers of Christ or Christ called any strange birth of the flesh c. it seems thou art ignorant of the Scriptures as well as others as long as thou hast been a Merchant for did not Christ tell the Pharisees they were of their Father the Devil Iohn 8. and the Apostle said to Elimas the Sorcerer thou full of all subtilty who perverts the right way of God as thou dost hindering people from believing in the light Ioh. 12. Acts 13. and so we speak truth to thee as thou art we do not falsly accuse thee and now see thee where thou art who long deceived us but praised be the Lord we are come to Christ the saving Light which thou denyes and its manifest what thou art and what thy suffering is in the darkness against the light and thou proves thy self a Thief and a Robber who enters not in by the door Christ the Light but climbes up another way and therefore the sheep knows thy voice to be the stranger Iohn 10. and we know what thy compassion is but thou wants power thou hast manifested in this Book and the Letters thou hast sent up and down to Manchester and Stopperd and thy deeds are manifest in the light which thou hates so much and the Lord is rebuking the evil spirit and judging it and thou wilt feel the weight of his hand for thy maliciousness to his people and it is thou that hath mislead and misguided the simple who brings forth arguments to no purpose to strike at the Corner-stone Christ the Light it being fallen upon thee therefore thy Arguments is manifest to be to no purpose and therefore thou art thus tormented and whereas thou savest our Corner-stone being struck at then the building must needs fall to the ground but I say our foundation is Christ the Light Ioh. 8. which we know that thou and all the Generation of Priests have struck at till you are all tumbled down your selves but Christ our Corner stone and Foundation and Light never fell but thine is fallen and therefore thou ragest And we do affirm in our words and printed Books that Christ who says he is the Light in Joh. 8 he is the Dore Joh. 10. he is the quickning Spirit and he is the Corner stone which God hath laid in Sion he is the Truth and he is the All and in all and above all according to Scripture and to be believed in And hath enlightned every man that comes into the world and he is the Redeemer and the word and this thou denyest Christ the Light the Quickning Spirit the Way the Truth the Corner stone the Word the Foundation the Redeemer and the All And here indeed thou hast denyed the Corner stone and Christ Jesus which the Prophets Christ and the Apostles testified of so thou hast manifested thy self against them So never take their words to make a Trade of any more And thou canst not call Christ the Light a Quickning Spirit the Way the Truth the Word the Foundation the Corner stone the Redeemer this thou canst not call the True Jesus thou sayst We do believe thee and that thou art an Enemy to him and them that walk in his light are manifest and therefore have I Richard Gubbam proved thee a false Prophet and Antichrist according to thy own-words and we are come to Repentance and the knowledg of the Truth and thy ways be detected whereby many simple hearts be turned from them and so now we are many of us undeceived from such deceivers as thee who calls Christ the Light the Word the Way the Truth deceiving but the Lord rebuke thee who strives to keep Ignorant simple people from the Light and in darkness thou wouldst aspire up as a Judge of all conditions and knows not thy own to be miserable blind and naked Rev. 1. yet thou tell'st the Reader what the Light is and what it can do and what it cannot do and of what use it is when thou in the darkness cannot comprehend it And whereas thou tellest us of the Light of the first Adam and the Spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord Proverbs 20. and Genesis 2. Adam was made a living soul 1. Cor. 15. and thou sayest this Candle of the Lord or Light in every man is inferior to other Lights and is lower than the Angels and is limited and bounded c. And now would not this Light have justified the Jews and Adam and the Candle of the Lord would not that have directed them in his way and did not David call the word of God A Lanthorn to his feet and a Light unto his path And is this thy Spirit which is under the Bonds and Limits for where the Spirit of God is joyned to there is liberty and we do not tell thee of the Light of Adam thou art gone from the matter but we speak of the Light of Christ Jesus the second Adam the Lord from Heaven For our dispute was not about the earthly Adam the Spirit of a man but our discourse was about Christ the Light of the world the Saviour and thou tel'st us of the Light of Adam this is thy dark Wisdom and like thy knowledge and experience of Christ And whereas thou say'st the Spirit of a man or Light in every man is understood to be the Reason or the understanding of a man whereby he is adopted to know his Creator viz. who made him according to David Psalms 59. 6. Answ Here thou hast confuted thy self for can man be adopted to know his Creator with his own Spirit and Reason and his own Light which thou call'st Natural For the Natural man knows not the things of God and the Spirit of man knows the things that be of a man even so the Spirit of God knows the things that be of God and if all Nations must know the Lord God that made them and serve him and they are his people and the sheep of his Pasture and they must worship and kneel before the Lord their maker and keep his Laws then they should have the Spirit of God for natural men cannot discern the things of God nor hear his voyee nor worship him as thou said'st before so these Scriptures over throws thy assertion Psal 95. 6. And whereas thou say'st of this Light we may understand Christ to speak Mat. 6. 23. Therefore if the Light in thee be Darkness how
great is that Darkness Together with this Light set up in every man which shows him his Creator that he is to be served and how he is to be served of necessity there must be a Law Implanted in him which Law is called Light Prov. 6. 23. whereby the will and mind of his Creator which is imprest upon him and made known unto him so that he by the Spirit or Light set up in him could reflect this Law and understand the reason and reasonableness of it this was the fullest Light in man before the fall he could look his God in the face and come to his presence with the Light and serve him with Gladness Answ What error and confusion is this if the Light which is Darkness shewed Adam the face of God and is that which shews the Creator and is the Law in the heart which reflects upon people for that which is spoken of in the 6 of Math. where Christ saith if that light that be in you be darkness how great is that darkness which he spoke to the double Ey'd State which if the Eye be single the whole body is full of light And Adam before he fell had no darkness in him and if the Law in the 6 of the Prov. be darkness in men with Mat. 6. as thou comparest it in thy blind erroneous meaning and so perverts the Scriptures to thy own distruction for the Law is light and the Reproofs of Instruction is the way to life and this we affirm to be saving and not the Light which is called Darkness And the Law of God which is placed in the heart whereby the will and mind of God is known Spiritually and the things of God are known only by the Spirit of God and this is above mans Reason or Spirit or darkness and keeps men in Reason out of darkness and orders mens Spirits to know the Lord and herein thou hast manifested thy error and Ignorance for men in the light which is called darkness knows not God nor in their natural estate as they are err'd from the Spirit of God and Adam was above that state before he fell of men in the Natural estate in the fall whose light is darkness and this is thy darkness and ignorance in paralleling them together And whereas thou sayst since the fall this Candle of the Lord in man is become exceeding dim to what it was so that his understanding was darkned with blindness and Ignorance Ephes 4. 18. yet it is not wholly Extinct for then he could not Exist but would cease to be and the Law which was written in mans heart now is not so plainly to be read yet there is sufficient left to render God Righteous in his proceeding against man who hold the measure of knowledg left in them that is to say of his eternal power and God-head c. Answ By this thou hast contradicted thy self and granted that every man hath the Spirit for can any know the eternal power of God and his God-head without his Spirit Then do they not know Christ in whom the fulness of the God-head dwells in and before thou calls it natural and Darkness and Reason and mans Spirit who art ignorant of the new Covenant Christ Jesus the Light which is given to all man-kind who is beyond the first which thou art groping in making nothing of in thy dark understanding and yet thou compares it this Candle to the light before the fall and with darkness one while is the Spirit of a man and another while is the Spirit of a man and another while is Reason and where there is Reason there 's the Spirit of Faith and thus intrudes into those things thou never saw which puffs up thy fleshly mind 2. Thou sayst What use is this light of or what can this Light in every man do since the fall And again thou saist this Light or Spirit of a man searcheth all the parts of the belly Prov. 20. 27. or as the Apostle saith it medleth with the things of a man 1 Cor. 2. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him that manifests every action of man it looks upon every thing done or to be done with a direct Act of the understanding and this singly considered makes not any thing that is done to be good or evil Answ All may see how thou hast contradicted thy former words which thou said it manifests his eternal power and God-head and it was the Law in the heart And now it makes nothing to be good or evil thy light doth not and in this thou hast contradicted thy former sayings And how can God judge the world in Righteousness if the light that is in man shews him neither good nor evil And this is contrary to Rom. 2. 20. For that which may be known of God is manifested in them for God hath shewed it unto them by which they know Good and Evil and doth the Candle of the Lord search all the inward parts of the belly and manifests every action of man and looks upon every thing done or to be done with a direct act of the understanding and yet the evil that a man doth manifested to his understanding what contradictions and blindness is this for if every action that a man doth is manifested then sin is manifested or else every action is not manifested and if this light manifests in man what is done and what is to be done this makes him a Prophet According to thy words who has manifested thy self to beignorant both of the old Covenant and the new And that which is spoken of 1 Cor. 2. the which thou brings to oppose the Light in every man And whereas thou say'st when this light or mans spirit reflects upon the Law written within according to which it is done or not done the evidness of the actions discovered these reflects are of the Soul and is called Conscience that is a knowing together with some else thus the Law discovers the quality of the action according to Rom. 3. 20. by the Law is the knowledge of Sin now according to the conformity or non-conformity that a man's actions bears to the Law such will its sentence be and answerable to the sentence the Law pronounceth will be the excusations or accusations of the person according to Rom. 2. 15. which shews the work of the Law written in their hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while excusing or accusing one another this is that witness which the Lord hath left for himself in men that he may be just when he judgeth the World and every mouth stopped at the great day Rom. 2. 5 6. this manifested to Adam his transgression which made him hide himself Gen. 3. 13. this manifested to Judas his sin and caused him to bring back the money and confess he had sined this may answer Henry Wood's Query neither is this light only exercised
Cor. 12. and this thou brought before and is this created light the Law of works do this and live and is this created light the spirit of man that leads him to horror and amazement Nay it is a divine Light that lets a man see himself and all those Scriptures doth not speak of a created light or a Candle light which is the spirit of a Natural man leading him to know something of his Creator and of his duty to him when the Scripture saith the Natural man knowes not the things of Gods how ignorant and carnal art thou was the Law of works the created Light springing up with the Natural man for that was the Law of God which is spiritual which saith do this and live as in the Romans And how was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world if Adam had no more but a natural light springing up with man and is the Image of God Righteousness and Holiness which he was made in a Created light and the Candle and Spirit of the Natural man as thou saist formerly in this thou manifests both thy ignorance and contradictions For that of God in all men by which they knew their Creator and the things of him it is by his spirit by which thou hast said they may know their Creator by a Created Light and by a Candle which is the Spirit of a Natural man And thus thou hast overthrown thy own Assertion and opposes the Covenant of Light Christ Jesus and art contrary to the Scriptures Cor. 2. 11. and what is this to the purpose as all being concluded under sin we know that and we know that the Law is spiritual and what it can do but we own Christ the end of the Law for it served till Christ the seed came who gives Life And whereas thou saist the Light which thou called natural and making no distinction in this place betwixt that which is natural and that which is spiritual but saith the Light flowes from the principles of Nature rightly called natural and not spiritual and this thou would set up in opposition against Christ the Light for the Apostle spoke to the Romans how they were from the Light and from the Law and while men be in that which flowes from the Natural Man they know not neither the Law that is Spiritual nor the Light of Christ and Men obeying the Light of Christ or the Law of God it is not by that which flowes from nature but from that which gives them a spiritual understanding for the natural man doth not know the things of God and all those Scriptures in the Romans Galatians and Corinthians is nothing to the matter of thy purpose concerning the Light of Christ that doth enlighten every man And whereas thou sayest This Light knowes nothing of the pretious Gospel ministry hid in God nothing of Redemption by Christ nothing of Gods good pleasure and purpose of Grace nothing of the Law of faith the tenour whereof is this c. This all may see how thou hast contradicted thy self by thy former words for thou sayes that this Light is able to seek or feel after God his Creator and is in a capacity of knowing much of Him as a Creator at least his Eternal power and Godhead and can this Light let them know the Eternal Power and Godhead and nothing of Christ who is the power of God and nothing of the Gospel which is the power of God and can a man know something of the Creator and nothing of his Favour for is not his grace his favour and they that lived in the Law was justified and they that were obedient saw Christ the end of the Law and came to him who is the end of the Law and beyond the Natural man's spirit which thou talks of so fast to no purpose but manifests thy confusion For to know God is Eternal Life Joh. 17. 3. and that is beyond thy Natural Man's Light and we do know that they that believe in Christ Jesus the Light which thou opposest shall have Eternal Life and we know that the Law of Faith is not natural nor the Light of Christ that doth enlighten every man nor the Law of God nor the promise of God with all the rights held in the Faith and the seed Christ shall bruse the Serpents head and he is come a Light and Salvation to the ends of the Earth that enlightens every man and we know the Law of Faith is Spiritual and whereas thou say'st the Law of Works springs up with Man's Nature and the Law is Spiritual and then this Natural springs up with the Spiritural Why how now John where finds thou this in the Scripture the Law is receiv'd from God and not springing up with man what non-sence and confusion is this what a Mechanick man art thou And thou saist the Law of Faith was added because of Transgression and out of mere grace was founded on Christ in the gracious promise Gen. 3. c. Answ We say neither the Law of Faith nor the Law of God sprung out of mans nature And the Law which was added because of transgression was not called the Law of Faith so thou errs and art as wide in this as thou art about the Light of Christ I believe thy brother Price would not say that the Law which was added because of Transgression was the Law of Faith and so thou art the vain man that would be wise as thou say'st which is born like a wild Asses Colt Job 11. and Gods thoughts are not as thine but are as far different as the Heaven is from the Earth And whereas thou say'st Man is not able by all his Candle-light to know Christ and yet thou said before he could know the Eternal power and Godhead by this Candle light and now thou sayes the Natural man cannot deserâ—e the things of God because they are spiritually discerned and before thou said he might know much of his Creator and of the Eternal power How now John dost thou not think the least babe seeth thee here thou needs not an Aoster to discern thee And whereas thou say'st that this Light is not able to discover or convince man of unbelief in Christ and yet thou sayes this light will shew the Eternal Power and Godhead which fulness of the Godhead dwels in Christ and we know that the spirit of truth doth convince the World which thou opposeth the Comforter and he is come and why dost thou tell us of a natural Light or Created Light or Mans Spirit which it manifests thou knowes no more but Heathen like or Athist like for it is the Light of Christ Jesus the new Covenant which farre exceeds thy natural Lights and created Lights and Man's Spirit and thy meanings and Acts 13. 47. I have set thee to be a Light to the Gentiles that thou should be my salvation to the ends of the Earth And this overthrowes thy Principles for he the Light is the salvation to
the ends of the Earth who lightens every man which is saving and Galla. 3. 19 20. and 1 Tim. 2. 5. This proves that Christ the Light is a Mediator which thou before deny'd and Christ the Light hath manifested the love of the Father to Mankinde and they that walk in the Light sees it but thou that hates it and talkes so much of thy natural light and spirit of man knows it not nor cannot comprehend it in thy darkness though it shine in it and dost thou own that in Mat. 11. Revelation of the Son thy Generation us'd to deny Revelation For no man knowes the Father but the Son c. and yet thou saist man may know by the natural and created Light and natural man's spirit the mind of his Creator and much of the Eternal Power and God-head and so thou contradicts thy self and contradicts Christ and the Apostles words For the natural Man perceives not the things of God and that which may be known of God is manifested in them by which they know God and No Man knows the Father but the Son and is not the Father the Creator and he to whom the Son will reveale him Ephes 1. 17. Joh. 3. 5 6. Titus 3. 5. Jo. 1. 12 13. Gal. 4. 6. 1 Cor. 6. 17. Ephes 2. 15. 1 Cor. 15 c. These Scriptures are spoken to such as received Christ the Light through which they came to be the Sons of God regenerated and born again Jo. 1. 7 8 9. and by this Light manifest in them they came to have the new mind by which they were joyned to the Lord and Eph. 5. And thou speaks of a new Light here thon perverts the Scripture and whereas thou saith 2 Cor. 4. which saith God commanded light to shine out of darkness which shined in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not Jo. 1. which shines into the Saints hearts and this light thou seemes to have denyed before which shines in our hearts and gives us the knowledge to see thy confusion the least Babe of us for this light gives us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and this thou strikes at with thy Candle-light and Created light and Natural light which thou calls the spirit of a man but to no purpose is thy tempest risen against the Lord and against his Anointed for it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Councellor and Leader of the people whom we follow and such as follows him receives the spirit of Adoption in their hearts and can call God Father But what is this to thee who denies his Light and calls it Natural and Created and is not that Light saving according to thy own judgment and will bring a man to know the Creator and the Eternal Power and Godhead thou calls it natural mans spirit which knows not the things of God and thou thus art confused but we tell thee Christ Jesus is the Saviour of all men who is the light of the World and did not come to condemn the World as thou dost but that the World through him might have Life and to save the World and is the Saviour of all men especially them that believe And all these Scriptures was spoken to the Saints condition and not to thine such who walked in the Light which thou fights against And whereas thou say'st It may appear by what thou hast said how gross their mistake is who call the Light in every man Christ and worship this as the Redeemer and the Lord that bought them Ans All that thou hast spoken hath been against Christ and it is to no purpose and clears nothing but hath made thy self darker concerning Christ the Light Joh. 8. and Joh. 1. which saith That was the true Light that lighteth every man that comes into the world and as many as receives him the Light he gives them power to become the Sons of God And this Light thou calls maliciously Created and Natural when didst thou ever hear any of us say we worship a Light within us this is thy gross mistake we Worship God in the spirit and truth and Christ is the Truth and the Apostle who was a Minister preached Christ in people and was not he the Lord that bought them Col. 1. 27. and this thou scoffest at because we confess it and enviously calls it a Natural light And whereas thou say'st It hath been cleared that this Light in every man is but the spirit of man and the Law written in the heart Ans How darest thou say that Christ the Light that doth enlighten every man that comes into the World which John came to bear witness of is a Natural light then John came to bear witness to a Natural light and the spirit of a Natural man which knowes not the things of God 1 Cor. 2. and this Natural light and spirit of man is the Law written in the heart this is contradiction to the Scripture which saith the Law is Spiritual And whereas thou say'st Christ came to deliver from the terror and condemnation of this Law written in the heart which thou calls natural light and spirit of man Ans Doth Nature terrifie and condemn Nature The Jewes Law was written in Tables of Stone the new Law or Covenant is written in the hearts and Christ did not come to redeem from the latter but from under the Jewes Law and we never called the Natural Light the Created light the Natural man Christ nor worshipped it but thou must write to them that doth so yet thou art slack enough to do that I believe but it is Christ the light that doth enlighten every man that comes into the World that 's it thou calls a fictious Christ and an Idol if thou would speak plainly who is given for a Covenant a light to the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel whom we witness and have the Testimony of Luke 2. 32 And whereas thou speaks of denying the true Jesus Emanuel God and man in union whom his own person without us not ours hath by one offering once for ever wrought eternal Redemption for us and is the alone object of Faith Ans Thou who hast denyed Christ the light that doth enlighten every man that through him all might believe Joh. 1. 8. 12. thou hast denyed the true Jesus God and Man in Union the Emanuel and the one offering which perfecteth for ever them that are Sanctified Hob. 10. So thou hast denyed thy Salvation and the object of Faith and Christs Doctrine which saith we must believe in the Light c. And whereas thou say'st It will follow that whosoever affirmeth and teacheth that the Light in every man is Christ is a Deceiver and an Antichrist 2 Joh. 7. Ans Here thou hast perverted wronged and wrested the Scripture to thy own destruction for the Scripture saith Whosoever confesseth not but denyeth Christ come in the flesh that 's the Anti-christ the Deceiver and doth not say that Christ the
speaking as in Tim. c. How ignorantly dost thou apply the scripture and wickedly but this Manifests thy Judgment of them but thou art more ignorant than some of the Baptists for some of the Baptists would allow women to speak but thy envy hath eaten out thy sight and the least of our Disciples sees thee to make lyes thy refuge and who lives in the truth sees thee And whereas thou saist We say the Scriptures are not a rule of Faith and Conversation to walk by hence it is that Christs Water Baptism and Supper and his Censures are rejected Ans If the Scripture be thy rule for thy life and Conversation then why dost not thou obey it For if the Scripture be thy rule then thou must burn offerings and sacrifices and if but part of it be thy Rule why didst not thou set down what part it is But we say Christ is our rule which doth also the Scriptures Math. 2. 6. Where it is said he shall rule the people and he is the author and finisher of our Faith And give us that Scripture that saith the Scripture is the Author of mans Faith and mans rule And as for thy Bread and wine and outward washings thou knowst little more than that nor hardly that for if thou didst thou would'st have answered my queries but thou darest not confess to the power the Apostle was in And we look at things that be Eternal 2. Cor. 4. And not at the things which are seen And such as are risen with Christ seek those things that be above Col. 3. And as for the outward things we know them where they be and do not deny nothing in its place but our life is in Christ but thou shelters thy self in outward things to keep alive in thy old nature out of the Baptism into the Death of Christ Rom 6. 3. And as for thy Censures you have censured one another till you are broken to pieces And where doth the Scripture speak of Christs Censures And Christ being within he is the Rule and Ruler and King this is Scripture within the Saints 1 Col. 27. Christ in you 2 Cor. 4. Canst thou not see this Scripture within but thou hast made a trade of them so long that thy gain hath blinded thee and was not all the Scriptures given forth from the Spirit of God within by inspiration of the Spirit 2 Tim. 3. and is not the new Covenant the Law written in the heart the Scripture within Heb. 8. Jer. 31 30. and this Scripture within thou makes a mock and scoff at And the same Gospel as ever was the power of God we own and are not ashamed of Rom. 1. 16. VVhich Gospel of Christ is the power of God to Salvation And Christ saith the spirit of truth should lead them into all truth And was not that their Rule and if the Scripture be the Rule what was the guide into the Rule to know the things of God for thou sayest the Natural man know not the things of God for they are spiritually discerned then the Spirit must be the Rule and they that are the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. and Joh. 14. And is not the Law written in the heart the perfect Law of liberty the Law of Love the Law of faith in the heart dost not thou see this is a Scripture Jam. 5. 25. Heb. 8. Rom. 3. 17. And is not this faith within to be obeyed Rom. 10. dost thou not here manifest thy darkness to all people and is not this faith held in a pure Conscience which the just lives by 1 Tim. 1. 19. Thou mightst be asham'd to scoff at the practice of the Saints and at the Scriptures but in thy dead faith thou calls Light darkness and darkness light as in Isay Who makes such an outrage against the Light because we say the light is in the heart and the Spirit of God to guide us is within according to Scripture which speaks of the Rule of Faith Let Christ Rule in your hearts by faith Thou hast put him out of his place preferred the Scripture before him And what Rule had Abraham and the Saints in the old world before the Scripture was written And whereas thou speaks falsly accusing and speaking untruths and persecuting with the tongue and Acts of injustice and thou sayes this we do in obedience to God and to our Guide Ans Thus thou further vents thy lies and malice for the Lord God who is pure and Christ our Light leads us to no such thing but we speaking truth to thee and tells thee what thou art without flattery therefore makes thou thy complaint of persecution with the Tongue but thou hast the persecuting tongue and when thou proves thy other slanders against us then may thou have a further Answer for we own no injustice And whereas thou saist we say the Light in every man is the object of faith and a common sufficient Light that it is Salvation to all that obey it and that we teach free Will c. Ans Here again thou adds lye to lye perverting our words as thou dost the Scriptures and speaking thy own for we say Christ is the Light of the World and his Grace is sufficient for all and hath appeared to all men Tit. 2. and believe in the Light saith Christ Joh. 1. 8 12. and Christ the Light is the Author of faith and we say it is not he that wills or runs but that God shews mercy which none is to abuse And whereas thou saist We teach and set up an inherent legal Righteousness denying the imputed Righteousness of Christ wrought in his own person without us that Christ fulfilling the Law in us or his spirit mortifying or sanctifying and fulfilling the Law in us is Justification therefore no coming of Christ but that within and so deny the 2d coming of Christ contrary to Scripture these many more Arminian Popish long since profligated errors is laid upon their sandy foundation Ans Here thou adds more lies for Christs second coming we do not deny and he the Righteousness of God we own and never denyed and it is a false slander of thee to say otherwise and our foundation is Christ which thou wickedly calls Sandy Isai 28. who is a tryed stone 2 Tim. 2. and the legal Righteousness is thy own it s none of ours 1 Cor. 1. and the Righteousness of Faith which saith the word is nigh thee in thy heart and in thy mouth we own which thou enviously calls an inherent legal Righteousness Romans 10. And that which Christ wrought and did in is own person and suffered without the Gates of Jerusalem for Mankind we own and never denyed which thou maliciously slanders us with the contrary and he is revealed within us and that makes thee to rage and all our Books which thou speaks of are according to the Scripturea of Truth and to Christs and the Apostles Doctrine but thy
denyed which is the Light of Christ Jesus and if thou would cast off thy evil cast off thy lying slanders reproaches mockings scoffings and if ever thou wilt learn or imbrace good thou must imbrace the Light of Christ Jesus which hitherto thou hast reproached and wilt thou learn of us which thou callest Antichrist thou manifests thy self this is but one of thy flattering scorns And whereas thou saist Through the Riches of Grace having cast out those Beams which dims the eyes of many I can better discern the meates that lyes deep in the bottom of their eye Answ Thou denying the Light of Christ Jesus and not owning the grace which brings salvation which hath appeared to all men as in Titus Thou art far off the Riches of the Grace who calls Christ the Light an Idol and instead of casting out Beams and Moats thou art fighting against Christ the Light Truth and Covenant and Salvation to the ends of the Earth And whereas thou saist Being of equal ground with them can tell them that all their sair pretences and high expressions are found to be a covering too short to hide their nakedness and deceit Ans It is Truth we hold forth and fair pretences is thy own condition in words but out of life and so thy nakedness is seen to all that fear God and thy deceitful covering which is now taken off and thou art manifest and thou art not upon equal ground with us who denies Christ to be the Light And whereas thou saist While they call others Deceivers they themselves are the more subtle Deceivers Ans In this thou hast declared thy own condition for we are saved by Christ and hold him forth and declare what we have heard and seen Iohn 1. 3. and declares aginst all such Deceivers as thou art who is an Enemy to Man's Salvation Christ Jesus the Light John 8. And whereas thou saist While they call others Babylons Merchants and charge them for selling Christs the Prophets and Apostles words they themselves do the some and that none sells more Babylonish then they nor at higher rates then they as might be instanced in several Persons that I forbear to mention Ans We are come cut of Babylon where thou art and all your confusions and have recived the Lord Jesus Christ whom we declare freely as we have received without money or price and we do abhor thy lyes and slanders as to declare Babylons Merchants and such as makes a Trade upon Christs the Prophets Apostles words then to do the same things our selves which no honest man can charge us justly with such things but such as thee who sells thy self to work wickedness and the Lord will rebuke thy spirit for charging that upon his innocent Lambs which they are not guilty of and we do charge thee to mention those particulars and their Names that hath sold such ware at so great a rate and what was the rate and who and what are their Names that bought it And whereas thou saist while thou endeavours to discover their deceits thou intends not to hurt any thing that 's good in them Ans It is the good in us that thou strikes at and in that thou hast discovered thy own deceit as may be seen all along in thy Book together with thy contradictions And thou saist Hosea 14. 9. who so is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them for the wayes of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them But John wiggan hath fully discovered his foolishness and that he walks not in the way of the Lord which is Light for Christ saith I am the Light I am the Way the Truth and the Life and this Light he hath denyed A POSTSCRIPT How hath thou lived in sloath and idleness that thou hast not convinced those that turned from thee which was thy Heareis all these many Years that thou begins but now alack for thee they are on a Foundation above thee and so thy Sandy Foundation and darkness and enmity and making gaine of the Apostles and Christs Words has been thy own condition and keeping People alwayes in Teaching that they may alwayes be Paying thee And now that thy Goin as gone thou grumbles and mutters against those that be innocent and judgeth them in the practice of thy self and so measureth them with by own Earthly Spirit and judgeth them with Earthly judgment which cometh not near them Something in ANSVVER To JOHN WIGANS APPENDIX Wherein he Compares the Evil Language of the Quakers with the False Prophets Answ TO tell a man he is a Lyar if he find him so is not a Mark of a false Prophet for Jeremiah did so Jer. 23. And the Apostle was no false Prophet when he told them they spake lyes in hypocrisie 1 Tim. 4. And Jeremiah was no false Prophet when he said They bent their tongues like a how to speak lyes Jer. 9. Nor David was no false Prophet when he said They turned aside after lyes Psal 40. And the Apostle was no false Prophet when he said Satan had filled their hearts Act. 5. as he hath done thine else would thou not have uttered so many lyes against us but we are not afraid of thy Reproaches Psal 51. 2. neither do we matter thy mocks for fools make a mock at sin Prov. 14. 16. And knowing that mockers was to come in the last times Jade 18. Though we have undergone the trial of cruel mockings but God will not be mocked with thy Religion and vain words Gal. 6. for what thou sowest thou must reap and our words that are spoken to you are truth who makes no distinction when the truth speaks to the wickedness and unrighteous state of man which the wicked may get the words as thou dost and throw upon the righteous And whereas thou compares us to the false Prophets and the unclean spirits in the Revelations which came cut of the mouth of the Dragon and were proud boasters false accusers and incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good Answ John this is thy own condition thou hast directly read it yet before thou said thou would learn of us and thou said they were the better meaning people that came to us thus thou foamest out thy own shame like unto the raging waves of the Sea And whereas thou saist We boast of persection and sinless life and are the servants of corruption Answ This is false the Lord rebuke thy spirit for our perfection is in Christ the crown of our rejoycing who thou saist is an Idol and Christ we serve and not corruption And see if any of our Friends have spoken such words to thee as thou hast spoken against the truth and thou denying the spirit and Light in men by which they should see their salvation thou can be no otherwise but as a wave of the Sea as a Well without water and a Cloud without rain as in Jude manifest to be in the
VVorld Christ she set up an Idol and if she worshiped that Light as Christ she was an Idolater She answered thus I never heard such words but from an Infidel and an Idolater and a Blasphemer against God and Christ Thou art an Enemy of God thou art worse then the Jewes thou art a fit man to joyne with the Turk to set up Mahomet oh thou Infidel oh thou child of darkness My Answer to his was thus I did never hear such words but from an Infidel and a Blasphemer against God and Christ and I do not know that ever I heard any that ever owned the Scriptures to be true that ever denyed so much of the truth there written as thou hast done never take Christ Iesus into thy mouth who hath said Himself he is the Light Thou enemy of God thou art worse then the Jews that denies he is come thou art a fit man to joyne with the Turk to set up Mahomet dost thou think that Christ hath many such enemies as thou in England Oh thou Infidel who wilt thou have for thy Redeemer wilt thou not have him that is come a Light who hath said while you have the Light believe in the Light that you may become the Children of the Light Oh thou child of darkness what dost thou believe in where will thou appear when the Righteousness of God is revealed in flames of fire upon the head of the wicked then thou will know Revelation which thou dost not yet And again thou saith speaking of Christ She saith I am a witness for him against all such Antichrists and deceivers and blasphemes as thou art thou art a Minister of the night and of the darkness in the Apostacy thou art a night Bird the curse and the judgments that 's written therein speaking of the Scriptures Christ Jesus and the Apostles hath pronounced it upon thee thou art the man My Answer was and is thus where thou saith in thy Letter to me If ever I was of good savour I have lost it by the abuse of the 〈◊〉 Jesus and miserable wresting of the Scriptures My Ans was I am a Witness for him he hath raised me up from the death to the Eternal Life which is the Record and Image that I bear of him and for him against all such Antichrists and deceivers and blasphemers as thou art which John saw was entring into the World in his day and time which spirit of Antichrist hath lived in you and amongst you untill this day and hath descended upon you from Generation to Generation in this dark night of Apostary and thou that art a Minister of the night and of the darkness in the Apostacy thou art now tormented that the Light is come and the day hath sprung from on high upon thousands Glory be to the Lord for evermore so that many can say that the darkness is past and the true Light now shineth and this torments thee who is a night Bird. And whereas thou saist in thy Letter to me I wrest the Scriptures My Answer was and is my Paper where it stands will testifie against thee to be a lyer where the plain Scripture is set down without any wresting and the curse and judgment that is therein written Christ Jesus and the Apostle hath pronounced it upon thee and thou art the man which is guilty of the same which they are pronounced against and thou cannot hide thy self from them thou wilt be sure to find them true upon thee one day when thou cannot cover thy self as thou hast endeavoured to cover thy nonsence with my name And again thou saist because I asked this question thou asked me what Parish Priest in England had got more money with his Tongue then George Fox had done since he was Journey-man Shoomaker in Manchester and where thou saist my Answer was Thou art a wicked proud disdainful spirit a heathenish spirit which torments thee and many more such night Owles as thou art Let the Reader judge whether thou be not a wicked lyer in these words thou hast set down and whether my Answer in my Letter was as thou hast set them down for in thy Letter to me thy words stands thus I think thou would not take it wel that thy friend G. F. should be call'd a Priest and yet what Parish Priest in England has gotten more money with his Tongue then he Where thou said I would not take it well if my friend G. F. should be call'd a Priest My Answer was thus he was never of such a deceitful trade as to cheat people of their money or to make people believe that he would bring them to God and yet keep them in darkness and sin and preach down the Light of Jesus which they should believe in Joh. 12. as thou and such deceivers hath done for he was of an honest true Calling according to thy Report and he was called from it of the Lord into his work and service as the Apostle was and to lay open and manifest such deceivers as thou art c. And here I charge thee to be an open and manifest lyer to all that reads these foregoing words who hath set down in the first page of thy Appendix That M. F. affirmeth that G. F. was called from the Shoomakers trade Now let the Reader see whether ever I mention that G. F. was a Shoomaker for if I had I had spoken that I did not know and has thou that boldness and impudence as to say I affirm when I do but Answer to thy Words and according to thy Report he was of an honest Trade and that he was called of the Lord unto his work and service I am a witness and many thousands more Glory be to the Lord for evermore which is the cause of thine and many such night Birds of your torment and makes you fret your selves and curse your King and your God and looks into the Earth but beholds nothing but trouble and anguish Isa 8. 21 22. and this is your portion that is come upon you And whereas thou saist I said thou was an impudent a wicked ungodly lyer thou lyer a proud disdainful spirit a heathenish spirit which torments thee and many more such night Owles as thou art My Answer is this Thou said G. F. is not as he was when he first came to Lancaster My Answer was thou lyer make it to appear wherein did thou see him then what he is not now is this the Answering of the Letters that was sent to thee to turn into lying and slandering and villifying this is like thy frothy spirit indeed that instead of Answering my Papers thou tells of G. F. that he is not as he was before as above and why art thou so envious and malitious against G. F. whereas thou saist I call'd thee a Heathenish Spirit thou said in thy Letter thou hadst read of a Monk and tells a story about him my Answer was further such things is the fittest for thy
Heathenish Spirit to read on thou hath more knowledge and unity with them then thou hath with the Scriptures and the spirit of God that gave them forth therefore it is time for thee to give over deceiving the people and making a Trade of Tradesmens words which was the Saints for thy belly c. This thou would shufle off instead of Answering me and whereas thou saist further in thy Letter What Parish Priest in England hath got more money then he my Answer was here thou art a wicked ungodly impudent lyer and I charge thee to bring one man in England that will say they gave him one shilling for Teaching or else let thy mouth be stopped for ever if thou do not send some particular whom he hath taken money of or else thou manifests thy self to be an envious spirited man and I shall look upon thee to be so c. and the lye remains upon thee And thou said further in thy Letter That G. F. having caught the fish is likely will cast off his Leather-cloathes My Answer was he was moved to put them on when he went to cry against such bryery spirits as thine and thou may see his Leather-cloathes yet if thy pride and envy will suffer thee thou thinks he has gotten as much with his Leather-cloaths as thou hast done in thy Chappels Shops and with thy Leather Belt he hath caught that which torments thee and many more such night Owles as thou art who hath fished long but it hath been in the night and so thou hath catch'd nothing but thy own Gain thou counts for Godliness And whereas thou said in thy Paper That the Quakers trade is a very gainful way which hath gained Multitudes to the likeing of them even for advantage sake My Answer was the Multitudes that is gained torments thee because it manifests thy dry husky false deceitful Ministry which hath beat thybrains all thy days to feed the Swine with I believ thy Flock would soon be counted that thou hath gathered for Babilon is loosing her Children dayly praises to the Lord for ever and the Spirit and the Bride saith come and see those that gathers multitudes to the Lord is like to vex and torment thee But what gain or advantage hath the Quakers got thou wicked lyar except thou counts Whippings Prisons Stockings advantage and the spoiling of their goods and rifling of their Houses and stealing their Corn as many of thy Generation hath-done and now thou art out of power now thou smitest with thy slanderous tongue with lies slanders and false accusations But thou sayes thou aimes at a greater thing then getting money in opposing the Quakers which is the glory of thy God which is the Devil the God of the World is thy God and thou hath done what thou canst in opposing the Quakers to get him glory but now is the time that both thou and he is judged and cast out blessed be the Lord and the Son of Man who is the Light and Truth and way to God Christ Jesus is lifted up from the Earth which shall draw all Men after him and him thou villifies blaspheames and speaks against and so thou is like to speak against us that beares testimony for him And whereas thou saist in thy Appendix That I said thou hast a great measure of the Spirit of envy malice and cruelty and blood And thou said in thy Letter to me Thou hath a true measure of the Spirit and aime of that envy and malice c. My Answer was thou hath a great measure of the Spirt of envy malice cruelty and blood and thou hast done well to confess it but there is none of this in my Lines but the very plain truth to thee and upon the which is thy condemnation for ever this stands upon thy head and thou canst not get from under it and so here is an end of the substance of my Letters which he mentions here a word and there one in his Appendix some of them being an Answer to two Letters he sent to me And here the Reader may read the folly and ignorance of this man how he glories in his own shame and who speaks great swelling words of vanity and has manifested his own shame J. W. so long as thou has made a cover for thy self of lyes and false accusations to hide thee under which is all the refuge thou can take to as thou hast done in thy Appendix in thy taking pieces of Sentences thinking thereby to hide the truth and verity and also thereby would cover thy own shame and nakedness but when this refuge of lyes is swept away then thy shame and nakedness doth appear and thy lying and wickedness returns upon thy own head and thy nakedness appears Thy Pen had better been still and thou silent then to have spoken and written against Christ Jesus our Corner-stone which thou saist thou will remove but thou art too light he was before ever thou or thy Father was which was a Lyer from the beginning the weighty stone that is burdensome to the Nations is too heavy for thee to shake and thy foundation is shaken and crusht and broken already for thou art here proved to be a blasphemer against him and an Antichrist against him and these things here before written are charged upon thee and proved against thee and except thou can clear thy self of the charges here charged against thee stop thy mouth and stay thy Pen and lay thee down in the darkness and stop thy boasting mouth and thou saith in thy Appendix boastingly What feeble shifts are these my Assertions strikes at their very foundation and before they make that good they would run into other matters but though they seem to be weary of their cause I must told them to it till their Corner-stone and mine be so thorowly tryed that it may undoubtedly appear whether of them is the true Rock Christ Jesus Answ Thy Rock is a poor Rock an old Image that thou hast digged and graven out of thy dark-brain and study where all the Conjurers and old divining Priests in the Apostacy ever was and is this is thy Rock a natural created Light and spirit of a Natural man and has denyed Christ Jesus which is the Rock the Church of God is built upon but thou hast split thy self of this Rock and is fallen in the pit And thou boastingly saith further in this Appendix That thou art willing and ready again to debate the point in controverse with G. F. or any of his friends before the high Sheriffe or any in Authority if they should require us to come forth for that end Answ Here is a crack indeed thou durst not have said this but thou thinks the Sheriffe would not send for thee thou puts it upon the Magistrates and the Sheriffe that thou thinks will not trouble thee or else thou durst not have ventured on this boast for I believe that on equal termes thou durst not ingage with old
hast told us of a true Christ and has left us without knowledge of him and without direction how to know him thou wilt be in danger here to be one of the blind Leaders except thou manifests to us what he is and where he is which thou has not done in all thy Book but all thy work has been to strike at ours and called him an Idol and yet has found us no better 10ly Thou seems by what thou hast writ in thy Book as though thou were a tryer of Spirits and makes distinctions of Lights and speaks of two words and also thou speaks as though thou could judge of Regeneration or new birth and who has the spirit of God and who has it not and not only so but as though thou could try true Apostles from false and true Doctrines from false so thou has taken upon thee a high seat of judgment when thou has taken upon thee to divide the Father from the Son Therefore I charge thee in the presence of the Living God and as thou wilt answer it before the Lord and his Elect Angels to answer to these things when and where and how didst thou receive the word of Life which was from the beginning when did thy eyes see it when did thy hands handle it that word of Life that was with the Father which the Apostl did see bore witness of Jo. 1. 1 2. 11ly When and where didst thou receive the power of God which is the Gospel the Apostle preached which is Salvation to every one that believeth 12ly When and where and how was it that the Son of God was revealed in thee when he was revealed in the Apostle he was to preach the Gospel to the Heathen didst thou receive thy Ministery by the inspiration of God and conferred not as the Apostle did not with flesh and blood yea or nay 13ly Was thou not made a Minister of men neither by men neither was thou taught by men but only by the Revelation of Jesus Christ 14ly When and where was the Holy Ghost poured upon thee as it was upon the Apostles when they were met together as also Peter bears witness Acts 5 30 32. who were faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ that he was a Prince and a Saviour and so also saith the Holy Ghost whom God hath given Heb. 10. 14 15 16. Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us c. Now if thou hast received this Holy Ghost manifest when and where and how if thou dost not stop thy mouth of thy tryings and of thy distinctions of God and Christ and shut up thy treasures of darkness and sorcery out of which thou hast blasphemed against God and those that Worships Him And in thy Book thou saith speaking of the Priests and of the World being cloathed with guilt were never able to this day to look this people in the face to wit the Quakers Answ Prove and quit thy self of being one of these Priests and people by answering of those Queries above written as also Curwen's 24. Queries and also Henry Woods Queries which all stands unanswered and thy Assertion stands false yet and unproved and thou stands proved and charged a Blasphemer a Minister of Darkness and an Idolater and an Antichrist by plain Scriptures of truth which never can be broken thou art proved to be all these so see if thou and all thy flock and confederates can wipe this away off thee that is laid upon thee And answer all the Queries that is sent to thee by plain Scripture without wresting or turning or adding or diminishing left the plagues of God be added unto thee and if thou dost not thou and thy followers and all thy companions will be found amongst those that are not able to look the Quakers in the face for thou has as much guilt upon thee as ever man had which may well cause thee to turn thy back and stop thy mouth And so this is but an Answer to a part of thy Appendix which concerned me Margaret Fell. AND whereas thou saist another writes thus thou opposes the truth art an enemy to Christ an opposer of the Gospel the power of God and several other truths the substance whereof is plain truth and to thy condition every word as thou hast manifested in thy Book And whereas thou writes that another writes thou art in thy Will-worship carnal Ordinances thou hardens thy self against the truth thou art an enemy to God and his truth c. Ans But if thou hadst been an honest man thou would have put in all my words to thee in thy Book and their names who they were but they have hit thy condition therefore art thou tormented And whereas thou saist this is William Houldings Paper thou speaks falsly for it was mine Henry Wood and as for mine William Houldings Paper thou hast not put it in thy Book which speaks about George Foxes Leather-Breeches which thou having lost Religion God and Christ hast made such work about his Leather-Breeches but G. F. likes them better then thy cloak of Hypocricy and so its like thou was ashamed to put my Letter in thy Book or thy own Letter either in which thou made such work about them now this is Wood's Reply I put thee in mind first that Thomas Curwen and I Henry Wood did write some Queries to thee expecting to have them Answered by thee which were the occasion of the Dispute as the record of the Dispute will make manifest and whereof there was no end made of the assertion which was put forth has caused many Papers to pass and repass and according to my freedom I passed thy Paper upon this account because I had been an eye witness and an ear witness of some proceedings there and of thy joyning with William Barret a Cheshire man and this was about nine years ago at Manchester at John Maddocks House in a Dispute with our Friends another time there was a Dispute held at the same House between thee and Richard Huberthorn at that time thou made thy self manifest for thou broke into passion and said he was a publick person so that thou was reproved by one of thy own Auditors Edward Gaythorn by name but not withstanding thou rose up and went away uttering these words That if thou had known that so many would have been present thou would not have been there that time although thou had said before that thou was a publick person I knowing these proceedings gave forth this Paper that the Reader may know the ground wherefore I thus write because I had known thee thus long to oppose Christ the Light therefore those Queries sent by old Henry Wood and Thomas Curwen were as Pills to thee sent for this end that they might work out that old leaven of bitterness which I have known lying so long within thee as I have made mention of before and this I may say truly was done in love to thy Soul now this not being so
lead them this way Ans Those three or four sheets was most of them particular Letters sent to thee by many persons so as I said before thou shouldst have published the whole Letters not part of them and let them have spoken themselves to the Reader and thy errors are sufficiently manifest in thy Book and thou would have a sheet of Paper written to thy Book five sheets in a few dayes time which concerns several friends 60. miles distance one from another this was Wiggan's policy and his peoples to get the Book again and to boast that it could not be answered And thy next words concerning Antichrists fair speeches and allurements while there is hope to make merchandize of them is directly thy own condition for now thou being stirred up and opposed rages who did appear to ignorant people like a Lamb but thou was known to us before for now thou art loud and clamorous and falsly accusing when thou canst not get thy will about like to the Whore in Proverbs 7. and Josephs Mistress Genesis 39. and 2 Pet. 3. And whereas thou speaks of owning Preachers not sent but denyes the Lord that bought them and preaches not the same Jesus and Gospel as Paul did such thou saist thou ownes not but denies Ans Then thou denies thy self and thy own Assertion for the Apostle preached that Jesus which said he was the Light of the World Joh. 1. and Joh. 8. so thou art the man that Christ never sent Rom. 10. 15. and Jer. 23. 32. and thou art proved the Antichrist that denies the Lord that bought thee 2 Pet. 2. and Jude 4. and so art one of them that crept in unawares who preaches another Jesus another Gospel then Christ the Light And whereas thou saist we boast of gifts c. and that it s reported to thee that G. Fox had the gift of Tongues and by such like pretences we gain a multitude and it is a certain Character of Antichrists last coming that many shall follow their pernitious wayes Ans Our boast is not in gifts nor tongues as knowing they begin at Babel but our rejoycing is in the word Christ Jesus and in his Light Truth and Spirit and we would have all men and women come to the same in themselves which thou denies by which they might know the Lord by which a multitude is come to follow the Lord and to walk in his way the Light which thou enviously calls a pernitious way and a mark of Antichrists coming and thou Antichrist like would draw people from the Light and spirit of God within them to thy own way but God hath overthrown and is overthrowing thy pernitious wayes and many who have been followers of thee now comes to follow the Lord and that makes thee thus to rage Mathew 24. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 2. and our way is Christ and he is our guift of God And after this thou sends 12. Queries abroad and thou thy self couldst not answer my Queries nor Wood's is this the part of a man of Wisdom or Reason Nevertheless I shall not let thy Queries pass unanswered though these Queries are not to us chiefly Thy Queries are as followeth 1 Query Whether it can be found in all the Scriptures that any of the true Prophets or Christ or his Apostles ever used such language as is before mentioned in any person professing Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ or whether it be not clearly the spirit of an Antichristian spirit as hath been hinted Ans Thou that has denyed Christ Jesus to be the Light of the World and calls him an Idol and hath denyed Christ the Light to be saving contrary to the Scriptures Luke 2. 38. thou hast denyed Repentance and Faith in Christ for thou hast denyed that which thou should believe in and therefore thy words bears the mark of Antichrist 1 Joh. 2. 18 22. Joh. 4. 3. Joh. 2. 7. And what we speak of thee is true upon thee and the Apostle used such language to such like as Acts 13. 10. where the Apostle called Elimas an enemy of all Righteousness a child of the Devil which perverted the Deputy from the right way of God as thou dost people And read Timothy and Titus and there see what words the Apostle gives to evil beasts and slow bellies Titus 2. 1. 2. Query Whether there can be any other gain in the aforesaid censures then to cast an odioum upon and to cause a disesteem of the persons opposing them and whether this was not the practice of the false Prophets and false Apostles thereby to gain more credit to their own cause Ans This is thy own condition for what gain is it by all thy former slanderous words which thou cast both upon Christ and us that Christ should not be believed in and that we should be of disesteem among people that holds truth forth to all people that they might believe in him who enlightens them and this was the work of the false Prophets and false Apostles to disesteem of Christ and the Apostles that people should not believe in him nor receive their Doctrine as Mat. 28. 12 13. and 2 Cor. 10. and did they not say Christ deceived the people read Mathew and did they not say Jeremy deceived the people but the false Prophets and false Apostles could get the true Christs Prophets and Apostles words but was out of the life and not being in the spirit the true Apostles alwayes judged them as thou art now 1 Peter 2. and Jude 3. Query Whether it be not a manifest abuse of the Scriptures and a presumptuous introduction into the office of Christ positively to affirme that the sins of any man shall never be forgiven in this World nor in that which is to come meerly because he denyed the Light that is in every man that comes into the World to be saving in as much as the Scripture no where saith thus that the Light is saving Ans Thou doth not only deny Christ the Light to be saving but thou denyest the Holy Ghost to reprove the World c. And Christ saith all sin may be forgiven but that which is against the Holy Ghost and thou dost also blaspheme and sin against him not as he is a man but as he is the Light and spirit Mat. 12. 36. and whereas thou saith the Scripture no where saith that the Light is saving the Scripture saith Christ is the Light and he is the Salvation John 8. and the Lord shall be to thee an Everlasting Light and the Lord is the Saviour of his people And Joh. 12. I am come a Light into the World saith Christ and he is a Saviour And Psal 27. 1. and David saith the Lord is my Light and Salvation And here thou lyes against that which the Holy Ghost hath said in saying the Scripture saith no where the Light is saving and in Isai 49. 6. where the Lord speaking of Christ saith I will give thee for a
the true Rock which the Prophets prophesied of should come whom the Apostles witnessed was come and for thy false saying that we grow weary and before thou complained we urged thee on how stands thy confusion together with reasonable men let them judge and we do not shuffle with thy assertion neither are weary of our cause which thou saist we are for we need not for we know what thou art who is wholly bent against Christ it is thou which is weary of thy cause and shuffles as thou hast reason for we relate some other of thy Assertions which thou hast laid down art thou now ashamed of them and yet saist thou will hold us to it and yet answers nothing to the purpose and it is Christ the foundation which thou strikes against as the Jewes did but to no purpose and thus thou and thy fellow Priests hath strucken at him who is our foundation till you be all fallen into the ditch and leads the people thither too it is manifest to the Nations Thou saist in thy Appendix again Thou art willing to debate the point in controversie before the Sheriff or others in Authority and saist let not G. F. thinke to shuffle himself out and put his taske upon others for he must know because it is affirmed that he was called of the Lord from his Trade as the Apostles were my desire is to deale with him chiefly in this matter and such others as say they are Apostles that their Doctrine and deeds being brought to Light it may appear whether they be true Apostles indeed or false and preach another Gospel then Jesus and Paul did as I have cause to suspect them and doubt not to prove them to be if they adhere to the Principles laid down in their Printed Books and maintained in their late debate Answ This is thy shuffle and base charge whereas thou saist G. F. would shuffle from it and lay it upon others that is false it s thou would shuffle from those which thou hast begun withall it seemes we gave thee enough the last time thou needs not call of G. F. for the least of us in the Truth is able to Answer thee and to see if thou can make good thy assertions which thou could not make good in the last Dispute nor hast not done yet which we yet call on thee to doe which by the Scriptures of Truth thou canst not prove without adding or diminishing and the same Jesus and Gospel whom Paul preached whom we own which thou saist thou will prove an Idol and prove us Antichrists who affirme this and as for all our Books which are given forth from the Truth we own and our deeds are brought to the Light and by this thine are seen and thou too to be one of the false Teachers and thy deeds to be deeds of darkness and why dost thou pervert M. F's words in saying G. F. was called from his Trade when her words was he was called from his Calling as thou reports and thou talkes of trying Apostles and denyes the Light Christ in thy dark spirit and calls Christ an Idol and natural Light and as for G. F. whose name thou hast publisht abroad in thy Letters up and down beyond the Sands and towards Manchester and to M. F. and sometimes scoffing at his Leather-Breeches sometimes at one thing sometimes at another and never was so civil as to write to him so we do look thou should make thy assertions good to us before thou medle with him for they concern us and we are the Men that will encounter with thee as before mentioned according to thy Challenge whom thou in scorn calls Meckhanike Men and as for me Thomas Curwen I nor none of us are no more Mechanicke then thy self nor never had collection yet John Though I have been a Prisoner above four yeares canst thou say so John and as for me G. F. I never spoke with thee but three times since thou came hither and once at London and I heard such euil language from thee as I never heard from man I coming into the last dispute with friends and then there being liberty granted I hearing thee lay down thy Assertions and affirming them together with thy people first That some men that came into the world had not the spirit of God which was put to thee to make good being thou was the mouth for them by plain Scripture without adding or diminishing which thou seemed to prove out of Jude which thou couldst not and that God denyed faith to some men and that Christ did not shed his blood for all men and that Balaam had no more spirit then his horse and that wicked men had not the spirit of God These things with several others which you asserted was put to thee to make good which thou hast not done to this day Nevertheless thou hast challenged to meet me G. F. and having disperst my Name in several Papers in a slanderous way and thy brother Price which came down to Fell's Chamber and Challenged me out which I presently came up and sent William Houlding to thee and bid thee come down to me in the Hall but thou would not come at me And whereas thou challenges me G. F. to meet thee before the Sheriffe My Answer is send me word when thou wilt and that thou will make these Assertions good by the plain Scriptures without adding or diminishing which thou hast laid down to me for I am ready to meet thee through the power and strength of Almighty God and if I have liberty according as thou hast challenged and many things more I have of thine for thee to make good which I shall not here put to Ink and Paper by plain Scripture for truth remains over all deceit G. F. And why dost thou flatter me William Houlding dost thou now own Mechanicks but thou owned none when thou writ to M. F. but jeared at G. F. in this report and lost thy Religion to talk of his Leather-Breeches and thus Fools will be medling with that which doth not concern them busie bodies in others matters And when thou had abused M. F. in thy Papers she sent for thee to speak with thee about the abuse but thou would not come at her and manifested herein thy guilt and uncivility and dost thou not make a noise abroad against us amongst ignorant people and keeps them from the Light that so thou maist get some Collections of them for thy Letters to M. F. signifies something of a false fear and jealousie that something should have gone besides thy mouth cruly I think that is the cause of thy rage against us who owns Christ Jesus the Light W. H. Here followes a Coppy of a Paper which was given to John Wiggan of his Assertions FRiend John Wiggan we hearing of a Book thou hast given into the Town before we had a Coppy of it another Challenge to us to meet before some publick Magistrate and the Sheriffe we