Stranger when I was in Prison with these words Thy Name shall be no more James Naylor but Jesus This I judge to be written from the Imaginations and a Fear stroke me when I first saw it and so I put it in my Pocket close not intending any should see it which they finding on me spread it abroad which the simplicity of my Heart never occasioned So this I deny also that the Name of Christ Jesus is received instead of James Naylor or after the Flesh for the Name is to the Seed to all Generations and he that hath the Son hath the Name which is Life and Power the Salvation and the Unction into the which Name all the Children of Light are Baptized So the Name of Christ I confess before Men but not according to Men which Name to me hath been a Strong Tower in the Night and in the Day And this is the Name of Christ Jesus which I confess the Son and the Lamb in the Seed where he speaks in Male or Female but who hath not this in himself hath not Life neither can have by Idolizing my Person or the Person of any Flesh but in whom the Heir is born and hath spoken or doth speak there he must not be denied the Mouth to spake by who is Head over all and in all his own God blessed for ever And all those Ranting Wild Spirits which then gathered about me in that time of Darkness and all their Wild Actions and Wicked Words against the Honour of God and his pure Spirit and People I deny the Spirit the Power and the Works thereof and as far as I gave advantage through want of Judgment for that Evil Spirit in any to arise I take shame to my self justly having formerly had Power over that Spirit in Judgment and Discerning where-ever it was which Darkness came over me through want of Watchfulness and Obedience to the Pure Eye of God and diligently minding the Reproof of Life which condemns the Adulterous Spirit So the Adversary got advantage who ceases not to seek to devour and being taken Captive from the True Light walked in the Night where none can work as a wandring Bird fit for the prey And if the Lord of all my Mercies had not rescued me I had perished for I was as one appointed to Death and Destruction and there was none could deliver me And this I confess that God may be justified in his Judgment and magnified in his Mercies without end who did not forsake his Captive in the Night even when his Spirit was daily provoked and grieved but hath brought me forth to give Glory to his Name for ever And it is in my Heart to confess to God and before Men my Folly and Offence in that day Yet was there many things formed against me in that day to take away my Life and bring Scandal upon the Truth of which I am not Guilty at all as that accusation as if I had committed Adultery with some of those Women who came with us from Exeter Prison and also those who were with me at Bristol the Night before I suffered there of both which Accusations I am clear before God who kept me at that day both in Thought and Deed as to all Women as a little Child God is my Record and this I mention in Particular hearing of some who still cease not to reproach therewith God's Truth and People that the Mouth of Enmity might be shut from evil speaking though this touch not my Conscience And that Report as though I had raised Dorkas Erbury from the Dead carnally this I deny also and condemn that Testimony to be out of the Truth tho' that Power that quickens the Dead I deny not which is the Word of Eternal Life And this I give forth that it may go as far as the Offence against the Spirit of Truth hath gone abroad that all Burthens may be taken off with the Truth and the Truth cleared thereby and the True Light and all that walk therein and the Deeds of Darkness be condemned and that all that are in Darkness may not Act in the Night but stay upon God who walks in the Light who with the Workers of Iniquity hath not fellowship which had I done when first Darkness came upon me and not been led by others I had not run against the Rock to be broken which so long had born me and of whom I had so largely drank and of which I now drink in measure to whom be the glory of all and to him must every Tongue confess as Judge and Saviour God over all blessed for ever And this further is given me to say to every particular Person to whom this Writing shall come Whatever is thy Condition walk in the Light which lets thee see it there is thy Counsel and thy strength to be received to stay thee and recover thee Art thou tempted to Sin Abide in that which lets thee see it that there thou mayst come to feed on the Right Body not on the Temptation for if thou mind the Temptation it will overcome thee but in the Light is Salvation Or having Sinned art thou tempted to despair or to destroy thy self mind not the Temptation for it's Death that Sin hath brought forth feed not on it nor mind it least thou eat Condemnation for that 's the Wrong Body The Body of Christ is felt in the Light in which is Life from Death Grace and Truth to Feed on which will overcome for thee being followed but if thou follow the Temptation Fear and Condemnation will swallow thee up If there appear to thee Voices Visions and Revelations feed not thereon but abide in the Light and feel the Body of Christ and there wilt thou receive Faith and Power to judge of every appearance and Spirit the Good to hold fast and obey and the False to resist Art thou in Darkness mind it not for if thou do it will fill thee more but stand still and Act not and wait in patience till Light arise out of Darkness to lead thee Art thou wounded in Conscience feed not there but abide in the Light which leads to the Grace and Truth which teaches to deny and put off the Weight and removes the Cause and brings Saving Health to Light Yea this I say to thee in the Name of Jesus Christ that tho' thou has made thy Grave as deep as the nethermost Hell or were thy Afflictions as great as Job's and thy Darkness as the Depths of the Sea yet if thou wilt not run to vain helps as I have done but stay upon the Lord till he give thee sight by his word which commands Light to shine out of Darkness from thence will he bring thee forth thy Eye shall guide thee and thou shalt praise his Name as I do this day glory for evermore and this word is nigh thee which must give thee Light tho' Darkness Comprehends it not And hast thou Gifts Revelations Knowledge Wisdom or
and Orthodox p. 25. q. 18. Seeing the Apostle speaks of purifying the Heavenly things themselves Heb. 9.23 It would seriously be enquired into and the Lord waited on to know what nature these Sacrifices must be of which cleanse the Heavenly things whether they must not of necessity be Heavenly If so then whether was it the Flesh and Blood of the Vail Heb. 10.20 or the Flesh and Blood within the Vail John 6.53 Whether was it the Flesh and Blood of the Outward Earthly Nature first quoted or the Flesh and Blood of the Inward Spiritual Nature last quoted Whether was it the Flesh and Blood which Christ took of the first Adam's Nature or the Flesh and Blood of the second Adam's Nature Thus he and is very sound according to the Doctrine of our Saviour who saith John 6.53 Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you Of this many of his Disciples said John 6.60 This is an hard saying And therefore our Saviour expounds it to their weakness v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life From all which this is the Sum of I. P's Question The Soul of Man is of Heavenly Extraction which being fallen through Sin is not to be cleansed therefrom but by the Spirit of Christ which is shed on Mankind and univerâ—â—lly tender'd to them by Jesus Christ having offer'd up as a Propitiatory Sacrifice his Body and through the Vail that is to say his Flesh hath opened to the Kingdom in the Apostle's phrase A New and Living Way Ibid. p. 131. The Snake makes a Quotation from C. Atkinson's Sword of the Lord drawn p. 5. Your Imagined God beyond the Stars and your Carnal Christ is utterly denied To say this Christ is God and Man in one Person is a Lie Here the Snake hath made a false Quotation that it might not fail to answer his purpose which yet when set in its true Light speaks quite otherwise it standing thus in that Book Your imagined God beyond the Stars and your carnal Christ which you would make appear through your Heathenish Philosophy is utterly denied and testified against by the Light which comes from Christ. Now if the Snake's God and Christ can only be made appear through Heathenish Philosophy this he says is utterly deny'd And it is certainly true that the Light which comes from Christ does utterly deny all Vain and Carnal Imaginations The words from the break are a position of his Opponents to which he does not barely reply It is a Lye but adds He is not divided from what he was before the Foundations of the Hills were laid c. Ibid. p. 131. quoted from Great Mystery p. 250. The Devil was in thee says G. F. to his Adversary Christopher Wade Thou sayest thou art saved by Christ without thee and so hast recorded thy self to be a Reprobate Ibid. p. 132. From Great Mystery p. 183. Such as have Christ in them they have the Righteousness it self without Imputation the end of Imputation the Righteousness of God it self Christ Jesus Thus the Snake first picks up bits to make Quotations and then packs them on heaps that by this his false and confused jumbling of things together they might speak his own mind not the mind of the Writer As to the first where he brings in G. F. saying to Christopher Wade The Devil was in thee c. It was because he had given Testimony of it as this Snake has done by stuffing as G. F. says his Book with Lies And tho' the Snake may think it is no complement yet I can tell him it is Truth in much plainness and agreeable to the Sentence of the Lip of Truth to the Jews when he told them Ye are of your Father the Devil John 8.44 and the lusts of your Father ye will do c. So that where we find Murderous and Lying Works it shews them to be of the Devil As to the latter part of the first Quotation Thou say'st thou art saved by Christ without thee c. It does plainly contradict the Doctrine of the Apostle and upon the Authority of that G. F. or any other may safely declare that such who know not Jesus Christ in them are Reprobates and if Chr. Wade declared himself such G. F. was no more to blame than any other may be if the Snake now do the same To the last Quotation from p. 183 it is near all of it Scripture for Christ is declared the Righteousness of God and is the end of Imputation to all that believe which as G. F. there says Is owned and this Imputation is within for he that believes is born of God Ibid. p. 132. Quoted from Saul's Errand p. 14. Christ says he that is The Light within is the Substance of all Figures and his Flesh is a Figure To shew the Reader this more clearly it being not long I will give it intire as in that Book from whence the Reader may judge of the Orthodoxy of the place and the Malicious Parenthesis of the Snake It was a Query propounded to G. Fox Whether Christ in the Flesh be a Figure or not and if a Figure how and in what To which he answers Christ is the Substance of all Figures his Flesh is a Figure for every one passeth through the same way as he did who comes to know Christ in the Flesh There must be a Suffering with him before there be a Rejoycing with him Christ is an Example for all to walk after and if thou knowest what an Example is thou would'st know what a Figure is to come up to the same fulness Thus G. F. and is according to these and other Scriptures John 13.15 1 Pet. 2.21 Rom. 8.17 Heb. 2.9 Ibid. p. 132. The Snake in like manner minces the words of E. B. only quoting from p. 149. of his Works The very Christ of God is within us leaving out what follows We dare not deny him and we are Members of his Body and of his Flesh and of his Bone as the Ephesians were Eph. 5.30 Ibid. p. 132. He does pick from Isaac Penington's Question to the Professors p. 27. Doth not the name Christ belong to the whole Body and to every Member of the Body as well as to the Head And has left out what follows which are the Scripture Proofs Are they not all one yea all one in the Anointing was not this the great desire of his Heart to his Father John 17.21 23. That they all might be one even as the Father and Christ are one And so being one in the same Spirit 2 Pet. 1.4 one in the same Life one in the same Divine Nature even partakers of God's Holiness Christ is not ashamed to call them Brethren Heb. 12.10 nor is the Apostle ashamed to give them the Name of Christ together with him c. Heb. 2.11 The Snake
says we are in pag 3. he says We speak Sense and English have in a great measure reform'd from the Errors of the Primitive Quakers Thus as his Mood Humor and Occasion Changes we are with him either Subtile or Simple speak Sense or Non-sense Blasphemous to the hight or in some measure reform'd But after all the Ipse Dixit of an Enemy is neither good Argument nor Conclusion as will hereafter appear in the examination of the several Heads of Doctrine P. 3. Many of them have really gone off from that hight of Blasphemy and Madness which was professed among them at their first setting up in the Year 1650. and so continued till after the Restauration Anno. 1660. What the Snake doth acknowledge is at present Sober and Christian in us is really no other than what he calls at our first setting up the hight of Blasphemy and Madness for the colourable Pretences of these are only the spurious Brood of his own ill-forming Fancy and as bad joyning Fingers which have been imploy'd in Mangling the Books of our Friends in his phraise not unlike Rats and Moths Ibid. p. 3. Therefore they endeavour all they can to make it appear that their Doctrine was Vniform from the beginning and that there has been no alteration And that endeavour has not been in vain it having been often made so to appear Ibid. p. 4. I would perswade them openly and above-bord to Renounce George Fox and their first Reformers and all their Blasphemous and Heretical Doctrine Before this be done two things are necessary First to examine whether what our Adversary calls Blasphemy and Heresie be so or not and then to know what he would perswade us to for the first hard names are no Proof For in the Way which some called Heresie the Apostle did Worship God and our Saviour himself The Green Tree was call'd a Blasphemer And for the Last it 's not Good or Safe to be at all much less easily perswaded to forsake Truth for Lying Vanities Ibid. p. 5. And I must say it they give the same Proof for their extraordinary Inspirations as the Quakers do that is none at all but their own confident averring of it And I must say that our first Reformers from Popery having urged for their Separation the Authority of the holy Spirit and being asked for Proof of that Authority could give no other but what in the Language of our Adversary is none at all but their own confident averring of it The Apostle Paul when questioned by the Corinthians for a Proof of Christ speaking in him did not evade the question nor direct to an impertinent Solution of it when he advised them Search your selves try your selves know you not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 This Proof the Quakers also give and that with reason for the publick Spirit of God privately working in the Hearts of Men is only able to give those in whom it does so Work evidences of its proper effects The Apostle is positive to the same purpose 1 Cor. 2.11 The things of God knoweth no Man but by the Spirit of God And all Inspiration of the holy Spirit will I doubt not be owned to be some things of God and of these no Man can make a right Judgment but by the Spirit of God Which who want it is no wonder that by such this be call'd as by the Snake no Proof but a confident averring of it Though I doubt not but the Sober Reader will have another sense of this Matter Ibid. p. 5. Now I would beseech Mr. Penn who has more Wit than all the rest of his Party to let us know what ground he had for leaving the Church of England more than Muggleton What Muggleton's ground was is not now our Business to examine and what W. Penn's was he hath often declared many Years ago which yet if I should here repeat the Snake might possibly mistake in Judging of it as it is possible he may also in the judgment he pretends to have of Wit Nay supposing it true that W. P. hath more Wit than all the rest of the Quakers yet this Snake not having had distinct Knowledge of every Quaker and of every Degree of their Wit was not capable of more herein than to give some Testimony of his Confidence not Judgment Ibid. p. 5. Why should we trust the Light within him or G. Fox rather than the Light within Lodowick Muggleton W. P. and G. F. did never direct or desire Men to trust the Light within them but have constantly directed Men to trust in the Light of Jesus Christ which is given to each Man for himself and is a sufficient Guide to the true Knowledge and Worship of God notwithstanding all that Men may speak against it Ibid. p. 5. Has Lodowick wrought no Miracles to prove his Mission No more hath G. Fox or W. Penn. To which I may add No more hath the Church of England nor the Snake in the Grass unless we account that for one Miracle in the Snake when he at Billingsgate run away from the Messenger Of which more in its place Are they G. F. W. P. very sure that they are in the right So is Muggleton If the Snake be not very sure that he is in the right he hath but an intention to deceive when he calls others into Communion with him Are they Schismaticks So is he And so is the Snake and by the Snake's Doctrine so is the Church of England as I have shewn p. 15 16 17. foregoing Are they above Ordinances If they be I know not but that we the Quakers are not I know For we own and use Preaching and Praying which the Snake owns to be Ordinances Is he against distinct Persons in the Godhead So are they Distinction in the Godhead we own according to Scripture but think the word Person too Gross to express it Is he against all Creeds So are they It it false we own the Matter contain'd in the Creed called the Apostles Does Muggleton deny all Church Authority So do they So does the Snake that does not please him But that we do not the Snake hath disprov'd himself as see Pagâ— 61. Yet does he require the most absolute Submission to what himself Teaches So does thâ— Snake But we do not so but like the Apostles commend our Testimony to the Conscience c. 2 Cor. 4.2 Does he Damn all the World and all since the Apostles So do they So does the Snake counting all others as the Spawn of the Viper Does he make a dead Letter of the Holy Scripture and resolve all into his own private Spirit So do they 'T is false we reject all private Spirits acknowledge the Scriptures to have been writ by Divine Inspiration and to contain a Declaraion of the Will of God and do refer to the publick Spirit of God for the understanding of them Ibid. p. 6. These are Twin
Enthusiasts both born in the Year 1650. for then it was Muggleton says he got his Inspiration If Muggleton did come forth in the Spirit of Deceit in the same Year that G. F. came forth in the Spirit and Power of the Lord What can be inferr'd from thence Theudas and Judas of Galilee came forth with their Impostors not much differing in time from our Saviour's coming in the Flesh Yet to correct the Snake's Lying Chronology the Reader may please to know that G. F. did come forth in the Power and Spirit of the Lord some Years before the Date the Snake assigns Ibid. p. 6. It will be proper in this place once for all to obviate a Prejudice which some may take at a little Railery I am forc'd to now and then in answer to such Sensless Arguments and Pretences as deserve no otherwise to be Confuted The Sober and Judicious Reader will no doubt but be Prejudic'd against such prophane Railery and manifest Contradictions as frequently appear of which these Lines are one Instance In pag. 34. foregoing We are the most subtle in Distinction of any Hereticks and it is not usual for such who Distinguish Subtilly to Argue Senslesly But Contradictions of this sort are frequent with our Adversary who throughout his whole Book as the Sober Reader may hereafter Observe doth frequently Contradict himself that he may Bely Us Mistake our Principles that he might have the Glory of a Triumph and Pervert and false Quote our Books that he might have the Reputation of Great Discoveries Of all which having gone through his Introduction remains next in order to be spoken SECT I. Our Principle of the Light of Christ in Men shewn to be Scriptural and our Books herein agreeable thereto THE Light preached and testified to by us ever since we were a People is no other than Jesus Christ the Son of the Father's Love who in due time was born of the Virgin Mary dwelt on the Earth and was in all things like unto Us Sin only excepted Who was Crucify'd under Pontius Pilate died was buried and rose again the third Day and ascended into Heaven This Jesus Christ while he dwelt on Earth preached himself the Light and Way to the Father and speaking of himself to his Disciples John 14.17 said He Dwelleth with you and shall be in you And of this Jesus Christ John Testifies He was the Word in the Beginning with God and that this Word was God and that in him is Life and that Life the Light of Men and that this Light Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World John 1.1 4 9. This is that Glorious Truth testified unto by us which is not Notion except to those only who have barely an Historical Knowledge hereof For to those that do reverently attend its discoveries it is no more Notion but a Home-felt Truth With this Testimony it was that it pleased God to send forth his Servant George Fox who tho' despised mean and unlearned in the accounts of Men was of God made an Apostle in this Age and hath been instrumental in his hand for the directing of Thousands to the Light of Christ in Men. Upon which Light as Men come to attend it will fully teach them their Duty to God and enable them to perform it it will discover to them a System of Principles truly Orthodox with more certainty than Council or Synod can not taught by it for he is indeed a Wonderful Counsellor And this not in Notion not meerly Historical No! But in Practice according to their Obedience to it It will first fully and truly beyond any Casuist shew unto Man what is his Sin and if Man dispise not this Discovery but close with it it will beget in him a loathing of his Sin and then procede to work in him a repentance from Dead Works which if unfeigned it will go on to sanctify him and when Man by this Light Spirit or Grace is sanctified it will then witness to his Spirit that he is justified So will Man truly come to be redeemed This in short is the substance of what hath been by us declared concerning this Divine Light Christ in Men and which is not more than is witnessed of it in the Holy Scriptures in the words whereof our Friends have frequently given their belief in this as in other Articles and that with good reason for the Spirit of God in his Church in this Age can well agree with the Language of the same Spirit in and to the Churches in the former Ages And here I may fitly observe that too nice expressing and minute particularizing of Articles of Faith has been frequently one ground of Heresie and Schism and occasioned great disturbance in the World and indeed it 's no wonder that when Men forsake that teaching Grace which brings Salvation they should set up that Earthly Wisdom which in matters of Faith breeds confusion Ibid. p. 7 8. And this Notion of the Light within as a Ray only or Illumination from the Holy Spirit the Ingenious Mr. Penn has let us see in some of his late Books to draw us insensibly off the Scent of the Quaker Notion of the Light within This Adversary that he may scratch more undiscernedly he Hypocritically flatters W. Penn of which as we pass shall meet with divers instances But it is false that W. Penn hath in any of his Books explained our Belief of the Light within in terms contrary to what G. Fox or other our Ancient Friends have done He being a Scholar might use other terms but not contrary he might vary from the express words of G. Fox or others but not from their sense Of this Holy Writ affords instances The Holy Apostle Paul's rethorical forms of Speech might be more agreeable to the Rules of Art but not of the Holy Spirit than those of the rest of the Holy Apostles Yet his Learning and their Illiterature were both of excellent use the minds of the Persons being under subjection to the Spirit of God This was their great Rule so that though according to the Humane helps they had had they might use various yet not contrary terms in the same Article Ibid. p. 8. And that is to make this their Light within not only an Inspiration or Illumination sent from God but to be it self the Essential God and Christ. What Christ hath promised and by the Holy Spirit hath dictated concerning God and Christ's Dwelling in Men as in these places refer'd to among many others it may be seen is so experienced a Truth as well as good an Authority for such like Scriptural expressions that it will stand the Shock of any capricious Gramarian who would pretend to speak more properly and distinguish more nicely than it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost to do John 14.17 20. Rom. 8.10 1 Cor. 10.4 2 Cor. 15.4.10.6 7.14.25.13.7 Gal. 2.20 Heb. 2.11 Col. 1.27.4.19.2.6 Ibid. 8. And from hence O Blasphemy to repeat it they
by our Saviour and mostly in his words viz. as Mat. 5.48 Luke 6.36 and the last Scripture G. Fox there mentions does shew 1 Joh. 4.17 To which he might have added those other Texts 1 Joh. 2.6.3.3.7 where we are exhorted to walk even as he walked to purify our selves even as he is pure and to be righteous as he is righteous Which exhortations it is impossible to witness fulfilled otherwise than by the Assistance of the Holy Spirit which as G. Fox saith is in equality with God And the Expressions being Scriptural it need not trouble us that he is angry Nor do we nor never did we understand these expressions in Holy Writ above-mentioned otherwise than to relate to the Operations of the Holy Spirit in men For we never imagined that ever any Man or Woman can be even as God is or even as Christ is quatenus God and Christ. The Snakes next Quotation p. 17. is from Saul 's Errand to Damascus p. 8. He that hath the same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the Dead is equal with God Which is as declared by G. F. at his Trial hereafter mentioned to the purpose before for when Men are guided by the Holy Spirit they are certainly guided by God For the Father Son and Holy Spirit are one God and therefore equal and that which is equal as G. Fox often expresses it The Snake's next Quotation p. 18. is from Great Mystery p. 248. All that have the Son and Holy Ghost have that which is Equal in Power and Glory with the Father This Quotation Reader is another instance of the great insincerity of this adversary in that he hath placed the words here as spoken and asserted by G. Fox which yet are sound and true but they were not otherwise than thus The Priest had deni'd the Revelation of Christ in Man otherwise than by Adoption and his Christ's Equality with the Father in answer to this G. Fox mentions that passage in the Assemblies Catechism The Holy Ghost and Son are equal in Substance Power and Glory with the Father and then thus queries not asserts tho' it be true what Then all that have c. See the Readiness of this Man to misrepresent things The Snake's next Step p. 18. is to whom he floutingly calls the Renowned Francis Howgil who he says is yet more express in this Blasphemy if more can be His quotation from F. Howgil p. 232. of his Works is The first thing thy dark Mind stumbles at says he to his Opponent Edward Dodd is that some have said they that have the Spirit of God are equal with God He that hath i. e. obeyeth the Spirit of God is in that Holy Ghost which is equal with God The same says the Scriptures and the same says the Catechism as I have just now noted but F. Howgil goes on He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit there is unity and the unity stands in equality it self there is equality in Nature tho' not in Stature And now after all the Snake can say against it it is agreeable to those several Texts of Scripture quoted p. 49 50. foregoing and also to many others tho' a Mystery to Men not regenerated And therefore F. Howgil goes on and bids learn what these things mean the Understanding and the Learned will know what I say and this is neither damnable nor blasphemous but on the contrary it 's saving and precious to them that believe The next Reader is another Instance of the Snake's Injustice in urging against us a Book writ by one R. Gordon an open Enemy taking no notice at all of any Answer of ours in which practice I have already detected him in p. 48. foregoing and shall have occasion hereafter and therefore shall not say more of it here nor take notice at present of the passages he urges from that Book which yet the sober and unprejudic'd Reader cannot call a leaping over it because not urged upon valid Authority The Snake's next Quotation in p. 18. is from Saul's Errand p. 7 8. Jesus Christ the Mystery passed before The same Spirit now takes upon it the same Seed where it is manifested What pray is this more than to say Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever and is sound and true For they who obey his words do know of his Doctrine and they do experience him to be the same he ever was Snake p. 19. Having thus shewn the Quotations of the Quakers out of their printed Books I will now further prove my Charge in Legal Form against them by Evidence upon Oath Having hitherto detected the Snake in false quoting of our Books and perverting the plain Sense and Meaning of them so as it is obvious to the intelligent Reader I shall now examine and detect his Legal Form but first will shew what it is Snake p. 19. Which you will find in a Book printed 1653. Entituled A Brief Relation of the Irreligion of the Northern Quakers c. Here Reader Is the Snake's Legal Form A Pamphlet writ by professed Adversaries like the Snake which pretends to give an account of two or three Trials of G. Fox and J. Nayler for Blasphemy and what is in this related the Snake says is proved by evidence upon Oath When indeed it is only a great Argument of the Snake's Ignorance or Malice I rather think the last to call a private Pamphlet a Legal Form A Charge of Fact done many years past and brought to Trial in Courts of Justice cannot be said to be prov'd in Legal Form if the Conviction of the accused cannot be proved by the Records of the Court. Which I defy the Snake to produce Nay he cannot because the Parties were discharged from their Accusations the Evidence proving insufficient against them And now for the Snake in his own Language Boldly and Impudently to give the Lye to the Judge of the Assize or other Magistrates before whom these Charges of Blasphemy were brought against G. Fox and J. Nayler and to say it was proved when it was not argues Impudence towards the Magistrates but Villany towards the memory of the Accused For had it been proved they must have been convict and have suffered the demerits of Blasphemy And all this would have been upon record But besides this one grand and notorious Lye of the Snake's viz. That the Charge was proved there is in His Legal Form many other Lyes which I shall detect as I come at them Snake p. 19 20. There the Snake directs to that Lying Pamphlet p. 2 and 3. You have an account how G. Fox did avow himself over and over to be equal with God being asked by Dr. Marshal in the presence of Mr. Sawro Col. Tell and Col. West Justices of the Peace in the County of Lancaster at a Private Sessions in the Town of Lancaster whether or no he was equal with God as before that time he had been heard to affirm His Answer was this I
that he is not Almighty Yet when Man does fall it is no plain Conviction that he could not have stood by an Almighty assistance We have never placed Infallibility in Persons otherwise than by the assistance of the Holy Spirit to which if Men are obedient it will infallibly guide them to Heaven and so safely protect them that as our Saviour saith John 10.29 No Man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand But when Men depart from the Grace of God They may as Samson when he had lost his Strength Judg. 16.20 say I will go out as at other times and shake my self And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him But their weakness will soon discover they are gone from their Guide Thus it was with the People of the Jews and thus with all those Persons whose failings the Holy Spirit has recorded in the Scriptures when they departed from the Lord they left their Strength and fell some very fouly Yet what less than Blasphemy is it to say That the Holy Spirit had they been obedient could not have preserved them as well as there are Instances it did restore several of them And it is no breach of the Oath of God made to Abraham and his Seed nor any argument of the Shortness of his Arm as the Prophet's phrase is That they are become a Desolation because they refused to hear and obey And should it which God forbid come to pass that the Defection of the People called Quakers from the guidings of the Holy Spirit should be as general as is now that of the Jews who sometime were the People of God Yet the Holy Spirit of Christ were not at all the less infallible or sufficient in it self to be the Author of Salvation to all that do obey it His first Story p. 44. is of one Christopher Atkinson who he calls in ridicule p. 43. a Precious Brother in p. 44. a Bright Lamp with other such marks of Scorn insulting over his Miscarriage in the Lust of the Flesh And this Story the Snake makes a twofold use of one to reproach the Memory of the Person who fell and the other to reproach the Principle and Practices of those with whom the fallen Person had walked To both I shall say somewhat To the first I know of no good use which can be made of raking in the Crimes of the Deceased unless for Cautions to the Living But then their Crimes are not to be dressed in the Scornful Garb of a merry Andrew Because tho' that may raise more Vanity yet it can raise no Reformation on such as are guilty or be any means of Preservation to those that are not yet so And therefore we find that the Holy Spirit in recording the failings of Noah Lot Moses David Solomon Peter and others hath done it in Language proper to these purposes And there is not a truer mark of a mean and base as well as an unchristian Spirit in a Man than only for the Glory of Insult and Liberty of Ridiculing to call back to the minds of the Living the Crimes of the Dead To the Second it can be no fault in the Holy Spirit of God that Men are disobedient to it nor is it any argument that the Infallible Spirit of God does not preserve any because I or another may fall but it is certain the Holy Spirit will teach and will preserve all who will keep in Subjection and Obedience to it and they who do so keep have a Godly Jealousie and Care that the Practice of those who make Profession of the Guidings of the Holy Spirit be according to it in all the Fruits of it and accordingly Richard Huberthorn and some others who were then at Norwich did wait for the Counsel of God that in his Wisdom they might search out this evil which C. A. had wrought and by their dealing with him did bring him so to a sense of his Naughtiness that he did confess it and condemn it And further that it might not be supposed that such Naughtiness was tolerated and allowed by a Society professing Christianity it was communicated to the Publick that the guilty Person might bear his own Iniquity and the Holy Truth he had made profession of be cleared The like Laudable Practice tho' call'd by the Snake p. 45. A not regarding the Sacredness of the Seal of Confession was practised by the Prophet Nathan towards King David and the Apostle Paul towards his Brother in the Apostleship and also by others recorded in Holy Writ and yet the Holy Spirit is not at all the less Infallible Ibid. p. 46 47. There was much more tender regard shewed to some Young Women who had given a Confession in Writing to John Bolton of their frailty in the Flesh as is told in the Spirit of the Hat but it was hush'd up because it touched many eminent Ones in the Ministry who from day to day resorted unto them and giving them these appellations Innocent Lasses and Daughters of Sion This Charge and Story upon nameless Persons is Reader another Instance of the Injustice of this Adversary in that he hath taken it out of a Book written against us and Printed Anno 1673. and which was answered in the same Year as the Snake well knows and hath not been since reply'd to and what is an aggravation of the Snake's Injustice herein is that in the Answer to it there is a Certificate under the hands of John Bolton and Sam. Newton testifying to the contrary of this very Charge and of this the Snake could not be ignorant because he makes Quotations from the same Book and in or near the same Page in which this Certificate stands which I shall here set down as answer sufficient to this nameless Charge Whereas the Author of the Spirit of the Hat Insinuates that our Ministry is guilty of Vncleanness Whoredoms and such like beastly Practices under a feigned commendation of us under written as prosecutors of such Persons that they may be brought to Judgment We do declare in the Fear of the Everlasting God that tho' we abhor with our whole Souls such unrighteous Practices and if such things were we should we hope clear our Consciences for God and His Living Truth and People Yet we do declare in the Uprightness of our Hearts that we know of no such nor can acknowledge any such to be either of our Ministry or our Body much less eminent among us as hath been wickedly suggested by the Author of The Spirit of the Hat whom we have found painful and faithful to God his Truth and People Therefore to say we were hindred from bringing them to Judgment whom we never went about to charge neither can we is a wicked envious and false suggestion of the Adversaries of the Truth and this in God's Fear we testify to the World John Bolton Sam. Newton Ibid. p. 47. Instances can likewise be given of some of their She Preachers whom they call
due time And he is now the object of the Faith of all true Christians not only as born of the Virgin c. but also as known and witnessed in his Inward and Spiritual Appearance in Man to bruise the Serpent's Head Power and Strength which has had Dominion and Rule in Man To this sense our Saviour himself does also explain the Spiritual Nature of the Seed the Word of God Luke 8.11 Ibid. p. 143. The Snake brings from Christian Quaker another Argument to the purpose foregoing which is this One Outward thing cannot be the proper Figure or Representation of another nor is it the way of Scripture so to Teach us c. To which the Snake says All the outward Sacrifices under the Law were Types or Figures of the Sacrifice of Christ the Outward Christ upon the Cross c. The whole Legal Dispensation of the First Covenant was a Figure of Christ and of that Dispensation of the New Covenant Grace and Truth which came by him But that it was not only a Type or Figure of Christ upon the Cross I shall shew in several Instances The Serpent which Moses made Numb 21.9 Our Saviour declares John 3.14 that as that was lifted up in the Wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up And this in a sense may be understood to have respect to our Saviour's being lifted up on the Cross but not only that for our Saviour carries the Type further and shews that it did respect that Spiritual Obedience and Faith in him which gives Eternal Life For as the Sting of the Serpents in the Wilderness were cured by looking to the Brazen Serpent So by coming through Faith and Obedience to look to Christ the Sting of Sin and Death are taken away by him Wherefore he saith v. 20.21 For every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God In like manner the Apostle 1 Cor. 5.7 Christ our passover is crucified for us may have respect to Paschal Land as Type and to Christ crucified as typified but not altogether that for he carries it further and shews that whereas vers 1. It was reported there was Fornication among them And vers 6. That they gloried in what was not good He adviseth them to purge out the old Leaven and from the advantages of Power from Christ received he presseth them to keep the Feast not with old Leaven neither with the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness but with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth The same Apostle to the Colossians 11.16 17. Let no Man therefore judge you in Meat or in Drink or in respect of an Holy-Day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath Day which are a Shaddow of things to come but the Body is of Christ And that they were Shadows of the Spiritual Appearance of Christ whose Dispensation to Mankind was introduced by his outward Appearance the Apostle to the Hebrews shews chap. 9. that the Service which stood in Meats and Drinks and divers Washing and carnal Ordinances did not make perfect as pertaining to the Conscience but was a Figure of good things to come even the purging the Conscience from dead works to serve the living God by the spotless Offering of the Blood of Christ through the Eternal Spirit Thus the benefit of that Offering cannot be witnessed by Man but through the inward Operation of the Eternal Spirit whereby the Conscience can be purged from Dead Works And thus the Scripture plainly teaches That the Types and Shadows of the Law and the Ministry of it are the Figure of the Covenant promised Jer. 31.33 which is also plentifully shewn by the Apostle to the Hebrews throughout that admirable Epistle And agreeable herewith is W. P. in the place last quoted by the Snake for those words of his One Outward thing cannot be the proper Figure or Representation of another c. had relation to his foregoing words which the Snake hath cut off and are these As Abraham Outward and Natural was the Great Father of the Iews outward and natural whose Seed God promised to bless with Earthly Blessings as Canaan c. And that they were figurative of the one Seed Christ and such as he should beget into a lively hope through the Power of his Spiritual Resurrection c. Thus W. P. And as the Snake cannot deny that Abraham was figurative of Christ and that to his Seed as they continued in his Faith the Oath of God was to them in that outward Covenant So it must of necessity follow that this Great Father of the Jews Outward and Natural doth not herein otherwise Typify Christ than as Christ is the Spiritual Father of all the Nations of them that are saved through Faith and Obedience in and to his Spirit in their Hearts Ibid. p. 143. They can upon a pinch subscribe the whole Creed and yet not mean one word of it of God or Christ at all that is of any God or Christ without Men. Reader is not this a fair mark of what kind that great Charity and real kindness must be which in p. 23. foregoing he pretends to have for the Generality of us Or is it not rather a mark of that Flaming Charity which himself declares to have for the Church But Charity and Truth are at an equal distance from him who can thus notoriously belie us by charging such Dissimulation on us as is his own practice That we can subscribe not upon a pinch but heartily and readily all the Testimonies of Holy Writ and the Articles of Faith therein contained is True but that we do not mean one of them Testimonies of God or Christ without Men is as great a falshood as the Devil can utter And if Preaching if Writing if constant Profession in Words together with Practice agreeable from a People can be a sufficient evidence that they do so own and mean I defy the Snake with all his Confederacy to give better and greater evidence that they acknowledge any of the Truths therein contain'd The Snake next repeats a Quotation from Saul's Errand p. 8. which is answered before in p. 59. and another from the Sword of the Lord drawn c. p. 5. which is also answered p. 204. foregoing and therefore need not be here repeated Ibid. p. 145. The Snake speaking of W. Smith's Primmer says Here is an Admirable Cue given to Young Children to prevent their ever receiving the least tincture of Christianity that if they should at any time hear of a Christ in Heaven they might immediately stop their Ears and believe all who spoke of it to be false Ministers That this Snake is a false Accuser and has not the least tincture of Christian Charity there needs little more trouble to prove than barely to give truly which the Snake has not but curtail'd those Questions
Spirit of God is measurably given or manifested to Men in order for the purifying their Consciences from Dead Works to serve the Living God And if the Snake can from Scripture prove these with all the other Texts speaking of the Spirit of God in Man are to be understood of some Secondary Agent or that the Holy Spirit is such then his term may be allowed till then we rather choose to keep to the Language of Holy Writ and must own that the Holy Spirit of God measurably manifested to Men is to every particular Man in himself the only true Foundation and Principle of Religion And such who have not this Foundation for their Religion can do no more with respect to the things of God than as the Apostle says make a fair shew in the Flesh. This is also plainly the sense of W. S's Catechism p. 57. Ibid. p. 147. Yet to make it exceeding plain that the Quakers do not believe that Christ has any other Body or other Humanity than that Spiritual or Allegorical Body or what ever they mean by it which they say he has within them In E. B 's works p. 149. This Question is asked in these plain and peremptory terms Is that very Man with that very Body within you yea or nay And the Answer is as plain The very Christ of God is within us we dare not deny him And E. B. adds which the Snake has cut off as hath been before shewn We are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bone as the Ephesians were Eph. 5.13 Now I will grant the Snake that this Answer is not only plain but also true and dare him to deny it if he can we having for Authority herein not only Eph. 5.30 but a Cloud of Scripture Testimonies But it is exceeding plain that the Snake tells a Lye when he says that E. B. does in this Answer say that the Manhood of Christ which Suffered and Dyed upon the Cross was Buried did gloriously Arise and Ascend into Heaven where he hath now a bodily existence is in that bodily existence within us No E. B. says Christ was in us as he was in the Ephesians that is Spiritually unless the Snake will have it to be exceeding plain that the Holy Apostle does there mean by Body Flesh and Bone that which he took of the Virgin And if he will so have it it will be exceeding plain that he perverteth the Text as much as he does E. B's words But further Reader as exceeding plain as the Snake does falsly say it is that we deny the bodily existence of Christ without us in Heaven He confesses his Ignorance of our Belief not knowing what to determine herein whether it be other Humanity than that Spiritual or Allegorical Body or what ever they mean by it Yet for all this his Cloudiness and Ignorance herein he does exceeding plainly and in most peremptory terms bely and abuse us for we do and always have acknowledged and believed the bodily existence of Christ without us as he ascended into Heaven yet do also say he is Spiritually within us Of which is further spoken p. 213. foregoing Ibid. p. 147. They have of late brought G. F 's Blasphemous Journal into the Publick Meeting-House at the Savoy c. That G. F's Journal is Blasphemous remains to be proved unless we will take for proof the Snake's having as he says p. 16. Boldly and Impudently as well as falsly averred it for better or truer he has not to give That it was so lately brought to the Savoy Meeting-House there is a very good reason which is that it was but lately Printed Ibid. p. 148. This is an Honour they never yet vouchsaf'd to the Holy Scriptures which are not to be seen in their Meetings This is a notorious Lye for it is no greater Honour than is frequently vouchsaf'd to use his terms to the Holy Scripture Ibid. p. 148. And it was a bold effort in G. K. to bring a Bible into his Meeting at Turners-Hall and reckoned by his opposites as a sign of his turning back again to the Priests way of Worship How bold G. K's effort was in so doing I shall leave the Snake and him to agree but what was and is to us a sign of his Backsliding is his having very much turned his back upon that Profession of the Light of Jesus Christ which he hath heretofore professed Ibid. p. 148. In their Publick Schools particularly that great one at Wansworth near London Portions of this G. Fox 's Journal are enjoyned to the Scholars to be read every day but never a Chapter out of the Bible that is Beastly ware with them Dust and Death and Serpents Meat The Publick ought to take some care of this in pity to their poor Souls This I cautioned before in Satan Disrob'd but repeat it here because it is material It is indeed Reader very material that a Man should with so hardened a forehead tell Lyes and repeat them and that with design as himself declares to make the Publick the Executioner to his wicked designs and be himself thus the Trumpeter to Disturbance I say this is very material but that nothing material or true is in what he hath said as above I shall Reader prove I hope to thy Satisfaction And first Generally for our Publick Schools which the Snake upon his own Authority without Proof hath so charged I do as generally charge him with a Lye in that his Assertion and my single denial is at least of equal Authority with his single charge if he will name particulars I shall also as in this his particular Instance disprove it by Certificates under the hands of Persons who are not Quakers and who being near Neighbours and in the School often do full well know the practice of it The first Certificate and which next follows is from a French Protestant who Teacheth the French Language in that School Be it known unto all People to whom these lines may come that for more than four Years I have been conversant in the School of Richard Scoryer at Wansworth in the County of Surry My Station in his said School is Teaching the French Language And I solemnly testify that in the aforesaid School the Scriptures are frequently read by his Scholars and I never did perceive the least appearance of slight or disesteem shewed either by the said R. S. or any belonging to his School unto the Holy Scriptures In Testimony to the Truth hereof I have subscribed my name this 22 d day of August 1698. James Barhays The following is a Certificate from several reputable Men Inhabitants of that Town not Quakers who have knowledge of the Laudable Practice of that School herein We whose names are hereunto subscribed Inhabitants of the Parish of Wansworth in the County of Surry do hereby Certify that there is not in the said Parish any Publick School commonly called or known by the Name of the Quakers School except that
Numerical Body that was the Natural for so the Natural and Spiritual Body are the same But suppose J. Faldo's relative It to hold I do utterly deny that this Text is concern'd in the Resurrection of Man's Carnal Body at all I will recite it with the 5 following verses as they are in our English Translation Here W. P. at length gives the 44 45 46 47 48 49. Verses which I omit for brevity and then continues I say this doth not concern the Resurrection of Carnal Bodies but the two States of Men under the first and second Adam Men are sown into the World Natural and so they are the Sons of the first Adam but they are raised Spiritually through him who is the Resurrection and the Life and so they are the Sons of the second Adam the Lord from Heaven a quickning Spirit The very words of the Apostle undeniably prove this to be the Scope How else could the first Adam's being made a living Soul and the second Adam a quickning Spirit be a pertinent Instance to prove Natural and Spiritual Bodies Upon which follows that the Natural was first that is the first Adam and then that which is Spiritual which is the second Adam the quickning Spirit the Lord from Heaven who came to raise up the Sons of the first Adam from their Dead to his Living from their Natural to his Spiritual Estate But perhaps it will be objected that the 47. v. The first Man is of the Earth Earthly And part of the 49. v. We shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly Seem to imply a Bodily Resurrection but let the whole verses be considered and we shall find no such thing The first Man is of the Earth Earthly the second Man is the Lord from Heaven Who sees not that this is rather spoken of earthly Mindedness than of the earthly Body of Adam It was mentioned to shew the great Disparity p. 371. that is between the Nature and Qualification of the first and second Adam The following verses puts this Interpretation out of doubt As is the Earthly such are they that are Earthly and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly For those words We shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly I cannot see how they should relate to the Resurrection of the Carnal Bodies of Men for the Image of the Heavenly is a renewed State to God through the Operation of the Spirit and Power of Christ The first part of the verse clears it And as we have born the Image of the Earthly we shall or rather let us bear the Image of the Heavenly as Ambrose and Theophylact read it and 6. or 7. Copies besides have it which is as much as to say As we having born the Image of the God of this World by becoming his Children so may we bear the Image of the true and living God by being redeemed from a vain Conversation having our Consciences sprinkled from dead works and being born again of the Incorruptible Seed by the Word of God which lives and abides for ever Thus far W. Penn both with respect to the Resurrection of Carnal Bodies and in his Defence of his Interpretation of the 1 Cor. 15. to all which he adds from p. 374. to 380. some Testimonies from H. Moore T. Collier Farellus H. Hammond and Jerome were not all these Members of the Catholick Church against the Gross conceit of his Opponents of a Carnal Resurrection To which I may subjoyn that what efforts so ever our Enemies shall make against us concerning the Identity or Numericalness of Bodies in the Resurrection with those of Flesh and Bone which we lay in the Grave We shall content our selves with answering them not in the modes of Philosophy but in the Language of Holy Writ and esteem it our Duty as well as Wisdom in a Question so Mysterious not to be wise above what is Written And when our Adversaries can produce any farther declaration herein which they shall prove to be of equal Authority with what is so already declared we will not be backward in our hearty acknowledgement of it Snake p. 162. When I urged to a Quaker-Preacher towards a proof of the Resurrection of Bodies That Text Matth. 27.52 53. He made Answer that that was not meant of the Litteral or Earthly Jerusalem that any Dead Body arose there But of the Spiritual Jerusalem which John saw coming down from Heaven And others told me they heard the same exposition in a Quaker Sermon at one of their Meetings That any Quaker-Preacher so acknowledged by us did so tell the Snake I find cause not to believe on his bare word knowing his readiness both to pervert words rightly spoken and to tell false Stories of things that never were as is before shewn And what others told him we are little concern'd for but if it may be worth his while to produce better proofs and be more clear in his Charge he will not want an Answer Ibid. p. 162. Here we have Spiritual Graves Spiritual Dead Bodies Spiritual Jerusalems Spiritual Resurrection and Spiritual Christ whenever any Text pinches them Pray what Text pincht the Prophet when speaking from the Lord Ezek. 37.13 14. Ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your Graves O my People and brought you up out of your Graves and put my Spirit within you c. Did any Text pinch our Saviour When he bid his Disciple Matth. 8.22 Follow me and let the Dead Bury their Dead Or the Apostle Eph. 2.5 6. Even when we were Dead in Sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Nor was John the Divine more pincht when in the Apocalyps he saith 3.12 The Name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God Thus would I be large herein I am not pinch'd for Examples which do abundantly shew that Sin and Iniquity hath been term'd a Grave and they who are securely a sleep herein have been accounted Dead and when they have witnessed the Power of God to break that false security they have seen that Grave and Death they were in and many in this State have cried to God that he would make them partakers of his Resurrection from their Sin and Death which came by it God in Mercy and great Compassion hath heard and answered and hath raised and is raising many who through the Spiritual Power of Christ in them are measurably made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus This without being pinch'd we freely own before God and Men and do as freely own that there are in Scripture spoken of Outward Graves and Dead Bodies an Outward Jerusalem and a Resurrection of Bodies to General Judgment and that Christ hath a Body glorified in Heaven yet is Spiritually in his People Ibid. p. 163. These
the Socinians I do still confess That as the Reasonable Soul and Body is One Man so He that is God and Man is One Christ. And whether this will give Satisfaction to an Implacable Adversary or no I value not knowing my Conscience Clear in the Sight of Him who Judgeth Righteously which I am sure this my Unjust Judge and False Accuser is not who presently after he has stiled me Honest George unjustly Brands me with Infamy as Sophistry Delusion Depths of Satan Mystery of Iniquity Equivocation Jesuitical Confession c. Oh! Rank Malice Bitter Envy c. As for my Confession in the 7th Art alledged against me it stands good and true viz. We own no such saying as that the Holy Doctrine or Divine Precepts of Scripture is either Dust Death or the Serpent's Meat but truly profitable to us by the Assistance of God's Holy Spirit given to us c. And this was in direct Opposition to F. Bugg's saying These Quakers who pretend to own the Precepts and Doctrine of the Bible to be Holy and Blessed yet say 't is Dust and Death the Serpent's Meat c. Apol. Introd p. 18. to his New Rome We do not believe any of these Quakers ever so said of the Precepts and Doctrine nor do they own any such Saying I wholly disown it But then to beg the Question What was it you called Dust and Serpents Meat Was it nothing else but the Ink and Paper Did any Body ever say That these were not Dust Or Is that any part of the Controversie betwixt us Snake p. 177. Here he yields the Point he grants the Ink and Paper to be Dust. I said Will decay and turn to Dust but so will not the Word the Gospel nor the Holy Doctrine contain'd in Scripture And it has been confess'd by F. B. and others That Holiness is not ascrib'd to the Paper and Ink or Inky Characters that will decay but to the Holy Doctrine and Precepts which will not decay but be permanent and endure and therefore are called the Holy Scriptures with respect to the Holy Matters therein contained That the Books and Writings in Ink and Paper will wear out so will not the Word is evident Jehoiakim King of Judah could burn Jeremiah the Prophet's Roll or Book writ with â—nk by Baruch but not the Word of the Lord nor properly the Words thereof for the same Word caused all the former Words to be written again after the Roll was burnt Jer. 36. If then the Books the Paper and Ink be combustible or will decay and turn to Dust but not the Word nor the Doctrine where 's then the Controversie indeed when the same thing is granted on both sides He quotes Gr. Myst. p. 302. as saying Paper and Ink is not Infallible that will come to Dust unto which the Word Christ and the Spirit is preferred in the same place quoted And in the said Gr. Myst. p. 78. by Letter he there means Paper and Ink but the Scripture the thing it speaks of is Spiritual the Word is Spirit And further p. 127. the Scripture or Writing it self without the Spirit that gave it forth is a dead Letter in it self The Spirit is that that gave forth the Scriptures For my part as I am not in the least conscious to my self of the least Contempt of Holy Scripture nor yet of the Bible for I have always preferr'd it to all other Books extant in the World and more affected Reading therein than any other Book even from my Childhood and often bless Divine Providence for preserving to us the Scriptures So I know of none among us guilty of contemning them Neither is what 's said from any Contempt of Scripture no more than it is of the Earth and the Heavens to say They shall wax old and perish but the Word that made them endureth Psal. 102.25 26. Heb. 1.11 12. But say what we can in this Case to clear our selves of any Contempt to the Holy Scripture this our uncharitable Judge and Accuser will not believe us He 's bent to asperse he has swallow'd down so much of the sour Leven of the Malice of a few false Brethren Persecutors and Apostates from whom he derives much of his Authority and thus scurrilously and most falsly imposes upon me viz. And therefore George notwithstanding all thy meally Modesty it is it is indeed George it is the very Doctrine of the Scriptures which you blaspheme as Dust and Death and Serpents Meat on purpose to bring Men off from trying your pernicious Heresies by those Sacred Oracles Ibid. This is a pernicious Abuse and Calumny against my self and others of us to out-face us against our very Sense and Consciences and in good Conscience I Testifie against it it never entred into my Intention or Thoughts so to blaspheme the Doctrine of the Scriptures as to term or deem it Dust Death or Serpents Meat the Lord rebuke this lying envious Spirit Neither do I vilifie the written Doctrine and Precepts of God in comparison of our New Light as he falsly calls it p. 177. but reverently esteem them The Man makes no Conscience of Defaming us Neither do we quarrel with the Law and the Testimony nor yet with Writing or Scripture as 't is in Ink and Paper but distinguish between the Writing and the Things written which is no contempt to either We are thankful to Divine Providence for both the Scripture or Writing and the Holy Doctrine and Divine Precepts therein written for they testifie unto Christ our Light and our Light to the Truth of them And to what he saith If any do not teach the same i. e. according to the Law and the Testimony or written Word it is because there is no Light in them Isa. 8.20 And then puts this Emphasis upon it No Light George Mark that Your false Pretences to the Light within are here over-rul'd Ibid. I deny that our Pretences to the Light within is either false or are here over-rul'd if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Morning to them If he 'll see the Note from the Hebrew in some Bibles he may see no Morning in the Margin over against no Light Then let him Mark that But is there no Light in the Creation before Morning either inward or outward pray Did not the Light shine in Darkness before it shined out of Darkness And had not the Believers a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto they did well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the Day dawned and the Day-star arose in their Hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 And are not many reproved by the Light in them for telling Lies and speaking contrary to the Word c. And therefore there was some true Light in them before the Morning appeared to them And though my Accuser says Ibid. These and such-like Texts detect and explode the miserable Ignorance and Blasphemy of these Pretenders to Light For which we have