more and more shew forth it self in him and that to increase is not always taken strictly is clear from the words of John He namely Christ shall increase but I shall decrease Now John was not to decrease as to any Perfection Grace or Vertue wherewithall God had endued him But again I do readily grant that Christ as in respect of the Nephesh of his soul might grow in Wisdome as other men as also he did grow in stature and Lastly even the Nismah although Omnipercipient of things present and Omniscient of things both past and present may and did grow in Knowledge for the Soul of Christ hath this Omnisciency of things past and present by the Perception of the objects or things as they dayly appear and therefore his Soul may grow in experimental Wisdome and Knowledge as properly as the soul of any other man although both his Wisdome and growth therein is incomparably beyond that of all other Men or Angels But whereas thou sayst Christs soul was subject to some kind of ignorance this is too grosly and rudly yea irreverently spoken He was nescient of some things that was to come as namely of the day and hour of the last Judgement as he declared himself but to say he was ignorant of any thing is gross and improper for ignorance signifieth always some defect of that Knowledge which one should have as blindness deafness c. Signifie a defect of the Natural senses of seeing hearing c. Pamplet Animad 12. Christ according to Keigh when he appeared in Flesh was more like to the Angels that appeared in Humane shape in the time of the Old Testament than like to men Answ. This I altogether deny for Angels have not real bodies of Flesh and Blood such as men have Angels are not born of women as men are Angels are not crucified and buried as men are and as Christ was and although Christ was called an Angel yet he had and still hath a nature more excellent than all the Angels and when he came in the likeness of our Flesh he took not hold on Angels but he took hold on the seed of Abraham Pamplet Animad 12. What spirit was that which Christ committed to his Father when he gave up the Ghost on the Cross Answ. Why not the same excellent spirit or soul that is above the Nature of all souls of men and that is Omnipresent for still the Father is greater than he and he hath his dependence on the Father in whose hand or power he is Pamplet Animad 12. And if they are for the pre-existence of the Soul of Christ's Man-hood why not for the pre-existence of the souls of all other men Answ. I have no time nor mind to answer all thy queries many of which are altogether unnecessary others vain and frivolous but if thou thinkest that the pre-existence of the Soul of Christ doth necessarily infer the pre-existence of the souls of all other men thou shouldest have proved it by a clear Deduction so to be which because thou hast not done I am not concerned to answer thy query in this particular and I advise thee with Augustine to be more earnest to know what shall be the state of thy soul after thou goest out of this world than what it was before thou camest into it And if thou repent not from thy heart for thy so long opposing the Truth and maliciously perverting the words of Truth the state of thy soul will be miserable after thy departure Pamplet Animad 13. I ask why is not this Man Christ in all the fallen Angels as well as fallen men Answ. He is in all the Creatures for hefilleth all things giving being unto every Creature and upholding the same therein and Consequently he is in the fallen Angels as also to Judge and condemn them for their sin but yet Christ Jesus hath a nearer Relation unto fallen men than unto the fallen Angels by reason of the seed of Abraham which he assumed and therefore the Apostle Paul Preached Christ in fallen men not only after that general manner of presence but in way of Grace and Mercy in order to restore and renew fallen man by Repentance according to his Commission which he received from Christ which was to turn fallen men from darkness to light but we read not that Paul had any such Commission to preach unto the fallen Angels and as for the fallen Angels they are reserved in Chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day and expect not any other thing from Christ but Torment as they said unto him when he came in the flesh and did cast them out of men What have we to do with thee Jesus of Nazareth Art thou come to Torment us before the time So here the Devils believe and tremble for they fear the Judgement of Christ to whom all power is given But how could they fear it if he were not present and how could he cast them out of those they possessed if his power which is one with himself did not reach unto them Pamplet Animad 13. As for the Greek proposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it must necessarily be Translated among in some places else see what sense you will make Answ. That it must be necessarily translated among in some places I do not deny but in many more places it must necessarily by translated not among but in and in every place it ought to be translated in where the sense doth permit it without any contradiction to truth or other inconveniency because it doth most properly and usually signify in and not among but improperly and less usually whereof many hundreds of examples may be given Now there is no contradiction unto truth nor any inconveniency to understand by the Greek particle ' Ev it 's proper and common Signification which is in in all these places mentioned in my Book And indeed these very places constrain us to translate the Particle in and not barely among For how was Christ Crucified among the Galatians but in them Gal. 3. 1. And how was the Riches of the Glory of the Mistery which is Christ among the Gentiles but in them and how could Paul Preach the Unsearchable Riches of Christ among the Gentiles if nothing of these Riches of Christ was in them but all without them And how could so many have been said to have pierced Christ if he was not in them For as touching the outward piercing of the outward Body of Christ we only read that some few did that and therefore their piercing of Christ must be meant of his tender Life and Spirit which both Jews and Gentiles have pierced in their own Hearts by their Sins according to Rev. 1. 7. Pamphlet Animad 14. They believe this man-hood of Christ perceives and knows all things past and present of it self and by it self considered without any Relation to or union with the Deity and that it needs not God as to the knowledge of any present or
or substance And the first greatest of all the second less than the first but greater than the Third so that Plato his Doctrine of this Mystery was unsound and imperfect although it seemeth that he aimed at the Truth Now whereas we believe that the Holy Ghost is one and the same Essence with God and that the Heavenly Man-hood or Nishmah of the Soul of Christ is distinct in essence or substance from the God-head although by a most excellent and wonderful union united with the same for ever and yet is not any third essence as Plato calleth his Anima Mundi It is very manifest that Plato his Anima Mundi cannot at all be acknowledged to be the Soul of Christ. Again Plato calleth it the Soul of the World as Judging the World it self to be an Animal or living creature composed of Soul and Body But this doth by no means agree unto the Soul of Christ for if it did then the world should be Christ and the body of every beast fish foul tree or stone and also the earth it self should be the real body of Christ all which is false and absur'd and therefore Plato's Anima Mundi cannot be the Soul of Christ. Pamphlet Animad 21. I Query whether this Soul of Christ can be the Holy Ghost Answ. This query is altogether needless seeing in my book called The Way cast up I have expresly declared that the Soul of Christ and the Holy Ghost simply considered are distinct beings but because the Holy Ghost dwelleth in Christ the Heavenly Man and by him only is conveyed unto us and that they are wonderfully united one unto another we cannot understand them as separate and therefore as Christ the Second Adam in Scripture is called the quickening Spirit and the Lord is the Spirit so he may also be called the Paracletus or Advocate as he is expresly called 1 John 2. 1. And if any man Sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and this same advocate or paracletus is but one it is clear that sometimes Christ himself is called the Holy Ghost in Scripture for the words Holy Ghost as well as the word Spirit have different significations in Scripture for God is said to be a Spirit also Christ is called the Lord that Spirit and the Second Adam the quickening Spirit And thus the words Holy Ghost and Spirit do sometimes signify more generally and sometimes they have a more particular and peculiar signification Pamphlet Animad 21. Why then the Christian hath a great advantage of a Quaker in that his Sanctification is of another and better nature than that of the Quakers in that it is the Holy Ghost who is God who mystically dwells in them Answ. Here thou dost commit Three great abuses 1. To distinguish betwixt the Christian and the Quaker whereas every true Christian is a Quaker namely one that trembles at the Word of God and every true Quaker is a Christian and we desire to be called by no other name than that of true Christians 2. That thou dost insinuate as if we did not believe that the Holy Ghost who is God did dwell in us but only Christ which is a gross perversion and false calumny yea so false that thou givest thy sels manifestly and openly the lie in the next citation 3. Thou dost grosly again contradict thy self that thou sayest the Holy Ghost dwells mystically in every true Christian and yet thou deniest that the essence of God dwelleth in any Christian although the Holy Ghost be one essence with God Nor will thy term mystically save thee for if by mystically thou understandest not a real indwelling of the Holy Ghost as he is one essence with God then the Quaker is in a better condition and hath a great advantage of thy supposed Christian that according unto us every true Christian and Quaker hath the Holy Ghost who is one essence with God really or essentially dwelling in him through Christ who is also in him and this according unto 1 Cor. 14 25. God is in you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which being rightly translated is essentially from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth being or essence Pamphlet Animad 21. But they understand the Holy Ghost who is God is not separated from this Body Soul of Christ but why then did they not express themselves so Answ. Thou seest Reader how openly he giveth the lie unto himself in this citation by acknowledging that we understand the Holy Ghost is not separated from this Body and Soul of Christ and yet a few lines before he did alleadge that according to our principle the Holy Ghost did not dwell in us and whereas he saith why then did they not express themselves so I answer first how couldest thou know our understanding or mind if the thing had not been expressed But Secondly I say that I have sufficiently expressed the same in my book called The way cast up in several places particularly in p. 114. where I say expresly For because the Fullness dwelt in him and that he was immediately and most intimately united with the God-head so as no Man nor Angels are but only the Man Jesus he is only the true Christ. And because he it is alone who in an immediate way and originally is Gods Anointed who hath Anointed him with his Holy Spirit and all other men even the most Holy but mediately united with God through him receiving the Anointing or Holy Spirit Therefore all other men are not Christ but Christians not being immediately Anointed of the Father but by the means of Jesus Christ. Nor are they otherwise partakers of the Anointing or Holy Ghost but as they are partakers of Christ. Thus Reader thou feest how clearly I have expressed this very thing and how faulty the Author of this Pamphlet is and how far he hath fallen short of his promise to give the World a true account of our Faith concerning the Man Christ Jesus who is guilty of so many false insinuations gross perversions self belyings and contradiction as I have sufficiently demonstrated Pamphlet Animad 22. They believe this humane nature is divine farewell that distinction then yet 't is inferior to the God-head But this Author thinks that omnipresency and omnisciency may be attributed to the Man-hood yet the man hood not being consounded with or equalized to the God-head contrary to the Doctrine Taught by our Christian Divines Answ. Mark Reader the great ignorance and partiality of this Author who is so much offended because I call the Nature of the Man-Hood of Christ Heavenly and Divine as if because the name Divine is given to the Man-Hood of Christ that therefore I consound the Man Hood with the God-Head and equalize it thereunto and yet within three or four lines he calleth these of his brethren who profess to teach of Divine things Christian Divines he will therefore have men that Teach or profess to teach Divine things to be
he is the Heavenly Adam as Spiritually present with his Church in all Ages although they do not believe his outward Coming and Birth in the Flesh which is a great Sin unto them But thine and their Sin is greater who although in words ye Confess unto his outward Birth in the Flesh yet Deny his real Spititual Presence in the Church either before or since his outward Coming and Birth in the Flesh. And surely thy Blasphemy is no less to call the True Christ of God as he was and is in all Ages even from the Beginning a Child of our own Begetting than the Blasphemy of those Jews was who when he came in the Flesh called him the Carpenter's Son Pamphlet Can Flesh and Blood and an Human Soul be said to Ray and Beam from God who is a Free and Simple Spirit Answ. Christ's Soul is Heavenly Divine and Spiritual and so is that Flesh and Blood of his whereof I speak which he had from the Beginning And it may properly and safely enough be called an Emanation from God the Father according unto Christ's own Words who said He did proceed and come forth from the Father and whose Goings forth have been from of Old or from the Age. But then Emanation in this Sense doth not signifie That the Thing which doth so Emanate is belonging to the very Essence of that from which it doth so Emanate For these who call it an Emanation do acknowledg that it is a Distinct Being or Production of a Thing distinct from the Godhead although next unto it and most nearly united with the same as so indeed the Heavenly Manhood of Christ is Pamphlet Therefore you shall hear he hath denyed it again in the next Quotation Answ. This is another gross Abuse and Perversion For I have not denyed that Christ his Heavenly Manhood may be said to Emanate from the Godhead as one Being or Essence may be said to Emanate from another Being or Essence distinct therefrom Only I say That the Godhead it self hath no such distinct Parts within its own Essence or Being as Center or Rayes but rather is all Center according to that noted Saying of H. Trismegistus Whereas the Soul of Christ hath its Center and Rayes distinct by way of Emanation and yet that which Emanates is of the real Being and Essence of the Soul as truly as the Center Pamphlet Animad 18. This then may as fitly be spoke of them as of the Man Christ Jesus that in G. K. and J. C. dwells all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily Col. 2. 9. How doth the Christian savour this Is it not Rampant Blasphemy See Piscator and he Translates the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Col. 2. 9. Essentialiter Essentially And Calvin likewise upon the Scripture saith That God hath in Christ Essentially appeared unto us Answ. I altogether deny the Consequence That because the Essence of God is in us that therefore the Fulness of the Godhead can be said to dwell in us bodily for that is only proper unto Christ who is the Mediator betwixt God and Us in whom that Fulness dwelleth immediately and to which it is immediately united And forasmuch as we cannot contain the Fulness of Christ but only a Measure of him therefore the Fulness of the Godhead cannot be said to dwell in us and yet we must partake of that Fulness which dwelleth in Christ because we partake of Christ in whom the Fulness is And this is no Blasphemy but words of Truth and Soberness and cannot but savour well and comfortably unto every true Christian namely that God dwelleth in us in Christ according to Christ his own Words unto the Father Joh. 17. 23. Thou in Me and I in Them and according unto John He that confesseth the Son hath the Father also 1 Joh. 2. 23. And as for Piscator his Translation of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essentially it doth nothing hinder but rather helpeth to consirm the Truth of what I affirm For if the Fulness of the Godhead dwell in Christ Essentially or in its true Essence then it is clear that if any Measure of Christ dwell in us that a Measure of that Fulness of God himself dwelleth in us for no Measure or Part of Christ is empty of God Which Fulness of the Godhead as also the Measures of it are not to be understood Simply as in God himself who properly hath no Parts nor Measures but in respect of his Appearance and Manifestation towards us which Appearance or Manifestation of God hath its Fulness in Christ and its Measures in us according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ received by us For concerning Christ it is said That God gave not the Spirit by Measure unto him But to every one of us the Grace or Gift namely of the Holy Spirit is given according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. And thus we see that the Scripture holdeth forth Measures of the Spirit given unto us through what we receive of the Measure of Christ But Christ hath that Spirit in Fulness or without Measure And the Spirit of God both in Christ and in Us s of the same Essence with God Again As to the Words of Calvin cited by thee they do also confirm the same Truth and over-turn thy gross Assertion For if God hath appeared unto us Essentially in Christ and that we are Partakers of Christ himself by a real Participation of him as Calvin doth else-where acknowledge then together with Christ we are also Partakers of God for God revealeth himself in Christ Essentially and Christ revealeth himself in us Pamphlet Whosoever then hath God Essentially in him hath the whole Deity in him for the Essence is the whole Deity Answ. The Essence of the Deity as I have said hath not Measures properly in it self but yet the Scripture alloweth us to speak of the Measures of the Spirit of God which is one Essence or Being with God Which Measures in Us and Fulness in Christ are to be understood in respect of Manifestation And according to this Distinction of fulness and measures that is warranted by the Scriptures I deny thy Assertion that who ever hath any measure of the Essence of God hath the Whole or Fulness and the plain tendency of all thy work against us is not only to rob the Saints of Christ the Heavenly Man but also of the Holy Ghost and consequentially of God and then finally of all Goodness Vertue and Grace And indeed this is the real and naked tendency of the Doctrine of all those who contend so earnestly against the real and proper in-being or in-dwelling of Christ in the Saints as he is the Heavenly Man and second Adam to bring us at last if they could to deny that we have either God in us or the Holy Ghost for if the Essence of God dwell only in Christ and that Christ dwell not in us then indeed it should follow that we have nothing of
Pamphlet I query what difference betwixt the Nishmah of his Soul and the Center of it Answ. As great as betwixt the Spring and the Stream and the life and vertue that is in the Root and a measure of the same in the Branches so great is the difference betwixt the Center of that Nishmah and the ray or emanation of it into us which yet is one and the same Substance or Essence with it Pamphlet Look into Buxtorfs Lexicon you that are Schollars and there you will see that this curious distinction of Nephesh and Nishmah is ground less and a little after for the same word is used of the beasts and fouls and creeping thing that were destroyed by the Flood Gen. 7. 22. Answ. That the word Nishmath or Nishmah at times is used indifferently or commonly to signifie the breath or life of any living Creature doth not hinder but that at other times and that more frequently it hath a peculiar and singular signification even as the word Ruach signifieth at times indifferently any ordinary Spirit good or bad as also the wind and so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek Spiritus in Latine and Spirit in English and yet also it hath a peculiar signification at other times to signifie the Divine Spirit of God and Christ and thus also many other words have both a common and peculiar signification as the words El Elohim Bara and others And unto Buxtorfs Authority I oppose the Testimony of others better skilled and namely the Author of the Apparatus in Librum Zohar part 1. p. 542 and p. 600. And that which is of more Authority then all Humane Testimonies I oppose unto him the Scriptures Testimony in diverse places which I have Cited in my book as namely Gen. 2. 7. Prov. 20. 27. To which I shall adde Job 32 8. The Inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding where the same Hebrew Word Nishmah or Nishmath is used that is in Gen. 2. 7. And surely whoever shall duely consider that Scripture Gen 2. 7. How that-the Lord God breathed in Adam the breath of Life and he became a living Soul and shall compare it with 1 Cor. 15. 45. The first man Adam was made a living Soul the second or last Adam was made a quickening Spirit If he have the least sense of that quickening life of Christ Jesus that made the first Adam a living Soul cannot but acknowledge that that breath or inspiration of life which made Adam a living Soul was something more excellent and living then his own Soul which he received from Christ Jesus the second Adam who is the image of the invisible God after whom he was made for it was this breathing in or inspiration of Life that made him a living Soul Namely living unto God Whereas he was a Soul afterwards when he Transgressed but not such a living Soul for in the day he did eat of the forbidden fruit he dyed and remained no more a living Soul unto God in Holiness and Righteousness after the image of him that created him And indeed that this breath or inspiration of Life was not Adams own Soul but a Divine substance diverse of those called Fathers of great Note do earnestly contend Hilarius saith on Psal. 118. expounding these Words And he breathed into him the breath or Spirit of life and man was made a living Soul Inspirationi ergo huic Preparatus sive formatus est per quam Natura Animae Corporis in vita perfectionem quodam inspirati Spiritus foedere contineretur Scit in se beatus Paulus duplicem esse Naturam cum Secundum interiorem Hominem delectatur in Lege c. In English thus Man therefore being prepared or formed unto this inspiration by which the Nature of the Soul and body should be contained within a crtain Covenant or bond of the inspired Spirit Blessed Paul knoweth that there is a Twofold Nature in him when according to the inward man he delighteth in the Law of God Again Cyrillus Alexandrinus on 9. John saith expresly that the breath of life which God breathed into Adam was not the Soul of Adam but a Divine substance Non est igitur factum divinae Substantiae Spiraculum anima hominis sed animato potius homini proprietati Naturae utrisque anima dico atquae corpore Consumatae quasi Sigillum Naturae suae Creator Spiraculum vitae id est Spiritum Sanctum infixit c. Which is in English thus The breath of the Divine substance was not made the Soul of man but rather man being already indued with a Soul and the property of his Nature being consummated both in Soul and Body the Creator fixed in him as it were the Seal of his own Nature That is the Holy Spirit The which Holy Spirit he also calleth the Spirit of the Son and the Divine Nature and indeed without all doubt God breathed into Adam the Holy Spirit but this Holy Spirit being one Essence or being with God dwelleth in the fulness of it in Christ the second Adam and therefore Adam could not be a partaker of the Holy Spirit but as he was also a partaker of the second Adam whose Nishmah or Soul hath the Holy Spirit in it as being its most immediate Temple or house and therefore the fulness of the God-head is said to dwel bodily in Christ because Christ is as the body or house that most immediately receives that fulness to Communicate of the various measures of it unto others for the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Body is said to be derived from a word which signifieth a House or Lodging or Habitation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the fulness of the God-head dwelling in Christ as in its most immediate and proper Habitation as the Soul of a man dwelleth in its body no man can partake of God but as he partakes of Christ in whom that fulness dwelleth Pamphlet Animad 20. I desire the Schollars to call to mind how this Notion of the Soul of Christ in all suits with Platoe's of the anima mundi Answ. Cyrillus Alexandrinus and others do Judge that Plato by his anima mundi did understand that which the Scripture calleth the Holy Ghost for as the Scripture speaketh of three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost Plato likewise spoke of three namely the good the mind and the Soul and the Good he calleth the one and the Father the Mind he calleth the Son as being generate of the Father both which answer unto the Father and the Son which the Scriptures Testifie of and therefore they conclude that by that he called the Soul he did understand the Holy Ghost And that Plato had learned this mystery of the Three from the Egyptians who had learned it from Moses But that he had wrongly understood it himself for he seemeth to call them Three Gods as being distinct in a threefold being