THE Christian Doctrin AND SOCIETY OF THE People called Quakers Cleared from The Reproach of the late Division of a few in some Part of America as not being justly chargeable upon the Body of the said People there or elsewhere Now I beseech you Brethren mark them diligently which cause Division and Offences contrary to the Doctrin which ye have learned and avoid them Rom. 16.17 Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice And be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Ephes 4.31 32. LONDON Printed for Thomas Northcott in George-yard in Lombard-street 1693. WHereas divers Accounts have been lately publish'd in Print of some late Division and Disputes between some Persons under the Name of Quakers in Pensilvania about several fundamental Doctrins of the Christian Faith as is pretended by one Party which being particularly mentioned and thereupon occasion very unduly taken by our Adversaries to reproach both the Christian Ministry and whole Body of the People commonly called Quakers and their Holy and Christian Profession both in England and elsewhere tho' no ways concerned in the said Division or Matters charged but rather grieved and troubled at it and at the indiscreet and reproachful management thereof in Print to the amusing and troubling the World therewith and giving occasion to the Loose Ignorant and Prophane to slight and contemn the Truth and the Interest of the tender Religion of our Lord Jesus Christ We are therefore tenderly concerned for Truth 's sake in behalf of the said People as to the Body of them and for all of them who are sincere to God and faithful to their Christian Principle and Profession to use our Just Endeavours to remove the Reproach and all causeless Jealousies concerning us touching those Doctrins of Christianity or any of them pretended or supposed to be in question in the said Division in Relation whereunto We do in the fear of God and in simplicity and plainness of his Truth receiv'd solemnly and sincerely declare what our Christian Belief and Profession has been and still is in respect to Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God his Suffering Death Resurrection Glory Light Power Great Day of Judgment c. We sincerely profess Faith in God by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ as being our Light and Life our only way to the Father and also our only Mediator and Advocate with the Father a a Heb. 12.2 1 Pet. 1.21 Joh. 14.6 1 Tim. 2.5 That God created all things he made the Worlds by his Son Jesus Christ he being that powerful and living Word of God by whom all things were made b And that the Father the Word and the holy Spirit are one in divine Being inseparable one true living and eternal God blessed for ever c b Ephes 3.9 Joh. 1.1 2 3. Heb. 1.2 c 1 Joh. 5 7. Yet that this Word or Son of God in the fulness of time took Flesh became perfect Man according to the Flesh descended and came of the Seed of Abraham and David d but was miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary And also further declared powerfully to be the Son of God according to the Spirit of Sanctification by the Resurrection from the Dead d Rom. 1.3.4 e Mat. 1.23 f Rom. 1.3 4. That in the Word or Son of God was Life and the same Life was the Light of Men and that he was that true Light which enlightens every Man coming into the World g And therefore that Men are to believe in the Light that they may become Children of the Light h Hereby we believe in Christ the Son of God as he is the Light and Life within us and wherein we must needs have sincere respect and honour to and belief in Christ as in his own unapproachable and incomprehensible Glory and Fulness i as he is the Fountain of Life and Light and Giver thereof unto us Christ as in himself and as in us being not divided And that as Man Christ dyed for our Sins rose again and was received up into Glory in the Heavens k He having in his dying for all been that one great universal Offering and Sacrifice for Peace Attonement and Reconciliation between God and Man l and he is the Propitiation not for our Sins only but for the Sins of the whole World m We were reconcied by his Death but saved by his Life g Joh. 1.4.9 h Joh. 12.36 Isa 2.5 i Tim. 6.16 k 1 Pet. 3.18 1 Tim. 3.16 Mat. 19.28 and 25.31 Luk. 9.26 and 24.26 l Rom. 5.10 11. Heb. 2.17 18. Ephes 2.16 17. Col. 1.20 21 22. m 1 Joh. 2.2 2 Cor. 5.14 15. Heb. 2.9 That Jesus Christ who sitteth at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens yet is he our King High Priest and Prophet n in his Church a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not Man o He is Intercessor and Advocate with the Father in Heaven and there appearing in the Presence of God for us p being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities Sufferings and Sorrows And also by his Spirit in our Hearts he maketh Intercession according to the Will of God crying Abba Father q n Zech. 9.9 Luk. 19.38 Joh. 12.15 Heb. 3.1.6 Deut. 18.15 18. Act. 3.22 and 7.37 o Heb. 8.1 2. p Heb. 7.25 Heb. 9.24 q Rom. 8.26 27 34. Gal. 4.6 For any whom God hath gifted r and called sincerely to Preach Faith in the same Christ both as within and without us cannot be to Preach two Christs but one and the same Lord Jesus Christ s having respect to those degrees of our spiritual knowledge of Christ Jesus in us t and to his own unspeakable fulness and glory u as in himself in his own intire being wherein Christ himself and the least measure of his Light or Life as in us or in Mankind are not divided nor separable no more than the Sun is from its light And as he ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things x his fulness cannot be comprehended or contained in any finite Creature y but in some measure known and experienced in us as we are capable to receive the same as of his fulness we have received Grace for Grace Christ our Mediator received the Spirit not by measure z but in fulness but to every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of his Gift a r Ephes 3.7 1 Pet. 4.10 s 1 Cor. 8.6 ch 15.3 8. t Joh. 15.26 and ch 16.13 14 15. u Joh. 1.16 x Ephes 4.10 y Coloss 1.19 2.9 z Joh. 3.34 a Ephes 4.7 That the Gospel of the Grace of God should be preached in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost b being one c in Power Wisdom and Goodness and indivisible or not to be divided in the great Work of Man's Salvation
Christ as he died for our Sins and rose again for our Justification together with Christ's Inward and Spiritual Appearance and work of Grace in the Soul livingly to open the Mystery of his Death and perfectly to effect both our Reconciliation Sanctification and Justification and where-ever Christ qualifies and calls any to Preach and Demonstrate the Mystery of his Coming Death and Resurrection c. even among the Gentiles Christ ought accordingly to be both Preached Believed and Received Yet supposing there have been or are such Pious and Consciencious Gentiles in whom Christ was and is as the Seed or Principle of the Second or new Covenant the Light the Word of Faith as is granted and that such live uprightly and faithfully to that Light they have or to what is made known of God in them and who therefore in that State cannot perish but shall be saved as is also confessed and supposing these have not the outward Advantage of Preaching Scripture or thence the Knowledg of Christ's outward coming being outwardly crucified and risen from the Dead can such thus considered be justly excluded Christianity or the Covenant of Grace as to the vertue life and nature thereof or truly deemed no Christians or void of any Christian Faith in the Life and Power of the Son of God within or be only Sons of the first Covenant and Bond-woman like the litteral out-side Jews Or must all be excluded any true Knowledg or Faith of Christ within them unless they have the Knowledg of Christ as without them No sure for that would imply insufficiency in Christ and his Light as within them and to frustrate God's good End and Promise of Christ and his free and universal Love and Grace to Mankind in sending his Son We charitably believe the contrary that they must have some true Faith and Interest in Christ and his Mediation because of God's free Love in Christ to all Mankind and Christ's dying for all Men w and being given for a Light of the Gentiles and for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth x And because of their living up sincerely and faithfully to his Light in them their being Pious Conscientious accepted and saved as is granted we cannot reasonably think a sincere pious or godly Man wholly void of Christianity of what Nation soever he be because none can come to God or Godliness but by Christ y by his Light and Grace in them Yet grant if there be such pious sincere Men or Women as have not the Scripture or knowledg of Christ as outwardly crucified c. they are not perfect Christians in all Perfections as in all Knowledg and Understanding all Points of Doctrin outward Profession of Christ so that they are better than they profess or pretend to be they are more Jews inward and Christians inward than in outward Shew or Profession There are Christians sincere and perfect in Kind or Nature in Life and Substance though not in Knowledg and Understanding A Man or Woman having the Life and Fruits of true Christianity the Fruits of the Spirit of Christ in them that can talk little thereof or of Creeds Points or Articles of Faith yea many that cannot read Letters yet may be true Christians in Spirit and Life and some could die for Christ that could not dispute for him and even Infants that die in Innocency are not excluded the Grace of God or Salvation in and by Christ Jesus the Image and Nature of the Son of God being in some Measure in them and they under God's Care and special Providence See Matt. 18.2.10 w 2 Cor. 5.14 15. x Isa 49.6 Luke 2.32 Acts 13.47 y Joh. 14.6 And though we had the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and a Belief of Christ crucified and risen c. we never truly knew the Mystery thereof until we were turned to the Light of his Grace and Spirit within us we knew not what it was to be reconciled by his Death and saved by his Life or what 't was to know the Felloship of his Sufferings the Power of his Resurrection or to be made conformable unto his Death we knew not until he opened our Eyes and turned our Minds from Darkness unto his own Divine Light and Life within us Notwithstanding we do so sincerely and greatly esteem and value the Holy Scriptures preaching and teaching of Faithful divinely Inspired Gifted and Qualified Persons and Ministers of Jesus Christ as being great outward Helps and instrumental in his Hand and by his Spirit for Conversion where God is pleased to afford those outward Helps and Means as that we neither do nor may oppose the sufficiency of the Light or Spirit of Christ within to such outward Helps or Means so as to reject disesteem or undervalue them for they all proceed from the same Light and Spirit and tend to turn Men's Minds thereunto and all center therein Nor can the Holy Scriptures or true Preaching without be justly set in opposition to the Light or Spirit of God or Christ within for his faithful Messengers are Ministers thereof being sent to turn People to the same Light and Spirit in them Acts 26.18 Rom. 13.2 2 Cor. 4.6 1 Pet. 2.9 1 Jo. 2.8 'T is certain That great is the Mystery of Godliness in itself in its own Being and Excellency namely that God should be and was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World and received up into Glory ☞ And 't is a great and precious Mystery of Godliness and Christianity also that Christ should be spiritually and effectually in men's Hearts to save and deliver them from Sin Satan and Bondage of Corruption Christ being thus revealed in true Believers and dwelling in their Hearts by Faith Christ within the Hope of Glory our Light and Life who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 And therefore this Mystery of Godliness both as in its own Being and Glory and also as in Men in many hid and in some revealed hath been and must be Testified Preached and Believed where God is pleased to give Commission and prepare People's Hearts for the same and not in Man's Will Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead and the great Day of Judgment yet to come beyond the Grave or after Death and Christ's coming without us to Judg the Quick and the Dead as divers Questions are put in such Terms What the Holy Scriptures plainly declare and testifie in these Matters we have great reason to credit and not to question and have been always ready to imbrace with respect to Christ and his Apostle's own Testimony and Prophecies 1. For the Doctrin of the Resurrection If in this Life only we have Hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 We sincerely believe not only a Resurrection in Christ from the fallen sinful State here but a Rising and Ascending into Glory with him
b Matth. 28.19 c Joh. 1.1 2 3 4. We sincerely confess and believe in Jesus Christ both as he is true God and perfect Man d and that he is the Author of our living Faith in the Power and Goodness of God as manifest in his Son Jesus Christ and by his own blessed Spirit or Divine Unction revealed in us e whereby we inwardly feel and taste of his goodness f life and vertue so as our Souls live and prosper by and in him And the inward Sense of this Divine Power of Christ and Faith in the same and this inward Experience is absolutely necessary to make a true sincere and perfect Christian in Spirit and Life d Joh. 1.1 2. Rom. 9.5 1 Jo. 5.20 1 Tim. 2.5 e 1 Joh. 2.20 27. ch 1.1 f 1 Pet. 2.3 Joh. 6.33 35 51 57 58. That Divine Honour and Worship is due to the Son of God c and that he is in true Faith to be prayed unto and the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ called upon as the Primitive Christians did d because of the glorious Union or Oneness of the Father and the Son e and that we cannot acceptably offer up Prayers or Praises to God nor receive a gracious Answer or Blessing from God but in and through his dear Son Christ c Joh. 5 23. Heb. 1.6 d 1 Cor. 1.2 Acts 7.59 e Joh. 10.30 1 Joh. 5.7 That Christ's Body that was crucified was not the God-head yet by the Power of God was raised from the Dead and that the same Christ that was therein crucified ascended into Heaven and Glory f is not questioned by us His Flesh saw no Corruption g it did not corrupt but yet doubtless his Body was changed into a more glorious h and heavenly Condition than 't was in when subject to divers Sufferings on Earth but how and what manner of Change it met withal after 't was raised from the Dead so as to become such a glorious Body as 't is declared to be is too wonderful for Mortals to conceive apprehend or pry into and more meet for Angels to see the Scripture is silent therein as to the manner thereof and we are not curious to enquire or dispute it nor do we esteem it necessary to make ourselves wise above i what 's written as to the manner or condition of Christ's glorious Body as in Heaven no more than to enquire how Christ appeared in divers manners or forms k or how he came in among his Disciples the Doors being shut l or how he vanished out of their Sight after he was risen However we have cause to believe his Body as in Heaven is changed into a most glorious Condition far transcending what 't was in on Earth otherwise how should our Low Body be changed so as to be made like unto his Glorious Body m for when he was on Earth and attended with Sufferings he was said to be like unto us in all Things Sin only excepted n which may not be so said of him as now in a state of Glory as he prayed for o otherwise where would be the Change both in him and in us f Luke 24 26. g Psal 16.10 Acts 2.31 13.35 37. h Phil. 3.21 i 1 Cor. 4.6 k Mark 16.12 Jo. 20.15 l Joh. 20.19 Luk. 24.36 37. ch 24.31 m Phil. 3.21 n Heb. 2.17 4.15 o Joh. 17.5 True and living Faith in Christ Jesus the Son of the living God p has respect to his entire Being and Fulness to him entirely as in himself and as all Power in Heaven and Earth is given unto him q and also an Eye and Respect to the same Son of God r as inwardly making himself known in the Soul in every degree of his Light Life Spirit Grace and Truth and as he is both the Word of Faith and a quickening Spirit in us s whereby he is the immediate Cause Author Object and Strenth of our living Faith in his Name and Power and of the Work of our Salvation from Sin and Bondage of Corruption and the Son of God cannot be divided from the least or lowest Appearance of his own Divine Light or Life in us or in Mankind no more than the Sun from its own Light nor is the sufficiency of his Light within by us set up in opposition to him the Man Christ or his fulness considered as in himself or without us nor can any measure or degree of Light received from Christ as such be properly called the Fulness of Christ or Christ as in Fulness nor exclude him so considered from being our compleat Saviour for Christ himself to be our Light our Life and Saviour t is so consistent that without his Light we could not know Life nor him to save us from Sin or deliver us from Darkness Condemnation or Wrath to come And where the least degree or measure of this Light and Life of Christ within is sincerely waited in followed and obeyed There 's a blessed encrease of Light and Grace known and felt as the Path of the Just it shines more and more until the Perfect Day u and thereby a growing in Grace and in the knowledg of God and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hath been and is truly experienced And this Light Life or Spirit of Christ within for they are one Divine Principle is sufficient to lead into all Truth having in it the divers Ministrations both of Judgment and Mercy both of Law and Gospel even that Gospel which is preacht in every intelligent Creature under Heaven It does not only as in its first Ministration manifest Sin and reprove and condemn for Sin but also excites and leads them that believe in it to true Repentance and thereupon to receive that Mercy Pardon and Redemption in Christ Jesus which he has obtained for Mankind on those Gospel-terms of Faith in his Name true Repentance and Conversion to Christ thereby required p Jo. 14.1 q Matt. 28.18 ch 11.27 John 17.2 Heb. 1.4 ch 2.8 r John 14.23 17.21 22 23 24 26. ver s 1 Cor. 15.45 Rom. 10.7 8. o Jo. 1.4.9 ch 3.19 20. ch 12.35 36 46. ch 8.12 u Prov. 4.18 Ps 36.9 So that the Light and Life of the Son of God within truly obeyed and followed as being the Principle of the second or new Covenant as Christ the Light is confessed to be even as he is the Seed or Word of Faith in all Men this does not leave Men or Women who believe in the Light under the first Covenant nor as Sons of the Bond-woman as the litteral Jews were when gone from the Spirit of God and his Christ in them but it naturally leads them into the new Covenant into the new and living way and to the Adoption of Sons to be Children and Sons of the Free-woman of Jerusalem from above 'T is true that we ought not to lay aside nor any to undervalue but highly to esteem true Preaching and the Holy Scriptures and the sincere Belief and Faith of