Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A65841
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A brief answer to F. Bugg's Brief reply to the considerations humbly offered by the people call'd Quakers relating to the bill for restraining the licentiousness of the press.
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Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.
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1701
(1701)
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Wing W1895A; ESTC T87022
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2,854
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8
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A Brief Answer to F. Bugg's Brief Reply to the Considerations Humbly Offered by the People call'd Quakers Relating to the Bill for Restraining the Licentiousness of the Press IT has been the known Practice of the said F. B. of late Years not only to Buisy himself to Interrupt our Applications to the Parliament by his Abusive Pamphlets but now strives to have us debarred of the Liberty of the Press that he may more easily Misrepresent our Christian Profession and Calumniate us without Detection as appears in his said pretended Reply and therefore the more Necessity that we the said People should not be debarred of the Press for our Just Defence according to Holy Scripture that we may not be Defamed in our Christian Reputation as Seditious or Blasphemous According to his usual Method he begins with a perverted Quotation upon our Considerations thus viz. Yet say they to Limit the Press we conceive Vnsafe Instead of to Limit Religious Books to a License c. Thus he stumbles at the Threshold and Imposes on the Reader And as false it is That the Quakers are Guilty of Printing and Publishing Seditious and Scandalous Pamphlets and as unjustly Inferred that therefore a Restraint on them they think Vnsafe 1. Of Kingly Government about Earthly Kings c. he gives Curtailed and Broken Quotations but not the Dates of the several Papers he mentions which however Perverted we take the General Import thereof to mean That our Lord Jesus Christ is King over true Christians Consciences and his own Spiritual Kingdom which is not of this World and not Earthly or Persecuting Kings as are mention'd 2. Of Parliaments We find not F. Howgill fairly Quoted but grossly Abused by leaving out what he saith for the good Intention of Parliaments And is it reasonable we should Answer for the Opinion of the Council of Officers against the House of Lords in the Common-wealths days or what any one told them thereof * See Truth and Innocency pag. 64. Or is it a good Argument that because the Corruption and Bad Lives of Earthly Kings and Governments as also their Ends are upon Record both in History and Sacred Writ that therefore all such History and Writings or Citations out of them are Seditious Or because some have Writ against the Oppression of former Persecuting Kings and Parliaments were it a good Inference that therefore the Quakers ought not to have Liberty of the Press to Defend their Religious Perswasion Christian Profession or Innocency when they have not the least Design of Sedition or Scandal against the Civil Government or Constitution of Parliaments tho' to tell of Respect of Persons and not Equality in Chosing Members be Quoted as Seditious yet it is no new thing Undue and Partial Elections not unknown to Parliaments who have Endeavoured to Reform the same 3. Of the Holy Trinity Thereby being meant that in the Deity there are Three Bearing Witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit i. e. the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost which are One God Blessed for ever the Scripture Terms thereof are not Questioned but owned by the People called Quakers * See Rambling Pilgrim p. 45 46. what Disputes or Reflections soever have been about Vnscriptural Terms and Distinctions they were never by any of us applied or intended against the Blessed Deity or Divinity of Father Son or Holy Ghost 4. Of Christ our Blessed Lord the Eternal Son or Word of God his Body that Dyed is called in Scripture the Body of Jesus and 't is said he Suffered and was put to Death in the Flesh 1 Pet. 3. 18. Not in his Divine Nature for that never Dyed This was W. P's Sense * See Truth and Innocency p. 71 72. And D. P ' s. Vindic. Verit. p. 89 to 110. That the True Ministers do not Preach Christ without Only as he is in Heaven and Glory above but also as he is in Men's Hearts is an Undeniable Christian Doctrine The Word Only being omitted in one Edition of William Smith's Primmar is made an Accusation against us as if we denied Jesus to be Christ tho' the same Word Only be inserted in his Works in the same place Thus unfair is this Adversary 5. Concerning the Holy Scriptures We Hope our preferring Christ the Word and his Spirit to the Letter of the Scripture and yet owning the Holy Scriptures to be given by Divine Inspiration and preferring them before all other Books may not be Offensive or render us Uncapable of the Liberty of the Press or of our Consciences If one should Argue thus against us Some of your Antient Friends Writings are Perverted and Misconstrued and thereby made Offensive therefore you must Write no more Or some of you have spoken something amiss or that Offends Vs therefore you must never speak more Would this be fairly Argued Yet we don't see our Adversary make better Work on 't against Us. Under the Title of the Holy Scriptures F. B. sets the Letter is Death Beastly Wares c. as if the Quakers so Term the Holy Scriptures Beastly Wares Oh! Horrible this has been often Charged upon him and Refuted as a gross Slander and Forgery and not found applied to the Scriptures in his own Quotation tho' he persists repeating the same and in such foul Aspersions as that the Quakers Vilify the Scripture Blaspheme the Blessed Trinity Reproach Christ's Ministers But F. B. didst thou so when a Quaker 25 years Boldly in Print tell the World that such as turn from them and Imbrace the Christian Faith are the worst of Apostates worse than Francis Spira and Julian the Apostate Quoting John Whiting's Book Judas and the Chief Priests Preface and p. 5 6. wherein F. B. Notoriously Wrongs both the People called Quakers and J. W. also who never told the World so And to his Charging the said J. W. with false Stories of G. Keith J. W. saith he has several Certificates to prove the Truth of what he related concerning G. K. in his Preface under the Hands of such as were Witnesses of the same ready to Produce as Occasion may offer His Story by the Fire side against Edward Dikes Junior of Bury St. Edmonds and his Constructions on the Words We and You are so Ridiculous that it is not worth insisting on He again Clamours out their Blasphemies against the Quakers upon a Passage Aledged against our Deceased Friend Edward Burroughs terming him as Horrible an Impostor as Mahomet about the Sufferings of the People of God which yet he saith he could never find any of them so Defend tho' the same be fully Answered and Explain'd in Vind. Verit. p. 206. F. B's Story of G. F. hiring Two Jews for 80 l. we reject as his own Forgery But no better Treatment or Manner of Answering do we expect from a Mercinary Scribbler than Reiterated Perversion Forgery Curtalizing and Confounding Quotations whereby the Best of People and Books have been grosly Misrepresented Therefore the more Need of the Liberty of the Press for Just Vindication Passing by several other Abuses and Falshoods for Brevity sake we Refer the Reader to our following Answers to F. B's Books c. viz. 1. Judgment Fixed Printed 1682. 2. The Quakers Answer to a Scandalous Libel 1690. 3. Innocence against Envy 1681. 4. The Contentious Apostate and his Blow Refelled 1691. 5. The Contentious Apostate Recharged 6. A Charitable Essay in order to allay the Outrage of a Contentious Apostate 1693. 7. The Quakers Vindication against Francis Bugg's Calumnies 1693. 8. Innocency Triumphant over Insolency and Outrage 1693. 9. A Just Enquiry into the Libellers Abuse 1693. 10. The Counterfeit Convert a Scandal to Christianity 1694. 11. An Answer to Fra. Bugg's Presumptious Impeachment 1695. 12. A Sober Expostulation with some of the Clergy against their Pretended Convert Francis Bugg his repeated gross Abuse of the People called Quakers 1697. 13. A Rambling Pilgrim or Prophane Apostate Exposed Wherein he is Detected of gross Calumny Forgery and Propaneness 14. A Just Censure of Francis Bugg's Address to the Parliament against the Quakers For the said Books Enquire of T. Sowle Bookseller in White-Hart-Court in Grace-Church-street London By G. Whitehead And others Concerned A Brief ANSWER to Francis Bugg's Reply to the Quaker's Considerations Humbly Offered