should worship him in spirit and truth here in this natural body and so true Believers have worshipped Christ the onely God in spirit and truth in the Apostles Commission and so do we now worship God in spirit and truth for there can be no worshipping God in spirit and truth without a true Preacher sent of God as the Apostles John Reeve and my self were and in this sense God may be said to be a Spirit because he is a spiritual body and not a bodiless spirit as you Quakers do vainly imagine else why may not God be worshipped in spirit and truth without a body as well as God to be a Spirit without a body You Quakers do not do well in that you do not turn your souls out of your bodies they being as you conceive immortal me thinks you might sometimes let your immortal souls slip out of your bodies and go into that Infinite Spirit without a body and worship in spirit and truth and then come into those bodies again for I see you have by your own words got into Christs person and you have got into Solomons spirit and why can you not get your immortal souls into Gods Infinite Spirit without a body By this the Reader may see that the Quakers Principle is built upon the Heathen Philosophers and not upon the faith of the Prophets and Apostles who writ the Scriptures for Heathen men were the first broachers of the Immortality of the Soul and of God being an Infinite Spirit without a body and so the greatest Idolaters for those that writ the Scriptures never intended any such thing but altogether the contrary but the Quakers do cleave to the Heathen principles as God being a Spirit without a body and the Immortality of the Soul and so they become with the Heathen the greatest spiritual Idolaters of any people under the Sun for I am quite out of Solomons spirit indeed and am glad I never was in it 21. Page 27. Muggleton thou condemnest our Christ and light and Muggleton saith the Quakers think to have eternal life in the Scriptures But saith Fox our eternal life is in Christ before Scriptures were And Fox saith pag. 29. thou exaltest thy self above Christ for he is a man and saith the man Christ Jesus will bruise me to pieces which is manifest in his people meaning the Quakers CHAP. XXVII ANSWER AS for my words they are more largely opened in The Quakers Neck broken Also this saying of Fox that the Quakers had eternal life in Christ before Scriptures were to this I say How comes it to pass that Christ hath turned George Fox Quaker and many more of them out of him now the world is Nay Christ hath turned them over to be judged and condemned by me to eternal damnation certainly if Fox had eternal life in Christ before Scriptures were Christ would have revealed it unto me now the Scriptures are in the world for the Scriptures are given into my hands and I finde by the Scriptures that George Fox and many other Quakers were never in Christ at all neither before Scriptures were nor now the Scriptures are in being But I finde in the Book of the Scriptures that George Fox and other Quakers were in the Serpent that beguiled Eve and had eternal death in their seed before Scripture were but it was not visibly known till now for this I certainly know that you Fox and many more of you came out of the Serpents loins which was Cains father and you being the children of Cain may be said to be in the Serpent-devil before the Scriptures were and as sure as Cain the father of all the damned shall die an eternal death so I am certain that you George Fox with many other of your Quakers people shall be eternally damned deliver your selves from it if you can 2. Fox saith page 29. That thou exaltest thy self above Christ for he is a man and saith the man Christ Jesus will bruise me to pieces which is manifest in his people meaning the Quakers I cannot get Fox the Quaker and the man Christ Jesus to part for wheresoever Fox doth own Christ Jesus to be a man then presently this manhood of Christ gets into the Quakers bodies and so Christ is manifest in them Now I would very fain have Christs manhood by it self and the Quakers by themselves but Fox will by no means part with Christ that he might be spoken with alone but Christ being so much manifest in the Quakers bodies so that no Quaker can finde any Christ to be a man but what is manifest in their bodies And this Christ that is manifest in them I suppose is he that will bruise me in pieces but that man Christ Jesus that I believe in hath given me power to condemn and judge that man Christ Jesus that is manifest in the Quakers people for I know that Christ Jesus that is manifest in them is nothing else but the seed of Reason the devil that is manifest in them for I know they have no faith in the true Christ but the motions of reason working in their mindes taking occasion by the Law written in their hearts it doth cleanse them from the outward pollutions of the world and from the breach of some outward Laws and this is that Christ they so much talk of within them and this is that man Christ Jesus manifest within them This is a true description of the Quakers Christ manifest within them CHAP. XXVIII THese are the most considerable things for the Reader to take notice of in George Fox his Book so that the Reader may mind the Answer and the Interpretation I have given to those Scriptures which Fox the Quaker brings against me but he leaves the words of the Scriptures more dark to the Reader than they were in themselves but I have given the Interpretation of those Scripture words which Fox could not do and what I have written in this Treatise is for the most part left out in The Neck of the Quakers broken because in that Book all these things in which Fox doth rail and revile at me in as he calls it An Answer to the Neck of the Quakers broken but that Book of mine doth explain the Quakers Principle more plain and clear than this Treatise doth for he that would have read that Book and Fox his Answer to it would have seen all those things which Fox doth alledge against me more fully answered than he or any other Quaker could have questioned so that had it not been for the sake of others and for the Ages to come there need not have been any further discoveries of the Antichristian spirit of the Quakers concerning their Christ within them but that Book As also there is some things in this Treatise for the Information of the Reader which was never printed before There is many other sayings in Fox his Pamphlet which doth rail and revile both against my Commission of the Spirit and that Sentence I
late not in any I marvel how you Quakers can have Christs person manifest in you and how you can speak in his person Let the Reader mind the Quakers Cheat they own Christs person without them yet this person of Christ without them is manifest within them See the deceit of this Fox I have read of Christ manifest in his Saints and Apostles by his Spirit or Seed of Faith but I never read that Christs person flesh and bone was ever manifest within any man that was alwayes without man and will be without man for ever distinct of himself Also Fox saith the Quakers speak in Christs person Here is another Allegorical speech without any distinction I have heard that an Ambassador hath represented the person of a King and his speech by vertue of a Commission from the King is in the Kings stead but the Ambassador is not in the Kings person though he represents the Kings person the Kings person is at a great distance from his Messenger So it is with Christs Ambassadors as Paul saith We are Ambassadors in Christs stead beseeching you to be reconciled unto Christ by our doctrine Now Pauls person and Christs person were at a great distance one from the other for Christs person was in heaven above the stars and Pauls person was here upon earth so that Paul did not speak in the person of Christ that being at such a distance as I said before but Paul and the rest of the Apostles by vertue of their Commission given from Christ were Ambassadors of him and so stood in Christs stead but Christs person was far enough off from them as a Kings person is far off when his Ambassador is in a strange Land who represents the Kings person as aforesaid But the Quakers they will get into Christs person and speak there or else they will get Christs person into them and so Christ must speak there in their persons so as I said before the Quakers will not be separated from Christ nor suffer him to separate himself from them though I know they never were in union together neither was Christ ever in them that I have damned nor never will be neither were they ever in Christ nor never shall be Neither doth Fox own indeed that person of Christ of flesh and bone that died at Jerusalem to be now living in heaven above the stars but Fox and the Quakers Christ they so much talk of is a meer Allegory without substance a Christ that may be blown away with the word of a true Prophets mouth as I said in The Neck of the Quakers broken Also Fox saith Solomons Books are good Scripture though I say they are not being not in the spirit of Solomon that gave them forth Here I perceive that Fox and the Quakers are got into Solomons spirit just as they did get into Christs person I see Fox can get into spirits as he doth into persons but I perceive Fox is got into Solomons spirit and he blames me because I am not in Solomons spirit I do seriously confess that I am not in Solomons spirit and I am glad I never was in his spirit for who ever is in Solomons spirit doth not know the true God nor the right devil for Solomon knew neither of them though he was a wise man in things of nature but ignorant of spiritual and heavenly wisdom for Solomons wisdom hath the Ground-work of much lust of the flesh and idolatry for the Ranters practice was grounded upon Solomons practice who knew so many women so the Ranters thought they might have the same liberty seeing wise Solomons Writings were owned for Scripture-record thus they continued many of them in their practice of lust till many of them were weary of it as Solomon was when he was old and then they left off that practice and turned Quakers and so fell to be the greatest idolaters of any as Solomon did to his Heathenish-Wives drew his heart away from the worship of Moses to worship idols So is it with those Ranters that are turned Quakers they are become absolute Heathen idolaters for when they were Puritanes so called they were zealous for the letter of the Scriptures and did practice a good life as near as they could to the letter but after they fell to the practice of lust being encouraged by Solomons writings they left that legal Worship and civil practice the Law tied them unto and followed Solomons practice of lust And now they being turned Quakers are fallen to heathen idolatry that is to say the Quakers they worship an unknown God a Spirit without a body they adore a Christ within them and never mindes a body of Christ without them at a distance they believe their own spirits to be immortal and cannot die they believe their spirits go to God or into God again according to Solomons words they believe Gods Spirit being an infinite Being without a body and that this infinite bodiless Spirit taketh all things into it self and so their spirits being immortal they go into God when they die they will not acknowledge that life or soul doth die but departs out of the body they know not where notwithstanding the Scriptures are so full to prove the soul that sins shall die and experience shews it doth die So that the Quakers are become the greatest spiritual idolaters of any and the greatest fighters against a personal God of any for as Solomon did fall to worship the heathen womens visible Images or Idols so do the Quakers worship invisible Idols as a Spirit without a body and that their own spirits may subsist without bodies and that spirits may be capable of happiness or misery without bodies this is the Heathen Philosophers opinion they brought into the world that Principle of the Immortality of the Soul and that Spirits might go to happiness or misery without bodies And the Quakers hath got the Heathen Principle to a hair therefore become Heathen Idolaters as Solomon was for the Scriptures declares another thing Where doth the Scriptures say that God is an Infinite Spirit without a body The Scripture saith God is infinite and so he is Also the Scripture saith God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and truth but it is not said God is a Spirit without a body for this I say that if a man may worship God in spirit and truth in this natural body as the disciples of Christ did in their natural bodies and as I my self do in my natural body then of necessity it will follow that God hath a spiritual body whereby I may worship him else I shall worship I know not what as you Quakers do And because Gods body is a spiritual body therefore Christ said when on earth God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and truth he knowing that body of his that was then a pure natural body should by his death and rising again be made a spiritual body and then all true Believers
they are made one flesh by union and institution as aforesaid for when a man lieth with a harlot he makes himself a member of a harlot by that union and so the harlot is made one flesh with this man Now this man is none of her flesh nor she his not really so for some men do abhor it should be so yet by union with a harlot many times men come to be flesh of her flesh and so are become diseased with her disease even with the Pox so that these are become double flesh of one anothers flesh by that union they had with each other these things I have known by Ranters and others Now minde the distinction a childe that a man begets of his wife is more flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone than his wife is why because the childe is indeed flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone because children came out of the mans loyns as the twelve Patriarchs came forth of Jacobs loyns now these were really flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone naturally so and not by union as a man and his wife that were two are by union made one flesh So likewise the Scriptures speaks of two sorts of bodies as that in 1 Cor. 15.44 there is a natural body and a spiritual body a celestial body and a terrestrial body now these bodies cannot go one into another but mortal bodies may be made spiritual bodies and spiritual bodies may be made mortal bodies by the power of the Creator as it were by the Serpent Angel he was a spiritual body when he deceived Eve but when he was made mortal he was called Cursed Cain So the Lord from heaven was a spiritual body before he over-shadowed the Virgin Mary but afterwards this spirit al body was a pure mortal body and that mortal body was caned A Blessed Jesus This is the great Mystery to the world and this Jesus is that God that prepared a pure mortal body for himself that he might be capable to be put to death in this body to redeem the lost Seed of Adam And this is that body I say is not in the Quakers neither are the Quakers of Christs body by union nor flesh of his flesh nor bone of his bone not by union and those Believers were the Apostle writ unto for the Apostle was chosen of Christ without him and had a Commission to preach Christ to others and those that did believe his Commission were one in faith with him and so they by faith might know that Christ was in them except they were reprobates that is except they were unbelieving for if they had faith in the true Christ which he had taught them then Christ did dwell in their hearts by faith and they should know by faith in themselves that they were not reprobates and by the union they should have with Christ by faith they should become members of Christ yea they should be counted flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone This is the true meaning of the Scriptures But the Speakers of the Quakers have no Commission from Christ to preach as the Apostles had neither have the Believers of the Quakers any true faith in Christs person or body without them and so the Speakers and Hearers are both in the state of reprobation neither doth Christ dwell in their hearts by faith for true faith they have none but the faith of devils And that which they call the Light of Christ in them is nothing else but the Light of the Law written in their hearts for true faith in Christs person they have none so they call the Light of the Law in them the Light of Christ because the Law convinces them of sin Now this Law written in the Quakers hearts is the light of Christs Creation and this light of the Law that Christ hath written in the heart of man it is written in the heart of every devil and so in the heart of the Speakers of the Quakers and they teach their disciples to harken to the light within them and saith Christ is in them but this is no saving light neither is Christ within them neither are the Quakers members of Christs body nor bone of his bone nor flesh of his flesh for they have no faith in his person without them so that Fox his Cheat and Deceit is made manifest by the Scriptures being interpreted 11. Page 11. Fox is very angry with me for saying Reason is the Devil and yet saith he thou givest a reason for what thou doest and because I give a reason of my doings therefore saith he I am judged out of my own mouth to be the Devil Reason CHAP. XIII ANSWER HEre Fox the Quaker hath shewed himself an ignorant devil that cannot give a reason of the hope that is in him but for fear he should be counted a devil takes up other mens words and the Scriptures must give a reason for Fox how that he is no reprobate because the Scriptures saith to Believers in that time Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates And be ready to render a reason of the hope within you But Fox himself hath no knowledge but that he is a reprobate but I perfectly know that Fox is a reprobate and I can give a reason why he should and will be damned to eternity though Fox can give no reason for it What would Fox have done if he had not had other mens words to prove Christ within and to give a reason of the hope they had in Christ for Fox hath no interest in the Scriptures But I shall open this point something more hereafter where he speaketh of Reason in the 19th page of his Pamphlet 12. Page 11. And Muggleton saith he rejoyceth in his Cursings and them that he doth Curse and Sentence shall never see any other God or Judge But saith Fox how now Muggleton art thou become God and Judge Must not all appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ to have their sentence and reward from him whether they have done good or evil CHAP. XIV ANSWER DO you Fox and the Speakers of the Quakers indeed believe that you shall appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ to receive the reward of deeds done in your bodies whether good or evil If you do I shall say this unto you that when you do appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ John Reeve and my self shall be there also and look what Sentence and Judgement we have given upon you and others here upon earth the same Sentence will Christ give when you appear before his Judgement-seat and look what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit you have committed in this natural body you now have you shall have the punishment of that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that sent us punished in that spiritual dark body you shall have when Christ doth raise you again and then you shall know that you did appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ
words here are quite contrary to his words before so that it may be clear to those that are not stark blind that the Quakers do not believe that Christs flesh and bone is now in Heaven above the Star without them for saith Fox can Christ be distinct from the Saints So that Fox looks upon the Quakers bodies to be members of Christs body of flesh and bone and so all the Quakers bodies which they count members they make up but one body of Christ Christs Spirit in them they count the head and the Quakers flesh and bone to be Christs body of flesh and bone so that Christ can not be distinct of himself nor have flesh and bone distinct both in body and spirit This is the Quakers imaginary Christ which is the absolute spirit of Anti-christ and this spirit of Anti-christ it doth reign more in the Quakers people then in any people whatsoever Here people may see what the Quakers Christ within them is a meer allegory a spirit without a body and their flesh and bone of their bodies they count Christs body and so when their souls slips out of their bodies and goes into God as they imagine their bodies goes to the Earth and so Christs body goes to the Earth and his spirit that is in them goes into Gods vast spirit that taketh all things into its self And according to Squire Pennington's saying unto John Reeve but it was when he was upon the Ranting Principle but since that he is turned Quaker for the Quakers principle is but the Ranters refined into a more civil kind of life For the Ranters were so grosly rude in their lives that spoyled their high language and made people weary of them but the Quakers that were upon the Rant are the best able to maintain the Quakers principle of Christ within them than any other Quakers that were not upon the Rant as William Smith and Squire Pennington and others as I know so that people may plainly see that the Quakers are led and guided by the spirit of Antichrist that will not allow Christs body of flesh and bone to be distinct from his Saints but would have the Quakers bodies to be Christs flesh and bone This is that spirit of Anti-christ that denied Christ come in the flesh as John in his Epistle saith for who ever denies Christ come in the flesh and that flesh he is come in to be distinct of it self from all other flesh and from all other Creatures both in Heaven and in Earth I say is the spirit of Anti-christ which I am sure the Quakers are and do more than the Pope so that the spirit of Antichrist reigns in the Quakers people more than in the Pope and his people the Pope indeed is more superstitious than the Quakers but the Quakers are for more Anti-christian than the Pope in their doctrine 16. Page 15. Muggelton saith this body of Christ is the only God This Fox calls darkness and saith God is a Spirit and God is in Christ who prepared Christ a body there cannot be saith he Christ without God and saith Fox the Quakers do know Christ in the flesh and saith he feels me CHAP. XXI ANSWER THat is as true a saying of mine as ever was spoken with tongue that the body of Christ is the onely God and they are reprobates who dares denit yet this devil Fox the Quaker calls it darkness and saith God is a Spirit and God is in Christ what ignorance of God doth this Fox manifest if God be in Christ and that body of Christ was Gods body which was prepared for the spirit of God to be in then must Christs body needs be the only God For if God was in Christ and Fox saith there cannot be Christ without God than that body of Christ had the Spirit of God in that body then I say Christs body must needs be the onely God for God and Christ saith Fox cannot be one without the other then I say where Christs body is there is Gods body For if the spirit of Christ and the spirit of God be all one spirit as I think no man dares denie then I say if the spirit of Christ and the spirit of God be all one spirit then I say one body was prepared for this one spirit even the body of Christ his own flesh and bone so that this body of Christ and the spirit of God is in that body so that body of Christ being God and Man that body may be called and is the onely God and who ever prayeth to any other God he prayeth to a God of his owne imagination as all your Quakers do yet Fox calls this darkness to say Christs person body and spirit is the onely God yet he saith God and Christ cannot be one without the other but he will not acknowledge Christs body of flesh and bone to be so honored as to be called the body of the onely God how confused is this Fox in distinction concerning God and Christ they must be both one and they must not be both one one of them must have a body prepared but the other must be a spirit without a body this is the Quakers confused non-sence But I know Fox his juggle he means as I said before that the Quakers bodies are Christs body so Christs Spirit and Gods Spirit being all one the spirit of Christ is in the Quakers bodies whom he calls Saints and the Saints bodies are called by the Quakers the body of Christ that is prepared for the spirit of Christ and God which is all one to be in And this is the Christ the Quakers own to have within them this is the Quakers mystery of iniquity to shufle off the belief of the body of Christ without them distinct from them even at such a distance as Heaven and Earth for his body of flesh and bone is in Heaven above the Stars but the Quakers bodies are hereon Earth and must rot in the Earth but Christs body doth live for ever and ever So that the Quakers bodies are neither members of Christs body nor the body it self which is prepared for the spirit of Christ the spirit of the onely wise God to dwell in for in Christs own body of flesh and bone did the fulness of the God-head dwell bodyly in him that is all the fulness and spiritual substance and essence and being of the Godhead spirit dwelt in Christs body of flesh and bone when he was upon Earth and in no mans body else and this body who had the fulness of the Godhead in it I call the Godhead Spirit and that body together the only God and this body and spirit of Christ is both distinct from the Quakers bodies and all mens bodies else So that the Quakers Christ within them is a meer imaginary Christ which the spirit of reason the devil the Anti-christian spirit hath produced in them and not the true Christ So that the Quakers knoweth no other
Reader that the person that is accepted of God of that person the righteous Seed must and doth come of look what person is rejected of God of that person must and doth come the reprobate and cursed Seed as it was in Cain and Esau also Esau would have put his reasoning of his mind in practise had not Rebecca his Mother by her revelation of Faith sent Jacob away out of Esaus reach but Esaus resolution remained in his minde still and waited for an opportunity now was not this reason in Esau the devil for if Esau had had no reason to kill Jacob he would never have resolved to do such wickedness but Esau thought he had good reason to kill Jacob who had stoln away the blessing from him whose birthright he thought in reason it was so he thought it was but reason to kill his brother who had done him that injury or wrong was not this the spirit of reason the devil in Esau that would have killed his brother Jacob of whom the righteous Seed came of Again were not those reasonable men that talked with Christ to whom Christ said Why reason you in your selves saying you have Abraham for your Father saith Christ God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham so those Pharisees and Saducees that came to the baptism of John Mat. 4. were they not wise rational men and indued with a high measure of reason did not they ask a reasonable question whether John was the Christ or no yet John calls them a generation of vipers and Christ calls those wise rational men he talked with Serpents Devils yea and that the devil was their Father yet these were wise prudent men indued with a great measure of reason they were no distracted men nor possest with any witchcraft-fits as you Quakers are but were sober sensible men and would ask a reasonable question and required a reasonable answer yet this spirit of reason in these wise and prudent men it was but the devil reason in them For John calls them a generation of vipers and Christ calls them Serpents Devils and that they were the devils children yet these were wise men endued with reason and it was that wisdom of reason in them that would have intrapt Christ in his words that they might have had some reason to have put him to death for Reason propounds questions to catch him in his words that they might have had some reason to put him to death therefore Reason layd many snares to catch him So they reasoned amongst themselves if we let this man alone the Romans will take away our place and nation so when they had accomplished their desires by their reason and brought him before the High-priest and Councel of the Jews the Councel some of them reasoned that it was fit Christ should die for blasphemy in that he made himself the Son of God others reasoned again that he ought not to die by their Law not being justly accused So when he came into Pilates custody what reasoning had Pilate in his spirit his reason told him it was better to whip Christ than to kill him and Pilates wifes dream put him exceedingly to reason how he might deliver Christ but the reason of the High-priests and Elders and those that were below them their reason was too strong for Pilate and Pilate thought it more reason to obey Cesar then his wifes dream or the reasoning of his own heart So that his reason was he thought better to keep the favour of Cesar and the honor of this world than the peace of his conscience and favour with God so his reason and their reason together delivered up the Just One to be crucified by reasonable men for the Centurion and those that guarded him were reasonable men also and thought it but reason to obey their Rulers command in this as well as other things so that it may be cleer to those that are truely inlightned that the spirit of reason in man is the devil and that the spirit of reason did kill the righteous in the beginning and the spirit of reason did kill the Just person even Christ Jesus CHAP. XXIII AGain it may be cleer that the spirit of reason in man is the devil as may plainly appear by those Chief-priests and Elders of the Jews as in Mat. 21 23. these Chief-priests and Elders would know of Christ by what authority he did those things but Christs answer was Is the Baptisme of John from Heaven or of men and these Chief-priests and Elders of the Jews reasoned in themselves if they should say from Heaven then their reason told them they fought against God and if they should say John Baptist had his commission from men to baptise with water then their reason told them that the people would stone them So they reasoned in themselves it was better to say they could not tell which was a lye against the light of their own conscience Here the Reader may see that the spirit of reason in man is the devil for these Chief-priests and Elders were wise prudent men endued with a great measure of reason else they would not have bin chosen Governors and Expounders of the Law and Prophets to the people of the Jews yet these reasonable men were devils even those who Christ called Serpents Devils and John Baptist called a generation of vipers So that it may be cleer to those that are inlightned that the reason in man is the devil and not onely a devil but a damned devil for it was the spirit of reason in man that always blasphemed and fought against God and persecuted and killed the Just and the righteous because God would not accept of the devil reasons worship as he did of the Just and innocent worship of the spirit of Faith and as for that saying of Paul who desired to be delivered from unreasonable men for all men have not faith I am of Pauls mind in that for I have had experience in a measure of the bad dealings of unreasonable men as Paul had but I shall shew the cause and why Paul calls them unreasonable men it was because the rude multitude or some envious men upon the report of other envious people would beat and abuse Paul without any authority from the Rulers or without the command of some officer as is cleer in the Acts concerning Demetrius and the Goddess Diana how were some of Pauls friends beaten by unreasonable men and Paul himself would have bin served so and worse had he not bin rescued by the Town-Clark's speech which speech of his shewed that the people did that which was not lawful by their Law therefore unreasonable and were in danger to be called to account by the Judges of their Law as Deputies and such and to be punished as offenders of the Law for their unreasonable practice to beat and kill men uncondemned by the Law as you may see Acts the 19.18 and so in Acts 23. How Paul had
Scripture nor man Here the Reader may plainly see that the Quakers Christ within them is no other but the Law written in their hearts as the Heathen had as aforesaid their thoughts accusing and excusing this is that Christ within them they so much talk of and this is that power and spirit and divine light of Christ the Quakers could have spoken in had they never seen letter of Scripture nor man this is the same the Heathen had in them and this I say had the Quakers never seen letter of Scripture nor man that professed the letter of the Scripture I say the Quakers would have talked nor spoke no more of a Christ within them then cursed Cain and his posterity did or the old world that was drowned or Sodom These wicked people never saw no letter of Scripture nor man that had faith not as they knew yet they had the same Christ within them as the Quakers have by the Law written in their hearts and might have spoken in the power and spirit of the divine light of Christ as the Quakers do had they seen the letter of the Scripture and men that believes them as the Quakers do So that it may be cleer to those that have the true light of Faith and of the interpretation of the letter of the Scripture that the Quakers principle of the light of Christ within them is no other but the light of the Law written in their hearts as the Heathen had before any Scriptures were written and by this Law are they judged in themselves and this is their Christ within them and this is that power and spirit and divine light of Christ they could have spoken in had they never seen letter of Scripture nor man that professeth Scripture and that they do speak now they have seen letter of Scripture and men that profess it and believe it I say is the very same for the Quakers have no more faith in the true Christ then if they had never seen letter of Scripture nor any man that believes them what they have is meer traditional even the faith of devils for the Law written in their hearts is the onely and alone Christ the Quakers have to save them and this Christ is indeed within them and will never go out of them but torment them to eternity 4. Fox gives glory to his God and Christ within him who hath as he saith set him and other Quakers above that curse and sentence I have passed upon them CHAP. XXXII ANSWER YOur glory to your God and Christ within you will fail you in the day of trouble neither will nor can deliver you from that curse and sentence I have passed upon you and others of your brethren neither will you ever be set above it but shall be kept under it to eternity flatter your self as much as you can you shall not be delivered neither by your Christ within you nor by the true Christ without you this I know 5. Fox blames me for saying God hath made me Judge of the Quakers spiritual estate and yet saith he thou ownest thy self but a mortal man For saith Fox the spiritual man judgeth all things CHAP. XXXIII ANSWER Did you Fox ever see any man condemned to die either natural death or eternal death by a spiritual man without a body are not all men condemned both natural and spiritual by mortal men like themselves Was not Moses a mortal man did not he condemn and judge many to die he said but the word and it was done and did not Eliah call for fire from Heaven and destroy two Captains and their fifties with many other strange things he did whereby many were judged by him and killed yet he was but a mortal man and subject to infirmity as mortal men are as the Scripture saith Again was not Peter a mortal men and was put to death himself yet he judged Ananias and Saphirah his wife to death yet a mortal man so is it with every true Prophet and Messenger of Christ he hath power to set life and death before men and power to judge and condemne those that rebel against his commission and to justifie those that yield obedience unto it yet all Gods Messengers they were mortal men now these mortal men had great power being commissionated of God and they all acted according to the tenor of their commission and some of them destroyed life presently And I am sure if you Fox had lived in Moses time you would have been consumed by him in the gainsaying of Corah for you would have rebelled against Moses Aaron as you do now against John Reeve and me but because my Commission is not to consume you immediately by a natural destruction you proudly vaunt your self against the Commission of the Spirit thinking you and your Christ within you shall be able to encounter with me and my Christ without me but I must judge according to my Commission of the Spirit and not as Moses and the Apostles did to destroy the natural life immediately but our commission is with relation to the spiritual estate of men and women after death and accordingly we judge yet but mortal men and must die our selves this power hath God given unto me and by vertue of this am I made Judge of the Quakers spiritual and eternal estate what will become of many of you after death And as for that saying The spiritual man judgeth all things this is to be minded that every true Messenger and Minister of Christ may be called a spiritual man and he is so because he teacheth such doctrine that doth comfort the spirits of some and torment the spirits of others in that it divides between the joynts and the marrow Also those that truly believe may be called spiritual men and can judge the spirits of unbelievers because they know by faith in the doctrine of the true God that others that have not the same faith cannot have that peace as they have for they know by experience in themselves when they were unbelievers they were without God in the world and so were not able to judge who were happy and who were not but being justified by faith in the true God they have peace with God and so can discern and judge the spirits of others by what they were themselves who were some time in darkness but now in the light of heaven and who ever hath this true faith in the doctrine of the true God may be said to be a spiritual man and able to judge all things that is naught in himself and all the unbelief and despisings of others And so he judgeth all things by his faith in the true God and in the Messenger God hath sent yet Minister and People are but mortal men and must die yet called by the Seed of Faith the spiritual man that judgeth all things and is judged of no man Therefore you Fox shall never have any spiritual man to judge you to eternal damnation but
himself did interpret this Scripture to the Eunuch or did it belong to a mortal man I think you will not be so grosly ignorant to say that Christ himself went into the Eunuchs Charret and interpreted those Scriptures to him Surely if the interpretation of Scripture had belonged onely unto Christ and not unto man as Fox doth assert then Christ must have come from heaven and have went into the Charret in Philips stead because Philip was a man and interpretation of Scripture doth not belong to man as Fox the Quaker saith May not any man that hath but the light of sense and reason in his understanding see the gross darkness of these Quakers which pretends to be in the clearest light of all the seven Churches but to my knowledge the darkest of all in point of doctrine And as for that saying of Scripture We shall be all taught of God it is not meant that God will teach every particular man and woman himself do you Fox believe so why then do you prattle to the people when you meet as if you would interpret the meaning of Scripture and teach the people the knowledge of Christ for you are but a man why do not you let Christ teach the people himself seeing you will have all taught of God and allow no man to interpret Scripture nor teach the people For if you say Christ doth interpret Scripture and not Muggleton because Muggleton is a man and the interpretation of Scripture you say belongs to Christ and not to Muggleton for Muggleton is but a man so Quakers are all taught of God and not by man I marvel why there is so many Men-teachers amongst the Quakers seeing teaching knowledge of heavenly things and the interpretation of Scripture belongeth to God and Christ and not to man If I were of your faith I would give over teaching and talking of the Scriptures and leave it to God and Christ to whom it doth and it would be well for you Speakers of the Quakers if you had done so before you took upon you to preach Christ within you you have undertook to teach that which you say God will do and to interpret Scripture which you say doth belong unto Christ But I see all those people that will be taught of God and have the Scriptures interpreted unto them by Christ himself and will not receive the interpretation from man I say those people are more ignorant and dark in their mindes than those that are taught by man And I am sure the Quakers people would have known more truth if they had been taught by man that hath a Commission from God as Reeve and Muggleton hath than they do by all that God ever taught them in their lives And the Interpretation of Scripture we have given if understood would have informed their Judgements more than all the Interpretation of Scripture that Christ ever did interpret unto the Quakers people since the name of Quakers was put upon them yet we are but mortal men and must die But to clear the scruple that may arise in mens mindes because I speak thus I shall shew in a few words how men may be said to be taught of God and how the Interpretation of Scripture may be said to belong unto Christ First when God chuseth any one man or more to be his chosen Prophet Messenger or Minister God doth furnish such with wisdom and understanding and revelation to declare the minde of God to the people what God would have the people do and look how many people or who ever doth believe this Messenger sent of God they may be said to be taught of God and are taught of God So likewise he that hath the gift of Interpretation of Scripture as Prophets Apostles and we the Witnesses of the Spirit hath our Interpretation of Scripture may be said to belong unto Christ and that it is the true Interpretation of Christ himself because we had our Commission from him to teach the people and to interpret Scripture to as many as believe us to their great peace and satisfaction of their souls And in this sense people may truely say they are all taught of God and that Christ hath given the true interpretation of Scripture by his servants the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit to our everlasting peace and comfort yet all this is declared by men yea by mortal men and not by Christ himself as the Quakers do vainly imagine 6. Also Fox saith Christ opens and no man shuts and saith Doth not John say No man was found worthy to open the Book but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah And saith Was not Christ annointed to preach CHAP. XXXVI ANSWER THis beareth the same sence as the other whatsoever the Prophets Apostles and Witnesses of the Spirit doth it may be said Christ doth it as the Prophets they preached of Balm in Gilead and of Eye-salve to anoynt the peoples eyes that they might see what did belong to their peace and where they might have salve to heal the wound in conscience which sin had made in their souls this is called the preaching of Christ by his Prophets 2. The Apostles had power given them by Christ to open the eyes of the blinde and to give light unto them that were in darkness and in the shadow of death and brought those that believed their doctrine into the light of life eternal Also they had the Keys of Heaven and of Hell to bind sin upon the consciences of unbelievers never to be forgiven and to loose the sins of those that did truely believe their doctrine of Christ and thus they did open the Book of conscience in the believer and no man could shut up that conscience which the Apostles doctrine opened neither could any man open that conscience the Apostles shut up in unbelief This also is called the preaching of Christ and opening and shutting the Book of Conscience by Christ yet this was done by men and not by Christ himself But in regard they did preach the Gospel by vertue of Authority from Christ and they were anointed by him to preach the everlasting Gospel and had power given them to open the Book of Conscience in some whereby they did believe in Christ and shut the conscience of others up in unbelief and thus that saying of the Scripture is fulfilled that Christ was anoynted to preach the Gospel of glad tidings of salvation for what his Messengers doth it is as if he did it himself Again we the Witnesses of the Spirit are anoynted and chosen of Christ to preach the everlasting Gospel and Christ hath given us power to set life and death before men and we have power to binde and loose and to open and shut the Book of Conscience and no man can shut that conscience we have opened neither can any man open that conscience we have shut up in darkness as to any spiritual knowledge or true peace this many can witness on both sides if
when we came out first sixten years ago were very high in their elevations in seeing of visions and going forth as Prophets and Prophetesses and stripping themselves naked for signs as you Quakers have done I can make it appear in some particulars that this commission hath had great power over Ranters and Quakers for the heads of these two were John Robins and John Taney Robins was the head of all false Christs false Prophets Prophetesses Shakers and Quakers and you Quakers are but the spawn of John Robins and that Christ you own within you being a false Christ John Robins was the head of that principle also his believers had those witchcraft-fits upon them as you Quakers had very strongly at that time when John Robins was in power also John Taney was the head of the Atheistical Ranters those Ranters were very high in their language and vile in their practise as to oppresse one another deflower Virgins commit whoredome with mens wives and counted all the wickedness they did to be righteousness these things and much more did those people do and these two heads were in great power when we came first out and the first man that was cursed by us after we had power was John Robins after that divers of his Prophets were curst and in two months time after John Rob'ins power fell and all his Prophets and Prophetesses fel with him so he and they moultered away like dirt and none durst acknowledge any faith in John Robins neither could they attain any Witchcraft-fits any more so that John Robins and his Prophets and people are layd aside as if they had never been Afterwards it came to pass that John Taney was damned by us because he would not lay down the Priest-hood and his Jerusalem Journey he had witchcraft-fits also and would shut up himself nine days to produce them but could not after he was curst so after few years he fell and all his great matters to nothing so that not one of his hearers can tell what became of him Likewise we did passe Sentence on several of the Ranters Ministers as of them themselves so that they all tumbled down headlong and could not rise again to this day Now do you Fox the Quaker call to minde and see whether this curse Reeve and Muggleton hath not been over the Quakers people nor touched them there hath a many Quakers been curst by us but especially of late years by me have you your self Edward Borrows Francis Hougal you three were the first Quakers John Reeve damned have you three had any witchcraft-fits since have you foamed at the mouth swollen in your belly with the workings of the spirit and as you think as if you had the Falling-sickness have you had any new vision or new revelation in those witchcraft-fits since yea or nay I am sure it hath great power over you Quakers and hath put a stop to those witchcraft-fits for I do not hear of any Quaker of late that hath any though they were never curst by me this curse hath run in the line of the heads of the Quakers so that it doth put a stop to the whole body so that none of the members can produce a witchcraft-fit nay the Quakers are bereft of all revelation now and Messages to the Magistrates they have left off stripping themselves naked and imitating the Prophets of old Do you Fox own that practise of Solomon Ecle the Quaker I perceive by a passage in your book you do because Isaiah did so as a sign to the Jews but your Prophet Solomon Ecle went in a more shameless manner being sent by the spirit of witchcraft then Isaiah did that was sent of God for Ecle went stark naked as is reported at Aldermanbury Church and not onely so but he was shamlesly beshit so that none could lay hands on him onely the Coachmans whip gave him a jerk or two this is he that went with fire upon his head in Bartholomew-fair also he sowed his linings upon the peoples Communion-table to prophane it at Aldermary Church these things were very brief formerly with the Ranters and Quakers people they were much for signs though some of them were very beasty signs yet the Ranters and Quakers were well pleased with them being moved thereunto by the spirit of witchcraft to imitate Prophets of old in a more shameless manner As I could tell you some things of the Ranters practise who would go forth as signs there was one his name was Nathaniel he was the Ranters sign yet pretended to be a sign of the Presbyterian Ministery that as he did stink in the nostrils of people so should they for he went always beshit so he was called Shitten Nat he eat his own dung and stank that none would come nigh him nay mistress Cook a Ranter would lye with him in the fields and make cakes of his dung for him to eat and he did eat his own dung but whether she did eat any with him I cannot tell but it was said she did now this sign goeth beyond the Quaker Solomon Ecle Also this mistress Cook she went to Westminster Church to shew the Minister a sign she stript her self stark naked and went into the Church so some threw a cloak over her to cover her nakedness and she was committed to Bride-well and there she was clothed all in white linnen like the Queen of Heaven these were Ranting signs now for you Quakers to imitate many such things were acted by that sort of people as that John Thomas who danced naked before Sir Richard Brown as he went to the Church and being committed by him was extreamly whipped and when he had suffered and was out of prison poysoned himself Richard Rusel the Quakers wife can witness the truth of his nakedness before Sir Richard Brown for she went on one side and another woman on the other they were both imprisoned with him many more of those Ranters came to a sad end for most of them fell to nothing after their head John Taney did fall and their principle doth stink in the nostrils of all civil people even as he did that was the true sign to that sort of people for he stank in the nostrils of all that came neer him he could hot endure himself nay he killed himself with the wyer of a candlestick thrust it into his belly and so died do you George Fox approve of such shitten shameless Prophets and stinking signs as these how much difference is there in Solomon Ecle his sign being a Quaker then in the Ranters are not you Quakers almost ashamed of your Prophets signs these things hath bin pretty common amongst Quakers heretofore when the spirit of witchcraft reigned in them but now the power of witchcraft-fits is subdued by Reeve and Muggletons commission neither shall you Quakers whom I have cursed get above nor over that curse I have passed upon you for it shall be upon your persons and over the heads of
your souls to eternity and none shall deliver you from it Thus much in answer to George Fox his printed Pamphlet By Lodwick Muggleton Here followeth the Copy of a LETTER sent to SARAH COPPIN Quaker Sarah Coppin YOu may remember about fourteen years ago in the year 1653. that you did seem to receive John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton as Messengers and Prophets of the Lord or as Witnesses of the Spirit and further you did shew much kindness unto us upon that account for there could be no other inducement in us at that time to invite any to shew kindness unto us but that doctrine declared by us concerning the true God as our writings did declare which you did seem to own Also you may remember your great zeal you had for us when we were prisoners in Old-Bridewel your zeal carried you out so far for us to deliver a Writing of ours unto Oliver Cromwel who was then chosen Lord Protector this you did your self in zeal and love to this Commssiion of the Spirit as we the Witnesses of the Spirit thought and I suppose your self did think what you did in that kinde it was in sincerity of heart also and we took it so and had a love for you as to your eternal happiness but your faith was not truely grounded neither upon the doctrine of the true God nor the Commission of the Spirit as it is manifest since Also you may remember one Joan Bishop a maid that was the occasion of bringing you acquainted with us and that you had been very religiously given before you met with us even so much that you were almost distracted about your salvation in that none of the Preachers of the Nation could shew you the way to rest for your soul they having no true rest themselves yet you may remember your receiving us upon that account as Prophets of the Lord who had put down John Taney John Robins and many others that went as prophets and prophetesses and pretended great revelations and visions from the Lord and yet knew not what God is these all have been brought down by us the Witnesses of the Spirit these things you know in part Also your acquaintance with us it cured you of that distracted condition you were in before you knew us and you were clothed in your right minde and was able to give a sensible Answer to any that did oppose you but I know you cannot do so now you are turned to the Quakers though you are become a Speaker amongst them I know your pride and ambition of your heart that loveth to be esteemed of people what a Woman-preacher you think this to be a great glory to you but the greatest shame that possible may be will be the effects of it for it is not your many sensless speeches without form or order produced by a witchcraft spirit within you which you call the light of Christ I say this you have gloried in will be your endless shame for your latter end will be worse than your beginning for you are become an absolute Apostate who hath back-slided and fallen from the truth and turned to the Quakers the most Antichristian Principle of all the seven Churches and the greatest fighters against a personal God without man of any so that you are an absolute Apostate and impossible to be renewed by repentance for you are fallen from truth to a lie for you are as some were in the Apostles time as Heb. 3 6. who were enlightened and had tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the life to come that is they were enlightened by the Commission of the Gospel committed to them to preach they tasted that good word of God even the doctrine of Christ which was life and salvation to them that truly believed But seeming believers tasted of this good word of God which the Apostles preached and rejoyced in it for a season as Herod did and as for the powers of the life to come they had peace in their minds and hope of eternal life by the Apostles doctrine so long as they stood by faith but when they fell away from that faith they once profest they could not be renewed again by repentance so that all that light and word of God they tasted of and peace and hope which is the powers of the life to come it all withered and dyed within them so that they were not sensible of the light of heaven nor any goodness of Gods word they preacht nor any peace or hope they ever found by owning the Apostles doctrine so it is with you as it was with those apostates that did fall away from the Apostles Commission after they had made a profession to own and believe it and had received many refreshments in their mindes and had tasted of the Joys of Heaven but in that they did fall from it to some other opinion as to the worship of the Law as the Galatians did who were bewitched as Paul saith so that their latter end was worse than their beginning For before a man joyn with truth though he doth not believe it for the present yet it is possible he may be renewed in his minde and come afterwards to believe and be saved but if any shall profess truth and rejoyce in it for a season and afterwards fall away it is impossible for such an one to be renewed by repentance as aforesaid And this is your condition for you rejoyced in this Commission of the Spirit for a season and did many good acts for us which did manifest that you had a love for this Declaration of John Reeve and my self and yet afterwards to fall away from the belief of it and not onely so but to speak evil of us the Witnesses of the Spirit In that you said you knew John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton very well and that we were the greatest Deceivers that ever was and that as soon as ever you met with Truth meaning the Quakers then you forsook us these with such like words and more than I mention here did you say which is clear to me that you are not onely fallen from grace but you have trampled the blood of the Covenant under foot and counted it an unholy thing even that whereby you should have been sanctified by faith had you held out to the end you should have been saved by this Commission of the Spirit for there is no salvation under heaven to be found in these days but in the belief of this Commission of the Spirit given of God to John Reeve and my self for our Commission is as true as the Apostles Commission was at that time and we as true Prophets as they were Apostles so that whoever shall make a profession of this and fall away afterwards and speak evil of that they once owned I say they trample the blood of the Covenant under foot now as they did in the Apostles time and do count that an unholy thing that should have given
them the assurance of everlasting life but it is impossible for such to return to the truth again And this I must tell you a man cannot properly be said to fall away but when men and women fall from a Commission for we see many people fall oft from one profession of Religion to another as from Baptists to Quakers and Independents to Baptists and Quakers fall from that Principle to others and some to Atheism yet this is not properly a falling away because there is no true Prophet or Ministery amongst them all not in the whole world so that to my knowledge many hath fallen from one thing to another and at last have come to be saved by this Commission of the Spirit and have had assurance of eternal life in themselves notwithstanding their falling from several forms of worship but who ever falls from the Commission of God there can be no return again neither can they possibly be saved therefore thought it convenient to let you know what will be the effects of your fall I have been in this Commission these sixteen years and I never knew but four persons that did fall which seemed to own us your self is one and a Scotch woman Alexander Hails his wife she fell to the Quakers as soon as we were put in Newgate for indeed she was very poor and we being in prison could not supply her with loaves no longer there being but very few that did believe at that time so she did fall to the Quakers and forsook us for I suppose the Quakers had more loaves amongst them for they were many for a loaf of bread was the greatest religion she had in her for she was for John Robins his people so long as he could maintain them with the stock he got from them but when that was spent she did fall from him and his people also The third person was Mistress Langley the fourth was John Hide Bookseller these all seemed to own the doctrine of this Commission of the Spirit and pleaded much for it and rejoyced for a season in it This Mistress Langley did fall to the Quakers as you have done but a woful effect did follow upon it even distractedness of brain a wasting of her estate an endeavor to kill her self a fugitive and vagabond condition in this world besides her damnation hereafter Now I have shewed you what a dangerous thing it is to fall from commissionated men to non-commissionated men and what a dangerous thing it is for men or women to exercise the offices of preaching without a Commission from God or from him whom God sends therefore I shall say these words as followeth I have heard of your being a Quaker these many years so I let you alone as to that but of late I hear that you are a Speaker among the Quakers meetings and that you knew John Reeve and my self and did keep company with us until you met with Truth the Quakers principle you call Truth Also you said we were the greatest Deceivers that ever was and you said rather than you would return again unto us you would go to the publick and hear the Priests of the Nation these things I have weighed and considered first your revolting and back-sliding from that you once rejoyced in and seIcondly in that you have sinned against the holy Ghost and have contemptuously spoken evil of the Commission of the Spirit in calling it the greatest Deceit that ever was in this you have trampled the purest Truth that ever was under your feet as an unholy thing and as a scorn Therefore for these things aforesaid in obedience to my Commission from God I do pronounce Sarah Coppin Quaker cursed and damned both in soul and body from the presence of God elect men and Angels to eternity and it will be a marvellous thing if you escape a fugitive and vagabond condition in this life besides your damnation hereafter for sins of this nature hath commonly a double curse follow as it did with Mistress Langley I had no hatred in my heart to you at all in this thing but in obedience to my Commission I have done this that you might not go to hell in a sleep but that you may know what it is to despise the last Messengers of the Spirit of God and that the Age to come may see and read this Letter and may fear to do as you have done I was informed of some of these things by one John Clark a Tanner Feb. 14. 1667. Written by Lodowick Muggleton one of the two last Prophets and Witnesses of the Spirit unto the high and mighty God the Man Christ Jesus in glory Another LETTER sent to RICHARD CHAIR Quaker as followeth Richard Chair I Am informed by one Francis Newel that you have reported very base lies of me in the temporal and not only so but you have blasphemed against the Holy Ghost as most of you Quakers do and that without a cause for I do not remember I ever had any discourse with you nor no dealings with you neither temporal nor spiritual neither do I know you if I should see you and it is very like you do not know me if you should see me yet notwithstanding you have reported that you knew me in Trinity-lane and that I was a very cruel man to my servants and would abuse my Prentices and further you will not believe but that I lived in Half-moon Court in Bow-lane which things are all false for I never lived in Half-moon Court in my life neither was I ever cruel to my servants cruelty was always contrary to my natural temper therefore the neighbors that lived by me in my house will say I was one of the patientest men to my children and servants upon the earth though none of those neighbors nor those that lived in my house did love my principle or Religion nor my commission they could not abide neither did any of them believe John Reeve nor me yet as to that you accuse me of they will justifie it to be false I understand you was prentice with Master Farmer the Smith I knew your Master very well his servants did things for me sometimes it may be you being his servant you might do it and I not know you but you might know me in that regard but I suppose you mistook the man to say I was cruel to my servants it was one Richard Drew one of the seed of the serpent as your self is that was cruel to his prentices he would beat and abuse one boy he had most sadly to my knowledge for this Richard Drew lived in my house at that time when that boy was abused and afterwards this said Richard Drew lived in Half-moon Court ever since till the fire in London and this is about twenty years ago since he lived in my house and if this will not stop your lying tongue nor convince you of your lies as to that you may go on with it still for your