THE BAPTISTS SOPHISTRY DISCOVERED In a Brief Answer to a late Pamphlet Entituled The Quak 〈…〉 Subterfuge or Evasion Overturned Wherein all people may plainly see how Unjustly the Baptists deal with the Quakers and how Strongly they 〈…〉 d their Bow and shoot their Arrows at them without a Cause Published to give Satisfaction unto all who simply desire to know the Truth By William Smith He that deviseth to do Evil shall be called A Mischievous Persâ—â— Prov. 248. If any man among you seem to be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own heart this man's Religion is vain Jam. 1. 86 Printed in the Year 1672 3 THE Baptists Sophistry DISCOVERED c. IF Necessity did not constrain me to enter upon this present Concernment I could willingly have been silent in the Matter but as I see the Baptists so violently prosecuting their Design 〈◊〉 the People called Quakers and so furiously endeavouring 〈…〉 der them and their Principles the most obnoctious I feel a weight upon me to appear at this time on the behalf of those People and their Principles for I dearly own and love such as are called by that Name who are Faithful to that Light with which Christ Jesus doth enlighten them And I certainly know with many more That whosoever are Faithful to the Light of Christ Within that they are Led and Guided by it out of Darkness and from under the Power of Satan and so come to walk in him who is the Way to the Father and partake of the Grace and Truth that comes by him and herein we can stand with Boldness against all the Calumniations which you Baptists endeavour to cast upon us for we shall not own any of your oblique or crooked Envy though you would impose it unavoidably upon us in your account But I shall not be large by way of Introduction but come to the Matter intended which though seemingly carry'd on by Ralph James only yet believ'd that he was not without some assistance in mannaging his Work but however the Matter was composed either by him or others for him we do not much regard it for we certainly know That the Head of the Serpent must be broken by that Seed which is Blessed forever and though for a time the Serpent may bruise the Heel of that which is to break his Head yet his Head must be broken by it and his Authority fall before it for the Seed must Raign according to Promise yea it doth Raign and is glorified over the Serpent and his Enmity Everlasting Praises be unto him that lives forever And now Ralph James I shall come to thy Matter and the Reason why I call it thine is because I do not find any other Name subscribed and so I shall only take notice of thee as being the Subscriber and as to what hath been already answered to thy Procacity or what may by any other hand be replyed to what I have in Consideration which may be termed thy Proclivity to thy first Matter I shall leave it to its own Method and speak distinctly to the most considerable Matters as to thy last Portraiture Come then and duly observe thy own Proceedings and be more ready to hear then to offer the Sacrifice of Fools For how hast thou endeavoured to make the Nation believe through what thou hast offered and sacrificed That the Quakers are a Deluded People and that of 〈◊〉 it must be so from something that happened between Richard A 〈…〉 son of Panton in Lincolnshire and thy self as thou assertest and in that particular Matter thou hast concern'd the whole Society of the People called Quakers and hast endeavoured to insinuate their Principles and Practices to be the same with that which thou chargest upon R. A. to be Erroneous And hast not thou appeared very insolent in this thy Folly For what man of Prudence and Humility would have concern'd a whole Society of People with a particular Matter of a particular Person supposing the thing to be true when he never was in Society or Fellowship with them at any time But I shall proceed to try thy own way of proving R. A. to be a Quaker for that is the most principal to be taken notice of as being the very Basis upon which thou and thy Brethren have raised your Structure and if the Basis or Foundation be Falsly and Deceitfully laid then the Structure or Building will fall of it self to the Shame of the Builders and therefore I shal examine the most considerable Passages which thou hast produced to prove R. A. a Quaker And First To the Reader thou sayst That R. A. did attempt the Propagation of the Principles of the Quakers by denouncing a Curse upon thee in the Name of the Lord only because of that Testimony which upon just Occasion thou wast ready to bear against their Errors Reply It is not the Quakers Principles to denounce Curses in the Name of the Lord and therefore R. A. did not Propagate their Principles in doing so if so he did and for thy Testimony against their Errors it was like the Testimony of the Unbelieving Jews against Christ and his Apostles if thou didst bear any Testimony of that Nature But thou hast manifest nothing further to satisfie any people that R. A. did propagate the Quakers Principles or of thy own Testimony against their Errors but thy bare word who art neither a competent Witness or Judge in the Case and so no cause to believe that R. A. was a Quaker 2dly Thou goest on to query What man of Reason will believe that any man should voluntarily accuse himself and complain of the Hand of the Lord and what he could propose to himself c And then concludest saying Surely in vain do men go about to out-face a thing so manifest Rep. Thoâ—â—â—â—uld have queried these things and been satisfied concerning 〈◊〉 before thou hadst endeavoured to have made R. A. a Quaker and to fall upon the Quakers with such Violence from thy supposing him to be such a one this would have manifest more Wisdom and Peace then to send thy Stories abroad into the Nation with such Confidence as not to be disputed against and now forced to query Why R. A. should do so Surely in vain hast thou wrought all this while in thy dark Imaginations who art now querying after the Ground or Cause of R. A's accusing himself and of his proposals to himself Is this the thing thou countest so manifest that it is in vain for any man to go about to out-face it Is that manifest which lies obscure and is not that obscure which cannot be demonstrated And here the Face of Truth can look upon thee and Shame may cover thy own for thou hast manifest thy Folly as not knowing the state of R. A. and yet wouldst make him a Quaker 3dly Thou say'st Seeing then that it cannot be denyed but R. A. was led by the spirit of Falshood and Prophesied falsly in the Name
own Opinion better then another man Hast thou not much mistaken thy self in thy Assertion for there may be a better Testimony in this case then a man 's own Confession because a man may make an Ignorant Confession of his own Opinion in relation to the Principles of other People whereas another that duly observes the course of his Life and Conversation may be more able and fit to testifie how he answers their Principles and such a Testimony is far beyond the Party 's own confessing his Opinion and so it will unavoidably follow That whatsoever R. A. hath confessed or said in relation to the Quakers according to his own Opinion doth not make him a Quaker And where thou speakest of the Impossibility for you to prove what Conversation in all respects he had with us because remote from him and not concerned in our Congregations we do believe it for how is it possible for you to prove a thing to be that never was for he never had his Conversation with us at any time in any respect neither did he frequent our Meetings or Congregations at all and so it is not possible for you to prove it And thou ask'st this Question Whether a man 's own Confession for matter of Opinion being attended with thâ—se Demonstrations of the Matter of Fact hereby observed be not a cogent Proof to satisfie indifferent men and here thou ask'st a Question after thy Affirmation for thou first saidst Nor can we have a better Testimony then a Man 's own Confession in this case and now thou queriest Whether a man 's own Confession be not a Cogent Proof and so it may well and safely be concluded that thou affirmest a thing that lies doubtful in thy own Judgment and that ever R. A. confessed that he was a Quaker is beyond thy skill to prove by Undeniable Evidence and therefore thy Folly is manifest giving him a Name which no Man or Woman did ever know him by before for there is nothing more certain but R. A. would soon have been called a Quaker by several of his Neighbours if he had received their Principles and been acted by their Spirit as thou wouldest have it and thou mightest have had the Evidence of several concerning his Alteration from the Wayes Customs and Fashions and Traditions of the World and of his bearing a Testimony for God in the Quakers Spirit but seeing it never was so nor by him confessed to be so thou art left as a Naked Man without any Covering And thus thy Subterfuge is overturned and thou art without a Hiding-Place and thy own Lye is turned upon thee in calling R. A. a Quaker who never was known to have Fellowship with them or they with him and so the Quakers not at all concern'd in R. A's Errors if he did err as thou wouldst fabulously impose upon them I shall now take notice of some Passages in thy Narrative which seem to reflect upon the Truth and to justifie Error and thereby thou mayst see how darkly and ignorantly thou hast manifest thy Judgment and how vainly thou hast endeavoured to make R. A. a Quaker 1st Thou sayst That R. A. came to your Meeting and was convinc'd and said He did believe that Baptism in Water was an Ordinance of God Rep. It seems he was convinced at your Meeting and confessed his Belief to your way of Water-Baptism and did you own him as a Baptist because he confessed his Belief of that which you hold and maintain to be of such absolute Necessity Now here are two things more considerable to make him a Baptist at that time then any you have brought in all that he has confessed can make him a Quaker and yet it may be supposed that you did not at that time own him as a Baptist notwithstanding his Convincement and confessing his Belief to your Water-Baptism as an Ordinance of God 2dly Thou sayst That before he came again he met with the People called Quakers who told him as himself confessed That he must not look upon those outward Ordinances for they were low but that he must mind the Light Within and be guided by it and not by the Scriptures for they were a Dead Letter Rep. It is to be observed that thou didst not know whether he met with any of the Quakers or no but as he confessed and yet he must be a Quaker in Print Would ever any man that had the right use of his Wits have spread such Stories abroad as thou hast done and have no certain knowledge of what thou writest And your outward Ordinances as you call them are Temporal and may be seen and the Apostle would not have such things looked at and they that will not be guided by the Light and follow it they disobey the Doctrine of Christ and abide in Darkness and they that abide in Darkness do not know the Scriptures nor the Power of God and this is testified upon Truth 's account whatever R. A. might say unto thee 3dly Thou sayest That when R. A. came again to the Meeting he much contended against the Baptism of Water and said That now they were to be Baptized with the Baptism of the Spirit and not with Water Rep. As for R. A's Contention if he did so it doth not concern the matter in hand and you Baptists do not so well agree in all Points of your Belief but you can sometimes contend one with another and if thee and R. A. could not agree it doth not follow that he was a Quaker and if you be not Baptized with the Baptism of the Spirit how are you One Body for it was by one Spirit that the Saints were Baptized into One Body whether Jews or Gentiles And if you can you may demonstrate which of you all have a Commission from God to be an Administrator of Water in order to Baptize any 4thly Thou sayst that R. A. said The Spirit was to try the Scriptures and not the Scriptures the Spirit And then saith that thou saidst Thou believed'st the Scriptures were to try the Spirit and not the Spirit to try the Scriptures Thus in thy first Narrative Rep. If you discoursed on this manner you were both at work in your Imaginations for the Spirit and Scriptures agree and do not Try each other and thou hast sufficiently manifested thy Ignorance both of the Spirit and of the Scriptures who would have the Scriptures to try the Spirit Canst thou produce a Scripture to make good thy Belief but in thy last Narrative thou seem'st to state the matter otherwise and so would'st alter the case to cover thy self where thou hast over-shot thy self and some other Alterations which thou hast made in thy last which I shall wave at present And why hast thou altered this matter and put thy Meaning to it For thou sayst in thy last That thou believest the Scriptures were to Try the Spirits and not the Spirits to Try the Scriptures meaning sayst thou as before is said
That the Holy Spirit as he speaketh in the Scriptures is to Try and Judge the Spirits of men and particularly the Quakers Spirit which they call the Light within And here thou hast plainly manifested Deceit unto all who have Eyes to see and thy Meaning will not cover thee And who have any cause to believe thee that canst twist thy words from one thing to another But how do the Scriptures try and judge the spirits of men according to thy Meaning I would understand thy mind more plainly as to this thy Evasion And why must the Quakers Spirit which thou sayst they call the Light Within be particularly tryed and judged by the Scriptures Must the Letter try and judge the Light Wouldst thou make the Greater subordinate to the Lesser for that which is the Original of a thing must needs be greater then that which is manifest from it and the Letter was manifest from the Light for the holy Men of God spake as they were moved by it and it was within them when it moved them to speak and so the Holy Mens Spirit was the Light with which the Quakers have Unity and their words do not try and judge the Quakers Spirit but their words are fulfilled and witnessed by the same Spirit and here the Quakers are before you all who are only in the words as they were once spoken and not in the Spirit by which they were spoken and so you want the Key of Knowledge which opens the Mysteries of the Kingdom and when John bid the Saints try the Spirits whether they were of God he said There were many False Prophets gone out into the World and the False Prophets were in a False spirit which the Saints were to try in the True Spirit and so the True Spirit was the Tryer of all false spirits and false Prophets and the same Spirit is the Tryer of all spirits now and they that live in it hold fast that which is good and know it to be Good though false spirits may call it Evil. 5thly Thou sayst Thou saidst to R. A. that thou wast afraid that the Quakers were deceived and guided by a spirit of Delusion and that it was thy Judgment That all the Sons and Daughters of men ought to be guided by the Scriptures Rep. It seems thou hadst no certain Ground to believe that the Quakers were Deceived and Deluded but only wast afraid and so it is manifest thou couldst not try them either by the Spirit or Scriptures surely Wise Men will be ashamed of thy Ignorance and Folly And for the removing thy vain Fear we are willing to tell thee and thy Brethren That we live in the Blessed Truth where Righteousness Peace embrace and kiss each other And as for thy Judgment That all the Sons and Daughters of men ought to be guided by the Scriptures thou hast given thy Judgment inconsiderately for thou hast not demonstrated any thing as a Ground why it ought to be so but only stated it from thy own Judgment and if thy Judgment be sufficient to bring others to be of the same Judgment then the Judgment of the Pope may plead Authority and so people may as soon be Papists as Baptists and if there be no other Guide but the Scriptures for the Sons Daughters of men to be guided by then what Guide have such as never heard nor read the Scriptures have such no Guide to lead them to fear God and work Righteousness to be accepted of him or must they of necessity perish for want of the Scriptures to be their Guide or whether can such a People be saved thou art here concern'd to give thy Judgment again for there is not yet such a Decision of the great Controversie as thou vainly boasteth 6thly Thou now comest to speak of R. A' s coming to reprove thee and pronounce thee a Leper and that a little time after he confessed he was deceived and was a false Prophet and that the same Judgment was come upon one of his Children and himself Wife and other Children taken with a Restless Pain in their Bodies and that he desired thee to Pray for him and thou and thy Congregation did pray for the removing of that Distemper and Affliction and they were restored to their former Health again which thou sayst R. A. confessed when he came to the Meeting again Ans. It is to be observed That the very Ground of all the Buzzle and Noise which thou hast made against the Quakers is only from the bare and single Confession of R. A. and thy own Consequences and Conclusion from what he hath confessed and said but thy groundless Conclusions do not prove so effectual for thy purpose as thou might'st vainly suppose when thou begun'st thy work for though thou hast made such a Noise against the Light Within and against the Quakers because R. A. might tell thee The Quakers did tell him he was to mind the Light to be guided by it yet the Light is not to be charged with R. A's Miscarrying if he did Miscarry in any thing wherein he concern'd the Light for if he did concern the Light in giving Judgment against thee and then afterwards confest that he was Deceived and was a False Prophet this doth not make the Light to be a False Principle nor those that are faithful to it to be guided by it a Deluded People and if he did confess that he was Deceived it doth not follow that the Light deceived him for there were never any false Prophets in the True Light nor never any True Prophets out of it and so it is very clear that R. A. was not guided by the True Light when he was deceived and was a false Prophet neither doth it appear by all thou hast said that he was guided by the Light and yet he must be call'd a Quaker because he might sometimes have something to say of the Light and against Water-Baptism and suppose this was granted yet it doth not make him any more a Quaker then for a man to speak of Water-Baptism and against the Pope would make him a Baptist and if such a man should do or say something that is a manifest Error would you Baptists take it well that his Error should be charged upon your whole Society and you counted a Deluded People because of such a Miscarriage by that man when he was never taken notice of to be owned by you it may well be concluded That you would be ready to clear your selves both from the man and his Miscarriage and to blame such as should lay his Miscarriage upon you And if you would not be willing to bear such a thing your selves if cast upon you from such a Ground why then do you so much busie your selves to do it unto us Are you doing in this as you would be done by let the Juditious judge For you neither manifest Justice Equity or Mercy towards us in this matter but rather vent your Envy and Malice
of the Lord c. Rep. How doth the matter appear so undeniable seeing it lies only betwixt R. A. thy self may not a thing be justly deny'd til it can be proved by some others then the Parties concerned and thou hast produced no such Proof and yet say'st it cannot be deny'd and so thou mayst maintain a thing upon any terms if that must be of necessity believed which thou sayst can't be deny'd And if R. A. was led by the Spirit of Falshood what doth that concern the Quakers Must he needs be a Quaker because he was led by such a spirit as thou sayst Surely thou and thy Brethren had need put on more Charity that you might walk in Love for the Quakers never used a shift to help R. A. though falsly charged with it from your dark Conclusion 4thly Thou sayst Thou hast not wronged thy Conscience in all thou hast said nor designed any Evil against the Persons of the Quakers but only to make Discovery of the False Wayes they have chosen that so they might escape from thence and be saved Rep. Thou hast put on a large measure of 〈…〉 fidence that darest justifie thy self in all thou hast said and a 〈…〉 sens 〈…〉 that thou hast wrong'd thy Conscience in any thing thoâ— hast said this manner of boasting gives just cause to suspect that thou castest the Reproof of Christ behind thy back for if it were not so thou wouldst meet with Convictions in thy Conscience for what thou hast said against the Quakers and wouldst be sensible that thou hast wronged thy Conscience in what thou hast said and for any Design of Evil against the Quakers Persons thou canst not hide thy Design under such a Covering for as thou design'st against our Principles we know thou dost not design any good to our Persons and for thy discovery of our false wayes as thou termest them thou hast only discover'd thy own Polly and therefore we shall not forsake our Wayes in which we are sav'd to come into thy ways to be condemned And so stop thy mouth for speaking of our Wayes for thou art a Stranger to them and canst not make the least Discovery of them 5thly Thou sayst Thou dost not pretend to work Miracles and that thou knowest thou Sin'st not in what thou hast published but hast more cause to think thou shouldst have Sin'd in concealing it Rep. Thou hast affirmed a Miracle wrought by the Prayers of thee and thy Congregation and now thou dost not pretend to such a thing If thou hadst Faith that God would answer thy Prayers thou must needs pretend to do the thing according to thy Faith or otherwise thou hadst no Faith and so no such thing done by thee and thy Congregation as thou hast affirmed for no such thing was ever done without Faith and if it was really done what needst thou be ashamed to pretend to it But here thou wouldst go retrogade to cover thy self where thou hast moved too forwardly but this Matter may fall to be answer'd more fully afterwards And as for what thou know'st in not sinning in what thou hast declar'd thou canst not take away the Guilt with thy words for as thou hast concern'd the Quakers and their Principles by declaring against them thou hast sin'd in a high degree and the Lord will not hold thee guiltless And for sinning if thou hadst conceal'd it thou canst not clear thy self from that Guilt 〈…〉 for tâ—â—â—â—ast conceal'd it Eight or Nine Years and so hast sin'd all tâ—â—t time by thy own Conclusion and thou hadst need Repent before it be too late 6thly Thou sayst The Quakers have a faculty to Accuse beyond their Ability to Prove Rep. Take this to thy self for the Quakers are not concern'd in it and hast not thou accused the Quakers beyond thy Ability to prove thy Accusations prove if thou canst what thou hast publickly accus'd them with and if thou canst not do it then is it not an Unmanly Faculty in thee to slander them with thy Accusations Come Ralph thou hast made a Stage to play thy part and thou hast appeared upon it to infest the Nation with thy Infidelity but the Power of the Lord God is ever thee and thy stage and thee must fall together so I have done with thy matter to the Reader I shal now go on as to what thou bringst for Proof to make good thy Affirmation of R. A's being a Quaker and when I have done with that matter as it is scatter'd in thy Book I shall take notice of thy Narrative and some other things which are most considerable wherein thou hast concern'd the Quakers and their Principles for neither thee nor any that have assisted thee that can Discouraged the Quakers in their Innocency and I shall come to the matter I have premised Page 10. Thou sayst But since the Quakers in their Lying-Wonder do so boldly deny that he viz. R. A. was a Quaker hear therefore what is attested in that case June 17. 1672. since the publication of the Quakers Lying-Wonder in the presence of credible Witnesses hereafter named and thou sayst it was demanded of R. A. whether he ever heard the Quakers he answerd Yes he heara them at Lincoln within the Prison about the space of an Hour And then thou sayst It is known by sad Experience that many in as little time as that is have been so leaven'd with their Principles as that they have not been cleansed from the Corruption thereof to the day of their Death Rep. The Quakers might very boldly deny R. A. to be a quaker and thou canst not prove that he was one but thou sayst Hear what is attested in that case in the presence of credible â—â—â—nesses Well we are willing to hear what is attested but we mâ—â—â— ask thee Who did attest it did any other attest it besides R. A. No And what did he attest That he heard the Quakers at Lincoln about the space of an hour Well and what then must he therefore be a Quaker see what he hath attested he did not say He was a Quaker by hearing them the space of an hour But thou sayst It is known by sad Experience c. Come Ralph thou must not thus abuse us by telling us of credible Witnesses and then make thy own Conclusions and hast thou been puttering all this while about proving R. A. to be a Quakers art as far to seek in thy third pamphlet as in thy first for there was as good Proof to what R. A. said in thy first as there is in this and we do not question the credit of the Witnesses in what they might hear R. A. say or confess but we question thy Conclusions That because he might hear the Quakers about an Hour that therefore he must be a Quaker because many as thou sayst in as little time have been leaven'd with their Principles as they have not been cleansed from the Corruption to the day of their Death