Whitehead in the very first instant art of Baptizing they confessed their Sins and neither before nor after But that there was a Divine and Spiritual Baptisme that attended their Ministry to some will not prove that they did Baptize them with the Divine and Spiritual Baptisme which was the Work of God and of Christ and promised by Christ to the Apostles and other Believers but was never commanded them to give it to others His Third Argument is from Gal. 3.2 Received ye the spirit by the works of the law or by hearing of faith c. he therefore that ministreth to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you doth he it by the works of the law or by the preaching of faith Ans He taketh it for granted that by him that worketh Miracles among them and Ministreth the Spirit unto them is to be understood Paul or some other Man by whom they were Converted But Paul it could not be for the words being in the Present Tense implyeth a present Ministration of the Spirit when Paul wrote that Epistle unto them but Paul was then at Rome as the end of the Epistle sheweth nor was it any other Man because they were already Converted and had received the Spirit before he writ that Epistle unto them Therefore it is most proper to understand this he to be Christ who is the only furnisher and supplyer of the Spirit together with God unto the Faithful the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred Prebens Suppeditans by Pasor and doth properly signifie the Principal Efficient from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dux chori the Captain of the Chorus but this is Christ who supplyeth and giveth the Spirit to the Saints and neither Paul nor any other Man And that the Apostles were Ministers of the Spirit doth not signifie that they gave the Spirit or Baptized with the Spirit but that they were assisted and guided by the Spirit in their Ministry and that God accompanied their Ministry with his not their giving the Spirit unto such who believed their Doctrine SECT V. I Proceed in the next place to examine all the other Arguments I find used by W. Penn and R. Barclay against these Divine Institutions that seem to have any shadow of weight The First Argument I find used by W. Penn in his Reason against Railing in p. 107. is first saith he we know and they confess that they were in the beginning used as Figures and Shadows of a more hidden and Spiritual Substance 2. That they were to endure no longer than till the Substance was come Now the time of the Baptisme of the Holy Ghost Christ's only Baptisme therefore called the one Baptisme has been long since come consequently the other which was John 's was fulfilled and as becomes a forerunner ought to cease the like may be said of the Bread and Wine for as there is but one Baptisme so there is but one Bread This same Argument for Matter but in different words is used by R.B. in the above said Treatise p. 7.8 Answ The Conclusion they both draw viz. that John's Baptisme is ceased may be granted and yet it will not follow that Water-Baptisme as it was practised by the Apostles and other Ministers after Christ's Resurrection and Ascension is ceased seeing there is great ground to distinguish betwixt John's water-Baptisme and the Apostles in divers weighty respects as first the Man Christ after he rose from the Dead having all Power given him in Heaven and in Earth Commissioned the Apostles to Baptize and that with Water as shall be afterwards proved more fully but John had not his Commission from the Man Christ c. 2. John did only Baptize them of his own Nation and was only sent to Israel but the Apostles Commission reached to all Nations 3. John though he taught them to believe in him who was to come to wit Christ yet he required not Faith in Christ as any condition to qualifie his Disciples to receive his Baptisme but the Apostles required Faith in Christ Jesus in all the Men and Women as a condition qualifying them to receive their Baptisme 4. We do not find that the Holy Ghost was given or promised to them who received John's Baptisme but the promise of the Holy Ghost was given to such as did duly and worthily receive the Apostles Baptisme therefore John's Baptisme was called the Baptisme of Repentance 5. It seems greatly probable that some who had received John's Baptisme were again Baptized with the Apostles Baptisme Acts 19.3.4 5 6. But whereas they both argue from John's Words I must decrease but he must increase it hath a further understanding than barely as in relation to John's Baptisme for it is said John 4.12 that Jesus made and Baptized more Disciples than John tho' Jesus himself Baptized not but his Disciples thus John decreased and Christ increased when both Water-Baptismes were in force that Christ had more Disciples than John even when John was living at which he rejoyced and as the number of Christ's Disciples increased above the number of Johns before John's decease so still after and will encrease and so will the Glory and Honour of Christ encrease above John to the end of the World But whereas they both argue as they think so strongly both against Water-Baptisme and the outward Supper because of the Scripture Phrase one Baptisme and one Bread which I confess did formerly carry some weight with me and I have so argued in some of my former Books but I have sufficiently seen the weakness of that Argument as well as other Arguments brought both by them and me against these Divine Institutions But let it be considered how things are said to be one in divers senses and acceptations God is one in the highest sense yet this doth not infer that there is no distinction of the Father Son and Holy Ghost in their relative Properties which are incommunicable and Christ is one and yet this doth not prove that Christ hath not two Natures one of the Godhead another of the Manhood most gloriously united 3. Faith is one yet there are divers true significations of Faith in Scripture as 1. the saving Faith 2. the Faith of Miracles which every one had not who had the saving Faith 3. Faith objectively taken for the Doctrine of Faith either as it is outwardly Preached or Professed as in Rom. 1.5 Gal. 3.2 Acts 24.24 Now if one should argue because the Scripture saith there is one Faith Eph. 4.5 that consequently there is but one Faith and that is the Doctrine of Faith outwardly Preached and Professed and consequently deny Faith as it is an inward Grace and Virtue of the Spirit in the Hearts of true Believers his Argument would be false so on the other hand if another should argue true saving Faith that is of absolute necessity to Salvation is an inward Grace or Vertue of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of true Believers and therefore there is no Doctrine
former part of it for Men may have a Power that is neither from the Apostles mediately nor immediately not mediately as he thinks he has proved nor yet immediately from the Apostles because not their immediate Successors But why may they not have a Power mediately from Christ after some true manner and yet in some sort immediate also If we consider the several significations of the Words mediate and immediate none of which are Scripture words any more or scarce so much as other words they reject because not Scripture words and because of the ambiguous and doubtful signification of the Words mediate and immediate they may be omitted and other Words used to as good or better effect But if we may be allowed to use the words mediate and immediate one Sense of the word immediate is a Call from Christ's Person speaking with an audible Voice to the outward Ear such as the twelve Apostles had and Paul also This I know none now pretends to Another Sense of the word immediate is a Call by the Holy Spirit in the Hearts of them who are so Called in the same way and manner as the Prophets were both taught their Prophecies and called to deliver them and commit them to Writing which was by a Prophetick Spirit that did Infallibly guide them in every Sentence and Word of their Message without the least possibility of Error or Mistake and as so Taught and Called without the need or use of any outward means whatsoever If some of the Teachers among the Quakers have pretended to any such Inward Teaching or Calling as it can be easily proved they have it can be as easily proved that they have not been so taught nor called because in too many things wherein they have pretended to such Teaching and Calling they have Bewrayed themselves miserably and laid themselves open to the Judgment of the weaker sort of Sincere Christians who have been able to prove that in too many things they have delivered as Divine Revelations they have contradicted the Holy Scriptures and so have grosly Erred A Third sort of immediate Teaching and Calling is by taking the Etymologie of the Word immediate to signifie not without all Means but in and with the Means as when it is generally acknowledged that there is an immediate Supernatural Divine Concurrence of the Spirit of God that assisteth the Faithful in all truly holy Actions yea in all holy Thoughts and Desires Words and Works yet not without the use of outward Means but in the due and frequent use of them as in Reading Hearing and Meditating upon what hath been Read or Heard Now this sort of inward Teaching and Calling by the Spirit as it is not without means altogether so is it not without all possibility of Erring or Mistake for though no Error can proceed from the Spirit of God nor can the Spirit Err yet a Man that has the Spirit of God working in his Heart both to illuminate his Understanding and move and incline his Will to good Things may through Humane Weakness and Inadvertency or by some Prejudice of Education or wrong Information of his Teachers misapply and misunderstand the Spirits inward Illuminations and Motions which he is the more likely to do if he do not duly and diligently apply his Mind as to the Spirits inward Illumination so to the Directions and Instructions given to us in the Holy Scriptures to examine and find the agreement of the inward with the outward for certainly if the Persuasions that any Man hath contradict the plain Directions and Institutions given in the Holy Scriptures they are not of the Spirit of God whatever appearance they may seem to have of Power or Evidence the joynt concurrence of the Spirit of Truth within and the instrumental and subordinate help of the Scripture without given us to help our weakness may be compared to the natural Light of the Sun or Candle that we read with in some sort though this and all other Similitudes fall short of a full Illustration for as we cannot Read without the Light though the Book lie open before us so when the Light Shines yet it will not teach us what is in the Book unless we look on it and also be taught to Read in it Even so the Light of the Holy Spirit shining upon the Ideas and Perceptions of our Minds as conveyed to us by what we have heard or read out of the Holy Scriptures opens to us the true hidden Sense and Truth of them with Life and Power and great inward Clearness and Evidence Joy and Satisfaction and thus if we find that the Spirits Illumination worketh in our Hearts and Minds an Assent to the Truth of what is Recorded in the Holy Scriptures we can with all readiness receive it But if what we suppose to be a Divine Illumination discord from the Truth of the Scriptures we ought to reject it and by no means to receive it for it is not Divine but Humane or which is worse Diabolical Now according to this last Sense of the Word immediate i.e. inward Teaching and Call of the Spirit in the use of outward Means and Helps and especially the Holy Scriptures I see not but it may be granted that Men may be found and are to be found that have a true immediate Call from the Spirit of Christ in their Hearts both to Preach and Administer these Divine Institutions of the outward Baptism and Supper and all this well consisting with the mediate orderly Call where there is a Constitute Church though not every way so rightly and duly Constitute as was in the Apostles Days and in the purest Times succeeding the Apostles There is ground to believe that God raised up many such in the beginning of the Reformation from Popery and though since that beginning too many Particulars have rather gone backward than forward yet the Success of the Ministry and excellent Books that have come forth time after time of many Worthy Persons however in some things mistaken and the truly Christian Lives and Conversations of many through all the Protestant Churches though in comparison of the great multitude that are Prophane and Scandalous they are but a few may be a good Ground of Evidence that God is truly among them and doth own the Remnant that are Sincere and their Ministry to whom an Allusion may be made of what was said to the Church of Sardis the Greek Word Sardis is in the Plural Number thou hast a few Names in Sardis who have not Defiled their Garments they shall walk with me in White for they are Worthy I know there are some who do more than make an Allusion in the Case and think that by the Church of Sardis is really meant the collective Body of the Protestant Churches throughout the several Parts of the World which I will not here be positive either to affirm or deny but either by way of Allusion or by Hypothesis let us conceive that the Collective Body
the Woman that was Born of the Virgin Mary and what that Power effected and wrought in the Faithful in the Ages before Christ came into the Flesh it was with Respect to his coming in the Flesh and to what he was to do and suffer in his Body of Flesh for their Sins And what I said as Quoted by him page 35. out of my Book Way to the City of God page 125. Even from the beginning yea upon Man's Fall God was in Christ Reconciling the World to himself and Christ was manifest in the Holy Seed inwardly and stood in the way to ward off the Wrath of God from the Sinners and Unholy that it might not come upon them to the uttermost during the Day of their Visitation All this or what ever else of that sort I have said in any of my Books hath a safe and sound Sense rightly understood though this Prejudiced Adversary seeks by his own Perversion to turn them to the contrary The Word Reconciling Redeeming hath a two-fold Signification the one is to satisfie Divine Justice and pay the Debt of our Sins this was only done by Christ as he Suffered for us in the Flesh the other is to Operate and Work in us in order to slay the Hatred and Enmity that is in us while Unconverted that being Converted we may enjoy that inward Peace of Christ that he hath Purchased for us by his Death and Sufferings Now that the Light Word and Spirit gently Operates and Works in Men to turn and incline them to Love God to Fear him and Obey him to Believe and Trust in him that is to Reconcile Men to God and to ward or keep off the Wrath of God from them And thus God was in Christ Reconciling the World to him in all Ages But this is not by way of Satisfaction to Divine Justice for Men's Sins but by way of Application and Operation inwardly Inviting Persuading and as it were Intreating Men to be Reconciled unto God that so the Wrath of God that hangs over their Heads may not fall upon them for while God by Christ thus inwardly visits the Souls of Men inviting and persuading them to turn and live saying why will ye Dye the Wrath is suspended and delayed to be Executed upon them yet it is not removed but abides upon them until they Repent and Believe as the Scripture testifieth he that believeth not the Wrath of God abideth on him And though this inward Appearance and Operation in Christ in Men's Hearts stayeth the Execution of Divine Wrath and Justice yet that inward Appearance is not the Procuring and Meritorious Cause of Men's Reconciliation with God but the Means whereby what Christ by his Death and Sufferings hath Purchased is applyed for though Christ made Peace for us by his Blood outwardly Shed yet that Peace cannot be nor is obtained or received by any but as the Soul is inwardly Changed and Converted and so Reconciled unto God III. And the like twofold Signification hath the Word to Attone for as it signifieth to Attone or Reconcile God and us that wholly is procured by Christ's Obedience unto Death and Sacrifice that he offered up for Men on the Cross but as it signifieth the effectual Application of that great Attonement made by Christ for Men at his Death that is wrought by his Spirit and inward Appearance in their Hearts And I might well say at Man's Fall the Seed of the Woman was given not only to bruise the Serpent's Head but also to be a Lamb or Sacrifice to Attone and Pacify the Wrath of God towards Men as he Quotes me in my Book Way to the City p. 125. For taking Attoning in the first Sense the Virtue Merit and Efficacy of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross did as really extend to the Faithful for Remission of Sin and bringing into Reconciliation and Peace with God from Adam's Fall as it now doth which this Prejudiced Author seems wholly ignorant of as well as his Brethren Again taking it in the second Sense for the effectual Application of the Attonment made by Christ's Death through his Meek and Lamb-like Appearance by his Spirit and Life in Men's Hearts it has a Truth in it And Christ may be said to be the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World both by his outward Appearance in the Flesh as he Dyed for us to Procure and Purchase the Pardon of our Sins and our Justification before God and also by his inward Appearance to Renew and Sanctifie us for as by our Justification the Guilt of Sin is taken away so by our Sanctification is the Filth of it removed Both which is the Work of Christ the Lamb of God respecting both his outward and inward Appearance in his outward being a Sin-offering for us and a Sacrifice in a strict Sense in his inward Appearance of his Divine Life in us being as a Peace-offering and Sacrifice of sweet smelling Incense before God not to Reconcile God and us as is above said but to apply effectually to us the Reconciliation made for us by his Death on the Cross IV. And that I said as he again Quotes me the Seed hath been the same in all Ages and hath had its Sufferings under by and for the Sins of Men in them all for the Removing and Abolishing them This I still hold that there is a tender Suffering Seed or Principle in Men that suffers by Men's Sins and by its gentle Strivings prevails and gains the Victory at last in all the Heirs of Salvation But this suffering Seed or Principle I never held it to be God nor was I ever of that Mind that God did really and properly Suffer by Men's Sins although I have known divers to hold such an absurd Opinion as G. Whitehead hath plainly declared to be his Opinion in his Divinity of Christ p. 56. which is as really Repugnant both to Scripture and sound Reason as to hold that God hath Bodily Parts and Members because the Scripture in many places in condescension to our human Capacities speaks of God's Suffering Repentance being grieved as it doth of his Face Eyes Ears Hands and Feet all which ought not to be properly but Allegorically understood And though I hold that this tender Seed suffers in Men by their Sins that so by its gentle Strivings with them it may overcome them and Slay and Crucifie the Body of Sin in them Yet I hold not that Suffering to be the Procuring and Meritorious Cause of our Justification and Pardon of Sins before God nor do I remember any where that I have so said or writ if any shall shew me where I shall readily Correct and Retract it or any thing in any of my Books that looks that way And if any Query whether I hold that Seed to be Christ that doth so suffer in Men by their Sins I Answer It is not the Fulness of Christ but a Measure proceeding from the Fulness that was and is lodged in the
the filthiness of the Flesh but to signifie the inward washing by the Blood and Spirit of Christ upon the Soul and Conscience the which when so washed is a good Conscience and the effect of that inward washing is the answer of a good Conscience and indeed to me it is evident that Peter in this description of Baptisme first negatively what it is not doth refer by way of comparison to the legal purifyings under Moses Law by Blood and the Ashes of an Heiser with Water sprinkling the Unclean which as the Author to the Hebrews saith sanctified to the purifying the Flesh Heb. 9.13 and yet even this washing was not to cleanse the Body from natural filth but from the legal uncleanness that Men had on divers occasions as when they touched a dead Body they were legally unclean and because of that they were not to come into the Tabernacle until they were cleansed with this Water of purifying sprinkled on them But the Baptisme with Water under the Gospel had not that but a greater signification and being duly received had a greater and more noble effect viz. to signifie the spiritual cleansing by Christ and to be a means of Grace far greater than under the Law Again p. 17. He thus argueth If we take the second and affirmative definition to wit that it is the Answer or Confession of a good Conscience c. then Water-Baptisme is not it since as our Adversaries will not deny Water-Baptisme doth not always imply it neither is it any necessary consequence thereof Answ This Consequence also is not good because though Water-Baptisme in the literal sense strictly taken without any Metonymy is not the answer of a good Conscience as the Lamb was not the Passover but a signification of it yet the Lamb is called in Scripture the Passover by a Metonymy of the Sign put for the thing signified that is very common in Scripture as in other Authors so the Baptisme with Water metonymically may be called the answer of a good Conscience being the thing signified thereby That he saith their Adversaries will not deny that Water-Baptisme doth not always imply it neither is it any necessary consequence thereof in that he was under a mistake for they will say and do say that Water-Baptisme doth always imply it to such as duly and worthily receive it and that it is always a necessary consequence or concomitant thereof upon due and well qualified Receivers And if nothing appear to the contrary by words or actions but that the receivers are duly qualified tho' some of them be not such really yet in the judgment of Charity even according to Scripture rule they are called such as Paul calleth these of the Churches to whom he writ Saints and yet no doubt all were not real Saints in the Churches though by Profession they were such Again whereas pag. 18. he argueth thus Peter calls this here which saveth the Antitypos the Antitype or the thing figured whereas it is usually translated as if the like figure did now save us thereby insinuating that as they were saved by Water in the Ark so are we now by Water-Baptisme but this Interpretation he saith crosseth his sense Answ His Argument from the Greek word used by Peter viz. Antitypos he should have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the neuter gender is indeed altogether weak and groundless as if it only signified the thing and could not be understood of the Figure of the thing the contrary whereof appeareth from Heb. 9.24 where the holy Places made with hands are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the Antitypes of the true which are truly translated the Figures of the true holy Places made without hands Again whereas he argueth that Water-Baptisme is not meant p. 19. in 1 Pet. 3.21 that the Baptisme there mentioned is said to save us but Protestants deny it to be absolutely necessary to Salvation Answ Nor hath this Argument any force for though it is not absolutely necessary to Salvation yet that it is in God's ordinary way where it can be duely had and by whom it is duely received one of the ordinary means of Salvation it is truly said to save as the Doctrine of the Gospel outwardly Preached by the Ministry of Men is saving by way of means and as the Holy Scriptures are said by Paul to be able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus and said Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 4.16 Take heed unto thy self and unto thy Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee And as concerning the means of Salvation though all of them when really given of God are very profitable yet all are not alike necessary nor alike given nor afforded unto all some yea many never perhaps heard the Gospel truly Preached unto them by the Voice of Man yet having the Scriptures read unto them that hath proved an outward means of their Salvation the Lord working inwardly by his Grace and Spirit to make the same effectual to them And as at times the Book of the Holy Scriptures supplieth the defect of a Vocal Ministry so at times a Vocal Ministry doth supply the want of the Book of the Scriptures and thus though Baptisme and the Supper outwardly administred are means of Grace and Salvation when duly received yet they are not so necessary as the Doctrine of the Gospel as outwardly delivered by Men and the Books of the Holy Scripture If any shall object that it is better to keep to the literal Sense of the words in Peter than to run to the Metonymy which ought not to be done but in case of necessity I answer what way soever the Baptisme in 1 Pet. 3.32 be taken as suppose for the Baptisme of the Spirit yet such whoso take it must run to a Metonymy for the inward Baptisme of the Holy Spirit is not the Answer or Confession of a good Conscience otherwise than by a Metonymy of the Cause for the effect The Answer or Confession of a good Conscience being the effect of the inward Baptisme and operation of the Spirit and not the inward Baptisme it self And indeed such Figures and Metonymycal Speeches are very frequent in Scripture to which for not well adverting many are drawn into most false Interpretations of Scriptures and most hurtful Errors as the Papists by taking the words of Christ this is my Body in a mere literal Sense without any Metonymy To conclude upon this Argument the most that with any colour or shadow of Reason can be inferred from this place in 1 Pet. 3.21 is that Water-Baptisme alone neither doth or can save any without the inward Baptisme or operation of the Spirit all which is readily granted nor yet doth the inward Baptisme though joyned to the outward save without any thing else but both the inward Baptisme and outward do save us as Peter plainly declareth by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
of Faith to be Preached or Professed his Argument should be also false and as false is this way of reasoning that because the Baptisme is one therefore that one Baptisme is only the inward of the Spirit excluding the outward Baptisme of Water or as to say therefore it is only the outward Baptisme of Water excluding the inward Baptisme of the Spirit Now as the one Faith mentioned Ephes 4.5 Suppose is meant the inward Grace or Virtue of Faith in the hearts of all True Believers doth not exclude the Doctrine of Faith outwardly Preached and Professed so nor doth the inward Baptisme of the Spirit suppose there meant Eph. 4.5 exclude the outward Baptisme of Water both being true and one in their kind as the inward Grace of Faith is specifically one in all true Believers but numerically manifold even as manifold as there are numbers of Believers so the Doctrine of Faith is one in its kind though consisting of many parts therefore to argue as W. Penn doth that Baptisme is one in the same sense as God is one is very inconsiderate which would infer that though God is one in specie yet that there are as many Gods numerically as Believers And notwithstanding that in Ephes 4.5 it is said there is one Baptisme yet it is not said there or elsewhere that there is but one Baptisme for another place of Scripture mentions Baptismes in the Plural Number Heb. 6.2 And indeed as weak as their Argument against Water-Baptisme is from the Scripture words one Baptisme no less weak is their Argument against the outward Supper practised with Bread and Wine in commemoration of our Lord's Death because of the Scripture words one Bread 1 Cor. 10.17 for in that same verse Paul tells of one Bread in a very different signification even as far as the Church of Christ is not Christ we said he being many are one Bread but doth it therefore follow that there is no other Bread than the Church nay for they are all partakers of that one Bread which is Christ and there is a third Bread that he mentions in the same Chapter which is neither the one nor the other one Bread and that is the outward Bread that they did eat v. 16. the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ Even as Christ said concerning the outward Bread that it was his Body to wit Figuratively so by the like Figure it was the Communion of his Body but not the Body it self which too many have been so foolish as to imagine that the outward Bread was Converted into Christ's real Body and as if Paul had foreseen that many would become so foolish and unwise as so to imagine therefore to caution against any such folly he had said I speak as to wise Men judge ye what I say But whereas many of the People called Quakers by Bread in that part of the Verse the Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Lord's Body Will have to be meant not the outward Elementary Bread but the Body of Christ it self in this they are under a great mistake for that would render the words to have a most absur'd Sense as to say the Body of Christ is the Communion of his Body but the Body is one thing and the Communion of that Body is another and it were as little sense to understand it thus the Body of Christ is a Figure of the Communion of his Body therefore the true sense of the words is the outward Bread which we break is a Figure or Sign of the Communion of the Lord's Body But these Men are under another great Mistake as if by the Lord's Body here were not meant his outward Body that was Crucified and Raised again but the Life which is the Light in them and in every Man whether Believer or Unbeliever But of this great Error I shall have occasion hereafter to take notice only at present let it be remembred that by the Body of Christ in these above-mentioned words is to be understood the Body of Christ that was outwardly Crucified Dyed and rose again and is a living Glorious Body which is the Body of the second Adam the quickning Spirit of the Virtue of which all true Believers partake and by their having the Communion of his Body whether when eating the outward Bread so that they eat with true Faith or when they do not eat yet believing for the Communion of his Body is not confined to the outward eating they have the Communion of his Spirit also and enjoy of the manifold Spiritual Blessings of Grace Life and Light sent and conveyed into their Hearts by and through the glorified Man Christ Jesus who hath a Glorified Body and though this Communion of Christ's Body is hard to be expressed or to be demonstrated to Man's reasonable understanding yet by Faith it is certainly felt and witnessed with the blessed Effects of it causing an encrease in Holiness and Divine Knowledge and Experience in all true Believers nor is there any thing in this Mystery or any other Mystery of the Christian Religion that is contradictory to our reasonable understanding But yet a little further to let them see the folly of that Argument from the Scripture Phrase one Baptisme and one Body when Paul saith Eph. 4.4 There is one Body and one Spirit it doth not bear this Sense as if the Church were but one numerical Body or one single Man or as if there were no Body of the Man Christ in Heaven though some of their Teachers have so falsely argued that because the Body of Christ is one therefore Christ has no Body but his Church and as false should their Arguing be there is but one Spirit and that Spirit is the Holy Ghost therefore the Man Christ hath no Soul or Spirit of Man in him and therefore Believers have no Spirits or Souls of Men in them that are Created Rational Spirits both which are most false and foolish consequences also when the Scripture saith there is one Father and one is your Father it would be a very false consequence to infer that therefore we have never had any outward or visible Fathers and as false a consequence it is from one invisible Baptisme of the Spirit to argue against any outward and visible Baptisme or from the outward visible Baptisme being one in its kind to argue against the invisible and inward Baptisme which is one in its kind also this is an Error called by Logicians a Transition from one kind to another as because there is one kind of Animal on Earth called a Dog therefore there was not any thing else so called whereas there is a Fish that hath the same Name as also a Star in Heaven SECT VI. BUT whereas W. Penn in his above mentioned Argument saith first we know and they confess that they were in the beginning used as Figures and Shadows of a more hidden Spiritual Substance Ans In this
and as concerning Colos 2.17 The things there mentioned are called shadows of things to come such as the Types of the Mosaical Law were but Water-Baptisme and the Supper which the Christians were enjoyned to practice were simply not shadows of things to come but are commemorative Signs of Christ as he hath already come in the Body that was prepared for him and of his Body and Blood which he hath given for us together with the spiritual blessings of Grace Life and Light that we have by him to make us comformable to him in holiness as well as to give us the pardon of our Sins and to justifie us and give us a right to eternal Life But it bewrayeth still great in consideration in W. Penn to argue against the outward Baptisme and Supper as he doth in his Defence of his Key above-mentioned p. 154. They that personally saith he enjoy their dearest Friends will not repair to their Pictures though drawn never so much to the life to quicken their remembrance of them His similitude of a Picture to which he compareth the outward Baptisme and Supper is a good Argument against him the Saints on Earth have not the Man Christ personally present with them they have not his Body that suffered Death for them and rose again a present object to their outward sight therefore did he in his great love appoint these outward Signs to be a Memorial of him until they should have himself Personally present with them as they will certainly have in the time appointed and to as little purpose is his arguing in that same page That the true Believers were come to Mount Zion Heb. 12.22 and sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus which must be an attainment above signs of invisible grace being the life and substance of Religion and so the Period and Consummation of Types Shadows and such sort of Signs or Significations as are in question Answer It is a great Misrepresentation of the State of the Question in W. Penn so to place it as well as a weak Argument as because true Believers are come to Spiritual Attainments above Signs of invisible Grace that therefore there is no use of Signs in Religious Matters Why then doth he speak and writ so much in Religious Matters for all his Words and Writings are but Signs and he thinketh that his Brethren are come to higher Attainments than these Signs yea why doth he kneel in Prayer and discover his Head when he Prayeth what are these but Signs And why so much strife and contention about G. Fox's Papers of Church Orders and Womens Dresses Are not his Brethren come to higher Attainments than these outward things But it is an observation of many that after G. Fox had taught his Followers to throw down the outward Institutions of Christ he set up among them his own and so did persuade them to exalt them that whoever did not comply therewith were to be judged by his zealous Admirers to be Apostates thus Pharisee like setting up Humane Traditions above Divine Precepts and in so doing W. Penn has had no small share who hath as eagerly promoted G. Fox's Institutions about outward things as he hath laboured to throw down the Institutions of Christ SECT VII TO avoid the Argument for Water-Baptism it being an Institution of Christ from Matt. 28.19 Go teach all Nations Baptizing them into the name c. he saith but no water is mentioned page 106. Reason against Railing and therefore he concludes in the next p. that Christ commanded the Apostles to Baptize with the Holy Ghost and the like evasions is made by R.B. in the abovesaid Treatise p. 26. where he putteth them who understand it of Water-Baptisme to prove that Water is here meant since the Text is silent of it Ans As Water is not mentioned so nor is Baptizing with the Holy Ghost mentioned and at this rate of arguing used by them nor must Baptizing with the Holy Ghost be understood which yet they so inconsiderately affirm must be meant here But R.B. thinks to prove that Baptisme with the Holy Ghost is here meant arguing from the literal signification of the Text which we ought not to go from except some urgent necessity force us thereunto but no such urgent necessity forceth us thereunto Ans The literal signification of the Text is not Baptizing with the Holy Ghost but on the contrary the word Baptizing literally signifieth to Wash with Water or Dip into Water Yea R.B. grants p. 49. If the etymology of the word should be tenaciously adhered to it would militate as well against most of their Adversaries as the Quakers When it is transferred from the literal signification to a Metaphorical as to signifie the Inward and Spiritual Baptisme with the Holy Spirit it is never when so transferred applied to Men as having any command so to Baptize but wholly and only to God and Christ I challenge any Man to give but one instance in all the Scripture where Baptizing with the Spirit is ever referred to Men either by way of Precept or Practise as if ever any Man but the Man Christ did Baptize with the Holy Spirit or were commanded so to do the quibble from the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is answered and refuted above as also his arguing from the word one Baptisme and whereas he saith the Name of the Lord is often taken in Scripture for some thing else than a bare sound of words or literal expression even for his Virtue and Power I answer and so is it oft taken otherwise as the Name of God in Scripture signifieth himself so the Name of Christ signifieth Christ and that both considered as he is God and Man and yet one Christ and that to be Baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus did not signifie the Baptisme of the Holy Ghost I have proved already out of Acts 8.16 Besides the Name of the Father is not the Holy Ghost as neither is the Name of the Son for as the Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Ghost so nor is the Name of the Father nor the Name of the Son the Name of the Holy Ghost as they are distinguished by their relative properties so by these Names though the Name God belongeth to each of them and who are one only God blessed for ever But that he further contends that the Baptisme commanded here in Matth. 28.19 is Christ's own Baptisme I answer Christ's own Baptisme whereof John makes mention and of which he is the author and giver is indeed the Baptism with the Holy Ghost which he promised unto the Apostles to give them and accordingly did perform but we no where find that ever he promised to give them Power to give it to others or commanded them to give it that is wholly an unscriptural Phrase and scandalous if not Blasphemous to say that poor mortal Men hoever so Holy could give the Baptisme of the Spirit this is to give to them what
useful when the signification of them is understood for Example Water in Baptisme hath a nearer resemblance to the thing signified by it than any words whatsoever for words signifie only by humane Institution but visible Signs that are not words bear some Similitude and Analogy to the things signified and are as it were so many Hieroglyphicks of Divine Mysteries In short the difference betwixt the Judaick and the Christian Dispensation stands not as W. Penn would have it that the Judaick Dispensation was an outward Figurative and Shadowy Worship and Religion and that the Gospel hath nothing of outward in it nothing of Figure Sign or Shadowy for in both these Descriptions he is under a great mistake the Judaick Religion had Substance Life and Vertue and an inward Glory belonging to it as really as the Christian yea the very same in Nature and therefore it is not a fit Definition he gives of the Judaick Dispensation and Religion that it was an outward Figurative and Shadowy Worship and Religion the outward part of it was the Shell and Cabinet but it had an inward part that was as the Kirnel and Jewel as all the Faithful did know who were under that Dispensation while it stood in force Again it is as really an Error on the other hand to define the Christian Dispensation to be all inward all Life and Spirit and Substance that is too Chymical and Subtile and no wise Saits with a mortal State at least for as our natural Bodies cannot Eat and Drink all Spirit but require a Food more Bodily so our Christian Religion requireth a Bodily part as well as a Spiritual And such who through an ignorant Presumption throw away the Bodily part of the Christian Religion lose the Spiritual or rather never find it but in place of the true Spirit of Christianity embrace an inward Shadow and Imagination and oft an Antichristian Spirit and such I have known who had been once very Zealous in the Quakers way who upon such ignorant Presumption would come to no Meetings hear no outward Teaching nor joyn in any External Act of Worship alledging all was inward and they needed no outward thing and God was only to be Worshipped in the inward which are the true and proper Consequences of W. Penn's Reasonings here His Distinction of Prenunciative and Commemorative Signs I have above examined and shewed that Water-Baptisme and the outward Supper are not meerly Prenunciative but Commemorative as commanded to be practised after Christ's Resurrection The true distinction betwixt the Judaick and Christian Dispensation and Religion consists in these following Particulars That the Judaick Dispensation and Religion had much more of outward Figurative and Shadowy things than the Christian the former had much as best suited to that Time and State the latter had but little in comparison to the former As for Example the Figures and Shadows of the Law were indeed many perhaps some hundreds there were of the Mosaical Laws commonly called Ceremonial relating to Meats and Drinks Washings or Baptisms Persons Places and Times as Days Weeks Months and Years but the Symbols and Signs under the Gospel are but few as Water in Baptisme and Bread and Wine in the Supper kneeling or standing up in Prayers and the Men uncovering their Heads may be called Decent Religious Signs of our Worship Secondly The Typical and Mosaical Precepts were not only many but considerably chargeable and painful the multitude of their Sacrifices were a great charge and the Males coming there every year to Jerusalem very Laborious Circumcision of the Male Children painful but Water-Baptisme and the Supper very easie and with very little charge and little or no pain which chargeable and painful Service of the Law among other things occasioned Peter to call it a Yoak which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear Acts 15.10 And God in his wisdom saw it meet to put that yoak upon them as suiting to that legal and typical state and our deliverance from that Yoak is a great blessing of God Thirdly These Signs and Shadows of the Law did not near so clearly and plainly hold forth Christ and the Spiritual Blessings of Remission of Sins Justification Adoption Sanctification and Glorification through Christ as these few plain Signs and Symbols of Water in Baptisme and Bread and Wine in the Supper do the words in the Form of Baptisme do plainly express that Great Mystery of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and how these three are concerned in the things signified by the outward Baptisme as namely in the Pardon of our Sins the Father giveth it the Son purchaseth it the Holy Spirit in our Hearts persuadeth us of it Again the form of words in the Institution of the Supper take eat this is my body c. and this cup is the new Testament in my blood shed for the remission of the sins of many drink ye all of it There are no such plain and clear Forms of Speech holding forth Christ and the spiritual Blessings we have by him that were annexed to or used with any of the Figures and Shadows of the Law Fourthly The Figures and Shadows of the Law in the use of them had not that Plenty of Grace and Divine and Spiritual Influence of the Holy Ghost accompanying them generally to Believers under the Law as doth generally accompany Believers under the Gospel for as Paul declareth it was reserved unto the days that were to come after the Judaical Dispensation was ended wherein God was to show the exceeding Riches of his Grace and in the latter Days viz. under the Gospel the Spirit was to be poured forth as was accordingly fulfilled and on these Accounts especially the two last it is that Baptisme with Water and the outward Supper ought not to be numbred among the Carnal Ordinances of the Judaick Dispensation for though the material things in some part be the same yet the manner so differing and the Grace and Spirit more plentiful abundantly as is above declared gives just cause that the outward Baptisme and the Supper when duly Administred as they ought to be and were in the Apostles Days should not be numbred among the Carnal Ordinances nor yet so called but rather Spiritual for things receive their denomination from the greater and better part Holy Men in Scripture are called Spiritual though having Bodies of Flesh and why may not things be called Holy and Spiritual that are used and practised by Holy Men wholly for a Holy End although the things themselves be Material and External All which being considered it will plainly appear how weakly and rawly both W. Penn and R.B. have argued in this Point and what an Impertinent Consequence W. Penn hath made to infer that to allow Water-Baptisme and the outward Supper to belong to the Gospel is to make the Gospel a State of Figures Types and Shadows which doth no more truly follow than to allow that because W. Penn hath a Body of Flesh
and Blood that therefore he is a Carnal and Bloody Man or because the Quakers have Flesh and Blood as other Men therefore there Church is a Carnal and Bloody Church and as raw and defective is R.B. his way of Reasoning p. 25 26 27. of the above said Treatise that where the Author is the same the Matter of Ordinances is the same and the end the same and having the same effect they are never accounted more or less Spiritual because of their different times For all this is not a sufficient enumeration to prove the one not to be more Spiritual than the other there are diverse other great Considerations or Arguments besides these mentioned by him so generally and overly as in the respects above mentioned relating to their Form and Manner and greater Efficacy because of the greater plenty of Grace accompanying the latter than the former and having greater and more excellent Effects for who that knows what a true Christian is but will say he is far beyond an ordinary Religious Jew that had some degree of Faith in the promised Messiah the Scripture comparing the Jew and the Christian as the Child and the Man And who but will say that the true Gospel way of Ministry as it was in the Apostles Days and wherein they were exercised in Preaching and Prayer did far excell the Ministry of the ordinary sincere Jewish Priests and Scribes although they had one Author and one Doctrine for Substance and one end in their Ministry at large and in general and also one effect in general and at large viz. to instruct in Righteousness such as heard them And though in one sense the Jewish Baptisms and that practised by the Apostles after Christ's Resurrection had one Author viz. God yet in another sense there was a considerable difference it being God or the word Incarnate or Christ God Man that was the Author of the latter but not of the former And though the Jewish Water-Baptisms and the Christian Water-Baptisme which is but one do agree in relation to their end in some sort yet there is a great difference in that very respect for tho' the remote end of the Jewish Baptisms was to signifie Remission of Sin through Faith in Christ yet the proximate or next end of those Baptisms was to make them legally clean so as to be allowed to come into the Congregation of the Jewish Church but the end of the Christian Water-Baptism even proximately and nextly considered is to signifie Remission of Sins and the spiritual Cleansing by Christ and also to indicate such Baptized Persons and recognize or acknowledge them to be Members of the Church of Christ that is more excellent and honourable as far as the Christian Dispensation excelled the Judaick But that they farther argue that Water-Baptism cannot reach the Conscience to cleanse it from Sin that therefore it ought not to be practised and because Bread and Wine in the Supper cannot nourish the Soul therefore ought it not to be used in the Supper they might as well have argued against the brazen Serpent that the Jews at God's command should not have looked to it when they were poisoned with the Serpents in the Wilderness because there was no inherent Virtue in that piece of Brass to effect any Cure and they might argue as well against Naaman's going to wash in Jordan to be cured of his Leprosie I know none that plead for Water-Baptism and the outward Supper that think there is any inherent Virtue in these outward things either to wash or feed the Soul the Virtue is wholly in Christ whose Grace Power and Spirit doth accompany the due and right use of these things as they are practised in Faith and in Obedience to Christ's command And the like way they might argue against all vocal Ministry which abounds among the Quakers for no words have any inherent Virtue in them to Cure or Cleanse the Soul or profit any more than Water or Bread and Wine it is only the Grace and Spirit of Christ when it goeth along and accompanieth these outward things whether Words or those outward Elements that is effectual and maketh the use of them effectual without which they are all but as empty Cisterns that can hold no Water SECT IX ANother Argument of W. Penn against the outward Baptism and Supper is that therefore they are to be rejected now the false Church has got them yea the Whore hath made Merchandize with them and under such Historical Shadowy and Figurative Christianity has she managed her Mistery of Iniquity unto the beguiling thousands whose simplicity the Lord will have a tender regard to Ans In this way of Arguing also he is very inconsiderate for his Reason is of equal force against the Holy Scriptures and all the Doctrinal and Historical part of Christ's coming in the Flesh his Death and Sufferings c. Why the false Church has got all this and makes Merchandize therewith and therefore the Bible and the whole Historical and Doctrinal part of Christ's coming in the Flesh and his Death and Sufferings must be rejected also all Preaching and Praying and Meeting together and all external Acts of Worship must be rejected for the same reason because the false Church has got them all Tho' I think it may be said the false Church has not got either Baptisme or the Supper in the true Administration of them but rather a false show and likeness of them But what hinders that the true Church may not Practise these things aright tho' the false Practise them amiss Should the abuse of any thing commanded by God take away the use of it Must Meat Drink and Cloathing be rejected because that many abuse them But he continueth to argue against them p. 110. Reason against Railing Let it be considered that no other Apostle recommends these things nor Paul himself to either the Romans the Corinthians in his first Epistle the Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Hebrews nor to Timothy Titus and Philemon Ans If so it were that in none of these Epistles Paul had mentioned them nor any other of the Apostles which yet is not so for I have answered it at large what was objected from Peter 1 Pet. 3.21 as that Water-Baptisme is not there meant and in the Epistle to the Romans Galatians Ephesians and Colossians and in that to the Hebrews Baptisme is mentioned and he hath not proved that it is not Water-Baptisme that is there meant yet it will not follow that therefore they are to be rejected seeing other places of Scripture mention both the command and practice of them so that he cannot instance one professing Christianity that was not Baptized any where in the Scripture after the command of Baptism was given by Christ to the Apostles suppose there were but one Text in all the Scripture that clearly proveth some Doctrin of the Christian Faith were not that enough for its proof As that one Text that God is a Spirit
Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is applyed no less to the Principles of the Christian Doctrin of Christ and Oracles of God which therefore by his Argument being Elements are to be thrown aside As for his other Arguments in those two Treatises against the outward Baptism and the Supper they are no other that I can find but such as are above mentioned in my Reply to those of William Penn and Robert Barclay and therefore one Answer will serve both to them and him PART II. SECT I. The Arguments against the outward Supper examined and Refuted THus having finished my Examination and Refutation of the Arguments of the above mentioned Persons against Water-Baptism and the outward Supper in general I think fit to bring to the like Examination what R.B. hath more particularly Argued against the outward Supper as being not any longer to continue but until Christ's inward coming to arise in their Hearts and give a plain Refutation of the same In the beginning of the Chapter or Head wherein he discourseth concerning the Body and Blood of Christ although he saith truly that the Communion i.e. the Participation thereof is inward and Spiritual yet he was under a great mistake to affirm that the said Body and Blood of Christ whereof true Believers do participate is only inward which he afterwards explains to be that Light and Seed in every Man as he expresseth plainly in several places as p. 61 of the above said Treatise and p. 65 where he saith and that Christ understands the same things here viz. John 6. by his Body Flesh and Blood which is understood John 1. by the light hath enlighteneth every man and the life c. And p. 77. he chargeth it to be an Error to make the Communion or Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ to relate to that outward Body Vessel or Temple that was Born of the Virgin Mary and walked and Suffered in Judea whereas it should relate to the Spiritual Body Flesh and Blood of Christ even that Heavenly and Celestial Light and Life which was the Food and Nourishment of the Regenerate in all Ages as we have said he already proved Ans In this he was in a great Error to make the Eating or Participation of Christs Flesh and Blood to have no relation to Christ's outward Body of Flesh and Blood that was Born of the Virgin and Suffered Death for our Sins on the Tree of the Cross For the Regeneration of Believers and Justification with all the Spiritual Blessings of Life and Light and inward Divine Virtue and Might wherewith they are inwardly Refreshed and Nourished by Christ hath a most near and immediate Relation to Christ's outward Body and Blood and to his coming in that outward Body because that most Holy and Perfect Obedience of Christ which he performed in that Body and became Obedient to the Death of the Cross was and is the procuring and meritorious Cause of all that inward Grace Virtue Light and Life whereby Regeneration was wrought in any in any Age of the World either before or since Christ came in the Flesh as well as it was and is the procuring and meritorious Cause of their Justification and the Remission of their Sins For Christ Died as well for the Sins of those who lived in the Ages before he came in the Flesh as since and they had the same Benefits by his Death and by his Body and Blood that we have the same inward Grace and Light to Regenerate them as the same Mercy and Favour to Justifie them and give them the Remission of their Sins which they received through Faith in Christ as he was to come in the Flesh without them and whole Christ is the Food of true Believers I mean Christ not only considered as the Word simply but as the Word made Flesh And having taken or assumed the Seed of Abraham and the true Nature of Man into such a high Union as that the Godhead of the Word and the Manhood assumed thereby is but one Christ and as such is the Food of all true Believers both as he outwardly came in the Flesh and as he is inwardly come the Light and the Life in them and Believers Eating of Christ is their Believing in him and by their Faith being United to him and he to them so that he dwells in them and they in him And though it may be owned that Believers Feeding upon Christ's Light and Life Metaphorically and Allegorically speaking that Light and Life may be called according to Scripture Meat and Drink and Flesh and Blood of Christ as it hath many other such Metaphorical Names such as Milk Honey Wine Marrow and Fatness Oyl c. All which Names are given because of Men's Weakness and that they have not proper Words to express Divine Things by yet that ought not to make us reject and lay aside Christ's outward Body of Flesh and Blood from having any Relation to the Saints feeding upon him Nor do the Arguments brought by R.B. here prove in the least what he intends as the following Examination of them will sufficiently I hope manifest He begins with a Quotation out of Augustine in his Tractat Psalm 98. The words which I speak unto you are spirit and life understand spiritually what I have spoken ye shall not eat of this body which ye see and drink this blood which they shall spill that shall crucifie me I am the living bread which have descended from heaven he called himself the bread which descended from heaven exhorting that they might believe in him c. Ans It is evident from these last Words that by Eating Augustine meant in one Sense Corporal Eating and in another Sense Believing as elsewhere Tract 25. ad cap. 6. Johan Hoc est opus Dei ut quid paras dentem ventrem crede manducasti Credere enim in eum hocest comedere panem vinum qui credit in eum manducat eum in English thus why preparest thou thy Teeth and Belly believe and thou hast eat for to believe in him is to eat the Bread and Wine who believeth in him eateth him Both these Quotations are good against the Papists who hold that Believers eat the Body of Christ Corporally with their Mouths but say nothing against this Spiritual Way of Eating Christs Body but plainly confirm it The plain Sense therefore of Augustin's Words Quoted by R.B. is this Ye shall not eat Corporally with the outward Mouth the Body of Christ which ye see but ye shall eat it Spiritually that is believe with a sincere Faith which the Spirit of God worketh in you that Christ shall give his Body that ye see speaking then to the Jews to be broken for you and his Blood even the Blood of that Body to be shed for you And in so Believing ye shall eat my Body and drink my Blood that is ye shall be united to me and I to you that I shall abide in you and
Grain being produced out of the Soil of American Earth Secondly saith he p. 63. and to put the Matter out of doubt when the Carnal Jews would have been so understanding it he tells them plainly v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profits nothing Ans Nor doth this prove his Assertion the Error of the Carnal Jews was that they supposed Christ meant they were to eat his Body Corporally with their Bodily Mouth but if they had understood that he meant not a Corporal Eating but a Spiritual and Metaphorical they had not erred in so thinking his Quotation approved by him out of Augustine proves that by eating here Christ meant believing in him as he was to Dye for the Sins of the World and as he was to give his Body to be broken for them and his Blood to be shed for the Remission of the Sins of all that should believe in him and for the giving Eternal Life to them both in Soul and Body Thirdly Saith he p. 63.64 This is also founded upon most sound and solid Reason because that it is the Soul not the Body that is to be Nourished by this Flesh and Blood now outward Flesh cannot Nourish nor Feed the Soul there is no Proportion nor Analogy betwixt them neither is the Communion of the Saints with God by a Conjunction and mutual Participation of Flesh but of the Spirit he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit not one Flesh for the Flesh I mean outward Flesh even such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon Earth and not Flesh when transposed by a Metaphor to be understood Spiritually can only partake of Flesh as Spirit of Spirit as the Body cannot Feed upon Spirit neither can the Spirit Feed upon Flesh Ans Here also he Argueth very Weakly and Fallaciously that which deceived him and occasioned his great Mistake which he embraced as a solid Reason was by Arguing from the strict literal Sense of Nourishing and Feeding to the Metaphorical and Figurative which all true Logicians and Masters of solid Reason will say is unlawful as also to Argue from the natural Feeding or Nourishing to the Spiritual To his Argument then I answer outward Flesh cannot Feed the Soul Naturally I grant Spiritually and Metaphorically I deny now the Eating Feeding and Nourishing meant John 6.53 is not Natural but Spiritual and Metaphorical the Word Eating signifieth Believing And whereas he speaketh of the Feeding of the Spirit or Soul of Man that it cannot be the Flesh of Christ that can Feed it but the Spirit so as to be its Food by Food here we must understand it Metaphorically even as R.B. hath confessed that the Spirit of Christ is not properly but Metaphorically called Flesh So the Souls of Believers Feeding upon the Spirit of Christ is also Metaphorical for if by the Spirit of Christ he meant the Godhead how can the Godhead which is an Infinite Being in all respects be the Food f the Soul or Spirit of Man that is Finite strictly or literally understood without a Metaphor much more may I use his Argument against his own Assertion there is less Proportion or Analogie betwixt the Infinite Creator and the Soul that is a Finite Creature than is betwixt the Flesh of Christ and the Soul Besides if we argue from the strict and literal Nicety of the Words Food Feed and Nourishment that which is the Food and Nourishment of a Body becomes a part of its very Substance and Being shall any therefore conclude that because God is the Food and Nourishment of the Souls of the Saints that therefore he becomes a part of their Souls We know George Fox was blamed for saying the Soul was a part of God or of the Divine Essence surely it is as justly blame-worthy for any to say that God is a part of the Soul therefore when God or his Spirit is said to be the Souls Food it is not to be understood Strictly and Literally but Metaphorically and Figuratively as when David saith my Soul thirsteth after God But if it be said that not the Godhead but that which R.B. calleth the Vehicle of the Godhead is the most proper and immediate Food of the Souls of Believers as a certain Divine Emanation or Efflux nor can that Strictly and Literally without a Metaphor be called the Souls Food for that Divine Emanation or Efflux doth not become any part of the Souls Substance but is more Noble than the Soul of any Saint upon the Hypothesis that there is such a thing which to dispute is forrain to the present Question for the Soul of Man in its own Nature is capable of Sin and sinful Defilements which this Divine Seed or Principle in the Soul is not therefore it can never be Convertible into the Souls Substance The Feeding of the Soul therefore in whatever Sense we take it is Metaphorical and not to be measured or determined by the Feeding of the Body yet beareth some Analogy or Similitude thereunto as all Metaphors do to the things from which they are transferred for as what Feeds the Body doth Refresh and Comfort it maketh it Lively and Vigorous Fat and Beautiful and doth strengthen it and is united with it So the Spirit of Christ and his Divine Influences in the Souls of Believers have the like Effects in them they do wonderfully Refresh and Comfort them and that most sensibly make them Lively and Vigorous Fat and Beautiful and do mightily strengthen them and make them Fruitful in Divine Virtues and Fruits and are United with the Soul SECT III. BUT there are two other things that need Correction in these foregoing Words of R.B. the first is that he saith it is the Soul not the Body that is to be Nourished by this Flesh and Blood this is a great Mistake though the Bodies of the Saints are not to be Nourished by Christ as with natural Food that is Corruptible yet seeing it is by him that the Bodies of the Saints shall be raised up at the Resurrection of the Dead to partake of Life Everlasting therefore he is truly said to be that Food that Perisheth not that Feedeth both the Souls and Bodies of the Saints to Life Everlasting and though their Bodies Dye yet because by the Power of Christ's Resurrection as his Body was Raised from the Dead so on the account of his Resurrection their Bodies shall be Raised to Eternal Life Therefore their Bodies as well as their Souls are truly said to be Nourished by him The second is that he saith neither is the Communion of the Saints with God by a Conjunction and mutual Participation of Flesh but of the Spirit he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit not one Flesh Ans The Communion indeed of the Saints with God is not by any natural Conjunction or Union of Christ's Body that was outwardly Slain with the Saints yet a Mystical and Relative Union there is as really or rather more really as
is betwixt the Husband and the Wife who are said to be one Flesh This is a great Mystery said Paul but I speak concerning Christ and the Church who according to Paul's Doctrine as they are one Spirit so they are one Flesh And as elsewhere he said we are of his Flesh and of his Bone and forasmuch as the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he took part of the same wherefore he is not ashamed to call them Brethren Now in this R.B. was in a great Error that by his thus excluding the Flesh of Christ's outward Body from being any means of the Saints Communion with God he excludes the said Body of Christ from being any necessary part of the Mediator and at this rate of his Arguing only the Divine Light or Seed in Men is the Mediator betwixt God and Men but according to the Doctrine of the Apostle Paul the Mediator of God and Men who is one is the Man Christ Jesus and by the Man Christ Jesus is understood in Scripture not the Spirit only nor the Soul of his Manhood only but the Body also together with the Soul even Jesus Christ made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh And as really as there is a Relative Union betwixt Brethren and near Kindred with respect to their Flesh and Blood on which account it is said Concerning Joseph Gen. 37.27 He is our Brother and our Flesh and 2 Sam. 5.1 The Tribes of Israel said unto David behold we are thy Bone and thy Flesh So believing Gentiles as well as believing Jews may say concerning the Man Christ who is the Seed of the Woman of whom to wit Eve we are all descended we are his Bone and Flesh and because he hath taken Flesh and Blood like unto us therefore in that very respect he is compleatly qualified and fitted to be our Mediator and High Priest with God by whom because of the true Nature of Man consisting of a true reasonable Soul and true and real Body of Man which the Eternal Word is united unto we have Communion with God His fourth and last Argument hath the like Defect with the former That which Feedeth upon it shall never Dye but the Bodies of all Men once Dye Ans Men are said in Scripture to Dye though the Soul Dyeth not yet Men are said to Dye because the Vital Union of the Soul with the Body is Dissolved which being but for a Time and that a very small Time as a Moment in respect of Eternity and after that their Bodies shall be raised up again and Vitally be United to their Souls therefore by the contrary Argument by the Flesh of Christ that the Saints Feed upon must be meant in part his outward Body of Flesh now Glorified which is a Glorious Spiritual Body because the Resurrection of Christ's Body is the Ground of the Saints Hope wrought in them by the Spirit of Christ that their Bodies shall be raised up and shall together with their Souls inherit Eternal Life And to conclude this whole Matter when Christ said it is the Spirit that Quickneth the Flesh profits nothing His meaning is that according to their Carnal and Fleshly Sense it doth not profit as if he had said it would profit you nothing to Eat my Flesh as ye imagin by the Bodily Mouth but to Eat it Spiritually and by Faith this doth profit but to take the Words the Flesh profits nothing in the Sense that some take them is most Blasphemous as to say Christ's outward Body of Flesh profits nothing to our Salvation for this would make his Coming and Death for us in the Flesh to have been in vain and also would render our Faith Vain that he did so come yea so necessary was Christ's coming in the Flesh for our Salvation that it is by his Flesh and Soul Constituting his Manhood that we have his Spirit the Man Christ is that Olive Tree consisting of Soul and Body United Personally to the Godhead of the Eternal Word which giveth us the Oyl of the Holy Spirit and poureth it into our Hearts and as in the Natural Olive Tree it is by its Body that we have of its Oyl or Spirit and when we Eat of its Oyl we are said to Eat of the Tree because the Tree yields us its Oyl even as when we Eat of an Apple or Drink the Fruit of it or of the Vine we may be said to Eat of the Apple-Tree and Vine-Tree the Fruit being what the Tree naturally yields so the Man Christ consisting of Soul and Body is that Precious Olive Tree and Vine-Tree that yields us the Oyl and Wine of the Holy Spirit and pours it into our Hearts who Believe in him and Love him and as Effectual as his Soul and Flesh of his Manhood is now to Believers for their receiving the Spirit by the same since he came in the Flesh no less Effectual it was to Believers before he came in the Flesh even from the beginning of the World according to B. Jewel's Words he was not come in the Flesh yet they Eat his Flesh to wit by Faith he had not Shed his Blood yet they Drank his Blood viz. by Faith and both his Flesh and his Blood before it had any visible Being or Existence together with his Soul was Effectual to Believers in all Ages for their Reception of the Spirit and all Spiritual Blessings of Justification and Sanctification c. as well before he came in the Flesh as since And thus he was the Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World whose Death was of the same Efficacy from the beginning and will be to the end of the World to all that believe in him And as God is the giver of the Spirit and of all the Graces of the Spirit so he giveth it to Believers by and through Christ even the Man Christ who is both the Procurer and Dispenser of all that Grace that God giveth unto them and though Men most properly Eat the Meat and Drink the Drink that is bought with Money yet in ordinary Speech by a common Metonymy they are said to Eat and Drink the Money that buyeth it as the Poor Widows two Mites were called her Living so after some sort though the inward Life and Spirit of Christ be the most immediate Food of the Souls of Believers Yet because the Flesh of Christ as it was broken for us and his Blood as it was Shed for us is the Price and Purchase Money which hath procured to us the inward Life and Spirit of Christ with the various Graces and Gifts thereof therefore we are said to Eat his Flesh and Drink his Blood by the Like Metonymy But there is much more in this Great Mystery than can be demonstrated by these Similitudes and Examples or any others of the like Nature SECT IV. P. 77. R.B. chargeth it as another Error which he calleth a General Error wherein he saith they all agree viz. both Papists and
Protestants in tying this Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ to that Ceremony used by him with his Disciples in the breaking of Bread c. As if it had only a Relation thereto or were only enjoyed in the use of that Ceremony which it neither hath nor is Ans For any to tye the Participation of Christs Body and Blood to the outward Eating in the Supper as above mentioned is indeed a great Error But it was a great Mistake in him and too rashly charged in general by him upon both Papists and Protestants their being guilty of that Error For it can be shewn that some of the Popish Writers have affirmed the contrary and delivered it as the common Faith of their Church that true Believers partake of Christ's Flesh and Blood although they Dye before they receive the outward Supper for which Lombard Lib. 4. Dist 9. citeth Augustine saying Lib. de med paen Nulli ambigendum est c. No man ought to doubt that any Man is then a partaker of the Body and Blood of the Lord when he is made a Member of Christ nor is he Alienated from the Communion of that Bread and Cup although before he Eat that Bread and Drink the Cup being Constituted in the Unity of the Body of Christ he depart out of this World for he is not deprived of the benefit of that Sacrament when he is found to have that which that Sacrament signifieth And as for the generality of Protestants I know not nor ever knew any that so tyed the Participation of Christs Body to the outward Supper as he mentioneth They say indeed it is a Means of Grace and of our Communion of the Lord's Body but not the only means or so absolutely necessary as without it none have that Communion Another great Mistake I find in R.B. p. 81. of that Treatise where he saith as for the Paschal Lamb the whole end of it is signified particularly Exod. 13.8.9 to wit that the Jews might thereby be kept in remembrance of their Deliverance out of Egypt Ans That is indeed mentioned as an end of it but not the whole end of it for the end of the whole Law was Christ whereof that Command of the Passover was a part but that the Passover was a Type of Christ particularly as he was to be Slain for their Sins is plain out of Paul's Words 1. Cor. 5.7 Let us keep the feast c. for our passover is slain for us Now as the Jews were to Eat the Flesh of the Passover so the Believers in Christ are to Eat his Flesh even that Flesh that was Slain to wit by Faith as is above declared but not by any Corporal Eating and why did John the Evangelist apply these Words of the Passover to Christ's Body a bone of him shall not be broken This plainly proveth that the Passover was a Type of Christ and therefore one great end of it was to hold him forth to their Faith In p. 87. R.B. saith let it be observed that the very express and particular use of it according to the Apostle is to shew forth the Lord's Death c. But to shew forth the Lord's Death and partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ are different things from whence he infers as his following Words shew that this Practice of the outward Supper hath no inward or immediate Relation to Believers Communicating or Partaking of the Spiritual Body and Blood of Christ or that Spiritual Supper spoken of Rev. 3.20 Ans This Consequence doth not follow that Practice of the outward Supper had not only that end to Commemorate and shew forth the Lord's Death but had other great ends also as another was to signifie their Communion of Christ's Body as not a bare Sign but as a means of that Communion though not the only means or such a means as if the said Communion were tyed thereto another end was to signifie their Union and Communion one with another both which ends are plainly held forth in these Words The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Lord's Body c. and we being many are one bread and all are made partakers of that one bread And though R.B. denyeth that by Bread in those Words the bread which we break is it not the communion of the Lord's body is to be understood the outward Bread yet I have above proved it to be the outward Bread that was used in the Supper for to understand it of the Lord's Body were to make it Non-sense as to say the Body of Christ is it not the Communion of his Body Whereas the true Sense is Obvious taking it for the outward Bread The Bread which we break is it not a Sign of the Communion of the Lord's Body c. And such a Sign that is a means whereby our Communion of the Lord's Body and of the Spiritual Blessings we have thereby is confirmed to us and an increase of Grace is Exhibited unto us as it is duly Administred and Received SECT V. PAge 83. He puts a very false and strained Sense upon these Words ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of Devils 1 Cor. 10.21 which shews saith he that he understands not here the using of Bread and Wine because those that do Drink the Cup of Devils and Eat of the Table of Devils yea the Wickedest of Men may partake of the outward Bread and the outward Wine Ans By the Lord's Table is not meant barely and simply the Signs of Bread and Wine but as they do signifie and are Means Exhibitive of the Spiritual Blessings understood thereby The Wickedest of Men may indeed receive the Bread and Wine but they are not to them any Significative or Exhibitive Signs and Means of these Spiritual Blessings which are the things signified and intended and are the Kirnel without which the bare outward Signs are mere Shells and broken Cisterns Again Let us distinguish betwixt what is de jure i.e. of Right and what is de facto i.e. in Fact Wicked Persons though in Fact they may receive the outward Part yet they have no Right to it The manner of Speech used here by Paul is like that of James doth the same fountain send forth sweet water and bitter How then can the same tongue bless God and curse men My brethren these things ought not to be And when as Paul said elsewhere no man can say Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost he may outwardly say the Words but he hath no Right to say them nor can his saying them profit him without the Holy Spirit But that by the Table of the Lord and the Cup of the Lord here are to be meant the outward things of Bread and Wine as above described is evident from the Antithesis or Opposition he makes betwixt the Table of Devils and the Table of the Lord and
like Reasons some of the Antients and particularly Augustin called it Verbum visibile the visible Word which when joyned with the Word that is founded in Mens Ears has a double force upon the Minds of devout Believers To which doth well agree that saying of Chrysostome in his Homilies on Matthew cited in the Title Page If thou hadst been without a Body God had given thee naked and incorporeal Gifts but because the Soul is planted in a Body he giveth thee Intelligible things in Sensible things And it was well observed by the Antients that all obsignatory Signs have some words of God or Christ added unto them to make them effectual according to which Augustin said Accedat verbum ad rem fit Sacramentum i.e. let the word be added to the sign and it becomes a Sacrament and therefore we find in Eph. 5.26 the washing of Water joyned with the Word That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word I know some will have the Water here to be meant the inward Water and the Word to be inward also but such a Sense would be not only strained but unintelligible as to say with the washing of the Word by the Word for they make the inward Water and Word to be the same thing here but the Apostle distinguisheth them as two things both which have the Efficacy by the inward working of the Holy Spirit Titus 3.5 Page 111. He undertakes the Answering of the Argument for the Institution of the Supper and its continuance until Christ come at the end of the World from those Words Ye shew forth the Lord's death till he come To this he p. 112. Answers They take two of the chief parts of the Controversie here for granted without proof First that as often imports a Command the contrary whereof is shewn neither will they ever be able to prove it 2ly That this coming is understood of Christ's last Outward coming and not of his Inward and Spiritual that remains to be proved whereas the Apostle might well understand it of his Inward coming and appearance And a little after he saith Now those weak and carnal Corinthians might be permitted the use of this to shew forth or remember Christ's Death till he come to arise in them For though such need those Outward things to put them in mind of Christ's Death yet such as are dead with Christ and not only dead with Christ but burried and so risen with him need not such Signs to remember him Ans That as often together with the foregoing words import a Command I have already proved and it was rashly said in him that he had shewn the contrary and that they will never be able to prove it And whereas some argue had it been a Command some certain times would have been mentioned how oft in a Week Month or Year it should have been Practised To this it is Answered that it followeth not more than to argue that because it is not mentioned how often in a Week Month or Year Publick Prayer is to be used that therefore they are not Institutions of Christ for as Publick Preaching and Prayer is to be used as frequently as can stand with the Ability and Conditions of both Preachers and Hearers so this Practice as frequently is to be used which as the time of those is to be left to the Discretion of the Persons as God shall inwardly Guide them and outwardly afford them the Convenience so is the Time of this to be left to the like Discretion Guidance and Convenience which as it seemed to be the Practice of the Church in the Days of the Apostles each Lord's-day being the first Day of the Week so it is clear from Justin Martyr and other ancient Writers that it was the constant Practice of the Christians Solemnly to Celebrate the same every Lord's-day besides what other times they might have done it As to the second which he calls together with the other the chief thing in Controversie it is indeed so even the chief thing and therefore if this be effectually proved against them that those Words until he come again are understood of Christ's last outward coming the Cause is gained But first let us examine what Proof he brings that they are not to be understood of Christ's last outward coming First he saith the Apostle might well understand it of his inward coming and appearance but what Proof doth he give of this None at all but his simple Affirmation Secondly He saith these Weak and Carnal Corinthians might be permitted the use of this to shew forth or remember Christ's Death till he should arise in them But what Proof gives he of this that this was or might be a Permission for no such Permission is any where expressed in the Scriptures the things that simply were permitted as Circumcision were used but by a few and not long Paul severely opposed them after some time but so he never did either Water-Baptism or the Supper Thirdly That he said though such need thâ—se outward things to put them in mind of Christ 's Death why then seeing there are now in all Churches and Christian Societies some that are as weak as those Corinthians were do not they allow the use of them to such as need them Fourthly That he saith such as are Dead and Buried with Christ and Risen again with him need not such things to remember him Answer Here as elsewhere his Argument is faulty by arguing that because such things are not absolutely necessary therefore they are not useful or necessary in any respect Besides as I have above shewn his Argument has the same force against the use of the Holy Scriptures and all Books all Preaching of the best Men and all External Parts of Worship viz. They that are Dead and Buried with Christ and Risen with him need none of these outward things But the best Men and such are the most humble will and cannot but acknowledge that all outward Helps and Means that God hath afforded them are very useful to them and help to stir up the pure Mind in them Nor are any so Risen with Christ as the Raised Saints shall be at the Resurrection therefore till then they may be helped with outward Means of God's appointing It is very Unwisely as well as Irreverently Argued we need not those things therefore they are not commanded The contrary is the better Argument they are commanded therefore they are needful at least in some respect God better knoweth what we need than we do our selves and therefore in his great Love and Wisdom hath provided outward Helps for us as well as inward But seeing they will needs understand the Words until he come not to mean Christ's last outward coming but his inward then with the same Pretext they may as well understand his Death of an inward Death of Christ in them and the shewing his Death of an inward shewing and then all Remembrance of
all Christendom own that that Form may be used Lawfully and that Adult Persons having Faith in the Lord Jesus after their giving the Confession of the same may and ought to be Baptized And such among them who might scruple to receive it from Persons of another Denomination might find some of their own Way to Administer it unto them For it were strange to suppose that among so many hundreds of Men professing to have an immediate or inward Call to that part of the Ministry by Preaching and Prayer there should not be some found among them who might apprehend that they are as immediately call'd to the other part of the Ministry of Baptism and the Supper after they are truly convinced that they are Gospel Institutions There is some Ground of Hope that many among them will be brought to some good Consideration and better Understanding so as to see the great hurt and loss that it has been unto them to reject those things and also to come to that good and solid Discretion and Judgment of the great Profit and Advantage it would be to them to receive the Practice of them among them for their Spiritual Good and Honour of their Christian Profession thereby declaring as well as by their Christian Lives and Conversations that they are the Disciples of Christ by this Testimony of their Love to him that they keep these his Commandments as well as the others that he has enjoyned remembring that he that breaketh the least of his Commandments and teacheth Men to do so shall be least in the Kingdom of Heaven and also for the removing the great Scandal and Offence of many Tender People who are greatly stumbled at their Way in not only omitting but speaking Reproachfully against those Sacred Institutions It will be no occasion of Dishonour to them nor Argument of their declining or going backward from the Truth to own and receive the Practice of these things that they have needlesly and for want of due Consideration dropt and lost more than it would be to a Man that had dropt some piece of Money or Jewel to return and stoop to take it up again That which addeth to my Ground of Hope in this thing is that some among them have privately acknowledged that they are sensible of the Hurt and Disadvantage that they have been at as a Body of People for laying those Practices aside SECT XI HAving finished my Answers to the Arguments of the four Persons above named against the outward Baptism and the Supper I think fit to take notice of the Arguments of George Fox the greatest Person among the Quakers when living and whose Words are still as Oracles unto them against these Divine Institutions to which indeed little more Answer is needful than what is given to those other for his Arguments are Included in theirs and so may the Answers be in the Answers to them His Argument against the outward Baptism I find to be but one in a Book of his called Something in Answer to the Old Common-Prayer-Book Printed at London 1660 p. 18. And doth not that in Matth. 28. say Baptize into the Name and is not that more than in the Name This the Reader will find Answered above in Reply to some of their Arguments but to Baptize into the Name Acts 8. they grant not to be the inward Baptism and therefore nor is that Matth. 28. the Particles in and into being frequently the same in Signification both in English and Greek yea and in Hebrew also and Latin and generally in other Languages His Arguments against the outward Supper are as followeth p. 26. They that received the Bread and Wine in remembrance of Christ shewing his Death till he come which the Apostle had received of the Lord and delivered to the Corinthians which they were to examine and Eat and Drink in remembrance of Christ's Death till he come This was in 1 Cor. Then he wrote again to the Corinthians and bids them examine themselves and prove their own selves knew they not that Christ was in them except they were Reprobates So they may see that this was not a standing Form but as often as they did it they did it in remembrance of Christ till he come and then examine your selves prove your selves If Christ be not in you except ye be Reprobates so if you have him within what need you to have that which puts in remembrance of him And so if ye be risen with Christ seek those things that are above for now Bread and Wine is below which is the remembrance of his Death so that part dies with him which must have a Sign to put in remembrance of him For the Apostles forgot who said that they thought that that Man should deliver Israel Ans The substance of this is replyed unto above only I thought fit to take notice how impertinent and idle his Argument is from his comparing the first Epistle to the Corinthians with a passage in his second Epistle to them as if in his first Epistle Paul had delivered the Command or Practice of it unto them because Christ was not then come in them but when he wrote again he was come in them Which reasoning of G.F. is built on a most false Foundation for Paul did believe that Christ was as truly come in the Corinthians at his first writing as at his second for as he said unto them in his second Epistle know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you c. 2. Cor. 13.5 So he said in his first Epistle 1 Cor. 6.19 Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God c. And surely when they had the Holy Ghost in them they had Christ in them from which it appears that this Argument of G.F. is exceeding impertinent and built on a gross and manifest untruth But it was the way of G.F. What he neither did nor could prove from Scripture he would boldly persuade by his Authority and Stamp with saying This is the word of the Lord unto you and then it was no more to be questioned and if any did they were reckoned bad Spirits like Corah c. Also his saying Bread and Wine is from below and they who have Christ in them need not the Sign all this is answered above and had he not been very weak in his understanding and inconsiderate he might have easily observed that this way of his Reasoning was equally against all Outward Ministry Words and Writings which are not Christ more than Bread and Wine And are not his many Papers about Orders and Womens Dresses from below seeing they are visible things and therefore by his Arguments they should be rejected There is yet one Argument behind which I have found in a Manuscript having Humphry Norton's Name to it a Preacher of great Name formerly among the Quakers and in extraordinary repute with Edward Burrough and Francis Howgil as appeareth by their Epistles
of Recommendation concerning him they both sent with him to Friends in Ireland contained in the said Manuscript unto you all saith Edward Burrough I do him recommend as a faithful Labourer to be received by you in the Name of him that sends him in tender pity for you all and the Blessing of the Lord upon his Faithfulness I doubt not c. Dated London 19. 3d. mo 1656. And saith Fr. Howgil receive Humphry Norton in the Lord whom the Lord hath moved to come unto you who is a Brother and Faithful in the Lord's Work and be Subject unto him in the Lord all unto him for I much desired that he might come unto you and so the Lord hath ordered it and as you receive him you receive me F. Howgil This Man Humphry Norton after his Arrival in Ireland in the year 1656 writ and spread about several Papers among the People call'd Baptists and others of which I have seen divers contained in a Manuscript all Writ by one Hand and having his Name to them His Argument against Baptism is in the following Words Q. 15. And now ye Baptists seeing that Christ is come and hath Baptized us and all Men come unto him tell me whether there be any Baptism but one seeing the Apostle saith one Lord one Faith one Baptism Eph. 4.5 6. And whether Baptism be not a Doctrin yea or nay If you say an Ordinance whether it be not Abolished yea or nay seeing the Scripture saith having abolished in his Flesh the Enmity even the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances for to make in himself of Twain one new Man so making Peace Eph. 2.15 Ans That concerning one Baptism is fully Answered above To the latter concerning Ordinances the Word in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not properly Translated Ordinances but rather Opinions or Persuasions But let it be Translated Ordinances how doth this prove that therefore Water-Baptism is Abolished unless the Argument be built upon this Supposition that all Ordinances are Abolished and consequently Baptism with Water and at the same rate Preaching and Prayer must be Abolished which are no less Ordinances And in the same Parcel of Queries the fifth Querie is now Answer in plain Words From whence must this Christ ye wait for come and in what Generation and of what Family and out of what Country and of whom must he be Born that they may no longer be deceived by you who have kept them gazing after a false Christ well may it be called Gazing but leave it and mind these in white Apparel which Reproves you for it Acts 1.10 11. This Humphry Norton after some Years went into New England and after his Return Prints a Book at London which I find Quoted in another Printed Book having the like or the same Queries for Substance the Words are these Is not Christ God and is not God a Spirit you look for a Christ without you from what Coast or Country shall he come What Country-man is he You stand Gazing up in the Clouds after a Man but we stand by in White chiding of you Reader are not these dreadful Words enough to make all Christian Ears to tingle it is no wonder that they have so generally Construed these Words ye shew forth his Death until he come to be only his inward coming when the chiefest Teachers among them had no Faith of his outward coming to Judge the World And it is but too likely that E. Burrough and F. Howgil were as great Unbelievers as he in that great Fundamental Article of the Christian Religion and if they were not they were miserably deceived and did miserably deceive themselves by their supposed Gift of Discerning to give such high Recommendations and Praises of a Man that deserved not to be numbred among the lowest Rank of Christians who hath dared thus openly like one of the Heathen Opposers to Scoff at our Blessed Lord's coming without us to Judgment but never any Christian gave him occasion for such a Scoffing manner of Questioning it being universally believed by all Christians that our Lord will come from Heaven in the same Body wherein he Ascended and is not to be Born again of a Woman Again In another Paper that hath his Name to it there are these Words and whereas he Accused us for denying Christ's Merits I say that which can be Merited is of Self and that which is of Christ is freely given But such a word is not in Scripture as Christ's Merits but is fetch'd from the Whore a at Rome by them Behold the Man whom E. Burrough's called a Faithful Labourer and F. Howgil called a Brother Faithful in the Lord's Work to whom he would have all the Quakers in Ireland to be Subject How can they who follow such blind Guides but fall into the Ditch with them Is there any greater or so great Blindness to be found in the Blindest and most Ignorant of the Papists In a Book of mine called Truth 's Defence p. 140. I find an other Argument I have used against the Supper the Effect of which is contained in these following Words What Christ did at that time and bid his Disciples do until he come is no Gospel Ordinance because it was done in the Night or Evening of the old Covenant Dispensation and consequently was to come to an end with it Ans. I freely acknowledge this Argument is Weak and Unsound and the way to Answer it is by denying the Consequence to be True and Just for mostly what Christ Taught was in the Evening or latter part of the old Covenant but it doth not therefore follow that it was to end with it As also where I have said in my Book called Presbyterian and Independent Churches c. P. 185. That which ye now use is neither Substantial Dinner nor Supper being only a Crumb of Bread c. I acknowledge was unadvisedly said and as weakly Argued for the end of that outward Institution was not any outward Substantial Dinner or Supper as neither was that of the Paschal Lamb. And also where p. 184. of the same I have argued that the use of the outward Signs of Baptism and the Supper did suit most with the Ages and State of Children for they suit well enough with the most grown Christians while remaining in the Mortal Body SECT XII AND thus I have Answered to all the Arguments brought against the outward Baptism and the Supper by their several Writers and chief Teachers that I have found in their Books not omitting any to my best Remembrance of any Note where though I have brought in G. Fox among the last because I had not found the particular Book where his Arguments were until I had finished my Answer to the other four preceeding yet he was the first among the Quakers that led them as into divers other great Errors so into this of rejecting the outward Baptism and the Supper grounding all upon a pretended Divine Inspiration and as
deny And yet with the same Breath as it were he denyeth it for if the Man Christ is to be Prayed unto being the Spring out of which all the living Streams flow unto our Souls surely as such he is the Object of our Faith for how can we Pray to an Object in whom we believe not But seeing he will not allow me that I then owned the Man Christ without us to be the Object of Faith wherein he is most unjust unto me and that I Writ then as a Quaker and my Doctrin was the Quakers Doctrin It is evident that according to him it was not the Quakers Doctrin that the Man Christ without us is in any Part or Respect the Object of our Faith why then doth he and many others Accuse me that I Bely them for saying they hold it not necessary to our Salvation that we believe in the Man Christ without us And it is either great Ignorance or Insincerity in him to say that none of them deny that the Man Christ without us in Heaven is to be Prayed unto Seeing a Quaker of great Note among them William Shewen hath Printed it in his Book of Thoughts p. 37. Not to Jesus the Son of Abraham David and Mary Saint or Angel but to God the Father all Worship Honour and Glory is to be given through Jesus Christ c. This c. cannot be Jesus the Son of Abraham but some other Jesus as suppose the Light within otherwise there would be a Contradiction in his Words so here he Asserts two Jesus's with a witness what saith J. Pennington to this Page 41. In Opposition to my Christian Assertion that the believing Jews before Christ came in the Flesh did believe in Christ as he was to be Born Suffer Death Rise and Ascend and so the Man Christ even before he was Conceived Born c. was the Object of their Faith He thus most Ignorantly and Erroneously Argueth Could that be the Object of theirs viz. The believing Gentiles or of the Jews Faith which our Lord had not yet received of the Virgin which was not Conceived nor Born much less Ascended Ans Yes That can be an Object of Faith and Hope which has not a present Existence but is quid ' futurum something to come though nothing can be an Object of our Bodily Sight or other Bodily Senses but what is in Being and hath a real Existence in the present Time But so Stupid and Gross is he that he cannot understand this that the Faith of the Saints could have a future Object in any Part or Respect this is to make Faith as low and weak a thing as Bodily Sense Is it not generally acknowledged through all Christendom that the Saints of old as Abraham Moses David believed in Christ the Promised Seed as he was to come and be Born and Suffer Death for the Sins of the World according to our Saviours Words Abraham saw my Day and was glad which is generally understood by Expositors that as he saw Christ inwardly in Spirit so he saw that he was to come ' outwardly and be his Son according to the Flesh and by what Eye did he see this but by the Eye of Faith And that Eye of Faith had Christ to come in the Flesh to be Born c. for its Object as a thing to come And in the same Page 41. He Quoteth me falsly saying Immed Rev. p. 132. agreeing with both Papists and Protestants That God speaking in Men is the Formal Object of Faith This Quotation is False in Matter of Fact as well as his Inference from it is False and Ignorant I said in that p. 132. That both Papists and Protestants agree in this That the Formal Object of Faith is God speaking but quoth the Papist it is the Speaking in the Church of Rome no quoth the Protestant God Speaking in the Scriptures is the Formal Object of Faith Here I plainly shew the difference of Papists and Protestants about the Formal Object of Faith though they agree in one Part that it is God Speaking yet in the other Part they differ the Papists making it God Speaking in the Church that is not in every Believer but in the Pope and his Counsel And there in that and some following Pages I Plead for Internal Revelation of the Spirit not only Subjectively but Objectively Working in the Souls of Believers to which Testimony I still Adhere But what then Doth this prove that Christ without us is no Object of our Faith Will he meddle with School Terms and yet understand them no more than a Fool Doth neither he nor his quondam Tutor T. Ellwood understand that the res credendae i. e. The things to be believed are Ingredients in the Material Object of Faith as not only that Christ came in the Flesh was Born of a Virgin but all the Doctrins and Doctrinal Propositions set forth in Scripture concerning God and Christ and all the Articles of Faith are the Material Object of our Faith but the Formal Object of Faith is the inward Testimony of the Spirit moving our Understandings and Hearts to believe and close with the Truth of them All which are well consistent and owned by me Page 43. He Rejects my Exposition of the Parable concerning the lost piece of Money in my late Retractation of my former Mistake p. 15. Sect. 1. p. 10. That by the lost piece of Money is to be understood the Souls of Men as by the lost Sheep and the lost Prodigal To this he most Ignorantly and Falsly opposeth by saying First The Lord can find the Soul without lighting a Candle in it I Answer By finding here is meant Converting the Soul thus the Father of the Prodigal found him when he Converted him to himself this my Son was lost and is found i. e. was departed from God but now is Converted Luke 15.32 And ver 6. I have found the Sheep that was lost Now can this be wrought or doth God Work this Work of Conversion in a lost Soul without his Lighting a Candle in it Secondly He saith the very design of the Parable was to set forth not what God had lost but what Man had lost the Candle being used by Man who needed it not by God and Christ who needed it not How Ignorantly and Stupidly doth he here Argue How can Man use the Candle unless God light it in his Heart and doth not God use it in order to bring or Convert Man to himself It 's true though there were no Candle lighted in Man's Heart God seeth where the Soul is even when it is involved in the greatest Darkness but in order to the Souls Conversion which is principally God's Act it is God that lights the Candle in it and causes his Light to Shine in it And whereas I have said they who Expound the lost Piece of Money to be the Light within will find difficulty to shew what the nine Pieces are which are not lost His Answer to