endeavour to bring their silly and unstable Auditors into a contempt of Holy Scriptures and to justifie their pretences to New Lights and Revelations To proceed then whence learn they that the Word of God is quick and lively Par. Out of the Bible Heb. 4. 12. Min. What out of that Bible which they call a dead Letter Judge then whether these men are acted by the rules of sobriety and reason that call that Book a dead and sensless Letter from whence they fetch their reasons And where is the Religion of these men that take a sentence out of the Word of God to make it prove it self dead and stupid If those places quoted by them contain sense and reason why do they brand that Book with such contemptible characters by calling it dead and sensless But if those places do truly contain no reason in them why are the Quakers so sensless themselves to produce reasons from them Though the Leaves and Letters have no natural life in them is therefore the sense of the Scriptures dead And hath it no rational importance in it And are not the Quakers a company of fine Cheats to take a Bible as some in my presence have done and cry Look at this is this quick and lively as if the life natural and bodily sense were meant by that Scripture which they so wretchedly abuse and prophane Suppose the King puts forth a Proclamation wherein he declares his Royal will and pleasure do you think it fit for every man that heareth it not first proclaimed to slight it and to say it 's a dead Letter Is not this a way to evacuate to the Vulgar all Commands and all Laws that are not given to every one by audible voice Yea and to render every thing insignificant that does not walk and speak Is not this the very immediate way utterly to make void the written Word and Laws of God and to send us streight either to Enthusiasms Dreams and Phantasms or else to oral Traditions c Is there not something of a Fanatical Jesuit here no doubt but these are fine wayes to decoy an illeterate multitude as being very agreeable to them who envy Learning because it is out of their reach and who are more desirous to be led by fancy than by Laws and therefore willing enough to have all Laws of God and Man call'd dead Letters to introduce their own fancies and pretended inspirations But I pray you consider is there no use of Books and Writings If you make void the Holy Scriptures because they are written you do by the same argument make void all Histories Records and all Quakers books also yea by this means you make void your father's Will and all the Deeds by force whereof your self or any man holds his Land and may as reasonably call them dead Letters as you do the Bible But if you think your written Deeds are valid or that your written Bonds do stand in full force and vertue according to the form they run in to empower you to recover your Debts why should not the written Word of God have as much force and be as powerful to the ends for which the Wisdom of God hath design'd it as any Writings you have about you are to establish your temporal Rights or to recover your dues If these have truth force and vertue in them why should you deny that the Holy Scriptures by those heavenly truths those divine promises and threatnings written in them have power and vertue by the grace of God to awaken and quicken the reader or hearer to New life and obedience which is the meaning of its being termed quick and lively Let me further argue with you Do we not understand one anothers minds by Epistles as well as Discourses by words that are written as well as words that are spoken may you not read sense as well as hear it And I appeal to your own conscience whether you may not read as good sense in the visible Letters of the Bible as you can hear either out of the mouth of a Quaker or a Jesuit And I cannot but wonder that you whose judgment I have formerly had a better esteem of should now be transported so far besides your reason and senses Will you call the Ten Commandements written by the finger of God on two Tables of Stone useless and insignificant characters because they were on Stone Can your eyes and reason read no sense in them and whilest you have read the commands and threatnings of God hath your Conscience been so dead as not to find any life and power in them And though you undervalue the Leaves and Letters yet dare you say that you had no reverence for the Word of God when you have heard it from the mouth of your Minister preached with a lively and audible voice Par. I thank you for the pains you have taken with me for now I perceive my mistake and must consess that in this point I have been led into an error for I should be very unreasonable if I should speak any more in behalf of those absurdities which I now see are lodged in it I shall only desire some further reasons from you why Revelations are not still to be expected by us Min. I shall think no pains too much provided you will henceforth use your Reason better than hitherto you have done in the attention you have given to the Quakers and that you will now learn to suspect the teachings of those men whom you begin to see and discover and hereafter have a greater value of the Holy Scriptures that more sure word of Prophecy we being sufficiently assured let the Quakers say what they please that God's Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths But for any new Revelations we need them not the Apostle having declar'd unto us that the Scriptures are able to make us wise unto Salvation thorow faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3. 15. To look then for more Revelations or a repetition of the former would be equally an act of impudence and infidelity Par. Why of impudence and infidelity Min. Would it not be an act of infidelity not to believe God when he plainly tells us that the Scriptures themselves are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith c. and to furnish us thorowly to all good works And is it not an act of impudence when God has plainly told us that we have sufficient not to be contented with them but to expect and call for more Par. I confess I begin to have no esteem for these pretenders to new Revelations so far as they are concern'd in that point yet I can hardly be reconcil'd to Learning because it is not to be acquired without study and industry whereas surely it is against that express command and promise given to the Disciples in Mark 13. 11. Take no thought before hand what ye shall speak neither do you premeditate but
is necessarily implyed for how can he be said to be perfect who is subject to sin Min. Now I will shew you from this very instance which the Quakers use to prove perfection by according to their notion of it that it overthrows the tenent which they think to establish by it and that by comparing it with Gen. 9. 20 21. where we read that Noah was drunk uncovered in his Tent. It may be added that some of great note do expound perfect in his generation to be meant comparatively that is in respect of the men of that Age. A generation like that in which St. Salvian lived wherein it was accounted a great degree of holiness to be less vitious Your next instance is of Job of whom the Scripture saith that he was perfect and upright and that he feared God and eschewed evil Job 1. 1. Uprightness there explains perfection a perfect man he was that is upright sincere a fearer of God and lover of him Yet notwithstanding this character that was given he had his failings accordingly he makes consession Chap. 7. 20. I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men See also Chap. 4. 34. and 42. 6. And Job answered the Lord and said behold I am vile And for your last instance of David you cannot be ignorant though he was a man after Gods own heart that he fell into the hainous sins of Adultery and Murder and besides the 51 Psalm which he composed upon that sad occasion he penned other penitential Psalms and Prayers for the pardon of his sins which would be strange to ask if he were altogether free from them So that the Quakers might as well write against those Psalms as against the confession in our Service Book Par. If perfection signify not such a state as supposeth us absolutely free from all sin what then doth it signify Min. As perfection is attributed to the Saints in this life it generally signifies no more than sincerity and uprightness a serving God with a single heart without Hypocrisie and Guile and this you will find in such Bibles as have Marginal notes in them perfect in Gen. 6. 9. is noted upright and in Gen. 17 1. upright and sincere and by observation you may find the like in more places for the word in the Original might as well be translated upright as perfect See Davids last advice to his Son 1 Chror 28. 9. And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart That sincerity is there meant by a perfect heart will appear in the following words for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts that is he sees into the bottom of our hearts whether they be sincere or no. Par. But what do you say to this text Phil. 3. 15. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded Min. Compare it with the 12th verse where it is said Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect Make a right inference from the Text compared and you will find the mistake Par. Do you suppose the Apostle contradicts himself Min. The Apostles words are justifiable from any contradiction allowing the right construction which ought to be put upon them by perfect in the Text objected he means no more than sincerity in his Christian course by perfect in the 12 verse a fulness of Grace together with the reward of it which is not to be had but in a state of Glory and Immortality Par. How doth that appear to be his sense Min. Very plainly from the 11 verse if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead then follows not as though I had attained either were already perfect intimating that he could not be fully perfect till he had attained the Refurrection of the dead where you may observe that the sense we give of perfection is agreable to St. Pauls sense of it but yours contradictory to it Par. If these Scriptures already named do not prove an unsinning perfection yet that of 1 Joh. 5. 18. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not will put this question out of all doubt Min. That the Quakers have a wrong notion of this Scripture I hope to make evident to the meanest capacity but before I proceed will you allow me this fundamental truth that the Holy Scriptures do no where contradict themselves Par. God forbid that such a thought should enter into me that the infallible Spirit by which the Scriptures were written can contradict himself Min. This being granted the Text under our debate cannot be interpreted to signify that any in this life hath gotten an absolute conquest over all sin and that for two reasons First because St. John here would contradict other plain Texts as 1 Kings 8. 46 for there is no man that sinneth not Prov. 20. 9 who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin Rom. 3. 23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God See Ezek. 18. 24. Eccl. 7. 20. 2 Chron. 6. 36. Job 9. 20. Jam 3. 2. Gal. 3. 22. Secondly because St. John would not only contradict others but himself also having plainly said 1 Joh. 1. 8. if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us to all which let me add that it would be otherwise strange that our Lord should teach his Disciples to pray as often for the forgiveness of their sins as for their daily bread whilst that we must suppose that when they so prayed they had no Trespasses to forgive which very instance being inconsistent is enough to answer the objection Par. What then do these words really mean Min. The meaning of the words is this 1. he sinneth not that sin unto death ver 16. by some expounded to be the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost Nor 2. doth he live in a wilful course and trade of sin 1 Joh. 3. 9. he makes not sin his business he works not in it as a man doth in his trade which is the true sense of the Greek word in the Text and that is the reason why wicked men are called in Scripture workers of iniquity because they do follow it as their business while sins of weakness and Infirmity which he daily strives and prays against are notwithstanding consistent with a regenerate Estate Par. But is there not one clause in the Text you mentioned which contradicts the sense you have given of it wherein we read that he that is born of God cannot sin whereof you have this reason given because he is born of God Min. The objection will soon be answered by considering what the Apostle means by the seed of God which is a new firm Principle of Grace and Holiness wrought in him by the Spirit of God by which he is kept from habits of wilful and deliberate sins
to feed us without our industry with Manna and Quails as he did his Church in the Wilderness or by the Ravens as he did Elisha or to make the small provisions we have to abound by an inexhaustible increase as he did the Widows barrel of meal and cruse of Oyl and in the Gospel the five loaves and two fishes though he could soon introduce the Golden Age to make it a perpetual Spring and to cause the earth to bring forth all her fruits and teem her riches to us of her own accord though God could quickly do all this and more though he could translate us instantly and carry us up into a better habitation though he could perfect us out of hand and the next minute wrap us into the third Heaven and rest us in Paradise though this be in his power yet we see it is not in his will It is not his pleasure thus to dispense his favours nor to pour out his blessings all at once For though the Divine power and Goodness too be both of them infinite yet do not engage God though an Almighty Father in doing good to act like natural Agents both alwayes and all he can For the acts of his Power and Goodness are determin'd by his infinite Wisdome And he dispenseth his gifts according as there is necessity and occasion for them That the Spirit helpeth us to understand old truths already revealed in Scripture we confess and pray for his assistance therein but to pretend to such miraculous inspirations as the Apostles once had or to new revelations beyond what was discover'd to them is a horrible cheat set up at first by St. Francis and St. Bridget and some other Fanatical Friers and Nuns of the Romish Church whose steps the Quakers do now follow but the delusion and falshood of such pretences will appear if you consider 1. How highly these new revelations disparage the Holy Scripture which if it be true and may be believed declares it self to be a perfect and sufficient rule in order to salvation 2 Tim. 3. 17. and accurseth all that shall preach any other Doctrine Gal. 1. 8 9. and in the close of that holy Book a woe is denounced to all that should add any thing to it or take any thing from it So that they who would make new additions by daily inspirations make God himself a lyar in commending that to us for a perfect rule which needs continual additions and the preaching of Christ and his Apostles at this rate must be thought imperfect and that Word which should try the Spirits must submit to every new revelation Nor do the Papists more dishonour Gods Word by making their Traditions of equal value to it than the Quakers by esteeming their new revelations to be as much from the Spirit of God 2. Consider how contrary these new revelations are to Gods constant method in regard they came naked without any miracles to attest them for when did God ever send any new Doctrine into the World and did not also give the Preachers thereof a power of working miracles to confirm that it was from him Moses had this power when he was to set up the Law Jesus when he was to preach the Gospel to the Jews the Apostles when they were to convert the Gentiles But as St. Austin notes when once the World did believe this power ceased which was only given that they might believe Now if God had sent the Quakers with any new revelations how comes it to pass he hath given them no power of doing miracles or why do any believe them whenas God doth not bear witness to them as in other cases he alwayes did shall we take their own words for it or esteem their new Doctrines not confirmed with any Divine Powers as highly as we do the Holy Gospel witnessed by many thousand miracles this were to make our selves as foolish as those who dote upon them and to encourage every Cheat to impose his fancies on us as Divine Revelations who hath the confidence to say he is inspired 3. New Revelations do manifestly contradict the Faith of the primitive Christians and holy Fathers who called the Scriptures the truest rule of Doctrine the ancient measure of Faith the Divine Standard the Repository of all things necessary either to Faith or Manners they esteemed it great impudence to affirm any thing without their Authority or to expect any truths beyond what was written they desired not to be believed unless they proved their assertions by Scripture Did they not in every Councel examin all Doctrines and Opinions by the written Word of God and condemn those for Hereticks who invented new fancies not agreeing to it And when the Gnosticks Montanists and Messalians pretended to Prophecy Raptures and Inspiration they were censur'd as Impostors and Deceivers By all which it appears that if the Quakers had held forth their new Revelations in those pure and zealous dayes they had also been solemnly convicted and denounced Hereticks and why should we embrace that for a truth in these last and worst of times which the best Ages of the Church did reject as a notorious falshood 4. And yet this new Doctrine of new Revelations is not more false than it is mischievous to those who do believe it for hereby their faith is uncertain as their Teachers fancy and poor deluded souls do receive falshood and railing non-sense and blasphemy as if they came from the Spirit of God They despise the ancient and pure certain and fixed principles of Christianity received from Jesus and his Apostles sealed with the blood of Martyrs and retained by all good Christians and admire the discourse of a bold and empty man above them all they take upon them to appoint new wayes of worship and reject the old even the very Sacraments which Jesus himself instituted they neglect Learning themselves contemn it in others and would bring the World into an Egyptian darkness if others were of their mind and all this and much more they do for a thing that never was nor never will be proved for a dream a meer fancy and a miserable mistake which none can believe till they have first bid adieu to all sense and reason So that in meer pity to those mis-guided souls who follow this false and fantaltick light I cannot but make this digression to convince them that they adore a lie for Divine Revelation to the great hazard of their eternal damnation Par. But do you deny all Revelations Min. I own those Revelations which are upon Râ—…cord in the Holy Bible which is the Word of God wherein he hath revealed his Will to the Church but no other Revelations do I hearken after Par. But the Quakers tell us the Bible is a dead Letter but the Word of God is quick and powerful so is not the Bible Min. By such like sottish wayes of Reasoning I conceive the Speakers among them
only by the mention of Sion and the destruction approaching it in the beginning of that Chapter of Joel which signifies it to belong to Jerusalem that then was but also by two further undeceivable evidences 1. By the mention of the wonders immediately subjoyn'd in the heavens and the earth c. as forerunners of the great and terrible day of the Lord the same that had been before described in Joel v. 2. c. and applyed by Christ in the very words to this destruction of Jerusalem Matth. 24. 29 30. 2. By the occasion for which St. Peter produceth it Acis 2. 14. the effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles v. 2. 4. which saith he was no effect of drunkenness in them but the very thing which was foretold by that place of Joel before that great and notable day of the Lord that was to fall upon that People to an utter destruction This being a prediction of what should come before the destruction of Jerusalem and the completion whereof was so visible and remarkable in that Age to which by the Prophet it was assigned and this as a peculiar character of those times wherein the Gospel was to be first propagated by this means and to which it had a propriety as a last act of God's miraculous and gracious oeconomy for the full conviction of this peoples sins before they were destroyed it must needs be impertinently and fallaciously applyed to any men or women old or young of this Age so distant from that to which it belonged and so well provided for by the ordinary means the setled Office of Ministry in Christ's Church as to have no such need of extraordinary So that they have no more right to charge God to perform this promise over again than a Creditor hath reason to exact a sum of money by vertue of a cancel'd Bond. The Quakers I perceive pretend to an interest in these Prophesies But then why do not these pretenders to new lights speak with new tongues heal diseases raise the dead and do other miraculous acts according to the tenor of those Prophesies Par. But they will tell you of as great acts for they gain many Proselites and thereby enlarge the Kingdom of Christ. Min. If counting numbers be the thing to establish the truth of their Religion in all probability they will renounce Christianity it self and turn Mahometans for Mahomet has more that follow him than Christ Then wo be to that little flock to whom a Kingdom is promised Par. But what do you say to the third particular in order to applying Scripture seasonably and properly Min. I say if a due regard be not had thereof there is scarce that irregularity in the World which you may not make the Scripture to patronize therefore saith the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah cap. 50. 4. The Lord hath given me the tongue of the Learned to speak in due season And so Prov. 15. 23. A word spoken in season is like Apples of gold in pictures of silver A good thing improperly applyed may be made instead of good the occasion of evil for good things do loose the grace of their goodness when they are not in a good and convenient manner performed Suppose a Carpenter frames a building with great Art and Skill and makes a proper mortise for every tenon as the terms are when this building comes to be set up if you place not the joynts aright the whole building will be in disorder So God Almighty the wise Architect has framed his Word to proper times occasions and emergencies Now if you do not suit the Text to the occasion to which it was originally framed and to the season proper to it you spoil all Though the words be good yet if the application be wrong they will prove like salt which hath lost its savour Suppose a Physician prepares a great many excellent remedies there must be a due application otherwise an antidote may prove a poyson So the great Physician of Souls has prepar'd for all maladies their proper remedies and if we expect any benefit by them we must make a seasonable application of them And to make this more plain you may consult Psalm 91. 11 12. For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone Should I say that in this Scripture is represented to us Gods especial providence over his servants and whilst that I am performing my duty to God either in his immediate service or in an honest attendance on my lawful Calling I may expect the Divine protection in this sense I apply the Text seasonably and properly But should I get upon the top of a Pinacle and cast my self down upon confidence of this promise that the Angels shall bear me up then I wrest and misapply the Scripture which no where gives incouragement to a desperate attempt For it is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God that is thou shalt not tempt him to work a miracle by casting thy self down from a desperate Precipice when the ordinary means of his Providence may effect thy preservation Par. What rule have you to prevent mistakes in this kind Min. Take this for one when any Text hath a relation to a particular case that Text must not stand for a general rule but must be applyed to a like occasion for it's a most grand fallacy to draw an universal conclusion from particular premisses take an instance of my meaning from 2 Cor. 9. 22. I am made all things to all men Make this a general rule and Christianity which is the most pure Religion in the World will from this Text be a sanctuary for all villany and impurity For if I may be all things to all men then may I lawfully comply with all the irregularities of whatsoever company I come in But suit the Text to its proper occasion and it imports only this That all customs and constitutions of an indifferent nature for the peace of the Church ought to be conformed unto As for the Holy Scriptures they are the lively Oracles of God and contain in them the words of eternal life but in the Quakers impertinent application of them they look like so many Jewels in a Swines snout or like good liquor that is lost by the badness of the vessel that contains it Having thus shewed you at large the first cause of the Scriptures being wrested viz. the want of Learning I need say but little upon the other the instability of mens minds Par. However let me hear what you can say upon that subject Min. Little need be said for 't is no wonder if those who are unlearned especially if they be bold and confident be unstable for it 's the empty cloud which is carried away with every wind Old truths ought to be most loved but commonly they have the same fate with the Manna in the Wilderness
occasion and by that means of the true scope of them how much more difficult must they needs be to us at this distance especially to such as are wholly strangers to all those things aforemention'd that are so necessary to the making any dark Scriptures intelligible Par. This I cannot deny but then I would gladly know how to reconcile this with such passages in the Bible which contrary wise call the Gospel a Light and bid us walk in the Light Min. You are greatly mistaken in supposing that I affirm all the Scriptures hâ—…rd to be understood I only say as St. Peter sayes that some passages are so for so run the words in which are some things hard c. Par. Are then the necessary points of Religion in them hard to be understood Min. No they are not for whatsoever is necessary to salvation either to be believed or to be done are in some place or other in holy Scripture fitted to the most vulgar capacity and shallowest understanding as for example the history of Christs birth death resurrection and ascension is as necessary to be believed so plain to be understood though yet it hath been perverted by the mis-interpretation of the Quakers and some Hereticks and from plain History turn'd into meer Allegory Then the duties of the first and second Table of the Law and the Love of God and our Neighbour all the Evangelical Precepts and the Essentials of Religion are in the Gospel made such easie Doctrines that he that runs may read them being fitted to the capacity of the most unlearned And this reminds us of our duty of thankfulness to our great Law-giver in that he hath made those Doctrines most plain which are most necessary to be believed and those things least necessary which are most difficult As for example it is not necessary to salvation to be knowing in all the Circumstances of the Levitical Rites nor in all the Genealogies of the Scripture nor in all the Apocalyptical Prophesies and therefore the obscurity of them need not dismay us Par. Certainly God would never have sent his Messengers to deliver those things to the world which he did not indispensibly require every one to understand Min. I hope to convince you of this mistake and to assist your apprehension by this plain comparison Suppose a King makes a great Feast for his Subjects he prepares meats for all constitutions and different dishes for different stomachs that among all this variety every person should feed upon that which is most agreeable to his constitution just such preparations hath God made for the Church in holy Scriptures where are Vyands for all pallats For the strong there is strong meat and mysteries to exercise the greatest Wits and the most improved Understandings Heb. 5. 14. And as for those whose understanding is either clouded by an unhappy constitution or was never well open'd and improv'd by education to such there is not wanting what is necessary even milk for babes many passages especially those of the greatest concern being written in such a plain and familiar style that the weakest and most illiterate of which number a greatest part of the members of the Church are shall never be able to excuse the neglect of them the Omniscient Author of the Scriptures herein graciously condescending to the shallowest capacities to let them see that they were not forgotten nor overlook't by him who says All Souls are his Ezek. 18. 4. The Scriptures being ordinarily compared to such a River wherein the Elephant may swim and the Lamb may wade But when illiterate people who commonly see no further than the outward appearance of things will venture to be guides and will be rashly passing judgment upon that which is above their understandings according to that character given of such men 1 Tim. 1. 7. Desiring to be teachers of the Law understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm and do leave the plain easie paths and confidently falling upon points too high for them no wonder if such wrest and pervert the Scriptures Par. I remember that was the second particular that the Scriptures have been wrested How do you make that good Min. This is matter of fact and known to all that are acquainted either with men or Books for we all too sadly know that there is not that opinion in Religion be it never so wild and absurd but challengeth authority from the Scriptures Though truth be the same yet every sect lays claim to it and though the Scripture be the fountain of truth yet is it by some rendred the very sink of errours Go to all the wild Sects yea Heresies in the world those of the Arrians Socinians Antinomians Ranters as well as this of the Quakers all these will with equal confidence challenge an authority from the Word of God The fault here is not in the Scriptures but in them that do abuse and wrest them to their own conceptions to make them speak their own sense as for instance Suppose a man that is troubled with a Vertigo in his head should tell you that he is confident the earth turns round 't is not the earth but a disturbed brain that is the cause of this mis-apprehension So every Fanatick will tell you that he 's confident he has the Scripture on his side in the behalf of his opinion where is now the fault in the Scripture or in the whim in his pate The Scriptures are in no fault for any irregularities in the conceptions of such men The fault is in their byass'd affections and their want of steady principles and defect both of wit and grace but the true sense of Scripture words continues one and the same though mens erroneous conceptions and interpretations of them should still abound and vary to the worlds end Par. But how then happens this strange variety in the interpretation of Scripture Min. By taking the words thereof to put what construction they please upon them while they mistake their true scope and meaning for it is not the Letter but the Sense that is the Word of God And 't is not only Quakers and other Separatists that have the words of Seripture but the Devil also as you will find Matth. 4. 6. when he tempted our Saviour He replyes there with a Text of Scripture But the Devil and these wanting the sense and design take the shell and leave the kernel It was St. Augustines saying That Hereticks and Schismaticks steal the words of Christ intimating that they may use his Name his Word and his Ordinances but then 't is only as Thieves and Robbers use their stoln goods to which they have no right nor property Par. Give me now leave to remind you of your third particular viz. the causes there exprest why the Scriptures are thus wrested Min. I am ready to gratifie your desires and begin with the first cause namely the want of learning which is derided by Hubberthorn and censur'd by those