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truth_n	ancient_a	church_n	true_a	2,421	5	5.1957	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64989	The foundation of God standeth sure, or, A defence of those fundamental and so generally believed doctrines of the Trinity of persons in the unity of the divine essence, of the satisfaction of Christ, the second person of the real and glorious Trinity, of the justification of the ungodly by the imputed righteousness of Christ, against the cavils of W.P.J. a Quaker in his pamphlet entituled The sandy foundation shaken &c. : wherein his and the Quakers hideous blasphemies, Socinian and damnably-heretical opinions are discovered and refuted ... / by Thomas Vincent.	Vincent, Thomas, 1634-1678.	1668 (1668)	Wing V438; ESTC R25705	51,791	83

of Christians in the truths and ways of God In W. P's conclusion by way of caution he teleth us he doth not disown Father Word and Spirit to be one but he disowneth them to be three Persons which hath been proved out of the Scripture that the Trinity as he saith hath not a foundation in the Scripture that its original was three hundred years after Christianity was in the World hath been proved to be false What he speaketh concerning the Council of Sirmia That the controversie concerning the Trinity should not be remembred because the Scriptures made no mention thereof is also falsely alledged for by that very Council the Doctrine of the Trinity is expresly asserted as a chief article of the Christian faith and the distinction of Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost plainly implyed in the Anathema which was pronounced upon those that asserted they were but one Person that which W. P. citeth is concerning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which this Council was heterodox as it might well be when so much influenced by the Emperor Constantius who himself was infected with Arianisme But W. P. should have looked into the Councils more ancient and authentique than the Sirmian namely the first Nicene Council which condemned the Arian heresie blasphemously denying the Son to be coeternal and coessential with the Father the first Constantinopolitan council which condemned the Macedonian heresie denying the Deity of the Holy Ghost The Council of Ephesus Chalcedon who with other approved oecumenical Councils generally assented to the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Consubstantiality of the three Persons What W. P. further addeth concerning the occasion of Idolatry is groundless the scandalizing of Turks c. is no wonder when the preaching of Christ crucified was such a stumbling-block of old After he confesseth that Christ offered unto God a Satisfactory Sacrifice and yet he denieth Christs Satisfaction and Justification by his imputative Righteousness all which three Doctrines being Fundamental established by the Word of Truth W. P's attempts to subvert them are in vain and have discovered him to be both a Blasphemer and an Heretick Since I began my Answer to W. P. there came to my hands a Pamphlet subscribed by Solomon Eccles styled The Quakers Challenge wherein amongst others he challengeth me at two Weapons as he calleth them to Fast seven days and seven nights and to Wake seven days and seven nights and that hereby tryal shall be made who are in the truth Though the Pamphlet be ridiculous yet I was unwilling to let it pass without any remark and my Answer is when the Lord hath appointed these ways for tryal of the Orthodox and Hereticks I shall undertake them but not finding any such Command or Warrant in the Word to forbear Food or Sleep so long but on the contrary because it is a tempting of God and a breach of the sixth Commandment which requireth all lawful endeavors for the preservation of our own life as well as the lives of others therefore it would be a God-provoking sin to endanger self-murther by such Weapons The Scripture Instances of Fasting many days together were miraculous and not for our imitation others I have heard of that have lived as many days together as he speaketh of without meat or drink or sleep but they have been distracted people amongst whom this man deserveth to be numbred and if I should answer him in the way he challengeth I should be accounted by the sober as mad as himself His Lie he venteth concerning me is refuted already in my Narrative CHAP. X. The Call and Exhortation HAving asserted and proved the three great Doctrines of the Trinity Satisfaction and Iustification denyed by W. P. I shall further add by way of premise to the Call and Exhortation what was before intimated that these three are great Fundamental Truths of the Christian Religion necessary to be believed in order to Salvation the unbelief and denyal of which will bring unavoidable damnation 1. The Doctrine of the Trinity of distinct Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence is a Fundamental Truth because the Godhead in the three persons is the proper object of saving Faith and right Worship and those that do not savingly believe and rightly worship God cannot possibly be saved besides the denyal of the three distinct persons in the Godhead doth necessarily inferr the denyal of the co-eternal co-essential Deity of the Son and Holy Ghost which is Blasphemy and damnable Heresie so accounted by the most ancient and authentique Councils and by the true Church of God in all Ages II. The Doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction and Justification by his imputed Righteousness are Fundamental Truths also without which there can be no Redemption Reconciliation Remission and consequently no Salvation This being premised I shall now apply my self first to the Quakers and then to others To W. P. and other Quakers who believe these and other Quaker damnable errors I shall propound these four Queries which I shall answer according to truth Que. 1. Do you know what you are 1. You are strangers to Christ whatever your fancy be of Christ within you and I am confident that none of you all that believe these errors have had experience of the new birth and forming of Christs image upon your hearts since there never is a work of regeneration and uniting the souls of any to Christ that leaveth them in such darkness and error as you are left and bound up in No had you been ever truly regenerated you would have been humbled and emptied of your selves you would have seen your selves lost in your selves and your need of Christs satisfaction and imputed Righteousness without which you would have been assured that there is no possibility Gods anger should be appeased and your souls saved It is not turning Quaker that is turning from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to Christ but on the contrary it is a turning from light to darkness and from Christ to Satan and what will be the issue hereof not remission of sins and salvation but the fastening of guilt upon you and eternal destruction 2. You are enemies to Christ and I believe that Jesus Christ hath scarcely greater enemies under the Sun than you who are greater enemies to Christ than those who deny his eternal Deity as I have proved to be the plain consequence of W. P's words and of the denial of the Trinity who are greater enemies to Christ than those that deny his Satisfaction and Justification by his merrits who are greater enemies to Christ than those that oppose his faithful Ministers and Embassadors and that lye in wait to deceive and mislead Christians you are enemies to his truths and ways and ordinances and cause and interest and Ministers and true Disciples and all this with Christ in your mouths and I am confident the Lord doth hate and abhor you for such hypocrisy 3. You are Children of the Devil and

THE Foundation of God standeth sure OR A Defence of those Fundamental and so generally believed Doctrines Of The Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence The Satisfaction of Christ the second Person of the Real and Glorious Trinity The Justification of the Ungodly by the Imputed Righteousness of Christ. Against the Cavils of W. P. I. a Quaker in his Pamphlet Entituled The Sandy Foundation shaken c. Wherein his and the Quakers Hideous Blasphemies Socinian and damnably-heretical Opinions are discovered and refuted W. P's ignorance weakness falshoods absurd arguings and folly is made manifest unto all With a Call unto all such who in the simplicity of their hearts have been deluded by the Quakers to come out from amongst them And an Exhortation to all Christians as they desire their Salvation to beware of their damnable Doctrines and not to come neer the Tents of these enemies of Jesus Christ lest they be swallowed up in their ruin By Thomas Vincent sometime Minister of Maudlins Milk-street London 1 Joh. 5. 7. For there are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are One. Mat. 20. 28. The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many Rom. 4. 5. To him that worketh not but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness LONDON Printed in the Year 1668. CHAP. I. The INTRODVCTION WILLIAM PENN Entituleth his Pamphlet The Foundation shaken which however he termeth a Sandy Foundation he acknowledgeth to be at least our Foundation In the beginning of his Epistle to the Reader he doth inveigh against Human Tradition amongst which he numbreth not onely those things which are Circumstantial but also those Doctrines which Protestants generally believe to be Essential And at the latter end of his Epistle he confesseth the Doctrines of the Trinity Satisfaction and Iustification by imputed Righteousness to be cardinal Points and chief Doctrines firmly believed as Articles of Christian Faith which he telleth us he hath endeavoured the total enervation of It is plain then that this man striketh at the Root and laboureth to overthrow the Foundation of Christianity as we have built upon it that he might overthrow the faith of weak and unestablished Christians But the Foundation of God standeth sure the great Fundamental Truths concerning our Lord Jesus Christhis Godhead being the second Person of the Trinity equal with the Father his satisfaction which he made to God's Justice for Man's sin and justification by his imputed Righteousness are like a Rock which cannot be moved against which what ever waves do arise and beat for removal of though the noise and clamors be great yet the attempts will be in vain the Rock remaineth where it was and the waves of opposition are broken to pieces It is possible indeed that the Faith of some may suffer shipwrack by such assaults because they were never well grounded fastned and fixed in the principles of Religion because they never received the truths of the Word either with true saving Faith or true sincere Love and therefore the Lord hath threatned to give such up unto strong delusions to believe a lie that they might be damned 2 Thes. 2 10 11 12. These are the persons who hear Christ's Word and do not practice accordingly therefore our Saviour compareth them to fools that build their house upon the sand upon which the rain descendeth and the floods come and the winds blow and beat and it falleth and the fall therefore is great Mat. 7. 26 27. This is the Sandy Foundation which W. P. and the Quakers may shake and overthrow and be instrumental to pull down into the same ruine and destruction with themselves But such who have built upon the Lord Jesus Christ who is the only true Foundation 1 Cor. 3. 11. Such who have built indeed upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles whereof Iesus Christ himself is the chief Corner-stone Eph. 2. 20. They have built upon the Rock upon which whosoever stumbleth and falleth will be broken to pieces but upon which whosoever buildeth is safe therefore are not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine neither is it possible because of Christ's care and undertaking for them that they should be overthrown by any of the blasts of Satan or any of his instruments Math. 24. 24 If it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. The Quakers however some of them and those of the chiefest and Ring-leaders have at sometimes let fall from their Black-mouths most hideous Blasphemies and vented most damnably-heretical Doctrines as for instance George Fox positively affirmed thus I am equal with God this was deposed at a general Sessions in Westmerland Iames Nayler said in the hearing of Mr. Baldwin a man of eminent trust and integrity That he did witness that he was as holy just and good as God In the Quakers book called Saul's Errand to Damascus it is asserted That there is no distinction of Persons in the Godhead Nayler and others have spoken to this effect That whosoever expects to be saved by him that died at Ierusalem shall be deceived I might mention many other such Blaspemies and Heresies See The perfect Pharisee by the Newcastle Ministers at the beginning I say though the Quakers have sometimes spoken out their blasphemies and corrupt Doctrines yet for the most part they are so subtle that they do not suffer the inward shape of their mind to appear so plainly abroad lest every one should run from them with loathing and abhorrency and however the import of their words be blasphemy and heresie yet they shroud their meaning under ambiguous phrases and especially at their first assault and endeavours to gain proselities and followers they cover the hook with the pleasing bait of sugred words and fair speeches whereby they deceive those that are unskilful in the word of Righteousness and in the method of their erroneous ways whence it is that many ere they are aware and not knowing whither they are going are drawn into their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth is evil spoken of But W. P. being himself a Quaker and speaking in their name and vindication as himself telleth us p. 36. and they dispersing his books and calling for an answer and he being counted amongst them one of their chief because of some smattring of learning which they conceit he hath and which he himself seemeth to have a high conceit of which how groundless it is shall be discovered in the places where he doth attempt to show something of a Scholar doth in his Pamphlet plainly assert and stand up for those Quaker-Doctrines which I shall prove to be blasphemous and damnable Heresies And hath openly made it known to the World that the Quakers in those three great points which he doth militate against and endeavour the refutation of are Rank Socinians who more grosly erre in the Fundamentals of

Trinity of Persons that three should be one and one should be three that three should be distinguished but not divided that one should not be another the first should not be the second nor the second third nor the second or third the first and yet the first second and third the same that the first should be in the second and the second in the first and both first and second in the third and that without composition without confusion all related to one another and al distinguished one from another by incommunicable personal properties and yet all one and the same in regard of one individual Essence this is such a mystery as doth exceed the weak and narrow understanding of the most enlightned and clear sighted Christians fully to comprehend some by gazing too long upon the Sun become blind and some by prying too much into this mystery and attempting to bring it to the standard and module of their reason have lost the sight thereof and sunk into grosse apprehensions and denied either the unity of the Godhead affirming the three persons to be three distinct Gods or denied the Trinity affirming the Godhead to be without three distinct persons thus while they have professed and conceited themselves to be wise they have proved themselves to be fools void of true understanding by changing the glory of God into that which is unworthy of him But we having a sure word of Prophecy in the Scriptures which is like a light shining in a dark place ought to give heed thereunto and conform all our conceptions of God according to the discoveries which he hath made of himself in his word God knoweth himself better than any creature can know and what he hath spoken of himself must needs be so because he cannot represent himself otherwise than he is and if there be a mystery in him which we cannot reach we adde folly to our weakness if we do in the least question it reason it may be will leave us in our search after the Deity in the Trinity and the Trinity in the Deity but where reason faileth Faith must supply it's room the proper object of Divine Faith is such things as we purely do assent unto upon Divine authority such are not onely Histories and Prophesies but also Mysteries which reason cannot demonstrate unto us in this mystery of the Trinity we must exercise our Faith though we cannot clear it to our selves by demonstration not as if we were to lay reason quite aside in this thing or trample it under foot not as if we should put out the eye of reason that we might see more clearly with the eye of Faith for though this mystery be above reason yet it is not against reason yea there is the greatest reason in the world that we should assent unto that for truth which God hath revealed of himself in his word because he is a God of truth and nothing is more true than that which God hath spoken Wherefore if the Scriptures have revealed that there are three distinct persons in one Divine Essence it is a certain truth and it is reason and duty that every one should assent unto it though the mystery of it there being no such thing to be found in nature cannot be fully comprehended Here then I shall propound my assertion and prove it out of Scripture My assertion according to the generally believed Doctrine of the Church of God is this That there are three distinct subsistents or persons in the same single Divine Essence or Godhead The argument bottom'd upon the Scripture to prove my assertion is this If the Divine Essence or Godhead is and can be but one and the Father is God and the Son God and the Holy Ghost God and the Father Son and Holy Ghost be three distinct subsistents or persons then there are three distinct subsistents or persons Father Son and Holy Ghost in the same single Divine Essence or Godhead But the Divine Essence or Godhead is and can be but one and the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and the Father Son and Holy Ghost are three distinct subsistents or persons Therefore there are three distinct subsistents or persons Father Son and Holy Ghost in the same single Divine Essence or Godhead The consequent of the major proposition is plain and firm that no man of reason can in the least question or deny The minor proposition is that which must be proved and there are five things in the proposition to be proved 1. That the Divine Essence or Godhead is and can be but one 2. That the Father is God 3. That the Son is God 4. That the Holy Ghost is God 5. That the Father Son and Holy Ghost are three distinct subsistents or persons 1. The Divine Essence or Godhead is and can be but one Deut. 6. 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord Isa. 44. 6. Thus saith the Lord I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God Isa. 45. 21 22. There is no God else besides me a just God and Saviour there is none besides me look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the Earth for I am God and there is none else And it cannot be otherwise for if there were more than one God then the Godhead might be divided it might be limited and by consequence would be finite and so not God because God is infinite I need not insist upon this because the unity of the Godhead is not denied by the adversaries I have to deal withal 2. The Father is God 1 Cor. 8. 6. To us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him I need not multiply places of Scripture nor adde arguments to prove that the Father is God since it is generally acknowledged by all that acknowledge a Deity and the Scriptures 3. The Son is God this William Penn plainly denieth he denieth that the Lord Jesus Christ is God wretched blasphemy that would thrust the Lord Jesus Christ off from the Throne of his Godhead His denial of the Divinity of Christ as well as the Divinity of the Holy Ghost is plain enough I shall repeat his words as they lye in his first argument against the three distinct persons in the Godhead page 13. And since the Father is God the Son is God and the Spirit is God which their opinion necessitates them to confesse then unlesse the Father Son and Spirit are three distinct nothings they must be three distinct substances and consequently three distinct Gods I shall answer the argument in its proper place only observe here that he denieth the Son and Spirit to be God by a plain consequence for first he telleth us that our opinion necessitates us to acknowledge that the Father is God and the Son God and the Spirit God which showeth that his opinion is otherwise that the Son and Spirit are not