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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

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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
Religion than the Papists themselves And because W. P. doth take occasion from the meeting with me and others in disputation if it might be so called where nothing was directly answered to put forth his Pamphlet and because he giveth but a lame and in somethings a false account of transactions therefore I shall 1. give a true and brief Narative of what passed at the Meetting or Conference with answer to his Postscript 2 Establish the truths he objecteth against by Scripture and Argument 3 Answer his objections against those truths Lastly apply my self to deluded Quakers for the recalling of them and to all other Christians for the cautioning and establishing of them against the attempts of such as would draw them aside into the dark and dangerous path which doth as certainly lead to Hell as the broad way of Prophaneness CHAP. II. A brief Narrative of T. V's meeting with some Quakers in Spittle-yard with the occasion and transactions there and some exceptions to the account which W. P. hath given thereof MY first meeting with the Quakers was upon desire at the house of a friend in Houndsditch in der to the preserving of some who were tempted to go amongst them I met there several Quakers two of which were the chief speakers It would tire the Reader as I believe it did the hearers to give relation of all their wild and impertinent discourse I could not get them to speak out and plainly to assert some of their Principles through fear it is likely lest their mouths should be stopped before the people yet after many words they asserted the perfection of Saints in this Life and the place of Scripture which they brought for the proof of their assertion was 1 Iob. 3. 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin Unto this I answered That the words in the Original were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of them interrupted me at the mention of the Original words saying It was the smoke of the bottomless pit that the signification was doth not make it his business to sin and the meaning was that such as were born again did not make a trade of sin did not go on in a course of sin or did not commit sin that is with the full bent of the will as the wicked do But that it could not be understood of not committing sin at all because the same Apostle in the same Epistle Chap. 1. 8. telleth thus If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us There he speaketh of himself and others that were born again and plainly acknowledgeth they were not without sin It was further urged that if all that were born of God were perfectly free from sin then it would follow that who ever found any sin in them were not born of God consequently in state of nature and so if they should die with any sin remaining they would certainly go to Hell and so none there yea none in the world would be saved Moreover I appealed to the experience of the best of them whether they could say they were wholly free from sin whether they had no irregular thoughts nor affections this they would not affirm neither did they absolutely deny when they pleaded the perfection the Apostle Paul speaketh of Phil. 3. 15. I replied that the same Apostle v. 12. acknowledgeth that he had not as yet attained neither was yet perfect and if the Apostle Paul who had arrived to so great a heighth in grace that he was how ever as some think little in bodily stature yet taller by the head and shoulders than others in regard of his grace and spiritual attainments how could Audacious Quakers who if Quakers indeed because of their damnable opinions I am confident have not the least degree of true grace boast of perfection as if they had got above the Apostle himself I told them that all true Believers were perfect in a sence they were Evangelically perfect but not legally not absolutely perfect they had perfection of parts but not perfection of degrees and in this sence the work of Grace though the work of God was not perfect in regard of our selves but by degrees was carried on unto further perfection After this when they could give no answer to the Arguments urged against them they burst out into a clamor and talking all altogether opening their mouths as wide as they could and shutting their ears as hard as they could repeating the same things over and over again You make your selves the Patrons of sin He that committeth sin is of the Devil And whilst they pleaded That all which were born of God were without sin they discovered themselves to be none of those that were born of God by the sin which they were palpably guilty of in the multitude of their words especially in their wresting the Scripture from its genuine sence meaning and in the perverse disputings of their corrupt minds Our discourse was to this effect wherein they discovered so much of their rotten Tenents so much of their folly and weakness being unable to maintain what they had asserted that one said to them An 't please God I will believe you no more Others that were wavering before were confirmed against them aud established in the ways of Truth and so continue still to this day The next week after this meeting I went into the Country for a fortnight and in my absence two of my friends Mother and Daughter went off to the Quakers the Daughter was the first whose inclinations and humour carried her that way for some time before for the preserving of whom from the Quakers delusions upon the request of the Mother I had several discourses with her I gave several reasons against their tenents and ways unto which she could give no answer nor any ground of her liking their ways which was not answered onely a perverse will which I am inform'd her Mother hath so much indulg'd in other things unbefitting a parent that in this it is like to prove the destinction both of mother and child did lead her this way against all reasons and perswasions I acknowledge I did say It was worse to go to the Quakers meetings than to a Bawdyhouse because the defilement of the soul with their damnable erors which there she was likely to contract was more deep and more hardly to be washt off than the defilement of whoredom or adultery and what our Saviour said of the Pharisees I may say of the Quakers that harlots go into the Kingdom of Heaven sooner than they moreover I told her that If there stood a cup of poyson in the window I would rather drink it than suck in their damnable Doctrines because poysoning of the body was not so bad as the poysoning and damning of the soul. I said further not that I would give her up but that if she went again God might give her up to believe a lye that she might be damned the
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 works of your Father you do and will do you are his more close and subtle agents that in a seeming more refined way do all you can to enlarge the bounds of his Kingdom and like Satan when the Sons and Daughters of God assemble themselves to worship their Father some of you will appear amongst them to disturb them I wonder how you can have the face to pretend Religion when it is so apparent that you are more than ordinarily acted by the Devil to oppose it 4. You are Serpents and a generation of Vipers full of deadly poyson poyson in the head the poyson of damnable errours from whence poyson doth drop forth at your lipps and into your pens you are Serpents putting forth your stings where ever you come hissing at all those who are not of your brood If our Saviour were on Earth to preach to you as he did to the Pharisees he would with as great reason thus stile you as he did them Que II. Do you know where you are 1. You are in the Devils School he is training you up in some of the deepest mysteries of his Kingdom some amongst you are but raw Scholars and in the lower form but you that I speak to are arrived to some proficiency and are well instructed in some of the chief principles of the Devils Catechism so that you are able also to instruct others in the Devilish Doctrines you have learnt of him Your master is a lyer from the beginning and the Father of lyes and you have learnt and believed some of his lyes as if they were certain truths 2. You are in the Devils arms he huggeth you so fast that it is more difficult to pluck you from thence than the most wicked and profane 3. You are in the Devils chains whereby he is leading you captive at his will they are chains of darkness and errour which he hath upon you whereby he is dragging you towards the regions of eternal darkness Que III. Do you know what you are doing 1. You are dishonouring God in dishonouring the Son you dishonour the Father in reproaching Gods Embassadours you reproach the King that sent them you are spots and blemishes to Religion and render it ridiculous to the prophane world 2. You are murdering your own Souls embruing your hands in your own blood you are poysoning wounding killing your selves and you are some of the greatest soul-murderers of others of any that live upon the Earth Que. IV. Do you know whether you are going You are going the certain way to Hell your way is not in the common rodewith others but it is a by-way and dark path in which you often stumble and fall and at length it will meet with the great rode of the world at the Gate of Hell in which you will as certainly enter at last if you go on in this path as Cain and Iudas that are there already And here I might sound a peal of Judgement in your ears and forewarn you of the wrath to come to escape which one day you would give ten thousand worlds for an interest in Christs Satisfaction and imputed Righteousness when it will be too late but for the present most of you are Judgement-proof and Sermon-proof and so prejudiced against us Ministers who are employed as Watch-men by the Lord to forewarn the people of their danger that our reproofsand warnings are rejected and railing language is the return of our admonitions Yet in the name of the Eternal and Living God Father Son and Holy Ghost whose I am and whom I serve in the work of the Ministry I call upon you that are eluded by the Quakers and have not as yet sucked in all their poysonous principles which they have cunningly concealed from you but now have made manifest to the world that without any further delay you would come out from amongst them and seperate your selves that you would save your selves from this untoward generation that you would deliver your selves as a bird out of the snare of the fowler and as a Roe out of the hand of the hunter praying to the Lord to grant you repentance for going amongst them unto the acknowledgement of his truths which they deny and that you may be recovered out of the snare of the Devil who hath hitherto led you captive considering that if you go in this way your steps will certainly take hold on Hell O then hasten hasten poor captiv'd deluded Souls hasten for the Lords sake for your poor souls sake hasten from these Soul-murderers unto the Lord Jesus the Soul-Savior and into the ways of life and salvation which he hath prescribed in his word Lastly I shall in a word bend my speech unto all as yet undeluded Christians by way of exhortation to stedfastness in the truths and way of the Lord and as they desire their salvation to beware of the Quakers damnable Doctrines There are two ways whereby God doth try his people the one is by persecution and other is by heresie and the Apostle telleth us 1 Co. 11. 19. that it is necessary heresies should arise that they which are approved might be made manifest this later way doth sometimes discover more unsound Professours than the former the approved and elect of God I am sure will stand and if any go out from us it is a sign they were not of us for if they had been of us no doubt they would still have continued with us 1 Ioh. 2. 19. And here I shall again repeat what I did before assert that it were better for you to drink a cup of poyson than to suck in the Quakers damnable opinions Take heed of this infection which is worse than poyson and plague more dangerous and destructive For this end labour to get on the girdle of truth let the truths of the word be fastned about the loyns of your minds that is get the principles of Religion fixed in you which that they may mingle them with faith and love and live under the powerful influence of them And that you may be the further off from danger avoid the Company and Meetings of the Quakers lest coming thither out of novelty being out of Gods way you be left by God and as too many have been you be caught by the Devil in the snares which there he layeth and come not neer the Tents of these enemies of Jesus Christ lest you be swallowed up in the same ruine which is coming upon them If you would save your selves from their plagues you must keep your selves out of their ways I shall shut up all with the exhortation of the Apostle Peter having told believers of the unlearned and unstable who did wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction as do the Quakers he exhorteth them 2 Epist. 3. cap. 17. 18. v. Yee therefore beloved seeing ye know these things before beware lest ye also being lead away with the errour of the wicked fall from your own stedfastnesse but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Now to God the Father to God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be glory and honour both now and for ever Amen FINIS ERRATA THe speeding of the sheets off the Presses hath caused too many both literal Errata's and in the sence too the chiefest found out in a hasty reveiw you have as follow and are desired to mend Page 9 line 21 read destruction p. 11. l. 25 read own p. 15 l. 11. read understands p. 16 l. 30 r. redicule l. 32 r. heart p. 17 l. 24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 18 l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 12 Iob 35. 10. l. 2 my l. 14 for my r. thy l. 18 r. for 18 28 p. 20 l. 3 for the r. three l. 10 after substances adde therefore the Father Son and Holy Ghost are three distinct substances or three distinct nothings p. 23 l. 27 blot out W. P. required his presence else where p. 27 l. 18. blot out Father Son and Holy Ghost p. 28 l. 17 r. blasphemer p. 34 l. 28 r. Three p. 35 l. 33 r. their p. 40 l. 6 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 23 r. true where ever you find subsistance read subsistence p. 42. r. foolish l. last r. reasonings p. 45 l. 15 r. there p. 48 l. 18 r. W. P's p. 51 l. last r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 52 l. 1 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 12 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 17 r. Praxean l. 28 for thee r. the p. 53 l. 8 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 34 r. arguments p. 54 l. 27 r. much concern my self l. 29 r. but chiefly p. 55 l. 2 r. peccatum l. 7 r. when ye have c. p. 56 l. last r. to give p. 59 l. 31 r. out of