did work as it were a striâ—e against Sathan because he did strive against himself he said these things As for his false Insinuation of my calling Prayers Charms and Spells it â—â— easily discovered I own all true Prayer both Vocal and Mental that cometh in the least degree from the inbreathing i.e. Inspiration of Gods Spirit and have through Mercy found the unspeakable advantage of it to my Soul and do earnestly recommend true Prayer in the Spirit of God to all and so do all true Quakers so called In his Third Argument p. 34. wherein he giveth many supposed Contradictions that I give to myself in my former Books and upon that false Supposition as on a false Foundation raiseth his Argument against me I think not to spend Time nor Paper to answer them all in particular for let but the Reader see my own words in my printed Books and well consider them and if he have but a little sound Judgment he will easily find I have not contradicted my self in any thing though I could easily discover many Contradictions of C.M. to himself But to make me seem to contradict my self he has no better way but to wrest and pervert my words as in the very first instance he alledgeth he perverteth my words grosly as if by their Fathers whom I did acknowledge to â—ave had some measure of Tenderness Sobriety and Simplicity in a printed Paper of mine some time a go I did mean these who near â—orty Years a go did put our Friends to Death at Boston Which is a manifest Perversion enough to Discredit all he saith having as little Truth against me Whereas by their Fathers I did not mean the present Generation that taketh in forty Years commonly at least in vulgar sense but these that lived sixty or near seventy Years past that had some measure of Tenderness and Sincerity and were not of a persecuting Spirit as these who put our Friends to Death nor had the generality of the People in New-â—â—â—â—â—nd a hand in our Friends Death for many of them disliked it 〈◊〉 â—ave been credibly informed and some have acknowledged the hand of God against the Land ever since for those Murders and I wish many might see it and repent of it that they might be forgiven and Gods anger quenched towards them that hath been and remaineth to be kindled against them And he is as impertinent in labouring to reconcile his own Contradiction that John Delavall charged upon him as if it were no Contradiction either because the Assertions are thirty pages distant or because he did query and not affirm whereas the manner of his Querying showeth a plain Affirmation in calling or bringing in their deceased Fathers to expostulate with them for their Degeneration And this is all the Answer he giveth to John Delavall's sollied and weighty Appendix with a scoffing airy Spirit as his manner is he compareth to a Dutch Womans unintelligible Babbling And no less doth he bely me to accuse me as if I said or suggested in my Book called The Presbyterian Independent Churches brought to the Test c. That these Churches of Presbyterians and Independents were false upon all accounts beyond that of Rome it self Than which there can be no greater Perversion and Belying of a mans words I said no such thing nor do I think any such thing I have alwayes judgded and do still judge that all these Churches called Protestant Churches whether Episcopal Presbyterian Independent or Baptists in many yea very many things hold better Doctrine than the Church of Rome and in many things are nearer to the Letter of the Scripture and to the Truth and I have Charity that some may belong to Christ as his Members among them all even the Church of Rome not excepted yet all this will not prove that any one of them all is the true visible Church restored to that purity of Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government as was in the Apostles dayes and was before the Church fled into the Wilderness and as will be at her full Return which is approaching He is as weak and impertinent to charge it on me as a Contradiction to my self to say That in some things in speaking or writing we may err if we be not duely watchful And yet That in many things we have been taught infallibly by the Infallible Spirit of God to believe them as to believe That God is and hath given his dear Son for us and many such precious Truths and if he hath no infallible Belief and Knowledge of these things and other Fundamental Truths he is neither Ministâ—◠〈◊〉 Christ nor a true Christian but a meer Sceptick Any Colledge Scâ—â—â—â— Boy knoweth that Contradictions lie not betwixt two Particuâ—â—â—â— nor two Universals but one Particular and another Universal as if one should say That he is in all things taught infallibly and yet again say That in some things he might or did err it would be a Contradiction but this I have not said Nor is a Contradiction betwixt two Positives but the one Positive the other Negative and therefore it is no â—ontradiction to say Some are Elected in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World to be Holy c. and yet to deny That others are eternally or absolutely Reprobated for Elected and Reprobated are both Positives and therefore not Contradictory no more than White and Black as it is no Contradiction to say Some Colours are White and therefore all other Colours that are not White are Black It seemeth that Cotton Mather whom some as he telleth us have called The Colledge Boy of New-England hath not well learned his Logick or at least doth not well remember it since he was a Colledge-Boy for he bewrayeth shameful Ignorance in the way of right Dispute that Colledge Boyes might be ashamed of Nor is it any Contradiction to say That the Lord Jesus Christ is the alone and sure Foundation and Ground of Justification and yet to assert That Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience are necessary Conditions and Instruments thereunto required and if he will not believe me let him ask his admired and revereâ—d Baxter as he calleth him who will tell him the same But whereas he alledgeth I say A true Believer may be only in the first Covenant citing my Book pag. 147. But this is no Contradiction when by Believers I mean such as may have a true Belief that God is from some true and real inward Conviction and Sense and yet not have the true Faith in Christ Jesus as he dyed and rose again for such a Faith Cornelius had before Peter preached Christ to him also according to Christs Doctrine in the Parable of the four Grounds some may believe in Christ for a time and yet fall away and that Faith is not a false Faith but true in some sort Thus I have given a short hint to demonstrate how groundlesly he would charge Contradictions on me the other being more obvious to the weakest
they have them And I appeal to all sober Readers Whether Cotton Mather hath not grosly perverted my words that because I did not own them to have a divine Power of Exorcism whereby to conjure the Devil as if I did affirm their Prayers were a Conjuring of the Devil which instead of affirming I strongly denyed as the Reader may see in my Book called A Refutation c. and by this and his other man Pervertions of my words I may take measure how he is too like to have perverted grosly the words of my Friends in his alledged Citations that I have not seen in their Books when he doth so palpably pervert my words to a plain contrary sence that is obvious to them of the weakest Capacity Nor did I call his and his Brethrens Prayers Charms and Spells as he alledgeth see my Book p. 71 72. only I said That seeing they generally mock at any at this day laying claim to divine Inspiration and Revelation I cannot own their Prayers to be true they are liker to Charms and Spells of superstitious Persons c. But this will not infer that I did really call or judge them Charms or Spells for I think they are not Witches except in that sense used by Paul Gal. 3.1 because they bewitch not the Bodies but the Souls of People from believing and obeying the Truth for I may say one thing is liker to another thing and yet not say it is that very thing As if I should say C.M. is liker to a Pharisee or Mass-Priest than to a true Minister of Christ doth it therefore follow that I judge he is really a Pharisee or Mass-Priest or to use his Phrase were the Transmigration of Souls a Truth if I should say Cotton Mather is liker Demetrius the Silver-Smith who accused Paul because his and his Brethren's Craft was in danger to be set at naught Acts 19.27 than to a true Minister of Christ Doth it therefore follow that I judge that C.M. is Demetrius risen again from the dead By no means And for his comparing me to Alexander the Copper-Smith it is foolish and envious I honour and esteem highly both Paul's Doctrine and himself and all the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord and therefore I do nothing resemble Alexander the Copper-Smith but C.M. and his Brethren do too much resemble not only Alexander the Copper-Smith who opposed Paul but Demetrius the Silver-Smith that they are in such fear their Craft be set at nought by the People call'd Quakers else why do they make such a stir about their Wages and Hire Whereas if they were true Ministers of Christ they should preach his Gospel freely as the Apostles and others do and as true Ministers of Christ now do And His accusing me of having committed the Vnpardonable Sin upon a meer Forgery of his own hatched in his Brains by the Father of Lyes puts me in mind of what I have read in the Church History writ by Lucas Osiander How when two of the Patricy of Rome that were Christians whom Pope Sixtus had Excommunicate for their accusing him to have been too familiar with some of the consecrated Virgins had begged of him to be Relaxed professing their Repentance and urging Christs Doctrine If thy Brother Trespass against thee and return not only Seven Times c. thou shalt forgive him The proud Pope refused to Relax them affirming They had committed that Vnpardonable Sin because they had offended him And like to this the English Hobbs who is no good Philosopher and a worse Divine saith in one of his Books by way of a smart Satyr against the Clergy That if any offend a Clergy-man alias a black Coat â—e will tell them they have commitâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Vnpardonable Sin of Blasphemy against the holy Ghost as Cotton â—â—â—her hath here served me but without all just cause I bless God and therefore the sober People of New-England have cause to consider better what sort of men these are who make Lyes their Refuge and their Weapons whereby they fight against us Nor do I yet find the least cause to incline me to believe that C. M's Prayers did cast out the Devil out of these Children as he alledgeth seeing they say Miracles are ceased and Divine Exorcisme was one of these Miraculous Gifts of Gods Spirit and C.M. himself helpeth us to understand if these Children were really bewitched how they were cured by some other means than his and his Brethrens Prayers to wit as he plainly confesseth pag. 44. compared with pag. 12. That one thing in the Childrens deliverance was the strange Death of an horrible Old Woman who was presumed to have a great hand in their affliction And pag. 12. he telleth When the Witch was going to her Excution she said the Children should not be relieved by her Death for others had a hand in it as well as she And thus from C.M. we have found other means of the Childrens cure than his and his Brethrens Prayers the which seeing he calleth them Dirt and Dung in his Book were not likely to be means of dispossessing the Devil out of those Children indeed we read that Christ wrought a miracle with Clay and Spittle but no where that I remember that ever he wrought a Miracle with Dirt and Dung beside he seemeth to be more guilty of Blasphemy that calleth their Prayers which he saith are the special Operations of the holy Spirit Dirt and Dung as he plainly doth And with as little success doth C.M. seek to defend his false Gloss on Christs words as if Christ had taught That Sathan is not divided against Sathan Whereas I said Sathan is divided against Sathan there being no true unity in his Kingdom and therefore it must fall and not be perpetual nor in thâ—â— do I in â—he least wrest from Christs Argument against the Jews because I did acknowledge that Christ argued most strongly against them ad hominem And supposing that Sathan at times did cast out Sathan yet that is but that Sathan may enter again some more dangerous way or fully as dangerous but whom Christ cureth he so cureth that Sathan by his means doth not again enter but the holy Spirit of God as was fullfilled in Mary Magdelen And whereas he saith He is mistaken if he hath not the generality of Interpreters on his side he hath not showed who this generality is and he showeth how little he is versed in Antiquity otâ—â—â—wise he might have remembred how Origine above thirteen hundâ—â—â— Years ago doâ—h contradict him and say the same with me for thus he writeth expresly in his Comment on John pag. 424. of his 2d Tom. printed at Basil 1557. Cum enim admisissâ—t esse quendam Beelzebub et que illias presidio Demonia ejiceret dissidam â—eluti quoddam Satane operari eo quod secum ipse dissideret hec in quit i.e. When Christ had allowed that there was a certain Belzebub and that he who did cast out Devils by his Power
hath perverted my words and belyed me in many things then he cryeth out Ignorance and other things that are Scripture Truths he calleth my Ignorance whereas it is but his Ignorance that doth not understand better And I doubt not but Judicious and Impartial Readers who compare his Books and mine will have another Judgment concerning me and acknowledge to Gods Praise the Gifts both of sound Knowledge and Expression with his manifold other Mercies bestowed on me for which I desire to praise him forever And for my saying That Light being used as a Name of God is no Figurative or Tropical Expression I have already above explained my sense of it That the Natural Light is the Figure of God that Divine Light but the Divine Light is not the Figure of the Natural as Figures of Metaphors and Tropes in Natural things commonly are quite otherwise And Augustine De Genes ad Lit. lib. 4. cap. 28. expresly affirmeth That Christ is Properly and not Figuratively called Light and yet who will say that Augustine was not a more knowing Man than Cotton Mather and who can deny but Light is immediate though it comes through a Medium of the Air to our Eyes and through the medium of the Eye to the sense of sight for do we not as immediately see a Candle as we see a Man and yet the species or image of both come to our Eyes through the medium of the Air So that in this as in many other things he showeth his own extream Ignorance that 's not worth time to mention And that he reckoneth it my Ignorance that I say Christ commanded not these words to be used in Baptism In the Name of the Father and of the Son c. commonly called the words of Institution As he can neâ—er prove any such Institution so he hath Zuinglius whom he maketh his President in another case against him for Zuinglius saith expresly Lib. de Bapt. pag. 66. tom 2. Christus Jesus Baptism formulam qua uteremur his verbis non Instituit quem ad modum Theologi bactenus falso Tradiderunt i. e. Christ Jesus did not institute the form of Baptism in these words to be used as the Theologues have heretofore falsly delivered And he is intoxicated with a Spirit of Ignorance and not I as he falsly alledgeth on me to assert That Exod. 20.8 9. so commandeth one day of seven as that it may be First as well as the Seventh Whereas if Natural dayes be meant it cannot be the First but the Seventh for it is not said Remember to keep the First Day for Rest and after that labour Six dayes And that he denyeth and mocketh at an inward and spiritual Day showeth him extreamly Ignorant of spiritual Things as well as his Scoffing showeth his frothy airy Spirit scarcely to be parallell'd Is not the Day of Gods Power Psal 110. an inward and spiritual Day And where it is said Let us walk honestly as in the Day Rom. 13.13 and until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 And is not this an inward Day And that he reproacheth me with Giddiness for saying The Sabbath is Christ to wit the thing figured by the Jews Sabbath In this he reproacheth as well his pretendedly much esteemed Calvin who saith expresly the same lib. 2. cap. 8. n. 32. of his Institutes where he saith Christ is the Truth at whose Presence all the Figures evanish the Body by whose sight the Shadows are left He I say is the fullfilling of the true Sabbath And a little after he chargeth it as Superstition upon them that would make the Observation of the First Day of the Week for a Sabbath to be a Divine Institution and doth fully agree with us That it is to be kept by choice for good Order and assembling together for divine Worship and other good Reasons but not by divine Precept injoyning the strictness of the Jewish Sabbath As for that silly Jest of Baxters that C.M. pleaseth his airy mind with telling the Quakers That their to wit Presbyterian Bells are not carnal else they would not sound so high he might have used it as much against Paul for saying Our Weapons are not carnal as implying that the Sword was a carnal Weapon but according to Rich. Baxter there can be no carnal Sword for then it could not cut whereas things are called Carnal from the hand that useth them as for other causes and the Levitical Laws were called Carnal Ordinances in Scripture And whereas he saith None preach the most intimate Vnion and Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ more than he and his Brethren is a most bold and impudent Untruth seeing 1 st they say expresly That Christ is not at all within us but only without us in Heaven and no wise in us but by â—is Operations as if he and his operations could be divided 2 dly That they deny the Working or Operations of the Spirit of God in the Saints to be Objective or that the Spirit worketh as any sensible Object upon the inward and spiritual Senses of the Saints Hence with Jesuits and Papists from whom they have borrowed that Distinction as I can prove as namely from Sacroboscus a Jesuit Def. decret trident p. 93 94. they say The Spirit worketh Effectively and Subjectively but not Objectively And therefore do they not one whit more preach any nearer Union and Communion with Christ than the darkest Papists yea some Papists that own sensible Workings of the Spirit as some do go far beyond them viz. C. Mather and some of his Brethren in that particular But that I have slandered the Assembly in their saying The Souls of the Righteous are not perfected in Holiness till after Death which C.M. hath twice cast upon me I desire the Reader for his Satisfaction and my Vindication but to read the place that I cited viz. cap. 32. n. 1. where they say expresly thus The Bodies oâ— men after Death return to Dust and see Corruption but their Souls which neither dye nor sleep having an Immortal Subsistence immediately return to God who gave them the Souls of the Righteous being THEN made perfect in Holinss c. Where it is plain that the Adverb of Time Then refers to the word in the first line viz. After Death yea and as would seem then when the Bodies return to Dust and see Corruption that sometimes is a considerable time after Death where dead Bodies are Embalmed but this last part I suppose is an oversight in them And seeing they plead for sin for term of Life yea to the last instant what difference there is that they can make betwixt dying in their sins and living in their sins for Term of Life is not intelligible for in Scripture-phrase Not to have Iniquity purged away till men dye and to dye in Iniquity is all one for the instant of Death is quick as a Thought That I said Notoriously Scandalous Persons Lyars Deceivers Drunkards
many in England and Scotland In his 17 th Assertion he is as weak and abusive as in any of the former That he his Brethren cannot own true Piety to be essential to a true Minister of Christ to make a necessary Provision for the everlasting Peace of renewed Souls which cannot be saved without their Assertion viz. That true Piety is not essential to a true Minister for this would make their Conversion or Peace wholly depend upon Grace in the heart of a Minister But this is a most gross Abuse and Pervertion and a most silly trick or cheat to palliate or excuse their absurd Doctrine which a Child may discover for the Contradictory Assertion viz. That true Piety is essential to a true Minister of Christ doth not make that the Conversion of the Souls dependeth on Grace in the Minister because many Thousands of Souls have been and are daily converted without any Minister good or bad by reading or hearing the holy Scriptures the holy Spirit aiding and concurring therein and this is generally confessed by all Protestants And if some think they were converted by means of some Ministers that were afterwards sound to be Hypocrites all that this can prove is not that they are not converted but that they are in some mistake about the man whom they thought was the Instrument of it and was not And for my saying It is no wonder that New-England abounds with such Impious Ministers I did argue ad hominem according to your Principle for to say True Piety is not essential to a true Minister of Christ openeth a door to let in a stood of Impious Ministers upon the People of New-England and it is to be feared this absurd Principle hath too much open'd a Door unto them And for all your strict pretended Tryal of men before they enter into the Ministry do ye try them concerning their Piety if nay then ye open a door to them who may be really Impious if they have but wit enough to be Hypocrites and only seemingly Pious if Yea this contradicts your Doctrine who say ye have no certain way to try whether men be really Pious or not for ye reject all pretence to a discerning of Spirits whereby to know who are really Pious and who not and the Marks given by Paul whereby to try men before they be owned to be either Bishops i. e. Overseers or Pastors or Deacons were not out-side Marks of Holyness only that Hypocrites may have but to be really sober just holy temperate Tit. 1.8 and where these Virtues are they do as certainly and infallibly discover themselves in words and works to the spiritual Discerners as Spices and precious Oyntments or Perfumes discover their sweet smell and odour to them who have the right use of their natural smelling And as to his Question How People may know whether we have an Immediate Call to the Ministry To this I Answer There must be some spiritual Ability or Gift of Discerning in such who are able to know such a thing for it is only the spiritual Man that is able to judge of spiritual things and whomsoever God calleth to the Ministry by his Power and Spirit inwardly revealed that is immediate his Power and Presence according to his faithful Promise doth go along with them so that some that hear them though not all are the Seal of their Ministry and the Blind are made to see the Deaf to hear the Lame to walk the Dumb to speak and the Dead to live to wit spiritually And as this was Luther's answer to the Papists that asked for some Signs to prove his and his Brethrens Call who did commonly upbraid them That they never so much as cured a Lame Horse so it may suffice for our Answer for whether C.M. believe it or not we have had the Seal of our Ministry that many by means of our Testimony have had their inward Eyes opened and have been turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Sathan unto God and this inward Change hath had its evident Effects of Christian Piety Sobriety and Justice in their outward Conversation But such who were blinded and hardned against the Spirit of Truth did not know Christ nor his Apostles and Ministers and therefore we cannot expect that such can know us And this Question of C.M. may be easily retorted upon him that doth so confidently affirm That there are so many Ministers in New-England that have and use all true Piety let him tell us how he or they can prove that they are really Holy and that their Holyness is not a meer outside Holiness that Hypocrites may have If he â—â—y they may be known by their Fruits I query again By what Fruits Are these Fruits only outward words and works that Hypocrites may have for there is nothing barely outward but Hypocrites may have But if by Fruits he mean that which hath some inward Virtue and savour of Life and Grace with them that do infallibly demonstrate themselves to be the Fruits of the Spirit to such as have a spiritual savour and discerning as this would contradict their Principle so it maketh for us to answer his Question Nor are there sufficient Testimonies of antient Christian Writers wanting who did agree with us in our Assertion viz. That Hypocrites and Vnholy Men who have not the Spirit of Christ are not true Ministers of Christ as not only Luther whom I cited in my former Book who calleth them Sectaries and Seducers who know to preach much of Christ but seeing they feel him not in their Hearts as to be sure such do not who have no true Piety they leave the right ground of the Mystery cap. 11. Luth. Mensal But of the Antients backwards of above 1200 Years ago I shall cite two short Testimonies for this Assertion held by us viz. Cyprian who lived about the middle of the 3d Century and Athanasius who lived in the 4th Century for Cyprian in his Epistle to Januarius saith How can he who is unclean himself and who hath not the holy Spirit cleanse or sanctifie the Water viz. in Baptism seeing the Lord saith Numb 19. All that the unclean toucheth shall be unclean And after What Prayer can a sacriligous Priest and who is a Sinner make for the Baptized seeing it is written God heareth not a sinner but he that worshippeth him and doth his Will him he heareth but who can give what he hath not or how can he do spiritual things who hath lost the holy Spirit And in his Epistle to Stephen Bishop of Rome he with his Collegues gathered in Council in Africa writeth saying It behoveth that Priests and Ministers who serve at the Altar and Sacrifices be sound and immaculate seeing the Lord saith in Levit. cap. 21. The man in whom there is any fault or vice shall not approach to offer Gifts to God and in Exodus the Priests who approach to God let them be sanctified lest the Lord forsake them Exod.
best of Modern good men do from their own Experience attest it That this spiritualizeth Religion and renders its enjoyments more comfortable and delicious That it keeps the Soul under a vivid sense of God and is a grand security against Temptation That it holds it steady amid the flatteries of a prosperous state and gives it the most grounded Anchorage and support amid the Waves of an adverse Condition That 't is the Noblest Encouragement to Virtue and the biggest assurance of an happy Immortality I say I considered these weighty things and wondered at the carelesness and prejudice of Thoughts that occasion'd 〈◊〉 suspecting the reality of so glorious a Priviledge I saw how little reason there is in denying matters of inward sense because our selves do not feel them or cannot form an apprehension of them in our Minds I am convinced that things of Gust and Relish must be judg'd by the sentient and vital Faculties and not by the poetical Exercises of speculative Understandings And upon the whole I believe infinitely that the divine Spirit affords its sensible Presence and immediate beatifick Touch to some rare Souls who are divested of carnal Self and mundane Pleasures abstracted from the Body by Prayer and holy Meditation spiritual in their Desires and calm in their Affections devout Lovers of God and Virtue and tenderly affectionate to all the World â—â—ncere in their Aims and circumspect in their Actions inlarged in 〈◊〉 Souls and 〈◊〉 in their Minds These I think are the Dispositions that are requisite to fit us for divine Communion and God transacts not in this 〈◊〉 way but with prepared Spirits who are thus disposed for the manifestation of his Presence and his Influence And such I believe he never fails to bless with these happy fore-tastes of Glory John Norris M.A. and late Fellow of All Souls Colledge in Oxford in his Treatise Reflections upon the Conduct of Humane Life Reflect 2. N. 9. pag. 69. saith The Right and only Method of Inquiry after that Truth which is Perfective of the Understanding is to consult the divine Logos or Ideal World for this is the Region of Truth and here are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge This is that great universal Oracle lodged in every mans Breast whereof the Antient Vrim and Thummim was an expressive Type or Emblem This is †Reason this is Conscience this is Truth this is that Light within so darkly talk't of by some who have by their aukward untoward and unprincipled way of representing it discredited one of the Noblest Theorys in the World Note If perhaps some have been short in that thing yet it hath been well demonstrated by many or most of that People here by him reprehended But the thing in it self rightly understood is true and if any shall call it Quakerism or Enthusiasm I shall only make this Reply at present That 't is such Quakerism as makes a good part of St John's Gospel and of St Austin's Works But to return This I say is that divine Oracle which we all may and must consult if we would inrich our Minds with Truth that Truth which is Perfective of the Understanding And this is the true Method of being truly wise and this is no other Method than what is advised us by this divine Logos the substantial Wisdom of God Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my Gates waiting at the Posts of my Doors Prov. 8.34 And again says the same substantial Wisdom Whoso is simple let him turn in 〈◊〉 And again I am the Light of the World he that follows me or as the word more properly signifies he that consorts or keeps company with me 〈…〉 in Darkness This therefore is via Intelligentiae the way and 〈…〉 of true Knowledge to apply our selves to the divine 〈…〉 felt the Ideal World †i. e. not Humane but Divine 〈…〉 THE END