Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	father_n	true_a	worship_v	5,831	5	9.4836	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57953	Quakerism is paganism, by W.L.'s confession; in a book directed to Mr. N.L. citizen of London: or, Twelve of the Quakers opinions, called by W.L. The twelve pagan principles, or opinions; for which the Quakers are opposed to Christians examined and presented to William Penn. By W. R. a lover of Christianity.	Russel, William, d. 1702.; Roberts, Daniel, 1658-1727. aut	1674 (1674)	Wing R2358; ESTC R219761	57,659	96

loved the World that he sent himself and all other Scriptures of the like import as that where he saith If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true There is another which beareth witness of me The Father himself which hath sent me hath born witness of me John 5. 31 32 37. which they must read If I bedr witness of my self my witness is not true But I bear witness of my self and then how bravely will they make the Lip of Truth to contradict himself and indeed make void the Fathers Testimony concerning his Son and make it doubtful whether he be the True Messiah If they assert it it 's horrid Blasphemy and the very Opinion of Muggleton and his Company who they say are Impostors for they agree with the Quakers in this That there is no distinction of Persons in the Divine Essence and therefore they say That the Son was the Father and the Father the Son and that when Christ died God himself died But the Quakers though they agree with them in the former yet they differ in the latter For the Quakers say That Christ in respect of himself never died neither could he because he was only God I do therefore begg of these two Gentlemen W. L. and W. P. to shew us how it is possible for them to extricate themselves out of this difficulty and that they would either remove this absurdity from the Quakers door or else acknowledg they have been mistaken in charging their own Guilt upon other Men. In the next place W. L. tells us And so I pass to the Humanity and makes a full stop only in the Margin or rather a Break that is made for that purpose he puts in these words I know no better Text to teach us the Divinity and Humanity of Christ than 1 Cor. 15. 27 28. Reader If this be a passing to the Humanity no Man ever past from it as I think with that brevity before if this be an account of the Humanity I must confess I don't understand it but let us consider those two Verses he hath quoted for our information ver 27. For he hath put all things under his Feet but when he saith all things are put under him it is manifest that he is excepted that did put all things under him ver 28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all Which words I have seriously considered and I find nothing in them to the purpose pretended i. e. to prove the Divinity and Humanity of Christ with that Cleerness W. L. speaks of But I think I have found out his intent namely to lead us from the Matter we are upon But I will examine his next words which are these W. L. Only with this Caution that because we oppose not our Teachers in these Mysteries which are above our Reason we suffer not Mystical Babylon to impose others upon us contrary to Reason for then we shall soon be able to give as little Reason of the hope that is in us as the poor Irish-Men Rep. An excellent definition of the Humanity of Christ sure this Man hath lost his Wits or honesty or both but to proceed W. L. Now saith he As to the Quakers denying the Distinct Person without them if it were so is it still but an If W. L. confessed at the beginning of this Head that they did not own it sure he hath a bad Memory then certainly there is no probability they should be of the Popish Pedigree or easily ☞ reduced to that Religion as many conceit And he gives us a jeer for his Reason i. e. For that is busied most of all about the Person of Christ and his Mother too and adds If the Jesuites were their Fathers as a late printed sheet would perswade us truly they went as wisely about their business as General Venables to take Hispaniola and why not Admiral Penn too for I think he was there by landing his Army so far from it that before they could get through the Woods they met so many difficulties as forced them to retreat and assault Jamaica Ans To which I answer That the Quakers might be set on work by the Jesuites notwithstanding they deny Christ to be a Distinct Person without them and the Jesuites do not For there is nothing more suiting Jesuitical Policy than to pretend one thing and intend another Their Art and Order is almost as well filled with Subtilties and Equivocations as the Order of Quakers and had but this Man studied Machiavil as well as W. P. is supposed to have done he might get over this Objection with ease For it is possible the Jesuites may design the introducing of Popery in England by promoting Quakerism And in my Opinion it 's the likelyest way to do it and that for these Reasons 1. Because the Quakers deny the Holy Scriptures to be a Rule of Faith and Practice to Christians and it all England were of this mind what Argument could be urged against the Church of Rome but what a Jesuite could easily enervate I have met with divers Popish Priests in my time and I always found Scripture-Argumens the best Weapons against Popery I would not have the Quakers take away from us the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God till they have found a better Sword to put into our hands 2. Because the Quakers agree with the Church of Rome That there is some other infallible Rule of Faith and Practice The Quakers use to tell us It was the Light in every individual man that cometh into the World But since some difference hath hapned among themselves which they could not reconcile now it is the Spirit in the Body as they call it that is the Judg in Religious Controversies And can it be thought when the Contest shall lie here between them and you that a Jesuite cannot shew better Antiquity and Authority for his Church than you can for yours I should be very sorry if Englands remaining Protestants or returning to Popery depended upon that single issue But to proceed 3. But suppose the Jesuites should miss of their end which is to suppose all that W. L. supposes this is no Argument to prove that they may not therefore attempt the doing it for many men have undertaken things which they could not effect by reason of some unhappy and unseen Accident intervening and yet their design no whit the more impolitickly laid And why should not W. L. think this possible seeing at the same time he opposes it he brings in the instance of General Venables to prove de facto that such a thing was done We must conclude by this man's Argument That the Devil will never attempt the doing of an Impossibility in respect of the event and yet if he read but Chap. 4. of Matthew's Gospel he will find he did so in the Assault

Properties of a Humane Person were found in Christ Ergo he was a Real and True Man To deny the consequence of the Major is to take away the very Rule of Distinction between the Species of different Creatures so that if that be denyed then they may call a Man a Horse and no body can contradict them The Minor I prove thus The Scripture tells us that Christ was made Flesh and made of the Seed of DAVID according to the Flesh made of a Woman did partake of the same Flesh and Blood that Children do that he was Born of the Virgin Mary he did hunger and thirst eat and drink speak and sleep was lyable to all our Temptations yea was Tempted in all points as we are did Travel from one place to another was exposed to so many Sufferings that he was called A MAN of Sorrows and lastly as the greatest Demonstration thereof He who had a Reasonable Soul and a True Body did lay down his Life as a Ransom for us being himself Subject to Death even the Death of the Cross from all which I draw this Conclusion Christ was a Real and true Man But saith W. L. God manifest in the Flesh is yet so great a Mystery that I know no Catechisms free from some seeming incongruities attending the questions about it 〈◊〉 Sure he should have excepted Smith's Catechism and the Catechism of the Quakers great Prophet George Fox for they say they speak and write by an Infalliable Spirit unless he doth not believe they have Immediate Revelation for the Rule of their Faith and Practice notwithstanding they so confidently Assert it But perhaps we are to understand him thus That though there be some seeming Incongruities in them yet they are not Really Incongruous if so then the dispute about that point may soon be ended But to take him as I conceive he would be understood and as indeed his words do signifie then it 's to make this Doctrine so doubtful that in his sence it is lost labour to enquire about the Truth of the Proposition viz. Whether Christ be Really a distinct Person without us or no and a thing not to be Resolved To that I would give this Answer It doth not follow that because there may be some Questions asked about the Manner how that great Work was Accomplished of God's being Manifest in the Flesh which is the wonder of Men and Angels that cannot be resolved by any Man That therefore we should disown it as the Quakers do and conclude that no man can know de facto that such a thing was For though I do not know what moved W. L. to write nor what reward he expects for writing yet I know he did write W. L. cannot tell me how the Bones do grow in the Womb of her that is with Child and yet he knows they did grow there or else they had not been He cannot tell me how the Corn that is cast into the Earth doth grow to be what it is at Harvest and yet he knows it is so A Stalk an Ear c. By the same Argument that W. L. makes it doubtful whether Christ be a distinct Person without us and the Quakers deny him so to be a man may make it doubtful yea deny that ever the Heavens and Earth were made and so not only be no Christian but an Atheist for it 's evident when the most learned Men come to examine every point concerning the Creation of the Heavens and Earth and the things therein as how and what and where and in what manner and when things were done it doth astonish them all to consider the difficulties which they find and the depth of such infinite and inscrutable Mysteries We may as well by William Luddington's way of reasoning conclude that these things had no beginning nay that they are not notwithstanding the Scripture saith so plainly Gen. 1. 1. In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and we see them with our Eyes And by the same parity of Reason because our Saviour saith John 3. 8. That the Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth A Man may conclude that the Wind hath not its Origination and Termination but how absurd such a conclusion would be I leave to the Judicious to determine I hope W. L. will acknowledg That it is the Indispensable duty of all Men to know God and to believe that he is and yet there may be some Questions asked about it that no man living can resolve I believe the Quakers themselves though they say their Soul is a part of God and the light they have in them is God himself yet they would be as much puzzled and find as hard a Task on 't as W. L. saith one Simonides did when he took upon him to define what God was But must we therefore turn Fools and Atheists like him that Holy David speaks of Psalm 14. 1. And say in our Hearts there is no God Reader I am greatly offended when I find men trifle as this Man doth about the most Sacred and Divine Truths of the Gospel and strain their Wits to root up Religion out of the minds of Men for I know through grace that nothing can make a man so happy as to be truely Religious that inriches the Soul with Divine Truths and Heavenly Graces but these Men take away him whom the Father hath anointed and filled with Grace and Truth and appointed to reveal unto us the most glorious Truths of the Gospel and to give us Grace to inable us to obey his Will from whom the Apostles and first Christians did receive BOTH John 1. 16 17. And of his fulness have all we received and Grace for Grace For the Law was given by Moses but GRACE and TRUTH came by Jesus Christ It 's not sufficient for them to say they do own there is a Christ when they intend not the MAN Christ Jesus but a Christ of their own setting up and adoring as such to wit the Light within them For our Saviour saith If ye believe not that I am HE ye shall dye in your Sins John 8. 24. The JEWS could have said asmuch for themselves as that and more too for they did not deny a Messiah but believed he should come yea and be a MAN also when he did come yet they and the Quakers are both agreed that the Man Christ Jesus that is come in the Flesh is not HE and that the True Christ can never dye and be made a Sacrifice for Sin That the Jews were of this Opinion see John 12. 32 33 34. And I if I be lifted up from the Earth will draw all men unto me This he said signifying what death he should dye The People answered him We have heard out of the Law That CHRIST abideth for EVER And how sayest thou the SON of MAN must be lift up Who is this SON of MAN That made

there be no defect in either But to proceed In p 69. he saith The Apostles Doctrine contains Rules but the Light within that gave it forth was the Rule the chief or highest Rule for Guidance and Power and that wherein was the Power of Rule and Government to all true Christians And in p. 58. he is displeased much because his Antagonist doth not believe that their Light is sufficient to direct men to believe in Jesus Christ But is it not manifestly insufficient for that the Quakers who pretend to be guided by that Light do not believe in him as I have made appear Now when G. W. hath thus asserted the sufficiency and infallibility of the Light at the close of his Introduction p. 16. Dictator-like he comes forth like a Pope and General Council with a most dreadful Sentence against all that will not believe him in these words To deny the true God who is Light is Atheism But to deny his immediate Light in man is to deny the true God Surely this is a higher piece ofVncharitableness than Mr. Ives can be supposed to be guilty of in saying The Quakers are no Christians I could have alledged many more Testimonies but these are sufficient Now to prove that this is no new Doctrine let us hear what the Popish Priests say to this point The Papist saith It is that Body called the Church or Divine Revelation which is the Infallible Rule A Book entituled A Manual of Contr. written by a Pomish Priest lays this down for an Article of Faith That the Church of Rome is Infallible in all her Propositions and Definitions of Faith and is so to be received under pain of Damnation And this is known to be their professed Principle Bellar. de verb. Dei Interp. Those that speak against the Popes Decrees and Humane Institutions are false Teachers For the Pope hath Power and Authority to judg in all Controversies in Doctrine and to give forth the right meaning of the holy Scripture and no man may appeal from his judgment Charon's Third Truth chap. 2. having said That the Church and the Scripture are Judges together He adds But the Church is primarily and principally and with great preheminence and a little after The Scripture is not nor cannot be the last Rule and Soveveign Judg of Doctrine And chap. 3. p. 2. Faith that is necessary to Salvation comes from the Churches speaking and not from the Reading of the Scripture Without knowing of which after a sort yea and without believing or obeying it expresly a thousand millions are saved And to be short a man may be a Christian and a good Christian and be saved without the Scripture but not without the Church for the Scripture hath no Authority Weight or Power over us but only so much as the Church doth allow and assign unto it In a Boook entituled Reason against Railery c. p. 7. are these words It may be asked when one pitches upon a determinate sense of any place beyond what the Letter inforces by what light he guides himself in that Determination And then answers That that Light whatever it is and not the Letter is indeed the formal Revealer or Rule of Faith 〈◊〉 in the next Paragraph The Letter-Rule secluded I advanced saith he to prove That Tradition or that Body called the Church taken as delivering her thoughts by a constant Tenor of living Voyce and Practice visible to the whole World is the absolute certain way of conveying down the Doctrine taught at first In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stillingfleeton c. Part 2. p. 19. it 's said That Divine Revelation is firmer and more Authentick than either Scripture or our seeing and again It is the sole standing unextinguishable general Light set up for the assured Guidance of all men And p. 27. They are certain and know themselves certain and declare so much before the face of the Sun and all the eyes of Heaven by their stability fixedness and immovability in Faith In another Popish Book entituled A Rational Compendious way c. p. 31. The Roman Catholick Religion doth not teach any thing as an Article of Faith which is either an Error or a Corruption And p. 30. The Roman Church is infallible and perpetual Now from what hath been said we may draw this Conclusion 1. That if W. L. say true That he is no Christian who denies the Divinity of Christ If he means in the common sense viz. as he is the Second Person in the Divine Essence then the Quakers are no Christians for in that sense they deny the Divinity of Christ in denying the Trinity of Persons 2. That they do really deny the Humane Nature to be a part of Christ and that Sacred Person whom God hath Anointed with the Holy Spirit who is both God and Man The man Christ Jesus to be the Christ the Saviour of the World And so fulfil that Prophecy Even denying the Lord that bought them 3. From hence it follows That the Quakers have no Christ at all but one of their own setting up and adoring For the name Christ cannot be properly applied to the Divine Nature taken Abstractively as I have fully proved And they confess they own no other Christ but the Light within them which they say is only God though in truth it is but a created Light and they Idolaters in worshipping a Creature instead of the Creator 4. If he be no Christian that hath no Rule for his Faith and Practice then the Quakers are no Christians for they have no Rule for their Faith and Practice For 1. They confess the holy Scriptures are not their Rule 2. It 's apparent notwithstanding their high pretences they have not Divine and Immediate Revelation for their Rule for they cannot demonstrate it by Scripture right Reason nor any other way Thus I have used my endeavour according to the Exhortation of the Apostle 2 Tim. 2. 25 26. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will The Lord open the eyes of their understanding and bless this Treatise to all those good ends and purposes for which it is intended To whom be glory in the Churches by Christ Jesus throughout all Ages World without end Amen William Russel Here followeth a Letter from the Baptized-Congregation in Reading concerning William Luddington Brother Ives I Received yours and advised with the Brethren about it and the Answer which is That we do not own William Luddington in any such Relation as Communion with us neither do we know any Principle of Religion that he is stedfast to But about ten or twelve years since he was here in Prison and blamed much for refusing to give God thanks for any of his Mercies or to joyn with them that did with many other strange Humours as Mr. Mason can tell you not suiting with Christian Religion But was looked upon by all to be a Quaker and sometimes a supposed Behmenist which uncertain Fictions best suited his wandring Fancy Sometimes he is for universal Communion with all sorts as he calls it And sometimes speaking against Forms and says He never preached for Baptism nor never would For that Text Mat. 28. 19 20. To the end of the World he says was to the end of that Age. And he had wrote a Book two years since to that purpose and going to print it But Mr. Maynard perswaded him to the contrary So that for this Ten years past we have been so far from any Communion that we have had little Religious Converse neither did we ever find he desired any with us And as for his writing on the behalf of the Quakers he hath done them so little service here that he hath only discovered his folly and made his best Friends ashamed of him and many others say they were deceived in him So that we may say He hath here met with the just reward of his folly and is discerned by all sober rational Christians and left only to be supported if by any by such giddy Brains that will lay hold on any rotten Post to support a Tottering Building But at last yours came and was so acceptable that your Enemies say you have gained great Credit by your discrcet managing that Business And you have morae raised the hearts of all your and the Lord's truly loving Friends towards you And as it is common for men that want Wisdom or good Argument for what they would have to supply it with Railing and abundance of words so your Adversaries have done But God hath furnished you better as appears by your managing this business To whose guidance we leave you with our prayers that you may be kept to the end And rest Your Brethren in Christ Signed by consent By Daniel Roberts Reading this 6th of Decemb. 1674.