Infallible Spirit of God or a Measure of it that the Holy Pen-men were moved to write the Holy Scriptures by If not according to G. K. whom you so Hug and Countenance you have not that which is necessary to Expound Scripture by and then what need any to heed your Interpretation and if you Preach not by the Spirit of God and Pray not by the Assistance thereof how can you profit the People I both acknowledge to thy Patience and desire thy Excuse for being so long Ch. Thou hast indeed now taken a long stretch and if I be long thou must not blame me Qua. Nay therefore take thy Liberty Ch. Then I do first premise whatever Opinion thy Friends may have of such as I am I do assure thee I would be fair and just to all Men for I am not for such Christianity as doth not exceed Morality or that doth not answer our Saviour's Doctrine and I do confess I am somewhat surprized at what G. K. hath said upon these points thou quotes him in and if he be truly represented he appears with no Grace but that Author of The Snake in the Grass tho I know him not Personally yet he appears to be a Man of Parts and Learning but whether he owns our Church or we him as an approved Minister thereof I cannot tell but as to G. K. I am of opinion the Church of England do not esteem him a Minister thereof and whether he owns them or the 39 Articles I know not but am of Opinion he doth not as stated by us But what he proposeth about Authors being their own Interpreters I think Just and Reasonable if Living and if Dead the way thou proposed I approve of and as to the Norfolk-Clergy if I had been in their place and knew my Proofs clear I would not have concealed them And the Simbolizing you with the Jesuits and accounting you to have the Policy of some of them without good Grounds I do frankly acknowledge I do not like for altho I esteem you Erroneous in several things yet I always accounted you among Dissenting Protestants And as to our allowing Men now to have the Infallible Spirit of God Immediately to Guide them I do acknowledge that I do not account we have yet being truly called and instituted and ordained to the Ministry and Preaching those Truths that are agreeable to Scripture and Living good Lives we may and do profit the People But Friend be plain with me now as I have been and tell me do you own the forgiveness of Sins and the Doctrine of Satisfaction the Resurrection of the Dead Qua. I commend thy Moderation and Cautiousness in thy last Answer although I esteem thee mistaken with respect to the last part of it and now I do in much Plainness and Sincerity confess and acknowledge I own the forgiveness of Sins the satisfaction of Christ and the Resurrection of the Dead according to the Holy Scriptures Ch. Do you own that all Just and Moral Men Jews and Mahometans that profess the same Light within as you do and obey its dictates to be your Christian Brethren Qua. As G. K. hath acknowledged in Print so do I concerning Jesus Christ that he did come in the Flesh and Suffered in that prepared Body that was Born of the Virgin Mary yea we own no other Christ than the very same who did then come in the Flesh in that Body and Preached a most Heavenly Doctrine Lived a most Holy Life wrought most Excellent Miracles and at last did offer up himself unto God without Spot most acceptable upon the Cross not only for our Sins but for the Sins of the whole World and this Jesus Christ in us whom we Preach who is the Way the Truth and the Life and Light of the World even that true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World is not another Christ from him that came in the Flesh and died without the Gates of Jerusalem but one and the same Christ And I frankly Acknowledge I own and esteem all them to be my Christian Brethren that truly Believe in rightly Profess and faithfully Obey him i. e. Jesus Christ and that walk in his Light and obey the Dictates thereof Ch. Do you think that Christ God-Man without you to be the Object of your Faith together with the Light within you will bring many great Inconveniences and sad Inferences and Consequences upon you Qua. Truly to take Christ whole and undivided for the Object of my Faith I do not think will bring any great Inconveniences and sad Consequences and Inferences upon me Ch. Why In this late Dialogue I mentioned the Quakers is made to answer Yea and to say It quite overturns our whole Fabrick that we have been building this fifty Years past and plucks up by the Roots the Testimony of our Ancient Friends yea and our present Testimony among our selves Qua. It is our Lot as it was the Primitive Christians to be misrepresented and by such whose Wrath is cruel and Anger out-ragious And who is able to stand against Envy which our Adversaries are fill'd with against us but those that have Truth for their Foundation and Innocency for their Defence Which we humbly Bless God we have as our Ancient Faithful Brethren that died in the Faith and are at rest with the Lord had that is our Comfort and Rejoycing this the Testimony of our Consciences 2 Cor. 1.12 And we can and do testifie and declare That we sincerely own all those Divine Truths and Christian Doctrines contain'd in the Holy Scriptures of Truth however we are misrepresented by our Opposers Ch. Do you own the Holy Scriptures a Secondary Rule Qua. Yea and the Holy Spirit by which the Holy Men of God were moved to write them the Primary Ch. Do you think the Light in all Men would reveal Christ God-Man without them to be the Object of Faith and Worship if all Men were duly Faithful and Obedient to it Qua. We think and believe God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory and if all Men did receive and believe in him who is the Light in all Men then he would reveal himself unto all Men and be the Objest of their Faith and Worship if all Men were daily Faithful and Obedient to him Ch. Do you believe that he that was Born of Mary preached and wrought Miracles suffered at Jerusalem died and was buried was the Son of God Yea notwithstanding them Diologues wickedly makes the Quakers say Abraham and David was his Father But as G. K. saith True Christ owned p. 18. If thou deniest this I ask thee who was the Father of Christ as he was Man but God For if he had another Father then he was not Born of the Virgin Mary Which G. K. concluded Rampant Blasphemy But by the Dialogue I mentioned I perceive the Jews and Mahometans and Deists are
Christ revealed in themselves and that there is not another Christ from him that came in the Flesh and died without the Gates of Jerusalem but one and the same Christ and that the Light of Jesus Christ which they so much despise and contemn this would end all their Controversies heal their Diseases remove all their Doubts bind up all their Wounds and Breaches if they would but come to the Teachings of God's Spirit and the Anointing in themselves this would be an Infallible Touch-Stone and Rule of Trial unto them for one and all And truly my desire is he may return to this that he may be healed and know the Breach made up which he hath made if it were the Lord 's Will. Ch. Oh my old Friend if thou art sincere herein and what thou say'st be true of him he is not the Man that some take him for Qua. I am sincere and what I say is true of him and he himself hath declared this great Truth That the People and Children of God in all Ages have been strangers unto the World and unknown to it and have been for Signs and Wonders their Doctrine their Laws their Conversations hath always been accounted strange and ridiculous and they have been reckoned Deceivers and Blasphemers c. And yet now this Man that with us reckoned himself to be of this Number and continued among us about Thirty Years and said Such viz. The Children of God having one Mind Soul Spirit and Life in them all they cannot but know one another in that wherein their Unity stands p. 186 187. and Fellowship and Communion one with another and this Unity of Spirit is the Bond of Peace And he farther saith If they did not Infallibly know one another they could not have Peace and Unity and Concord one with another How could they discern the true Friend from the secret Enemy the Deceiver which is the most dangerous Enemy and comes into all outwards and appearances can put on the Sheep's Cloathing yet be a rotten Hypocrite a Limb of Satan a Brat of Babylon void of all fear of God And he further adds That these many Churches that have been set up in the Apostacy have not been true Churches by reason of their Warring Hatred Variance Strife Emulation and where-ever any thing of this Spirit of Strife Hatred p. 189. Envy Persecution enters it eats as a Canker and cuts off of the Body that Member or Members whereinto it gets enterance and so going from the Unity and the Peace the Love they become past feeling Death rotten Members and are to be cut off and denied And for this Cause we have denied him and now he Rages and Joyns with those that Belie and Slander us and licks up what the foul Stomachs of Persons that were overcharged with prejudice cast forth against us Ch. Hold a little and consider whether what he chargeth you with is not some old dangerous Errors of yours altho lately discovered by him that were re-writ by some of your old Friends that F. Bugg and the Norfolk Clergy-men that have also charged you would have you retract and blame you for Cloaking and accuse you with Painting Tricks and render your Friends G. W. and W. P. and your Chief Leaders to seem to have some of the Policy of the Jesuits and other Popish Orders that to Lie and Disemble is no Sin providing the Peace of the Church can be preserved thereby Qua. Truly my old Acquaintance I must say to me it 's very observable how Glib their Tongues and Swift their Pens run against us how Loud their Clamour and Severe their Charges are and yet how empty are their Alligations and how barren they are of Arguments and void of Proof as if the Mountains had travelled and brought forth a Mouse or according to the Proverb A great Cry and little Wool Can any Man that is Serious and Impartial think that if these Men had any Proof that were as clear as the Sun at Noon-day and as evident as could be demonstrated they would not produce them but no doubt they know they must put the picked Sentences out of our old Friends Books upon the Tenters and stretch them as the Romanists do Hereticks on the Wheel to see if by that they can get any thing from them or by some false Inference and strain'd and undue consequences that they might make the unwary prejudiced Reader conclude that if The Snake in the Grass F. Bugg and G. Keith or the Noisie Rectors of Norfolk which like empty Casks makes the greatest sound being supposed especially the 2 Country-Men and Brethren Snake and G. K. to be learned it must needs be true for they say it And since many of the Country Parsons have got that Book called The Snake in the Grass and Pilgrim's Progress they hug and applaud them as if they were undoubted Truths for alas they see it in Print and if they meet with a Reply and the words they object against be cleared from what they falsly suggest and represent the sense and meaning to be either by other parts of the same Authors Writings out of which they are picked or by a more natural and due Conclusion or fair Interpretation of the words than they cry out for Painting Tricks and Glossings But hear what G. K. saith to such a Case If it be so among Men that the Law-Maker is admitted in point of Controversie the expounder of the Law and if he who writes a Book amongst Men be accounted the fittest to Interpret or give sense or meaning of his words how much more is it necessary that the Spirit of the Lord which gave forth the Scriptures be the expounder of them Now if this Justice be allowed us and this Rule observed why should our Friends G. W. and W. P. and our Chief Leaders so called be rendred to have some of the Policy of the Jesuits and other Popish Orders that to Lie and Dissemble as thou thinks Is no Sin providing the Peace of the Church can be preserved thereby Is this the way of a fair Adversary Or doth this become Men that would be esteemed Just and Fair or is it like Learned Ministers of the Gospel Or have they any Precept President or Example for this in the Holy Scriptures Do not they rather Imitate those they would Insinuate the Quakers to be like Do not they herein more resemble them And is it any Reputation to your Church or any Principal Member of it to Hug Promote and Recommend the Works of such Men that neither own you nor you them for I conclude your Church doth not own the Author to The Snake in the Grass nor G. K. to be approved Ministers of your Church if you do why is the first Suspended and the latter not Instituted and Ordained by you Is it not because they do not own you nor you them Be plain and answer me herein and tell me whether you allow that Men now have that
the Answerer complains that the word Simply was left out in the repeating some words out of the Dialogue between a Country Friend and a London Friend and one of G. K's Friends which by the way observe who began this Dialogueing way which now being taken up by them they are followed in but to return the unfair Quaker saith the Answerer leaves out the Word Simply which was mainly necessary truly to the State of the Controversie viz. whether that Principle within Men that only reproved or condemned them for Sin and but convinceth of some Moral Duties and doth not propose to them the great Object of Faith Christ Jesus as he suffered Death on the Cross for the Remission of our Sins doth Save them without Christ Crucified and without all Faith in him as such Reply Let this learned Answerer that pretends truly to state the Controversie tell in his next what that Principle in Men is that Only or Simply Reproves or Condemns them for Sin and but Convinceth of some Moral Duties and doth not or is not sufficient to propose to them the greater object of Faith Christ Jesus who suffered on the Cross for the Remission of our Sins For the Quaker believes and declares that the same Christ that by his Light in Men Reproves and Condemns for Sin shews Man his Duty to God is sufficient being the alone Saviour to Save Man from his Sin and to enable Men to perform their Duty and to propose to them the great Object of Faith as he is the Author of it P. 9. The Answerer saith He i. e. Author to that Book he pretends to Answer blames his Opponent for saying that Cornelius was not to be saved by the Light within without something else Reply And when this Answerer shews that Cornelius was saved by any other than Christ the Light which shines within the Hearts of Men to shew Sin to Convince and Reprove for it he may expect farther Answer Again the Answerer saith p. 9 10. The true Controversie is not what God can do but what Sufficiency of help he hath given to all Men for their Salvation as whether their help is only and alone the Light within Reply When he proves that Christ who the Quakers assert to be that Light within which they Preach is not sufficient for Salvation or that he is not only and alone able to save he may expect a farther Answer or when he proves that Christ or that Divine Word is only sufficient to discover some Moral Principles of Sobriety and Justice and general Piety towards God considered only as a Creator and not sufficient to save and reveal Christ Crucified he will do more than he hath done yet And as to what he saith p. 10 11. that Rom. 3.25 Isa 42. and 60. were perverted and misapplied and his complaint of bringing in the Church-Man to assent and approve of his Gross Perversion and Misapplication of the Scriptures and makes his Church-man assent to the Quakers Proof out of the Gospel to be read on Christmas day Reply I deny that those Scriptures are either perverted or misapplied notwithstanding thy Confident Say so and Gross Dealing that they have no special-reference to Christ within and his being given as a Covenant of Light to the Gentiles who shall bring forth Judgment to them and the Forces of the Gentiles shall come unto him and let him bring if he can a more full Proof of Christ or the Life of the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God being the true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World that 's that which is out of the Gospel to be read on Christmas-day viz. the 9. Verses of the 1st Chapter of John and I do not esteem that Church-man or the Church of England Ficttiious and Treacherous as well as Ignorant as he abusively saith for I am of Opinion that the Church of England do expect Salvation only by Christ and do pray to him to Save them who is the Word in which is Life and whose Light is the Light of Men. And John Norris as quoted by G. K saith in his Reflections c. Reflect 2. N. 9. p. 69. The Right and Only method of Inquiry after that Truth which is perfective of the understanding is to consult the Divine Logos or Ideal Word for this is the Region of Truth and here are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Truth this is the great universal Oracle lodged in every Man's Breast and he saith this is Reason this is Conscience this is Truth this is the Light within And as to the Clamour that the Dialogue and Answerer makes against G. W. and W. P. and the Quakers not owning the Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Religion I may say as G. K. did to C. Mather in his Serious Appeal he being one of G. K's Friends He shall never be able to prove that the Quakers deny allmost all or most of the Fundamental Articles of the Christian and Protestant Faith either in respect of the Body of that People called in Scorn Quakers or in respect of any particular Writers or Publishers among us and particularly George Whitehead and William Penn I do solemnly Charge C. M. to give us but one Single Instance of any one Fundamental Article of Christian Faith denyed by us as a People or by any one of our Writers or Preachers generally owned and approved by us I know none that are Guilty of such Heresies and Blasphemies and indeed those that do pretend to prove us Guilty in that kind generally Quote some ancient Writings of our Friends and alledge although with a design against us that we are changed from what we formerly held and therefore I refer to that noted Treatise as G. K. calls it writ by John Crook called Truth 's Principles lately reprinted and with which my Doctrine said G. K in all particular doth well agree But if like the Weather-Cock he is since turn'd consider as that he may again FINIS