perswasion and assurance in them was the formal object of their faith as the things spoken were the material Even as the Light serves by way of formal object to make us see what is proposed unto us ¶ 8. Pag 31 32. he acknowledgeth that Divine and inward revelations need not be tried by the Scriptur as a more noble Rule by him who hath such a revelation but by those to whom he delivers it and then giveth the instance of the Bereans being commended to which I shall willingly assent judging no man that delivers or declares a revelation to another ought to be offended that he try it by the Scriptur which no true revelation can contradict But that such may not also try it by the Testimony of the Spirit of God in their hearts I can not deny and that it is the more noble Rule as being most universal since some Divine revelations such as Prophecys of contingent truths or things to come can not be tried by the Scripturs as was that of George Wishart concerning the Cardinal's death for had another taken upon him at that time to prophesy the quite contrary I would willingly be informed by what Scriptur it could be deduced or known that the one was false or the other true yet who will be so absurd as to deny but that it could by the immediat Testimony of the Spirit As for his proof that the Scriptur is the most certain Rule taken from those words 2 Pet. 1 19 20. We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy c. it is but a begging of the question in supposing that Peter by this understood the Scriptur and indeed is most ridiculous to affirm For since the Apostle reckons this Word more sure than the voyce they heard with their outward ears and the vision they saw with their outward eyes it were absurd to affirm that the description or narration of a thing were more sure than the immediat seeing and hearing it Can any description I may receive of I. B. however true give me so certain a knowledge of him as if I saw him and spake with him Yet without any absurdity it may be said that the Inward Word or Testimony of the Spirit in the heart is more sure in things spiritual than any thing that is objected to or conveighed by the outward senses as that vision was of which the Apostle there speaks since the inward and spiritual senses are the most proper and adequat means of conveighing spiritual things to the Soul by which the saints after they have laid down this body and have no more the use of the outward senses which are seated in it do most surely enjoy the blessed vision of God and fellowship both with him and one another As for that of Isa. 8 20. To the Law and to the testimony c. and that of Joh. 5 39. Search the Scripturs c. mentioned here by him I shall have occasion to speak of them hereafter It 's true John tels we are not to believe every spirit but it will not thence follow that the Scriptur is a more sure rule than the Spirit for such a trial Pag. 35. he thinks my saying that the Divine revelation moveth the understanding wel disposed confirmeth what he saith and spoileth all my purpose because then every revelation pretending to be Divine is not to be submitted to But where did ever I say so What he talks further of this wel disposed intellect pag. 36. I spake to in my answer to Arnoldus pag. 18 19. to which I referr For I believe all men in a day have by the gratious visitation of God's Love an understanding wel disposed to some Divine revelations which becomes disposed for others as these are received which will after in its place be discussed And some Divine revelations which are prophetik of things to come may so far manifest themselves by their self-evidence even to men not regenerat as to force an assent as in the case of Balaam mentioned by him did appear What he saith further pag. 36 37. inquiring how and after what manner these revelations were the object of the Saints faith of old is easily answered by applying it to what is before mentioned in answer to his querys and conjecturs of the formal object For those of old that had these revelations immediatly the formal object of their faith was God manifesting himself and his will in them to them by such revelations and those who received and obeyed the things delivered by the Patriarchs and Prophets those things so delivered as he confesseth were not the Formal but Material Object of their Faith but the Formal Object was GOD by the secret and inward Testimony of his Spirit perswading them in their hearts that these things declared to them were really his command and thence inclining and bowing their minds to an assent and obedience to them And albeit pag. 38 he terms this a wild assertion yet he hath but said and not proven it to be so and till he prove he needs no further refutation neither is it non-sense nor yet a destroying of the cause as with the like proofeless confidence he affirms p. 37 that where revelations are made by outward voices or in a manner objected to the outward senses the cause or motive of credibility is not so much because of what the outward senses perceive as because of the inward testimony of the Spirit assuring the Soul that it is GOD so manifesting himself Which testimony to answer his question is distinguishable from what is objected to the outward senses albeit it go always along with it simul semel as they use to say since he with me accounts it a serious truth to say the Devil may delude the external senses and he can far more easily deceive them than the true inward and spiritual senses of the Soul by counterfeiting the inward testimony of the Spirit since by that the Apostle saith we know and partake of that which neither eye hath seen nor ear heard ¶ 9. Pag. 39. He confesseth with me that the formal Object of the Saints faith is always the same But yet that he may say something he spendeth the paragraph in railing accusing me as writing non-sense and being an Ignoramus because I bring instances which relate to the material object which himself confesseth also to be the same in substance But by his good leave for all he is so positive in his judgment I must shew the Reader his mistake for those exampls of Abraham and others are adduced by me to shew the one-ness of the formal object neither has he shewn that they are impertinent for that end since as the formal object of Abraham's Faith was God's speaking to him by Divine revelations so is the same the Formal object of the saints now and therein stands the unity or one-ness of our faith with him and not in the material object which often differs for to offer up his son was
which no Quaker that ever I knew of did or will deny wherein are they derogated from since they are many words and not one But if he will plead they are the Word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or per eminentiam to say so seing the Word of God is ascribed to Christ must either equal them with him or speak non-sense seing that one epithet can not be predicated of two things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without a gross contradiction That the Word of the Lord came to the Prophets and that what they spake was the words that came from that Word is granted nor was it ever denyed by us who are against all false revelations and lying fancys of mens imaginations as much as he which he here in this chapter repeats over and over again to nauseating but it will not thence follow that the Word spoken of by the Apostle 2 Pet. 1 19. is the Scriptur which he has not yet proven and I have shewn the contrary in the former Section ¶ 2. At last pag. 54. n. 5. he comes to treat of of the Divine authority of the Scripturs and reckons it confusion and self-contradiction in me to assert that the authority of the Scripturs doth not depend upon any efficacy or vertue placed in these writings but is wholly to be ascribed to that Spirit from whence they came and yet within half a dozen of lines he confesseth the same saying we stoop unto the authority of the Scripturs of Truth because delivered by the Inspiration of God so the confusion and contradiction is his own Yea the exampls he brings of the Acts and Statutes of Parliament do very wel prove what I say for we do not submit to these status because of the matter in them or things commanded but because of the Authority commanding for when the Parliament by an Act appoynts a tax of so much money to be levyed from the Subjects it is not the matter or substance of this Act that makes us obey it but because of the Magistrats Authority But he saith they are Divine revelations and therefore must have the stamp of Divine authority Answ. The stamp of Divine Authority lies not in the things revealed but in the manner of the revelation as being the voyce and manifestation of God else great absurdity would follow as I shall briefly shew being to pursue him in this poynt as he has it lieing up and down in his rambling discourse whose way is not to follow one matter to a period but to touch it here and there intermixing other things that so his nauseating repetitions and oft reiterated railings may be the more covered And therefore I intend not to tie my self to follow him page after page immediatly lest I should embark my self in the like disorder and make such a confused hodg-podg as he has done but to follow every matter as he has it scatter'd up and down And of this I thought fit to acquaint the Reader in this place once for all as being the method I purpose to use throughout this treatise So from this 55 page we have him not upon this matter untill page 61 where he takes notice of my citations out of several Protestant Confessions and Calvin and will not have them to favour me giving most disingenuously as one reason because they expressly say that the work of the Spirit is by and with the Word and not an inspiration distinct and separated from it thereby he would make his Reader believe as if this were said by all of them whereas it is only said by the Westminster Divines of whom I particularly observed that they spake not so clearly as the other The French confession saith it is by the inward perswasion of the Holy Spirit and the Belgik that it is by the testimony of the Spirit in our hearts and Calvin saith the Spirit of God must inwardly teach us that Moses and the Prophets spake from God But that testimony of the Spirit which is in our hearts and by which the Spirit teacheth us there albeit it be not different from and contrary to the things it teacheth us of yet it is certainly distinct and separat albeit all the things taught were the very same which here is not Els because a man may be taught that by a Jesuit at Rome which I. B. may teach another man in Holland therefore that Jesuit and I. B. are not distinct and separat Are these good reasonings But let us now see whether these be any better by which in the two following pages 62 63 he prosecutes the same matter the sum whereof amounts to this that there are such evident characters of Divinity in the Scripturs which do as manifestly prove them to be of God as the Sun doth its shining to a man whose eyes are opened and that the work of the Spirit is only to take the vail from offmens eyes that they may see these Characters of Divinity and not that the Spirit by any inward immediat revelation doth signifie to the Soul by way of object that these Books proceeded from the Dictats of the Spirit of God in which he places the difference betwixt himself and the Quakers Now whether these aforesaid Testimonys of Calvin and the rest do not confirm this last rather than the other I leave the Reader to judge But further it 's like the man has not been aware into what inextricable Difficulty he has run himself by his reasoning here for if this opening of the eyes by the Spirit be needful to perceive these Divine Characters as the opening of the natural eyes is needful to see the outward Sun then the Characters can not be seen but by those whose eyes are thus opened that is to say who have a wel disposed intellect And thus recurr upon himself all the difficultys and absurditys he would urge upon me in his former chapter for saying that Divine Revelations are evident to a wel disposed Intellect For it may be query'd Whether all have this wel disposed Intellect their eyes thus opened If yea then all men have subjective revelation yet at other times he accounts this a privilege of the Saints and thence denies it in confessing pag. 63 that some are blind and see it not and then again the question recurrs How a man knows he has it so that he may not think he sees it and has it when he has it not This can not be decided by the Scripturs for they are the matter under debate and that were to run in a Circle And since as he saith the Devil is God's Ape and that there are so many Delusions of the Devil and false imaginations of the phansy which men are subject unto as he has told over and over again how is he sure that he is not thus deluded by the Devil and abused by his phancy in imagining he seeth when indeed he is blind And to give him his own argument and query since some and even Protestants
as thy self which proves it not at all yea to understand it of the Scripturs were to make the Apostle's words scarce good sense as if he had said fulfill the Scripturs according to the Scripturs whereas it sutes the place much better that the Apostle meaned they should fulfill the Royal Law in their hearts which was one with the Scripturs that also command the same thing that the Apostle means the outward Law and not that written in the heart chap. 4 12. he hath affirmed but not proven Next he comes to the Bereans being commended for searching the scripturs Act. 17 11. But this is the same way answered as the former for if the Bereans were obliged to believe and receive Paul's testimony because he preached the Truth to them by authority from God then their using or his commending them for using the Scriptur will not prove the Scriptur to be the Primary Rule yea more a Rule than the doctrin they tried by it In the rest of what he saith in this n. 28. he but sights with his shaddow for I never said they excluded the Law of Natur in affirming the Scriptur to be the Rule or did I ever deny but that the Sriptur reveals things which Natur could never have discovered But the question is whether that truth that Man is the Off spring of God from which the Apostle argues with the Athenians was discovered to any by meer Natur or by a Divine Principle and this is that he should have proven and therefore yet remaines for him to do but to be like himself he concludes this also with a gross lye saying I affirm the Scriptur to be no more our Rule than the Heathen Poets which no ways follows from my words neither hath or can he ever prove it ¶ 9. He thinks the Scriptures not determining of many things nor having any Rule for them which he seems to acknowledge is no argument against their being the primary and adequat or only Rule for that he apprehends no rational man will think needfull to a compleat Rule Why because general Rules are enough and thence he thinks it would follow that the Quakers must have a new particular revelation for every act and word such as eating drinking walking c. But I deny this consequence these acts as simply considered are natural and it will not follow because to spiritual acts relating to Faith and my immediat service towards God I need a spiritual motion and influence of the Spirit that therefore I need such a thing to natural acts If he say these natural acts under some circumstances may be sin or duty I confess then the revelation of the Spirit is needfull for if I be sitting sleeping or eating in one place when it is the mind of God I should be preaching and praying in another I do sin but how can the Scriptur give me a Rule here All that he answers to this p. 76 77. resolves into this that all such doubts may be solved applying the general rules of Scriptur by Christian Wisdom Prudence and Discretion c. But how shall I know that I truly make this application And to give him his own often repeated argument in the case of Revelation have not some thought they have made this application by Christian prudence when they did not And not to go further than I. B's own Brethren the Presbyterians yea the chief and most eminent Teachers among them did not some of them judge it Christian prudence according to the Scriptur Rule to draw near adhere to the Remonstrance which others called publik Resolution men denied Do not some of them think it Christian prudence to go hear the Bishops Curats which others deny Did not those chief men among them as George Hutcheson and others think it Christian prudence to acçept of the Indulgence Anno 1668 in entring according to the limitations proposed by the Council to their Places which others especially of the banished Brethren and perhaps himself was highly offended at whence these men were termed Council-Curats Other instances among them I could give But how shall all this be decided What Scriptur-Rules can he assign that clearly do it Let him answer this distinctly and not pass it over lest he be suspected to leap where he can not step He confesseth to my alledging 1 Cor. 12. Rom. 12. and after a little railing he tels p. 78. that he that is to rule is to do it with diligence c. but that the Scriptur saith not that James or Peter should take-on this or that Office by which confession he destroys all since the question is How James and Peter knew they should take upon them to rule This he saith he has shewn above but how insufficiently my reply will evidence He thinks no less impertinent p. 78. for me to argue against their being a Rule as to all things because they do not tell a man that he has the marks of true Faith upon which knowledge the assurance of Salvation is founded as if I must think the Laws of the Land must prove that R. B. is a Quaker or that if R. B. had murther'd a man it is a sufficient defence to say the Law doth not name R. B. But such examples are poor arguments and do miserably halt R. B. confessing himself to be a Quaker acknowledging every one of their doctrins is enough to prove him one in the sense of the Law of the Land and the Judge is to condemn him a murtherer if convict by Witnesses that he really did the deed And both these relate to outward things which can be proven by outward restimonys for without the certainy of the evidence the Judge can not pronounce his sentence But is a man 's own confessing or affirming he hath the true marks of faith enough to prove he has them And what are the Witnesses to apply the example of committing the murther by which a man shall know he has these marks and who must examin the Witnesses and judge of the certainty or clearness of their evidences Must it be the man that is accused who useth that method Doth not the man see how miserably his pittyfull example claudicats ¶ 10. To my objection against the Scripturs being the Only and Adequat Rule the example of deaf persons idiots infants such as can not read and are ignorant of the Original Tongues so called all which in some measur less or more are deprived of the benefit of the Scripturs so as to apply them to themselvs immediatly and effectually for a Rule he asketh Whether if any such person in a land should kill a man or do any thing contrary to the Law would it not punish them And this he repeats n. 35. in other words which urgeth nothing but upon supposition that the will of God can not be known otherwise than by the Scriptur which supposition is false and therefore his argument concludes nothing yea himself confesseth that some things and
this or durst not speak my mind of it and therefore if this be found false he must in the judgment of all sober men pass for a malitious perverter for answer then I say I do believe that the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was crucified at Ierusalem was again raised by the Power of God in which glorified Body the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth and I dare him to shew where in my Apology or elsewhere I ever said or wrot any thing to the contrary Of the like nature to these perversions is what we saith p. 264. where from my urging from Heb. 4 12 13. the Word of God is said to be a discerner of the thoughts of the heart he would infer that the Quakers then must know other mens thoughts who have this in them and are sensible of it But the absurdity here is his own do not they say Every true Believer has the Spirit of God in them And albeit the Spirit know all things yet every Believer knoweth not all things since he is so ready by consequences to make men blasphemers for asserting Scriptur truth how can he avoid passing this censur upon the Apostle who saith 1 Cor. 2 15. he that is Spiritual judgeth all things and no man can judge any thing but what he knows And whereas he rails here in saying we ascribe to the Light within the property of God and have no other Christ as also to the same purpose p. 242. 237. saying the Christ we command to believe in is not the Christ the Scripturs testifie of but one born with every man neither God nor Man c. is all answered and the absurdity he draws from it removed by what George Keith hath said in his book called The Way east up wherein he shews by the extension of the Soul of Christ how this is no denying of the Man Jesus but on the contrary And if either I or any other have called the Light within God or ascribed to it the property of God it is no more upon this hypothesis than they do who say the Man Christ is God and by reason of the personal union ascribe sometimes the actions of the one nature to the Person denominated by the other as the West Confess it self acknowledges chap. 8. And since R. Macquair hath promised a refutation of that book of G. K. by I. B. in his name when we see it this may be further spoken to if need be upon which also will depend the full discussion of that question mentioned p. 240 241. whether the Seed be a Substance since he will not deny the Soul of Christ is a Substance and consequently distinct from Reason as also that of Christ's being crucified in the Wicked which p. 246. he cals a non-sensical dream and of the Seed's being a distinct Principle from the Soul spoken of p. 247. the full treating of all which being referred untill that promised work of his appear as to that I shall only say in short at present that whereas I say this Seed is not the being of God simply considered he addeth p. 230. that then all men are partakers of the being of God some other way considered and what blasphemy is wraped up here he leavs to any that will to judge But there is no man of reason dealing impartially will judge any blasphemy to be here more than in the Apostle's concession to the Athenians Act. 17 28. that we are the Off spring of God and live and move in him And whereas he mocks p. 241. at my saying the Seed is a Substance because it abideth in the hearts of the Ungodly even while they remain in ungodlyness asking doth not Pravity Ignorance Rebellion c. remain in their hearts Are these therefore Substances But he allays his own windy triumphs by my following words that notwithstanding this Seed is in them they are not denominated by it which wicked men are by their wickednesses while they continue in them and therfore it is a substance since no accident can be in a subject unless the subject be denominated therefrom To this he asks why a man in whom this Seed and Grace is may not be denominated graced and enlightened and as if it were absurd to deny they might be so denominated he concludes And thus this Substance shall be turned into an accidens by this man's philosophy But the reason is clear because they partake not of the vertue of it nor have not suffered it to work in them as by the example of physik being in a sick man I did shew and therefore he has no go-by for this but a pittifull impertinency that if there be such a difference betwixt this Seed and Holyness as betwixt Physik and Health then it is no part of Holiness for I never said there was such a difference in every respect but only in respect of the difference betwixt a Substance an accident for clearing of which only the example was brought And whereas he would several times insinuat here in this p. 232 233. my asserting the Seed to be in all did import Christ dwelling in all that no such thing followeth I have shewn in my Apology which himself elsewhere observeth for I shew there is a difference betwixt meer in-being and inhabitation the last imports union and not the first Themselvs confess God to be every where and yet they will not say God dwels in the wicked yea notwithstanding God's Omni-presence it is said Some are without God in the world by reason of their being not united to him And thus is answered his cavils p. 243. so that I need not further urge untill he has removed this difficulty from Amos 2 12. only it is observable how great pains the man is at here to shew how faulty their translation of the Bible is but how can it then be a sure Rule of faith to any And whereas he saith p. 236. that when it is said the Seed is received in the heart it is supposed it was not formerly there I deny that consequence money may be brought unto a man's house and yet he not have received it the piece of silver which the woman Luk 15. in the parable had lost and to which the Kingdom of God was compared was in her house and yet she rejoyced not untill lighting the candle and sweeping the house she had found it What he repeats so often to make an odious noise of my making this Grace Universal that Turks Japonians Cannibals c. have it who never heard of Christ is impertinent since he has a chapter afterwards for that of purpose where it shall be examined as also what he saith p. 245. he thinks strange any such should partake of the benefit of this mysterie for I speak not of their knowing the mysterie That 's one of his usual tricks to foist-in other words to alter the matter ¶ 5. Having thus traversed his tedious perversions unto p. 251. n. 25. where he pretends to have
manifested upon you my witness is in heaven I am one who desires not the evil day but am willing to embrace all the sweet opportunitys of the drawings of my Father's love and the arisings of his Life to stand in the gapp for the single-hearted among you and I must declare for the exoneration of my own Conscience I am an experimental witness how grievously thou violatst the Truth in misrepresenting the things which thou callest the bitter root springing up in these sprouts of hell 1. Mens not receiving the love of the Truth 2. Their pleasing themselves with names and notions while Christ was not received to dwell in the heart 3. Their not departing from iniquity who seemed to call on his Name I am a witness when the Lord called me out from among the Presbyterians I was one who according to my education and information and inclination from my child-hood was a true lover of that called the Glorious Gospell and a constant attender upon the declarations thereof and the messengers feet that published it were beautifull to me so long as those Ordinances of man were unto me as the Ordinances of Christ which was more than 30 years I loved them more than all things in this world I passed through them hungry and hardly bestead for many years feeling after Life and immortality but could not find that somewhat was raised in me that words and reports could not feed names and notions I minded little but Christ to dwell in me was that and is that more and more I press after And now I must for the Truth 's sake say somewhat which I humbly mention with a fresh remembrance of the Love Power and tender Mercy of God who enabled me I know the Lord will not impute it to be boasting in that season wherein the Lord revealed the true way to life and immortality to me by his inward appearance in my Soul it was a time wherein he had mercifully turned me from all that ever his Light inwardly and Law outwardly had condemned me for my heart also did bear witness for me that whatsoever I had known would please him I was chusing to do that not that thereby I was seeking justification in my own righteousness but a sure evidence of my interest in him who was made unto us Righteousness Justification c. This blessed glimpse of my begun freedom was given me in a seasonable time that I might thereby be enabled to speak with mine enemy in the gate and be encouraged to believe in the Light and wait upon the Lord to feel his vertue perfectly to cleanse me from all filthyness of flesh and Spirit Neither was I an undervaluer of the Scripturs they were my Rule then and I hope for ever my life shall answer them I think they honour the Scripturs most who live most according to them and not they who call them the only Rule yet do not make them their pattern The Scripturs of Truth were pretious to me and by them was I taught not to walk nor worship in the way of the People the Spirit shewing me his mind in them and then I saw in his Light that it is not the Scripturs many adore so much as their own corrupt glosses upon them neither can my experience go along with what thou affirmest of the hazard of converse with that People It is very wel known to all that lived in the place where I sojourned I was none who conversed with them I was never at one of their meetings I never read one of their books unless accidentally I had found them where I came and lookt to them and laid them by again So now it remains with me to tell thee what was the occasion I joyned with them since it was none of those thou mention'st which I will very singly and can very comfortably do it was that thing ye school-men call Immediat Objective Revelation which my desire is ye were more particularly and feelingly acquainted with whereby the Lord raising in my Soul his feeling Life I could not sit down satisfied with hearing of what the Son of God had done outwardly though I believe thereby he purchased all that Grace and Mercy which is inwardly wrought in the hearts of his Children untill I should be a partaker of the vertue and efficacy thereof whereby I might possess the Substance of things hoped for I saw an historical faith would neither cleanse me nor save me if that could save any the Devils were not without a door of hope I felt I needed the Revelation of the Son of God in me All that ever I read or heard without this could not give me the Saving knowledge of God None knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son revealeth him through the vertue whereof mine eyes were more and more by degrees opened for the tender-hearted Samaritan had pitty upon my wounded Soul when both Priest and Levit passed by and the watch-men rent my vail and when there was no eye to pitty nor hand to help me he drew near and poured in wine and oile as he saw needfull and fulfilled the promise in measur wherein he had long caused me to hope he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life and that sweet saying whereby I am confirmed and comforted if evil Parents know how to give their children good things how much more will the Lord give his holy Spirit to those who ask him When your children ask bread will ye give them a stone or when they ask a fish will ye give them a serpent These pretious Scripturs and many such like being opened up and applied by the Spirit of Truth powerfully and seasonably in saying be not faithless but believing times above number before and since hath made me set to my seal to these words of Christ The words that I speak are Spirit and Life and as I walk with him and abide in him watching at the posts of Wisdoms gates travelling in Spirit more and more to bring forth fruit unto him and walk worthy of him unto all wel-pleasing daily to dye unto self that Christ may live in me I becoming a passive creatur and he an active Christ in the encrease of his Government I feel the encrease of my peace And so my friend thou hast here by some touches at things occasion to see how far thou art mistaken concerning us and how far contrary to the Truth as it is in Jesus thou represent'st many things to the world speaking evil of things which thou knowst not and if thou dost the greater is thy sin two Particulars indeed I can not strain charity so far as to believe thou thinkst do we deny Jesus Christ and justification through his Righteousness because we make the sufficiency thereof of a more universal extent than ye or because we love whole Christ so much and his seamless coat that we will not have it divided Nay we dare not divide
removed by him ere he had used it only for confirmation in controversy against me But there is something more in this expression for when the Confession of Faith and Catechism is onely adduced for confirmation what becomes of the Scripturs that in words are so highly exalted It seems notwithstanding all these verbal commendations he has no more use for them than for an old Almanack the Confession of Faith and Catechism is that which is to be minded It seems what he brings of them in this controversy is only pro formâ for the confession of Faith is only adduced for confirmation it is the good antidot against the many Errors of the Times and whereas he speaks of apposit passages of Scriptur those that will compare them with the things they are pointed to to prove will find in most not the least correspondence of which I have given some proof in that place before mentioned ¶ 6. But indeed he hath spoken out the truth of the matter for all their great talk of the Scriptur it is manifest to such as will narrowly look into it that not the Scriptur but the confession of Faith and Catechism is their Rule of Faith and Manners for the Scripturs must serve the Confession of Faith not the Confession of Faith answer the Scripturs which must be turned twin'd and wrested to sute to the Confession of Faith Hence if a man believe the Scripturs ever so firmly and square his faith accordingly unless he agree to every point of the Confession of Faith all is to no purpose he must pass for an Heretik At last to conclude he having it seems said all he has to say makes provision not to be put upon the necessity to vindicat his gross perversions and calumnys As for his comparison of Rats and mice their dealing with books he must know I intend not to square these observations to gratify his humour it will be enough for me to satisfy the candid and judicious Reader He doubts not to make a judgment of things not yet in being and therefore expects no answer that shall savour of Reason Religion Candor and Plainness We have seen that of him which gives us ground to believe he has bad enough thoughts of us but however he must not expect to be judge in his own cause and whereas he saith he will not be troubled at our Railings and Barkings one may wonder the man has the confidence to accuse others of what himself is so highly guilty of but he shall not need fear to be troubled with such stuff and whether he gives or gets most of that is referred to the judicious Readers to whose judgment and censur whether he will or not as his writings will be liable so to them and to their Christian consideration I freely submit what is written in these Observations Section II. Wherein his two first Chapters containing Remarks upon my Preface and the first These of the true ground of knowledge are considered ¶ 1 UPon the Preface of my Theses which is but about half a dozen of lines he bestowes no less than 12 pages all which being either bare assertions or railing as can not escape the diligent Readers observation will therefore require the shorter reply He hath not got the length of a dozen of lines when with a piece of confidence he will seem so modest as not to preoccupy the Reader 's judgment by calling the Theses Ethnical or Diabolical but methinks if he has not forgotten his epistle which we will in reason suppose the Reader to have first viewed in which as is above observed there is enough of that sort said to preoccupy his judgment so that he must needs put out his eyes that doth not see that his pretended modesty and forbearance is not real ¶ 2. Next because these Theses are directed by me to Clergy men of all sorts in the Christian world he will needs have it that I acknowledg a Christian world to which my self and those I patronize do not belong but how he makes this consequence appear he leaves us to divine for there is no proof brought for it but his own assertion He needs not wonder that I acknowledge a Christian world unless he had known me somewhere todeny it for in respect of Profession which distinction himself elsewhere useth all these may be accounted of it who make an outward profession of Christ besides that I have sufficiently acknowledged my belief that in severals of them the inward life of Christianity is to be found as for what followes he needs not doubt but I am as much against the distinction of Laity and Clergy as himself can be But since I writ to such many whereof own it my using it to them for distinction's sake will not inferr my approving of it With his usuall candor he will have this direction to import no less than a chartal to provoke all those it is directed to to a dispute as if a man for removing of mistakes and misrepresentations could not give an account of his faith without it be esteemed a provocation to dispute if he really believes I intended so I must tell him he is greatly mistaken and I apprehend I should know my own intentions large as wel as he He is offended that our doctrines should be thought as different from Papists as Protestants but with how little ground will after appear and he also refers it to a fitter probation Then after he has knocked as hard as he can upon me for my confidence he tells me that there is little said by me but what was refuted ere I was born by the orthodox writing against Pelagians Socinians Arminians Enthusiasts Anabaptists and Papists But methinks then there was the less need of troubling the world with his volum yet he has for that a ready salvo he must answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit Some other reasons he adds for ingaging in this his work which the Reader may judge of whether they be of any weight ¶ 3. As he goes on he is greatly offended I should stile my self a servant of the Lord and will have it to be upon no better ground than Thomas Muncer and the Anabaptists of Munster But because all this is founded upon the supposition of my being a false prophet and preaching another gospel than the true we must leave it to the Reader 's judgment after he has taken time to consider of the whole debate But because he speaks here of the produçing credentials I would willingly have him producing his credentials for being a Minister of the Gospel and it may be then seen if I can not produce as valid for any thing I stile my self only he must remember that as his must have something more than his own affirmation or those of his party so he must overturn mine with some stronger arguments than meer railing ¶ 4. He needs not apprehend as he would insinuat that the
omission of any words in the Theses prefixed to the Apology proceeds from my being ashamed of the name QUAKER since himself bears witness in the very same page that I fully acknowledge it in the explanation of the 11 Thesis Here he has a descant upon Trembling and seems to strange that any Quaker should bring the example of Moses and Habbakkuk to shew that such a thing was not so much to be wondred at in the Saints but why this should be esteemed impertinent by him he doth not tell us As for the foaming at the mouth he talks of both here and elsewhere it is returned upon him as a calumny and he is desired to prove it but it must be by some more credible impartial testimony than his Mr Stalham for Partys use not to be admitted as witnesses For his denominating us by that name of distinction I shall not quarrel but as for his insinuation in the begining of pag. 5. where he saith It is like we would gladly have them casting away their Bibles as no more to be regarded than the Turks Alcoran it bespeaketh the height of malice as to which I shall only say The Lord forgive him for so gross a calumny which he that is the Searcher of hearts knows to be a most horrible lye He goes on after his usual manner saying I inveigh against all humane learning that hath been any ways made use of in Theology but where he finds this asserted by me I know not whether the words he would deduce it from to wit that man has rendred the plain and naked Truth obscure and mysterious by his wisdom will bear such a consequence is left to the Readers judgment But he thinks he has found out our secret design of being against Learning and Schools of Learning which is neither our affirmation nor principle but his own false supposition We would saith he have all those banished that we might the more easily prevail with our errors But methinks the man should be more wary in venting his own false imaginations unless he could bring some ground for them for his assertion is so far untrue that if he had been rightly informed he might have known that we have set up schools of Learning for teaching of the Languages and other needfull Arts and Sciences and that we never denyed its usefulness only we denyed it to be a qualification absolutly necessary for a Minister in which case alone we have opposed its necessity ¶ 5. He confesseth I speak not amiss in saying the world is overburthened with books but thinks that my Apology of 50 sheets adds some considerable weight but methinks he of all men should have here been silent who has troubled the world with an examination of it a great deal larger albeit he confesseth all that is in it hath been refuted by the Orthodox long ago not only so but since that he has written a book near twice as large upon one point to prove the first day of the week to be the Christian Sabbath and yet it is but the first time and seems but to be the porch of what he intends upon that subject With his usual candor he saith I am against disputes debates or books written of that natur But to inferr simply that I am against all such because I reprove the vain jangling that hath been and is among the School-men is an ill consequence he shall not find me any where speaking against usefull and solid controversys for clearing and maintaining of Truth He seemeth not to disapprove what I speak against School-Divinity confessing the abuse of it albeit he thinks it hath been of use and as for this imagination of my being acquainted with it we will place it among his other mistakes He proceedeth pag. 8 to say I am against the labours of those that have writ commentarys but his conclusion here is like others of this nature When I mention commentarys it is with relation to what goes before he will not deny but many books are written under the notion of commentarys on the Scriptur by which the Truth has been more darkened than cleared will it therefore follow that he condemns Commentarys indefinitly As for such writings tending to the opening of the Scriptur in which the Authors are acted and influenced by the same Spirit from which the Scripturs came and which alone can give the true meaning of them I am so far from condemning them that I highly approve them as very beneficial to the Church of Christ. As for his talk here of our disrespect to the Scripturs I shall have occasion to take notice of it where they are particularly treated of but he is apt to think that the real ground of my prejudice against such books is because so much is to be found in them against my old errors for I can not but know saith he that whoever reads these must see my nakedness and folly without much study As for this imagination we must take it with much more upon trust but this helps to prove the needlesness of his large Examination ¶ 6. At his usual rate of Perverting he goes on to say that the account I make of all the learned men of the World is that they are Scribes and disputers of the World c. But for proof of this we have nothing he confesseth the words to be those of the Apostle and how he proveth that I have a different meaning from the Apostle I know not After he hath commended his learned men and loaded the Quakers with reproaches he concludes this Paragraph pag. 8. with another falshood and yet he will have it remarked to wit that according to my judgment the pure and naked Truth of God was never unfolded nor declared untill the generation of the Quakers arose but where he finds me saying so he tells not and indeed can not since such a thing was never asserted by me For answer to my saying that God has laid aside the wise and learned and made use of illiterat men as to letter-learning after he saith it is affirmed without proof not considering how improper it was not to expect any formal probation upon the occasion and manner it was delivered he gives us divers citations out of the Apostle Paul warning against seducers all which I acknowledge to be true but the question lieth in the right application and yet since albeit he believes they very appositly agree to us he thinks it not his present business to demonstrat it it will need no reply After he has proceeded in his 10 page according to his usual sort of railing affirming the great difference betwixt our doctrin and that of the Apostles he brings forth a mighty charge that I usurp the Throne of God and judg of mens hearts and intentions but how guilty himself is of that crime hath been in part already shewn and will hereafter more appear but why do I so because I say the Clergy have clouded the
led by a spirit of error Then the Quakers err in affirming inward and immediat Revelation to be the ground and foundation of true faith But the Quakers are led by a spirit of Error Therefore c. Which is just as if I should argue thus If I. B. be a Knave a manifest Lyar and Calumniator Then he is not a true Minister of Christ nor fit to write in Religious matters But I. B. is such Therefore c. Is not this a notable way of arguing and a quick way to dispatch controversies What saith Rob. Macquair Doth not this wel become his singularly acute solidly learned and truely gracious Author Postscript pag. 559. ¶ 3. The next thing to be considered is his stating the controversy where according to his custom he all along beggs the question for having writ down his opinion and taken it for granted without offering to prove it he goes on and builds thereon without more difficulty as if it were not to be further questioned This appears in pag. 20. 28. 29. 30. 34. 35. 36. 37. 40. 43. 44. in which places he states his opinion of the Immediat Revelation of the Spirit as not being such as presents any Truths to be believed objectively but only in removing the Vail of the Eye of the Understanding and spiritually Illuminating the Mind and Working effectually upon the Heart to embrace and receive the Truth already revealed and proposed in the Scripturs Now for not using this distinction and holding revelation in this his sense he greatly blames me as jumbling things together and darkning and prejudging the Reader and bestows upon me ever and anon many railing words with the repetition of which I will not trouble the Reader And yet notwithstanding this accusation in contradiction of himself he cites me pag. 42 28 taking notice of this very distinction as used by some and also refuting it Surely the man must have miserably forgot himself and will verifie the Proverb Lyars should have good memorys Next since he judges I err in not holding this manner of Revelation and that he builds all his superstructur upon it as the Truth he should have offer'd to prove it to be such for since he saith they willingly grant to these Scripturs noted by me as many as are led by the Spirit of God c. Rom. 8 9-14 together with 1 Joh. 2 27. Joh. 6 45. Joh. 14 16 17. By which Scripturs he can not deny but the manner of the Apostles being led as wel as of all Christians is included since some of them were directed to the Apostles particularly in all which there is no ground for his distinction and assertion It is not said The Comforter that I will send shall lead you the Apostles immediatly by proposing Truth to be believed objectively to you and this shall be accounted extraordinary but after you it shall only lead other Christians by illuminating their Understandings and that shall be the ordinary leading And since then it is a rule granted by all that we must hold to the plain words of Scriptur unless an urgent necessity force us to the contrary he should shew us where this necessity lies and prove his assertion to be the true and genuin meaning of the words and that we ought not to take them as we do according to their plain and naked signification and import For I would willingly hear any ground from Scriptur of this natur of Extraordinary and Ordinary Revelations as pertinent to this debate for albeit things extraordinary may be reveal'd to some and not to others that only respects the things revealed not the manner of Revelation For a man telling me extraordinary things and ordinary albeit the things may differ in their natur yet neither my manner of hearing nor his of speaking do thence necessarily differ ¶ But perhaps the man doth apprehend that what he saith pag. 20. 30. 31. 40. 44. 45. is some proof of his assertion which if he do the Reader may easily observe his mistake where he would insinuat as if the manner of Immediat Revelation by the Spirit asserted by me rendred all other means even those of Teaching and Exhorting which are appoynted by God useless and took away all obligations of obeying the commands of God conveighed by others And yet he taketh notice pag. 23. that I acknowledge other means of Knowledge as profitable neither has he ever heard me deny but men are obliged to obey the commands of God through one another as wel as in themselves as the children of Israel were those of Moses and the Prophets and the Christians those of Christ and his Apostles But I suppose he will affirm with me that no man's Obedience to any command will avail him any thing unless upon inward belief and conviction that the thing commanded is of God since Whatsoever is not of Faith is sin If he say that albeit I do not deny such an obligation yet it necessarily follows from my Principle That this is untruely alleged will easily appear since I suppose he will not deny but the rest of the Apostles who were alive when Paul's Epistls were writen were obliged to receive them and obey them as the dictats of the Spirit yea and were benefited by them and so the Apostle Paul by others albeit on both sides he will acknowledge them to have had such revelations as he accounts Immediat and Extraordinary And so we see that to have such revelations and yet to be mediatly instructed are not inconsistent nor do they render one another useless and indeed to affirm they do so is rather a presumptuous accusing of God who has appynted both in their order for the edification of his Church than a refuting of such as assert them Such are his reasonings pag. 45. Besides that this objection may be easily refuted for since I. B. affirms as particularly pag. 42. that the Scriptur is a compleat Rule in all things concerning Faith and manners in reference to Salvation might it not be said that this takes away the use of all Commentarys and expositions and other books especially since he and his Brethren do with all affirm that it is clear and intelligible to all in things essential to Salvation let him shew how this is weaker as to him than the other as to me With the like presumption he blasphemously asserteth that even these revelations which he himself calleth and acknowledgeth to be inward immediat and extraordinary are uncertain for this reason because many men have been deluded by the Devil on which he also insists in the following page And pag. 34. 48. where he sums up his matter in this question How comes that others pretending to Revelation as much as I have been deceived But as I said before How comes that others pretending to be led by the Scriptur as the Rule as much as I. B. have been deceived since the Scriptur declares nothing but Truth But how silly this is I have above shewn and
more largely in my Apology in those paragraphs which I observed he most foully omitted And indeed this is a fine argument he has provided for Atheists and Sceptiks for it renders all Faith even that of the Patriarchs uncertain for since the ground and warrand of their writing the Scripturs was in his own account inward immediat and extraordinary revelations and if such be as he affirms uncertain then the truth of the Scripturs which depends upon such must necessarily be uncertain since the stream can not be more pure than the fountain nor the superstructur more sure than the foundation And therefore most weak is his reasoning pag. 46. where he pleadeth that such Revelations can not be more sure than the Scripturs which are the objective revelations of the Apostles writen down since the certainty of these writings depends upon the certainty of these revelations by which they were written and certainly if in any case that maxim of the Schools do hold it must in this Propter quod unum quod que est tale illud ipsum est magis tale ¶ 5. It will not be amiss here in the third place to take notice of his most uncharitable and unchristian insinuations contrary to all Christian and fair rules of debate as first pag. 24. where he will needs inferr our denying of the Trinity albeit he can not deny but he finds it owned by me groundlesly coupling us with the Socinians and to help him in this he brings-in the testimony of one Mr Stalham as he terms him an open Opposer of ours which Witness to receive against us is most unjust But I desire here in the entry that it be observed that I intend to take little or no notice of his many citations to prove what we hold out of the writings of our open Opposers and shall give such a sufficient reason for my so doing ere I make an end as I am hopefull shall satisfie all judicious Readers as wel of our innocency as his unjustice therein but by this the man's temper may be seen and that his design is not so much to refute what we truely hold as to make the world believe that we hold what we doth not to render us the more odious And thus he proceedeth also basely to insinuat that I deny Jesus of Nazareth to be the Son of God albeit he doth not so much as pretend to any color for it from my words only he finds some Quakers give an indistinct answer in this matter but who they are or what their answer is he tels not In pursuance of this in the following page he insinuats as if I mean'd not the first but the second Creation and so joyned with Socinus which is a gross calumny like the former as also is what he saith pag. 31. num 18. where he raileth against me as writing things contrary to the Scripturs and as one whose revelations are not from God but from Satan For all this the only proof is I. B. saith so which I must plainly tell him is with me of no weight at all Of the same natur is what is asserted by him pag. 33. nu 20. wherein he insinuats that we contemn the Scripturs telling a lying story from his Author Mr Hicks of one Nicolas Lucas which I desire him to prove the next time not by Hicks for he is accuser but by some more indifferent Witness else to be justly held as a Calumniator And whereas he saith We should not obtrude any thing upon them without Scriptures this is another lying insinuation for where do we obtrude any doctrins without offering to confirm them by Scriptur as much as he and his Brethren For if he say that our confirmations are not valid that is not to the purpose we can easily say so of his and do as truely believe it but the question is Whether we obtrude any doctrins upon any to be believed telling them they ought to believe it albeit we either will not or can not confirm them by the Scriptur Now he knoweth in his Conscience this to be a lye since I affirm of the Scripturs Apol. Lat. ed. p. 47. n. 60. that they are the most fit outward judge of controversies of which himself also taketh notice in that place And lastly of the natur of these malitious insinuations is what he saith pag. 48 49 and last paragraph of this chapter where after he has repeated what he terms my monitory conclusion he infers that I mean that a man should believe that Natur 's dim light is the Spirit of God and the Holy Ghost and that he may burn the Bible and with confidence assert he is led by the Holy Ghost whatever Scriptur or common sense say to the contrary This is all affirmed by him without the least proof which as it is the height of injustice so it is with respect not only to my words but belief and intention God the Searcher of hearts knows a most horrid falshood and calumny ¶ 6. Now albeit what is said may seem sufficient for a reply to this chapter and is indeed enough to give any sober man a disgust of it yet that he may not have reason to complain that any thing wherein he may judge there is weight and is directly to the purposs is omitted I will now in the last place consider and answer what he saith against the validity of my Arguments to which an answer hath not been included in what is already said To begin then like himself which to be sure is with some calumny or other he saith pag. 14. I stigmatize with the black mark of being carnal and natural Christians all that assent not to what I say but he takes no time to prove it and indeed can not for albeit I say that it is like many natural and carnal Christians will condemn what I say yet it will not follow I account them all such who will not fully agree with me in this matter Of the same kind is his calumny p. 22. n. 5. where he allegeth the citations of the Fathers so called prove no more than his sense of Revelation above expressed but whether he speaks true here or not the Reader may judge by seriously reading over these citations and then let him see if they do not hold out an inward and immediat teaching of the Spirit of God in the Soul as the firm ground of Knowledge without which all outward teaching is in vain but to inserr this he tels they writ against such as being Impostors and led by the spirit of the Devil pretended to Revelations What then Can not men write against false revelations without they deny the necessity of true ones That is an odd conclusion If I. B. were wel acquainted with the writings of the Quakers so called he would find them as much against false Pretenders as any other But pag. 24 25 he findeth fault with my argument deduced from these words that there is no knowledge of the
which himself I judge will not deny for will he say that the hour of tentation Rev. 3 10. came upon every one as contradistinguished from the Saints and that the Beast 12 9. did in this sense deceive the World that is all and every one and that 13 3. all the World wondred after him The other places marked by him have no relation to the Whole World in the sense I here urge it which is that the whole World when used in contradistinction from the Saints expresseth all and every one and the thing he should have done if he would have truely reâ—uâ—ed me which he has not so much as attempted was to prove that the Elect or any part of them as expressed by the word We or Us by any of the Pen-men of Scriptur are contradistinguished from the Elect or any part of them under the term of the whole World untill he do which he no ways overturns my argument and therefore what he saith besides this is beside the purpose ¶ 7. Pag. 204. N. 59. In answer to Ioh. 3 16. compared with 1 Ioh. 4 9. God so loved the World c. and God sent his Only-begoten Son into the World c. he tels whosoever albeit indefinit is not universal unless it be in a necessary matter which this is not But he should have defined what he means by a necessary matter distinctly and then proved this not to be such till both which be done that 's now omitted by him his answer is deficient His next quibble is that the world in these two places is not the same the one being understood of the Habitable World and the other of the Inhabitants but the last may be understood of the Inhabitants as wel as the first where is the absurdity of saying God sent his Son into the world that is unto men or among men 3. He supposeth I will not say God sent his Son into the World that all Inhabitants might live the life of Faith for all men have not faith and all men will not be saved or God should be disappointed of his Intentions and therefore he adds as his commentary upon Rev. 3 3 4. what if some do not believe shall their unbelief make the unchangeable Purposes of God of none effect No. Answ. I perceive as most of the man's reasonings are built upon suppositions so most of his suppositions are false for God sent his Son into the World to put all men into a capacity to live the life of Grace and therefore who do not the fault is their own nor are God's unchangeable Purposes of none effect since God has not unchangeably purposed to damn any which he supposeth he did And upon this meer and unproved supposition according to his method he builds his matter He adds Ioh. 3 16 is directly against the meaning of his Adversaries I judge he means all those who assert Universal Redemption who build much upon it albeit I had not the wit to improve it but it seems had I had a great deal more wit than I have he judgeth himself to have wit enough to prove it all to no purpose why because according to the Greek it is for God so loved the World that all believing or all believers or every one that believeth in him might not perish c. And what then we must prove that either all are or shall be Believers and then he will easily grant without disput that Christ dyed for them all But the man has not here wel heeded what he saith there is no necessity of proving that all are or shall be Believers it is enough to prove that all are put in a capacity to believe and that Faith is not made by an absolute decree impossible to most this in part is done already and more of it will appear hereafter that Christ by this place intended to shew that his Death should not be restricted to the advantage of the Jews only is not denied In answer to Heb. 2 9. that he tasted death for every man he saith that the Greek here for every man importeth in their room and stead shall we think that Christ dyed so for every man and yet many of these men dyed for themselvs But if any absurdity be inferred here it will redound upon himself no less than upon me who will confess as his after words make manifest the saying here Christ tasted death for Every man imports his dying here for the Elect and yet do not many of the Elect dye for themselvs Here again he saith this sheweth the benefit of his death is not restricted to the Jews which is granted but that proveth not that it is not therefore Universal Next he taketh notice of the context where it is said it became him in bringing many sons unto glory c. and therefore these are the all for whom he dyed But this is strongly to affirm not to prove albeit Christ brought many sons unto glory and called such Brethren it doth not follow he tasted death only for such The Apostle sheweth us first the general extent of Christ's death in saying he tasted death for every man and then sheweth us how it became effectual to many and yet the man is so confident albeit he has urged nothing but only affirmed that he adds If this context do not sufficiently confute this conceit we need regarde the Scripturs no more But here he has spoken out the truth as it is for this evidently shews that for all their pretence to exalt the Scripturs yet they regard it no more than it favours their opinion This is the account for which they regard the Scripturs if it favour their opinion and confute their advetsaries but if it do not they need no more regard it else surely he should have said If the Scripturs do not confute that which he esteems an error then he will not judge it so any more but regard the Scripturs more than his own judgment but on the contrary he is resolved if the Scriptur do not confute what he thinks a conceit that he need no more regard them Likewise in the rest of this page he gives himself a notable stroak for to my saying that their doctrin would infer that Christ came to condemn the world contrary to his own words Ioh. 3 17. 12 47. he answereth that prejudice has so blinded mine eyes that I can not see the beam in mine eye for in my opinion not one man might have been saved because Christ only procured a meer possibility and no certainty for any one man c. But as I have above observed I assert as my judgment the express contrary that Christ has so dyed for some that they can not miss of Salvation and this himself also noticeth afterwards p. 276. I would know then and let all honest men judge if there be any spark of honesty left in him whether himself be not the man whom prejudice has blinded Almost at the same rate p. 207. he
that will not meet this case Those 1 Tim. 1 19. who are said to make shipwrack of a good Conscience are such who believed the true doctrin of faith in Christ as himself before acknowledgeth Now albeit a man may be said to live in good Conscience to other principles while ignorant of this yet he should prove how a man can be said to have a good Conscience with respect to the true faith of Christ held by him and yet without saving or true grace With railing he tels me pag. 358. n. 18. that Phil. 1 6. 1 Pet. 1 5. God's beginning and perfecting the condition And what then yet God doth not this against our wills it is with a respect to our performing the conditions on our part which yet we can not do without him Then he goes about to prove that Paul could not fall in answer to my saying from 1 Cor. 9 27. that Paul supposeth a possibility that he might become a reprobat but if the Reader consider how I bring that in my Apology he will find he had no reason for this cavill for I alledged it only to reprove those that are too too secure shewing where sin was there was always a ground of jealousy since the Apostle did reckon it needfull to keep under his body to subdue sin that he might not become a reprobat which since the Apostle did but upon this supposition if he did not keep under his body suppose possible others had no reason to presume Section Eleventh Wherein his XVI Chapter Of the Church his XVII Of the Ministerial Call his XVIII XIX and XXI Of their Qualifications Office and Maintenance and his XX Of VVomens Preaching is considered ¶ 1. HIs chapter of the Church is soon dispatched for it contains scarce any thing but perversions and railing for after he has given a large citation out of their Confession of Faith and then added some enlargements of his own and some little nibling cavils to what I say of no Salvation being without the Church pag. 361. he goes on with his old reiterated calumny that I suppose men may be made members of the Catholik Church by the Light of Nature which is utterly false And upon this false supposition is built his n. 5. pag. 362. as also what he saith pag. 364. But n. 4. he screws this to a greater pitch of falshood affirming that what I say of a Particular Church gathered together in the faith of the true Principles and Doctrins of Christ by the Spirit of God and testimony of some of his Ministers is that these are persons only taught by the Light of Nature and by such Ministers as preach nothing of the Gospel Against a man thus desperatly resolved and determined to lye and calumniat there can be no guard but sure all sober Readers will abhorr such dealing What I speak of a Church in this respect is only of such as have the advantage of the outward knowledge of Christ as my words afterwards shew where I say such were the Churches gathered by the Apostles of which the Scriptur makes mention And therefore what he objects that can not be don by Pagans is wholly impertinent and doth but verify the grossness of his calumny which he endeavours to inculcat as a truth to his Reader pag. 363. as if what I say further of the things requisit to be a member of this Particular Church were a third sort and not a more particular description of the former which the Reader may easily observe by looking to the place to be a meer fetch of his to afford himself some matter of cavill which imagining he has got he fills-up the paragraph with gross lyes and railing saying That the Quakers believe not the holy Truths set down in the Scripturs because they oppose and contradict them That they believe not in nor maké profession of Jesus Christ revealed in the New Testament because they oppose him and all his Institutions That faith according to them is not wrought by the Spirit of God but that Nature can sweetly and naturally incline yea compell thereunto All which are gross calumnys And then he concludeth saying And thus we have run round and are again where we began which is very true for he began with calumnys and having run round the same way his work resolvs in them Pag. 364. he affirmeth Men may be Members of the visible Church and consequently ought to be reputed such who are ungodly and without holiness and offereth to make it good if I will form a dispute upon it but I leave him as to this to disput with his learned Dr. Owen whose works he has applauded in this Treatise and whom his Postscript-Brother R. M. has in his preface to this B.'s book highly commended as a gratious man As for his silly argument that from the Apostle's saying Act. 2 39. the promise is unto you and to your children and 1 Cor. 7 14. it follows men become members of the Church by birth I leave him to debate it with his great Author Thomas Hicks who will tell him if he be consonant to his own principles it is a Babylonish invention But I. B. hath here unawares contradicted himself for if these Scripturs prove men become members of the Church by birth then the sprinkling them with water sometime after they are born or their Baby-Baptism is not necessary to make them members of the Church and they are to be accounted such without it He saith I am mistaken when I say Antichrist built his structure upon this foundation to wit that men without holiness may be members of the true Church because he applieth all the priviledges of the invisible Church unto his visible synagogue of Sathan where as this sheweth that I am not mistaken but that my affirmation is true for if he to wit Antichrist did believe holiness to be necessary to make a member of the true Church he could not apply the privileges of the invisible Church unto his visible members most of which he wel knows as often-times himself are not only void of but enemies to holiness It is false that I agree with him in his not distinguishing betwixt the Visible and Invisible Church and yet much more in unchurching all who are not of his combination in which albeit I. B. most impudently insinuats I approach to him yet himself can not but know it to be a most manifest falshood since I suppose some of all sects of Christians may be members of the catholik Church and he knows and has observed here how contrary the Pope is to this doctrin At last he concludes this chapter with a fit of Railing of which the last words must not pass without observation to wit that in stead of true holyness I press upon them a natural dead and anti-Evangelical Morality Now this Morality as pressed by me he himself confessed before to be such as the Law of Nature taught albeit in truth I pressed none but what
is not inward since the Spirit of God by which Christians are led and instructed is said to be within them But pag. 424. n. 16. he saith that watching is not a turning inward but a looking outward also Indeed they who look outward go the way to be tempted for outward objects is not that which delivers men from temptations but often draws them to them But it would seem according to him that men if their eyes be shut or in a dark room can not watch in a Spiritual sense and then what became of many Saints that have been put into dungeons As to what he adds out of Dr Stillingfleet's book of the idolatry of the Church of Rome and Taulerus sermons which takes up about 7 whole pages by which the Reader may see how his book grows so bulky he misseth his aim for he will never prove that the first and most eminent Preachers among the Quakers who both practised and commended this way of Worship as wel as thousands of them yet did ever know that there was such a thing spoken of among Papists or that there ever lived such a man as Taulerus So that he but wasts his paper in seeking to prove they have borrowed their doctrin thence and albeit I will not justify many of the expressions used in the pages cited by him yet I will not scruple to affirm that some of them favour more of Christianity than his lyes calumnys and railings ¶ 3. He begins his 23th chapter of Preaching that he may be like himself with a calumny saying I have something against Preaching Praying and Singing which is false I am against none of those dutys as truely performed according to the right Gospel method as by the sequel will appear And that he may go on at the same rate he seems to be glad that I acknowledge the necessity of Worships being consonant to Scriptur but then that he may not want something to cavill he entreats me to reconcile this with what I say of the Scripturs but he should first have shewn me wherein the difference is for I profess I see none He desires also to know from Scriptur the necessity when men are met together of turning their minds inward which he still will express to make it the more frightfull by the Latine word Introversio and this he thinks so hard that he often insists upon it as pag. 446 447 448. But is it not needfull to assemble in the Name of Jesus And can that truely be without turning the mind inward unless with superstitious Papists he thinks it is enough for meeting in the Name of Jesus to say when they begin In Nomine Domini however their minds be abroad Can there be any true sense of God's Majesty as him to whom we draw near which himself confest before to be needfull without a serious turning of the mind inward that is an abstracting from all worldly and vain thoughts to mind GOD and the operations of his Spirit in the Soul Let him read Psalm 46 14. 62 1. Eccles. 5 2. Zach. 2 3. It were hard for him to forget his old often reiterated calumny and therefore he hath it here oftner than once as pag. 441 442-447 alledging most falsly that all that by which the Quakers preach or require as needfull to preach is but the dimme and darkned and malignant Light of Nature neither will he forget here his constant trade of Railing take one instance pag. 447. where he sayes that before I want revelations I will go to the Devil to get them as Saul did to the Witch of Endor More of such railing stuff the Reader may find and that very plentifully pag. 440-442-448 He wants not here also his malitious insinuations as pag. 439. that the Quakers use legerdemaine to make People believe they speak all without a previous thought in their Preaching and yet have all to a word wel studied If he accuse the Quakers of this let him prove it if he can for we deny it as a gross calumny Another is pag. 441. That we would have all study all meditation all Prayer and wrestling with God in Prayer laid aside which is also false But to proceed he foundeth what he saith in this matter upon two great mistakes which being removed the superstructur will fall of it self The first is pag. 438. where to prove the usefulness of study and premeditation to Preaching he tels how Paul made use of what he had read out of a Heathen Poet his recommending reading to Timothy his desiring Titus to hold fast the faithfull Word as he had ben taught c. and Apollos being instructed by Aquila and Priscilla all which are nothing to his purpose for we never said it was unlawfull for men to read books especially the Scriptur or that by such reading men may not acquire knowledge which may prove usefull in Preaching or defending the Truth but the question is Whether men may make use of these things in publik Worship otherwise than as led and acted and influençed by the Spirit so to do and Whether any of these places will allow men to preach in the strength of their natural or acquired parts without being acted therein by the Spirit Let him prove this if he can for this is the matter in question and remember Robert Bruce his censur of Robert Blair his sermon recorded in the fulfilling of the Scripturs His second mistake is pag. 443. where he supposeth that to be led by the Spirit excludeth or is inconsistent with reading Scriptur and with all the particular instructions given by Paul to Timothy and Titus who might have said as this man argues I can not be stinted unto these doctrins which you desire me to put the brethren in remembrance of for I must speak as the Spirit speaketh in me and the like But will he say that Timothy was not to speak as the Spirit spake in him To suppose this as inconsistent with such instructions is to beg the question and that these are consistent I have shewn above in my third section of Immediat Revelation or let him tell plainly if Timothy could do those things acceptably without the Spirit since all worship is commanded by Christ to be done now in the Spirit And yet he seemeth to agree to the necessity of the Spirit else why quarreleth he me pag. 448. for insinuating as he saith that their Ministers preach not in the demonstration of the Spirit giving an enumeration pag. 439. of several ways which he saith I know not but their Ministers are led to preach by among which this is one What know I saith he but there may be some that never digest their preachings so as not to lye open to the influences of the Spirit and to welcome his seasonable and usefull suggestions and so speak many things which they had not once premeditated But I would ask him Whether it be lawfull for any so to digest their matter as not to lie thus open
betwixt Elicite and Imperat Acts of Conscience that is as himself explains Inward and Outward for as to the first he confesseth the Magistrate is not to compell men so as to hinder them to think judge understand and conclude in their mind as they will but only in speaking writing and open profession which are visible and audible yea he thinks the Magistrates power doth not only extend on this side to prohibition but that he may also force them to hear and to the use of publik means that is in plain terms to an outward conformity and yet he saith this is no force upon Consceince We I then Popish Magistrates according to him used no force upon the Consciences of Protestants in forceing them to hear Mass nor yet the Pagans upon the Christians in forceing them to go to Idol-worships and to come near home the present Magistrates in Scotland use no force upon the Consciences of his Brethren the Presbyterians in the west-countrey in constraining them to go to hear the Bishops Curats as they term them where they can not pretend there is any thing of Idolatry As for his distinction of the Magistrates having power of outward but not inward acts it were enough for me to reject it as not being proved by him to be founded on Scriptur as indeed it is most deceitfull For if the Magistrate restrain me from doing that outward action either of confessing to Truth or denying error abstaining from idolatry or false worship and practising the true which my inward perswasion convinceth me of he encroacheth upon and takes upon him to rule over my inward perswasion as wel as the outward which follows naturally from the inward and without doing whereof my inward could and nothing to me save condemnation seing Christ requires an outward confession And if the Magistrates power as to outward acts even in matters of Religion be limited then he of right may decide and judge of all outward matters relating to Religion which Iohn Brown may remember his Brethren have strongly denied reserving that only for the Kirk for to say as he addeth that the Magistrate has power to punish Heretiks but not the Orthodox is as I observed miserably to beg the question since never any Magistrate was so mad as to persecut Truth as Truth but still under the notion of Error The sum of what he saith further upon this matter pag. 505-507 508 509. in answer to me resolves in these two objections ¶ 3. First That my Arguments do no less take away the Magistrates power in Civils Secondly That by the same arguments may be denied and taken away all Church censurs which I grant and in so doing contradict my self or must answer my own arguments For proof of the First he tels that many Magistrates have been or may be uncapable to judge in Civil matters as wel as Religion as also have done unjustice in their judgement Answ. True but all this will no ways inferr his conclusion because they still had that which was needfull to the being of Magistracy that is being duely to constitute for of usurpers we do not here speak however they may want these qualitys which might more accomplish them in their employment or that they may err in the administration of it but Christianity and consequently to judge in matters of Religion doth not so much as pertain to the esse or being of a Magistrate for if it did no man could ever have been or yet could be a true Magistrate or ought to be so owned unless a Christian which I suppose Iohn Brown will not adventur to affirm or if he do he will manifestly contradict the doctrin as wel as practice of Christ and his Apostles who preached Subjection and were themselves subject to such Magistrates as were enemies to Christianity If then a Magistrate may be truely a Magistrate and ought by Christians to be acknowledged and submitted to as such who is not a Christian to deny to Magistrates that power of Judgment which they can only have as being Christians will not necessarily take away any of their power as Magistrates for Christian Subjects especially being privat persons may and ought to submitt and obey their lawfull Magistrates albeit committing errors in the Government and commanding things hurtfull to the State and if they do other ways may be justly punished where the nature of the Government giveth them not allowance so to do But if the Magistrate shall command any thing contrary to the Law of God or impose in matters of Conscience contrary to Truth I. B. will with me confess unless he condemn himself that every privat Christian may without being justly accused of contempt refuse to obey as many of Iohn Brown's friends do in not going to the parish Kirks where the same faith and doctrin they hold is preached contrary to acts of Parliament For he hath not proved that a Magistrate by being a Christian acquires more power than he had before or is more a Magistrate though he may be a better For albeit as he observs Fathers be desired to instruct their children which Pagan fathers can not do yet they are not more fathers than before nor have more authority or power over their children to force them than before so a Magistrate being a Christian may instruct countenance and advance Christianity by the advantage of his place but acquires no more power thereby to force his people upon that account I. B. if he judge so will do wel to prove it by Scriptur ¶ 4. The reason of his second objection is because a Church may err in their judgment being defective as he supposed the Magistrate in the former objection and so may condemn Truth for error But how weak this is is very apparent For if he can shew us a Church having the true being of a Church which ought to be acknowledged and submitted to by Christians as such which vet is wholly a stranger to yea an enemy and persecutor of Christianity as I did him in the case of Magistracy he will say something but other ways nothing at all Next the censur of a Church however he seems to judge otherwise can not be called forceing of Conscience in the sense I grant it which is only for to deny the persons censured their Spiritual fellowship since he himself by his differing from them breaks it off as in my book intituled The Anarchy of the Ranters c. written concerning Church Government I have at large shewn And if the difference be such as the Church judgeth in conscience they can not have spiritual communion with one so principled it were in him a forceing of their conscience to urge it upon them for since he takes the liberty out of Conscience as he judgeth to differ from all his Brethren it were a most unreasonable thing in such a one to deny them the liberty being perswaded in their conscience they ought to withdraw from him seing the band of their unity which at
and laughing among people that lay claim to Religion is none of the least causes of mourning but I also believe if the appearance of Quakerism so called had in the beginning been looked on as the fore-runner of the down-fall of a meer man-made Ministry in these Nations it 's like it would have moved those who laughed most to have mourned most even then and Babylon's marchants would have cryed Alas Alas but since now thou acknowledg'st in the space of a score of years at most thou seest cause to mourn for thâ—â— which ye then laughed at I am very willing to admitt of your own aknowledgmem for a ground of hope that the single-hearted among the Non conformists may out-live all the clamor they are now making against us and in less than as many years more may work through the foggs and mists that now darken their understandings concerning the signs of this time and look back with shame and confusion on their great darkness that would have mourned for that which was matter of joy and this is no far fetched consequence for ye had then and now the same acquaintance with the letter of the Scripturs and as much humane learning and sharpness and natural abilitys for an acute examen and so it followes by the rule of contrarys and may it not be without presumption concluded ye needed then and do now the help of the Spirit 's immediat teachings in your own hearts without which ye will not yet understand the signs of this time aright which if ye did ye would see the Lord staining the pride of all flesh and bringing into contempt all the honorable in the earth that the Lord alone may be exalted and see him coming out of his Holy habitation to silence all flesh Hath not the Lord removed most of all those who were eminently instrumental to serve him in the work of the ministry and is he not daily making their skirts bare who remain and daily making them to cease out of the midst of the National Church who rejoyced in her pride Is not his voyce sounding aloud unto such of you as yet remain Ye shall no more be haughty because of my holy mountain if to day ye will hear his voyce harden not your hearts for I am sure the Teacher that will tell you infallibly what ye are called to do is near and is not removed into a corner But it is the enemies work to vaile and cover present dutys and opportunitys and represent what is past or lost as very desirable and even to prompt a people or person to lament and bewail their by-past failings and short-comings who do little heed or regard the worth of the remaining season and so to redeem the time wherefore my advice in tender love to thy Soul is that thou wait on the Lord to understand aright the import of such signs as are now appearing when the Lord is proceeding to work marvellous works and wonders in the earth and is making the wisdom of the wise to perish and the understanding of the prudent to be hid and pouring out his Spirit upon Sons and Daughters servants and hand-maids provoking to jealousy and angering the mighty learned wise men in this generation by the foolish appearance of a company of illiterat tradesmen who were never bred up at schools and universitys weavers and shoe-makers and fishers Yea is not one of the dreadfull signs of this time fulfilling in thee and thy Brethren Rev. 16 8 9. the fourth Angel poured out his vial upon the Sun and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory And whether this plague be not poured out upon your Anti-Christian Sun and ye be the persons that are thus scorched your dialect doth sufficiently declare unto all those whose eyes the Lord hath opened I also desire thee to consider how inconsonant with true Christianity a spirit of persecution is and how much more unsutable and unequal for a people or person under the same condemnation Surely that poor man who had been but a little time in Christ's company was so far influenced by his meek and moderat Spirit as not onely to forbear rayling himself against suffering Christ but to rebuke his fellow-companion for so doing which instance will stand in judgment against thee for the contrary practice neither will thy denying us to be members of Christ and not suffering for wel-doing thy accounting us Demoniaks will not avail thee nor cover thee from that wo if thou obtain not mercy to repent denunced against such as call good evil and evil good and Light darkness and darkness Light in that day when the Lord Jesus shall declare before men and angels we are his friends and followers O Robert thy hard speeches have manifested thy own sad acknowledgment to be very true the Holy fire is gone out with thee indeed in place of which that which never was nor is of God's kindling is brought forth and this is not now to be found by secret search in corners by secret surmises but is by many of you laid open and in thy late Postscripts as on a theatre set up as those who run may read the holy fire if ever there was any is quite extinct concerning which compound of unjust groundless accusations and malitious inventions I hope I may say there are many sober serious people who fear and serve the Living God inward Jewes whose hearts the Lord hath circumcised to love him who desire continually in the integrity of their hearts to serve him against whom I know no divination nor inchantment of Devils or men shall prosper of which blessed company I do avouch my self one through the Free Grace of God and I hope I and many with me have put all thine and thy Brethrens writings in the Lord 's own hand to answer for the vindication of his Glory and the manifestation of his Truth and I desire to make no worse use of thy Postscripts than Hezekia made of the writings of Rabshakeh in that day unto the Righteous Lord who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins do I appeal for whose immediat help and seasonable powerfull appearance I desire both to hope and patiently to wait untill he have performed his whole work in Zion and Jerusalem both amongst you and us then shall be brought to pass the sure promise the Lord will punish the fruit of the stout heart of his adversary and the glory of his high looks in that day he will inwardly and outwardly both plead our cause and execute judgment for us He will bring forth our righteousness as the light and make his judgments for us manifest as the noon-day although we lie among the black pots of your reproaches Now the Lord will bring us forth unto the Light and we shall behold his righteousness fulfilled in you or