other good work when called by him to it i.e. not without but with such an active obedience as by his Law or Light within they are obliged to not without an active concurrence of rational faculties reduced to their primitive perfection not without but with ability thereto from an habitual light knowledge and conviction of truth and use of their wisdomes and understandings memories not without but with an aforehand containing and comprehending of the truths they wrote in their mindes as things they had heard seen beleeved acknoledged c. God who who is the giver of every good gift and the chief Author and Actor of all good works in his Saints Isa. 26. using every instrument according to what he hath fitted it for a Beast as a Beast a Man as a Man a Saint as a Saint a Prophet as a Prophet and not a Man a Saint a Prophet a spiritual man as a stock or stone but being a reasonable creature and prepared by him naturally with such a soul such faculties and supernaturally and spiritually with such gifts and graces as whereby he is capable to act when by him commanded and a body suitable as a fit instrument to move in such a work as writing his will revealed when it is revealed also to be his will that he should write it he uses him so to write as that though himself be the principal or primum movens not only in act◠primo as he gives the pomer faculties gift graces c. but in actu secundo also he holds the hand of the Scrib◠so that he would else draw but mishapen characters and guides assists and acts in and by him yet he lets the action bear its denomination from its next and immediate Agent which is not God himself who gives the word for the writing of what he will have written in the penning of the Scripture except that little i.e. the ten words as is abovesaid but men as being moved by him to write or to dictate to others whom they willed to write from their mouthes so that the immediate spring and emanation of the Scripture was not from God but men who were the agents in it under him which overturns J. O's Apish opinion of every Apex of the writing being equally divine and as to its original as immediately from God and of the same Authority in itself and to us i e. of being received as his word sub paena c. on pain of peril of eternal condemnation as his voice in the Prophets which indeed was immediately from himself and his own witness whereas the letter was mostly but the immediate work of man witnessing for God as moved by him as first given out and as we now have it by so remote away of Transcription welnigh as far from being immediately from God to us as J.O. imagines it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And as it is with Saints indeed when they pray beleeve preach write c. as moved by the Lord it is not denominated ever by the Author of it all which is God who speaks and works all in such and is in such of a truth 1 Cor. 14. but the Saints who are said to pray beleeve preach write so was it in the giving out of that Scripture or writing that was of old called the Bible which J.O. calls his Canon to which no Title more must ever be counted which was not nor is not so immediate from God to us as his own voice is that is at this day to be heard in the heart but onely mediantibus manuscriptionibus yea by the interveniency of mediums and hands of Transcribers and Translators obnoxious to fallibility and capable to give change and alteration in more then the least syllables and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 's but at the first it was no more immediately from God than the writings of his moved and inspired Prophets are at this day whom he stirs up to reprove the madness of the Priests and false Prophets which is as that was but the spiritual mans testimony for God though specially assisted by him in it concerning all whom from the beginning of the world to this day so many as have spoken or written or done any thing for the truth in his name I here say and so conclude as to that above Certum est no ◠velle cum volumus dicere cum dicimus praedicare cum praedicamus scribere cum scribimus facere cum facimus sed Deus est qui facit ut faciamus J.O. Thou addest pag. 26. They invented not words themselves suitable to the things they had learned but only expressed the words they received their words were not their own but immediately supplied unto them from God himself and so they gave out the writing of uprightness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of truth Rep. And yet it 's said Eccles. 12.9 10 11 12. as concerning the Writings and Proverbs of Solomon the Wise the Preacher which very place thou alludest to though thou quotest it not which if thou hadst there 's few so unwise but they might see thy folly therein for that Scripture clearly confutes thy self who touchest at it that in teaching the people knowledge as he did by those Writings and Books of Proverbs he gave forth he took good heed and sought out and set in order many Proverbs even thousands more besides above a thousand Songs more then are systematiz'd into thy standing-Canon and that he sought to find out acceptable words or words of delight or rather as thy self expoundest it more clearly to the confounding of thy self as if thou wert accustomed and wonted to that work and course of self-contradiction words of will or choice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all which if it be not Tantamount to this He invented words suitable to what he himself had framed whereby to utter and express the wisdom he received to people in writing and yet what was written was upright too and words of truth not beside the spirit of truth and so I.O. consequently confuted by I.O. himself about the Scripture If the Scripture it self had not confuted him then self-confounding which I.O. is so often found in shall pass for me for current confirmation and confusion which I.O. is a most eminent Author of shall go from henceforth for good order and to dance the rounds as I. O. often doth in his shall be held the rightest way of sound Doctrine and of all Divinity Disputation For as if he had not been satisfied with his own gain-saying what he uttered concerning their not inventing of words and non-improving of their understandings wisdoms minds memories p. 25. to order dispute give out what truth they wrote in such words as they saw best suited for the things they had learned of God by saying to the contrary thus Viz. Their mind and understanding were used in the choice of words they did use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of will or choice I.O. to go round again gain-sayes this latter
judging thy self consequently enjoying the other but that thou art not in any wise for howbeit by thy own confession there Sect. 16. Capellus grants thee that the full enjoyment of the saving Doctrine of the Scripture is yet to be had or obtained by such as look chiefly after that let the Letter be never so corrupted yet thou art at no hand content with this but piteously pinest after something else which is not this saving Doctrine of the Scripture nor the Doctrine in it but another thing from which this contained Doctrine is distinguished and that is the Scripture it self which thou judged thou hast not notwithstanding thou hast its Doctrine unless thou have the Letter or Writing also and that so exactly and entire without alteration and ablation that not a tittle of it nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be found lacking these are thy words Sect. 17. Nor is it enough to satisfie us that the Doctrines mentioned are preserved entire every tittle and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scripture in that Writing see Sect. 13 in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we have must come under our care and consideration and to say the truth as thou putest a difference between the Scriptures of Truth and the Truth written of in the Scriptures sometimes as I ever do so it is the Scriptures of the Truth more then the Truth it self of which they are the Scriptures that thou mostly scrawlest for in those thy Scriptures for them which yet as is said above are not more for in shews and words then in deed and in truth they are against them nor is it the most substantial parts of that bare Letter that thou wranglest for so much as for the more accidental parts thereof viz. the points trivial tittles and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So then it is concluded hitherto on both hands First by thy self as well as â—ly by me that the Scripture and its Doctrine are not one but two several businesses whereof the First viz. the Scriptures are the subject matter so contended about between thee and the Quakers As for T.D. he draws his neck out of the Coller here and after he had engaged me to discourse it publickly with him whether the Scripture were the Word of God or not and at the dispute desiring to know what I held about it when he heard how I on the Quakers behalf declared what we meant by the Scriptures viz. the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Writing the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. the Letter and that we onely deny that Denomination of the Word of God to that not to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word or Doctrine or Truth of God written therein he gave us the Question without more ado saying thus You cannot believe us to be so simple surely as to affirm the Scriptures in that sense the Word of God but we mean the matter contained in the writing whether that be our Rule of Faith and Life P. 26. of his first Pamp. which subject matter or Doctrine and Truth contained in the Writing and testified to in it which was before ever the Writing was and is as to the substance of it eternally and unchangeably the same Christ the Word the Wisdom Righteousnesse of God the War Truth Life both yeaster-day to day and for ever we never denyed to be the Word and Rule and Foundation and what ever else I.O. and the whole School of our English Scribes do ignorantly and falsly say the Scripture is though we are mistaken by most as denying the holy Matter it Treats of so to be but the matter is not the Writing or the Scripture but that which is onely written oâ— in it but the outward written Letter or Scripture much more the Book in which the writing is which I.O. is so busy for and for every point written title and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this not onely we deny to be the Word of God but all our rash reproachers of us as denying the Scripture to be the Word when we come to their faces are fain to fall in and deny the same with us also so Christopher Fowler after a long hot Publick Dispute at Reading with E.B. and my self upon this question Whether the Scripture be the Word of God or no in which he contended a great while together it was at last confessed openly and plainly before all the People and Magistrates there present that the Scripture or Writing and I know not what else is properly and truly the Scripture but the Writing is not the Word of God after which concession of C.F. they would hear no longer dispute but the Quakers were driven out of doors But I.O. standeth stifly to it that the Word of God is the Proper Name of the Scripture and even of every tittle and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it against the Quakers for that the Truth and Doctrine of it or of Christ declared in it is Spiritual Powerful saving Perfect so that Cursed will he be that adds to or detracts from it no Quaker will deny and to fight for the perfection and integrity of that with them is but to fight without an Adversary Howbeit I.O. when thy Brains as it were begin to crow as they often do like a man in a maze thou fetchest another turn back again upon the wheel and as inconsiderately as contradictorily to thy self thou blendest and confoundest these two sundry things that were before so severed by thy very self into one again so that as the two sticks aforesaid became one in the Prophets hands so these two that were sometime put asunder and with thy own hand inscribed with different Titles are joyned Indentically Intituled denominated each of other as Synonymous of two that stood divided made one individual of two sticks become one under thy own hand which writes of the writing and the thing written as of one and in its handling of them handles and feels no such matter of distinction between the Scripturam and the Scriptum the Literam Scriptam and the rem or Doctrinam or veritatem Scriptam the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scriptiunculam Verbi de Verbo and the Verbum Scriptum the Letter or VVriting and the Doctrine or Truth written the Scripture of or concerning the Law Light Gospel and VVord of God and the Law Light Gospel and VVord of God it self of which the Scripture is but a true writing or Declration Yea whereas in that one single Section lastly cited Tr. 1. ch 1. S. 13. thou makes distinction in thy sound no lesse then four times between them first the VVritings and the Doctrine secondly the Writing and the Doctrine thirdly the Book and the Truth fourthly the Book and the Faith in the very Section immediately foregoing viz Sect. 12. which is as small as this thou all things well considered as they stand therein almost if not altogether as frequently dost confound them
is added So every Apex equally Divine and as immediately from God as any of it yea and as the voice whereby he spake in the Prophets pag. 27. But I say as written by thee so universally of the Writers and meer Writing of the Scriptures as they are they are for the most part as false as that foregoing and that I have said above concerning the Writing of much of the Scripture at first as it stands in your Bibles by Scribes that wrote either out of other Copies or from the mouths of men more immediately inspired or from what was commonly reported and generally believed and what they had heard as delivered to them by more immediate eye and ear witnesses and what they retain'd in their memories and some way or other comprehended beforehand may stand as a sufficient Answer to this parcel also wherein according to thy wonted habitual darkness ignorance and contradiction to the Truth thou deniest the Pors-men and holy Prophets in their Writings to be enabled to declare and write what they wrote by any habitual light knowledge or conviction of the Truth As if they wrote what they neither saw nor heard nor knew nor believed to be true but besides all sight and understanding discerning mental conception meditation Rational Apprehension Faith or any manner of Antecedent comprehension of the truths they told as if they were all acted and us'd in the Writing of every Tittle by the Lord just no otherwise but as a Musical Instrument in a man's hand or the Pen itself by an expert Writer which can yeeld no more then a meer passive concurrence having no principle of life within it self from whence to act any thing at all or to move a hairs breadth in any business but as it 's mov'd or as some stark dead Corps which can neither stir nor stand but as extrinsecally born up and carried forth because deest aliquid intus Whereas as I have shew'd above some of them wrote not by immediate inspiration or bringing of the things into their minds so by the spirit but mediately that is from the mouths or writings of such as received the truths more immediately as they were inspired wrote as they also spake no other things then what by some means or other they beforehand comprehended no other then what they heard and saw and believed and retained in their minds and memories whereinto the spirit of truth and the truths he guided them into which the world receives not were both received conceived and entertained yea and I here add no other then such as in the same light were more or less seen known understood and believed before any Scripture at all was though 't was by the same way then which I know no other that the Scripture speaks of of knowing God or Christ viz of internal spiritual Revelation Matth. 11.27 Ioh. 6.47 1 Cor. 2.9 10 11 12. Gal. 1.16 Did Paul believe or witness or write any other things when he wrote with his own hands what was immediately revealed in spired into him by the same holy spirit then what by the same spirit in which and no other way all the things of God are known and ever were holy men of God believed owned witnessed wrote and both in their Writings and Speakings acknowledged to be the truth see Act 24.14 26.22 23. 2 Cor. 1 13. 4.13 Did he write any other things then what they to whom he wrote might and did read elsewhere even in the light and spirit within themselves and did thereby acknowledge to be the truth And did not he himself before he wrote them in the movings of the spirit acknowledge them to be the truth himself And did he in the light in which he liv'd and saw them acknowledge them to be the truth and yet was not enabled by any habitual Light knowledge or conviction of the truth to declare them in writing as he did but wrote as one ignorant in the dark unbelieving and unconvinced of the truths he wrote and as senselesse unintelligently and passively without any active obedience to the spirit pressing him or yeelding any but a meer passive influence and concurrence of his rational faculties in the worker as a meer dead thing that is utterly devoid of all kind of life motion or principle of Action within it self and uncapable of any action at all or motion but as it is acted ab extra by some forensical force or compulsion as a Musical Woodden instrument or a pen by the hand of the writer what a weak crooked crazy piece of conception of Scripture in this of thine of which I may truly say there was not so much active concurrence of the rational faculties of the Scribes in their writing of the Scripture but there is as little in this of thine who writest as if all the Prophets of God that ever spake and wrote what of his minde they received from his own mouth by standing in his counsel and hearkning to what he said in them and waited on him to know and understand his will and word first that they might do it in the particular in their own persons and as moved or commanded in obedience to him declare it to others were absolutely and meerly as passive as Balaams Ass was whose mouth miraculously was opened and his minde indued with rational faculties supernatural to him as he was a Beast to Reason out the case with his unrighteous Master and to reprove the madness of that Prophet and as meerly passive in their work of Prophesie as Caiphas the High Priest was whose mouth was opened to speak truer than he was aware of and to prophesie of a thing out of his irrational faculties that was as high above the reach of the best rational faculties he had being a man degenerate from pure perfect reason and in the fall as fallen mans best reason is above the brute beasts of the field for as Herod and Pontius Pilate did with wicked hands the things that God before determined should come to pass fulfilling the Prophets words in slaying Christ little thinking they served the truth as they did in it as the Assyrian in the like case they meant not so nor did their heart think otherwise than to destroy Isa. 10.5 6 7. Act. 4.27 28. Act. 3.17 18. Act. 13.27 28 29. So that Priest with a wicked heart intentionally to counsel them to murther Christ had his mouth prepared to Prophesie a precious truth which as so he spake not of himself so as one that had the light knowledge or conviction of the truth but besides himself as the Ass in the other case Numb 22.28 29 30. Joh. 11.29 50 51 52 53. Joh. 10.14 Whereas most evident it is that the holy men of God who wrote any part of the Scripture by immediate inspiration with their own hands to let pass that which some wrote for and from them as dictated to by their mouthes were in the light sight knowledge prae-conviction comprehension
Truth Law Doctrine or Commandement which is a Light and Lamp is within as Rom. 10.8 witnesses it for me so my two Antagonists I.O. and T.D. do both from the Testimony of that very Text testifie the same with it and me against themselves the one viz. T D. sying p. 30 31. of his 1. Pamph. 't is evident that the word spoken of in the heart Rom. 10.8 is meant of the matters contained in the Scriptures for the Apostle sayes expresly that is the Word of faith which wee preach whereby it seems by your selves the Letter is neither the Word there said to be nigh in the heart and mouth nor yet the Word of faith the Apostles preached but some other thing that was actually properly truly and formally within the heart even the holy Word Law Light Truth Spirit of Truth and Doctrine which wee together with the Scripture do testifie unto and you contrary both to us and the Scripture are continually testifying against and the other viz. I.O. saying Ex. 1. s 40. The Word in us is that Word of faith the Apostles preached but they preached nothing but what was written by Moses and the Prophets Rom. 16.26 yea that that Word was a Word written the Apostle professedly testifies in that place vers 10. 2. The Scripture is nigh us in our hearts and mouth not in respect of the Letter written or the Scripture formally considered as written but of the divine Truth or as it contains and holds forth the divine truth it self Reply V. 11. Thou meanest sure for there the Word Scriptures is named but what of that and who doubts or denies but that the Word in the heart was written as well as preached and testified to by writing as well as by word of mouth but wilt thou ever be so blinde I.O. as to make no difference but when it serves thy turn to do it as thou thinkest against the truth for then thou makest a difference See p. 12. 13. between the Word written Doctrine declared and Declaration Book and Truth Scripturam rem scriptam preaching and thing preached publication and will of God published proclamation of good things and the tidings or good things proclaimed and told of Suppose a man should stand at a Market-cross or in Cheapside and preach publish or proclaim by Word of mouth or set up a Bill or Writing that there is special good Wheat Bread Flesh or the like laid up under the custody of the Lieutenant of the Tower enough for all the poor starvelings of the rich City of London where the more shame and wo to the rich Gluttons in it they ly perishing about the streets by him freely to be dispenced who is sealed or authorised to that end to give to all comers according to their wants or in a time of distress or danger that there is safety in the Tower for all that are willing to run in thither within so many dayes or else the gates shall be shut for thus the Publishers of the glad Tidings of the Gospel of peace and salvation by Christ the Light alone and his Spirit and Light which reproves sin is the heart do declare both by Voyce and Letter or Writing in their times as he himself Isa. 45.22 Look to me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth viz. That in him who is the Light is the life of men to be had and not in the Letter which rather killeth Hee is the strong Tower where safety alone is Him hath God sealed to be the giver of the bread of life and the meat that endureth to eternal life to all that come to him in that time wherein he shines in his Light Now if people should run only to the Cryer and hang alwayes on the hearing of his voice or stand reading the good news in the writing he hath set up doting on and delighting only to read that day by day because its comfortable as it tells of good things and never at all according to the counsel thereof betake themselves to the Tower where they only are might they not stand there poring till they perish pine and starve and would they not lose time and perhaps totally withstand it and would yee judge them to bee well in their wits if they should run up and flock all together to the Proclamation or bare Writing supposing to injoy the things themselves though they never look after the said Lieutenant spinning out the time limited in looking upon the writing and so far dote as our Dr doth that the coming to the Scriptures is the only proper way of coming to Christ himself which he counsels us to Rev. 3. as to think that their comming to that Paper every day is their next way to the Tower their very only proper going to the Lieutenant that is required Mutatiâ— mutandis de te fabula the case is your own O ye untaught better fed then taught Teachers it is yours O ye more letter-lauding then letter-learning Preachers and Priest-admiring people Christ is come from God that men might have life and have it abundantly calls all to look and come to him for it yee like the old Scribes search the Scriptures and therein look for the eternal life because they are they that testifie of it and of him who is the life but yee will not come to him that yee may have the life Ioh. 5.35 c. 2. What need I say more but with T.D. and I.O. to heed and beleeve themselves because they are so dull of hearing that they will neither heed nor beleeve the Qua. for they give the cause in Question between the Qua and them about the Scripture or the Letters being the World of faith or light shining in the dark place of mens hearts which Peter sayes men are to take heed to which said dark place that is the heart and consâ—ience where by their own confession so gross a thing as a formal outward Letter cannot come but only some more subtil thing then that is even a spiritual light as that is not is as evident in the Text as the Word and Light it speaks of is to him that is not blinde for the dark place wherein the Word and Light here is said to thine is the same wherein as the Light is taken heed to the day dawns and the day star i.e. Christ him self arises first as that bright and morning star Rev. 2.28 whereby the day spring from on high visits such as sate in darkness Luke 1.78 79. and at last as the Sun of righteousness it self Mal. 4.2 but that is said expresly to be the heâ—rt so far as from Ioh. 1.5 we argue Where the spiritual darkness is which comprehends not the Light within which darkness the light shines There the true light shineth but that is within in the conscience of all men therefore there the true light in some measure is shining As if the dark place within which the Sun shines be a room within
if they leave the plain paths of uprightness to walk in the wayes of darkness and come not to the light that shines in their consciences sciences and the Law of God which is not far off but nigh in their hearts that they may know and do it but hate and abhor it and persecute the Ministers and children of it and make to themselves crooked paths whatsoever walketh therein shall not know peace yea Iudgement shall be far from them and Iustice never overtake them and they shall wait for light but behold obscurity and for brightness but shall walk in darkness and groap for the wall like the blind as if they had no eyes and stumble at noon-day as in the night aâ—d be in desolate places as dead men and roar like Bears and mourn sore like Drues and look for Salvation but none shal come because their transgressions are multiplied before the Lord and their own sins testifie against them and their transgressions are still with them and as for their iniquities by the light within they know them transgressing and lying against the Lord and departing away from God while they pretend to draw nigh unto him speaking still oppression and revolt conceiving and uttering from their heart words of falshood turning Iudgement away backward and causing Iustice to stand afar off causing truth to fail in their streets and shutting out of Equity that it cannot enter making a prey of him that departeth from iniquity and mocking the Lord and making him believe as far as they can with their flattering words and sained turnings unto him that they love his truth his light and his life yet in truth saying in their hearts to God depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes There are such who blow the Trumpet as of old the Prophets did to the same tune and the like to this that is above whose Trumpet gives as certain a sound as theirs did also and not such an uncertain fallible one as that of the Priests And these Theopneustoi or divinely inspired persons in their writings speakings call for attendance reception and submission not with that Supreme Authority I confess which I. O. as falsly as foolishly both supposes and saves T. 1. C 3. S. 8. Antient divinely inspired Scripture calls for which is quoth he not only in comparison with but also in opposition unto all other wayes of coming to the knowledge of God his Mind and Wâ—ll c. For by his leave or besides it either the Light and infallible Spirit it came forth from may not only well compare with its fallible and falsified self as people now have it transcribed translated twisted and twined which way any unrighteous writers either of it or on it any men-pleasing Praters Tythe-taking Talkers or time-serving Turn-coats are pleas'd to take it and turn it and wrest it to their own present ends and future ruine but alâ—o may well and doe challenge attendance to themselves with far more supream and uncontroulable authority then it can yea as the sâ—â—e and only meanes of coming to the knowledge of God his Mind and Will whom and which all the Scribes and Scripture-searchers in the world nor have nor can know without the light and Spirit any more then the old ones did Ioh. 5. Matth. 22. Or then anyone can see the outward Sun by any light but that which shines from itself Matth. 11.27 1 Cor. 2.10 11 16. And so in opposition to all outward Scripture it self as that which may define God and declare of him and of his mind and will and yet gives not the knowledge of either the knowledge of whose things if we believe I. O. T. 1. c. 1. s. 16 depends wholly and solely on his own pure divine revelation thereof by himself which revelation is so far exprest indeed in the Scripture as that there it is written of but is expresly made onely in the heart where it pleases the Son to reveal the Father and the Father to reveal the Son in men Gal. 1.15 16. Eph. 1. Col. 1.23 I say then not with that Supream Authority which is peculiar onely to the Light Spirit and Word within though ignorantly attributed yea and appropriated too by I O. to the outward writing yet with the same uncontroulable Authority as the letter doth they call for attendance even from their Theopneustia or divine inspiration which To Theion or Power of God that accompanieth them in their ministration is enough to convict I. O. and all the Wolves of these times that bark and howl against the Light and mis-judgâ— the many messages that come to them from the Lord as rejecters of such as God sends and justifiers of them who flew such of old as spake to them in the name of the Lord. Nevertheless as I. O. saith too truly T. 1. c. 3. s. 9. It alwayes so fell out that scarce any Prophet that spake in the name of God had any approbation from the Church in whose dayes be spake so it falls out now to the true Prophets among all the false Churches of these latter dayes from whom they find lesse Approbation and the same Reprobation as the former did from those evill Generations wherein they spake Ier. 47.3 Matth. 5.12 21.33 to 38. 23.29 Luke 17.25 26 27 28. Iohn 9.29 Acts 7.52 24.5 And this comes to passe by reason of the same innumerable prejudices that attend these their givings out of truth either in speech or writing as did the other whose writings are not freed as I. O. fancies from the prejudices that at first attended them but attended with more then at the first writing thereof thorough the infinite alterations mis-transcriptions mis-translations mis-constructions and mistakes of all sorts they have since been liable to by the fallibility and infinite variety of Scribes thorough whose hands they have passed Which said innumerable prejudices that now attend the modern Prophets as did the first arise from the same Root with those that attended them in their respective Ages viz. 1. Partly the supposed interests of them that write and speak by way of Prophecy or immediate motion 2. Partly the personall infâ—â—mities homely appearances stemmering lips uneloquent rude crude indigested unsound non-sensicall sound of words as they seem to unintelligently understanding I. O. Ep. ad lectorem Ex. 3. s. 17. and formes of speech which the Babes vf Christ seem to him to babble in when they drop their doctrine as the dew at the Command of God to the Drunkards of Ephraim not all as once but as it were guttaâ—im Precept upon precept line upon line here a little and there a little Ezek. 21.2 Amos 7.16 Isai. 28.9 10 11 13.2 Partly the mean out-side of most of these inwardly glorious sons and daughters of the King Psal. 45.13 whose cloathing ad extra is not as their own within and the worlds without and its Ministers often is of wrought gold nor yet is it so much of Plush Jippoes Hose behang'd before
coverings of their Idols and to slain the pride of all their fleshly performances and to 〈◊〉 no pleasure on their best observations and oblationâ—s and to snuff at their sacred services as at a stinking smeak coming up into his nose and to turn the songs of their Temples into howlings and to cause children to oppress them and very women to rule over them and to stir up the babes and the base ones to behave themsâ—lves boldly against the honourable and antient and to cut off both the head and the tail of a people even the antient and honourable Rulers which are the head and the Prophet that teacheth lies which is the tail and to spreadâ—dung upon their faces and that 's more than a mans breech upon a Pulpit Pillow even the dung of their sâ—lemn meetings and to sweep both one and t'other away together and in short to throw no less then shameful spuing upon all their glory Doth this offend you that the servants of the Lord are now made signs so far as to sit covered in your Mass-houses in reproof of your singing Davids Psalm with Sâ—uls spirit in such Meeter as I. H.T.S. Q. Elizabeths Fidlers have moulded them into and in â—uch manner as some Priest Clark or Sexton sayes them lineatim by a line at a time before you O Lord I am not puft in mind I have no scornfulâ—ye all â—he night loâ—g wash I my Bed and much more to the same Tune wherein most of your people mock God and sing more lyes to him than tâ—uths whilest they are as houghâ—y and scâ—râ—ful as ere they can look and o far from making their Beds swim and their eyes gush out with tears for sin that they rather are both full of daily Adulteries and defiled with nocturnal uncessant uncleannesses and pollutions Does this offend you that a man should sit and few upon a Cushion in rebuke of youâ— sottish ignoâ—ance who limit the Lords day which is an everlasting holy Sabbath or ceâ—ation from all mans own words works thoughts and pleasures typiâ—ed by the seventh day which ye now confeâ—s is no more holy than another within the narrow lists of one day of the seven and not the seventh neither which God instituted for a time but the first onely as if ye were then onely and on the fasts of your own appointment for a day bound to serve God in some certain outward shewes and then at liberty to serve lust self flesh sin and the Devil all the week beside Doth this offend you that as an Ecce signum any true Prophets Tayl should come neer the sâ—ft Cushion over which the Prophets that teach lyes who are the Tail lean and lye talk for money and do their business in order to the getting in of their gain from their quarters and follow their calling twice oâ— thrice a week and work upon their Tâ—ade which unless they would come freely to give what freely they have received and speak more truth than they do is not half so honest as that of a Taylour sewing of a garment Do these small matters which yet as despicable as they are in your own eyes are of more moment to you than ye are aware of offend and occasion you to stumble O ye Priests what if ye should â—ee men made to go naked and sit naked upon your Plush-Pulpit-Cushion and annoy them with very Dung before you for a Sign to a seemingly Saint-like seed of Serpents whose own righteouâ—neâ—s which they count gain is as very dung in the sight of God such a one would be a greater stumbling-stone in thy eyes T.D. and of thy offended fellows yea behold ye despisers and wonder and perish such works and strange acts as these is the Lord working in your dayes the mystery of which ye can in â—â—wise believe though ever and anon done in the sight of 100ds yea how have many been pressed in Spirit to pass naked into your Mass-houses and streets in Cities and Towns and to do what ye deem defilement as signs from the Lord to shew the nakedness and stark-stinking shamelesness of this most impiously impudent and impenitent generation of professing Priests and People who are apparently as richâ— Landicâ—a herâ—self in letter and increased with goods and needing nothing of Christs own councel light in their own consciences not knowing thâ—mselves to be poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked And yet all this and much more no more than was done at the Lords command of old by the Prophet which was a fool and the spiritual man that was mad in the eyes of the blind Priesthood of that age wherein he lived witness Isaiah who went naked and bare-foot three years for a sign and wonder to Egypt and Aethiopia Isa. 20. And Ieremy who brake a Bottle in Tophet in token that the Lord would make Iudah as Tophet Jer. 19. 1 10 12. and put bands and yoaks on his own neck and sent yoaks to several Kings as a sign of the slavery they should come into Jer. 27. And Ezekiel who was dumb and bid to eat and drink with quaking and trembling to mingle his Bread with Mans Dung and made to mingle it with Cow Dung in the sight of Israel as a sign of that defiled polluted bread they should eat among the Gentiles and to burn a third part of his Hair and smite a third part of it with a Knife and scatter a third part of it with the Wind and bind a small part of it in his skirts to shew the famine sword and dispersion of Israel and salvation onely of a few Ezek. 3 c. 4. c. 5. and dig a hole in his house and remove his stuff in their sight Eze. 12. And Hosea that was bid to love an Adulteress and a Harlot T. D. Another example as thou callest it as Remarkable as this Thou sayest was in Christ-Church Octob. 6. 1659. where on a Day of publique Thanks-giving the Parliament L. Major Aldermen Common Councel and Officers of the Army being met together to hear Dr. Homes Mr. Caryl appointed by the Parliament to preach before them two Qua. made a great disturbance in the very presence of Authority Rep. By the humane Authoâ—ity it seems of the Parliament themselves two Ministers of mans making were appointed to preach before them and by the Divine Authority and Power of God himself two of his sending were appointed and pressed in Spirit to bespeak them in his Name to another purpose then that of those of their own chusing for whereas they had chosen to themselves such as should Prophecy to them not Truth nor right things but deceits and such smooth things as were pleasing and suitable to their dainty Dreams thanksgiving-thoughts sweet sacred solemnities fained festivities vainly hoped self-promised unities of that joyful day the Lord had chosen Seers who saw beyond all this and divined a storm through all theâ—e their Idol-coverings draw near upon them but to these Seers and Prophets they
Rags nay no better nor any other then that which Paul calls his Own which Own of his he having once counted it gain he had now suffer'd the loss of and counted but loss and dung that he might be clothed with Christs which Doctrine of T.D. if it were true but God forbid that any should take it from him for Truth for its most abominably false yet let 's see at least what use of Information were to be drawn from it and in a word it s this 1. That the Righteousness of Christs own working in his Saints and that which the Saints received by Faith from Iesus Christ and that fulness of it that dwells in him is but meer mans Righteousness which he must utterly suffer the loss of and count on not as gain at any hand but as loss and dung before he can know Christ or receive or be clothed with the Righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteosness which is of God by Faith in him and 2. that the foresaid Righteousness of Christ which he works in us and we by Fath receive from him is but our own and is no better even all of it then our unrighteousnesses are that is as filthy Rags before the Lord he that readeth this let him understand it if he can annd receive it for truth if he dare but if he do not let him know that T.D. hath done his best ill will to the truth that he can to reach it to all men for no less then Truth however though such folly falshood not to say blasphemy it is that worse scarce ever fell from the Pen of a Professed Preacher 4. One Observation more which is scarce fit to be noted to any other use or purpose but to the noting of T.D. to be such a notable none-such as is deservedly Nigro carbone notandus arises from T.Ds. discourse about the two Righteousnesses of Christ one of which he calls mans own and filthy Rags as if Paul when a Pharisee had no Righteousness of his own that he stiled lâ—ss and dung but that which was Christs and which he had received from Christ which what a loud Tale it is he is not much versed in the Truth that cannot tell and that is in such wise as followeth viz. whereas T.D. tells ut of two different ends of the'e two Righteousnesses of Christ as he doth also p. 39. the one whereof i.e. that which is inherent in Christ serves quoth h eto justifie us and give us a Right as a cause of our Title of the inheritance of the Saints in Light the other i.e. the Righteousness wrought in us by Christ which Paul calls lâ—ss and dung and T D. imperfect and filthy Rags to sanctifie us and to make us meet for the Possession of Heaven without which Heaven would not be a place or state of blisâ— nor we fit to enter into such a Glorious Holy Place and Inheritance among Saints in Light which of these two give us Right to enter as the cause of our Title I shall shew plainly by and by saying onely at present against T.D. as 't is said Rev. 22.14 that us doing Gods Commandments by the Power of Christ as they are given out to us in the Light that gives us Right as well as makes us fit to enter as well Ius ad Regnum as Aptitudinem Regnandi but from T. Ds. Doctrine who Teaches that the Righteousness wrought in us by Christ which he also calls OVRS and dung and filthy Rags serves to sanctify us and make us fit and meet to enter into Heaven it s but meet here least I meet not so fair an opportunity for it an on to observe thus much to T. Ds. shame that if his Doctrine were as true as it is false that the Righteousness of Christ in us which yet though wrought in us by him and received by Faith from him is but meerly our own according to T. D. and no gain but loss dung and filthy Rags doth though not enright and entitle us to Heaven yet at least wash purifie sanctifie and make us meet and fit to enter into it so that without being purged cleansed sanctified and fitted by or covered and clothed with the foresaid dung and filthy Rags we can in no wife be clean or fit enough to enter into that Pure and Holy place into which no dung nor fiâ—h nor unclean thing nor ought that defileth can enter nor say I whoever worketh such abomination or maketh such a lye as T. D. doth who danceth the Rounds in this Rotten Doctrine of his till a man can easily find neither head nor tail in it nor Truth nor Unity with it self nor sense nor reason if he look on it in gross as it lyes together in the whole corrupted mass and unleavened lump scarcely from one end of it into the other yet thus it is know all ye Saints that are devoted to dance bud-winkt in the dark to the Tune of T.Ds. loud Trumpetings against the Truth viz. that unless ye be clothed with the Royal Robes of that Righteousness which is inhaerent in Christ Person only which is as they also say as far off you as Heaven is from the earth so that ye can't have it but by that Romish Faith which is Crede quod habes habes believe onely that ye have it and ye have it sure enough though sure enough ye have it not you can have no Iustification no Right nor true Title to enter into Heaven and unless ye put on and be clothed with the dung and filthy Rags so T. D. partly expressly partly implicitly calls it of that Righteousness of your Own as he Terms it which is received from Christ nevertheless and wrought in you by him if ye can believe T. D. ye are not meet in any wife to enter into Heaven but albeit ye have a Real true Right to enter being though still in your sins already justified by the former yet ye may not enter for all that real Right ye have so to do into so Holy an Habitation for want of being cleansed sanctified and made meet for it by this latter So of the things that T. D. hath spoken ye have the summe And so I come to some fuller Examination of the way by which as a meritorious cause our Iustification comes and our Right and Title to enter into the Heavenly Inheritance and our meetness and fitness for the Possession of it also And first I shall shew what these matters come not by 1. None of all this comes by any or all those good works or Righteousnesses which abstract from Christ as the Worker of them in and by man are most truly and properly mans own for howbeit T.D. charges us as crying up Our own works of Righteousness not onely as our Sanctification but as de Iure deserving Iustification also or acceptance in Gods fight and entrance into his Kingdom yet but that his eye is so busie abroad that its utterly blinded
is not possible to attain to such a purging as this in the body no not by the very All-healing herb of grace it self His Antidote to preserve the Saints from too deep a sense of their sins is this whereas the Qua tell them that if the light in their own consciences accuse and condemn them from the face of God for sinning there 's no God nor Christ that holds them guiltlesse sith that of God within is his witnesse and vicegerent that what it sayes and judges in them is as the voice of God himselfe and if that create trouble man cannot create solid Peace Tush quoth T. D for to the same purpose he talkes though not in totidem verbis p. 19. what tell you us of Conscience conscience is often erroneous and not rightly guided in the very Saint Talk of conscience to the wicked its office is to be a witnesse against them for their sins which if it do not check them but tell them God loves justifies and accepts them when they sin it s defiled 1 Tit. 15. and leads them into a wrong opinion of their estates in that it testifies that their estate is good when it s nothing lesse for to the impure is nothing pure but unto the pure all things are pure and when the Saints sin and are defiled thereby the office of conscience as a witnesse in them if it do its office is to cleare and comfort and speak peace and if it offer to trouble them when they fall throw infirmity into fowl enormity and dare be so bold as to darken their evidence of Gods love and of their justification in his sight when they are guilty as David was once of things not fit to be named among Saints yet I dare be so bold as to say it is defiled in the Saints and testifies falshood to them also in saying that their estate is bad when for all their sins it is good no lesse then it tells lyes to the wicked that their estate is good when it s nothing lesse Thus we have the unconquerable and that uncontrolable comfort which T. D. Administers to the Saints when they become sinners and fall into the same folly and filth with other wicked men who is very a Boanerges or Son of thunder as he is in a few slight words more thâ—n the same solid power with Peter and Iohn to the wicked yet to the Saints of his own coyning is he another Barrabas or Son of Consolation I mean not another of the same with him who confirmed the Saints in their goodnesse and grace but another of another kind that comforts confirmes and chears up his sinfull Saints in their sins and dawbs them over who are dirty enough already if such he Saints as he sayes are with his own more dirty doings who would have them live as justified in Gods sight and as uncondemned in themselves as Saints whilst ore head and eares in their sins But will all this hold T.D. little did I once think ever to have seen such a dish of doctrine drawn by a divine from Tit. 1. 15. though unto the pure all things are pure was wont the same way to be wrested by the Ranters and for my own part had I been minded to look for such a licentiâ—us piece of Libertinisme as he would learn men from thence as I am far from it knowing that in maxima libertate there 's minima licentia yet I should sooner have lookt for a needle in a bottle of hey as they say then have lookt for the like from thence or have scrap't in that Scripture to find it if T.D. had not told me it had been there where yet for all his telling me of a justification of a Saint in his sins I cannot yet find or see such a thing nor any else I beleeve but such as are as blind as himselfe for the light in the conscience of both good and bad doth tell them infallibly what they are and testifie to the face of the best man in the world that God doth not justifie him while he sins which witnesse of God within their own hearts is greater then the witnesse of man and will have audience at last when it begins to speake out when such a one as I may easily be slighted who witnesse onely for God from it and therefore I shall say but little more to this matter neverthelesse when T.D. and his unâ—ust justified ones come once to feel it stand upon its feet which like an innocent just hâ—ly Lamb hath been hitherto slain by the beast within them because it torments them with telling too much truth great fear will then fall on such as see it and have made merry over it in its captivity and at the same time there will be a great Earthquake and lightnings and voices and terrible thunderings and great hail out of heaven the Plague whereof shall be exceeding great every stone perhaps about the weight of a Talent Rev. II. Rev. 16. the storm of which shall overthrow their open hiding places and sweep away their refuge of lyes and disanull the Covenant which these D unkards of Ephraim have made with death and hell and passe over them like an overflowing scourge so that they shall be all troden down by it Iudgement also shall be laid unto the line and righteousnesse to the plummet Isa. 28. To take a more exact account of them before God then they are willing to give of themselves who now not knowing the goodnesse and grace of God within them which in his love as a light is given to teach and to lead them unto Repentance Tit. 3. 13. Rom. 2. 4. to 13. Are in the hardnesse and impenitency of their hearts treasuring up wrath to themselves against the day of wrath and the Revelation of the righteous Iudgment of God whâ— in the day when he shall judge the secrets of men by Christ Iesus the Light according to the Gospell that Paul himself preached will mark in his righteous Iudgment Render to every man according to his deeds viz. to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternall life Yea glory honour and peace to every soul of man mark that worketh good But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every one that doth evill without respect of persons yet the Iew first who say they are Jewes and are not but do lye and are the Synagogue of Satan and also to the Gentile then shall they know that such as sin whether without the law or in the Law in the Letter shall be judged respectively by that letter such as have it and all by that light in the conscience by which all are a Law to themselves and that it is not the Hearers and Preachers and Praters against the Laws justifying but the doers of the Law onely by the power of Christ which onely does it
the Spirit by such as lived and walked in the Spirit and were in all they did led by the Spirit to some private Christians about some worldly Affairs as that of Paul to Philemon Some by Chief Captains to their Presidents and by Presidents to their Princes about Prisoners and Tumults and divers other sorts of passages So that as written in the Spirit the Holy Scriptures may be said to be Homogeneous Writings all of one kind but in respect of the several businesses written of therein they are at Heterogeneous I a body or bulk of as various Writings as any extant in the World-besides them Now by the Scriptures I mean these Writings that contain the matters abovesaid and many more and not the matters themselves therein contained And if thou mean by the Scriptures any other things then the Scriptures themselves as like a Reed shaken with the wind thou seemest sometimes to do and again sometimes not to do and which things the Scriptures are not or by any other things which are not the Scriptures when thou speakest of them viz. the Law Word of God the spiritual Light c. meanest the Scripture as sure enough thou dost well-nigh throughout thy confused discourses and disputations about it then thy meanings are too mean to be any otherwise at all then meanly accounted on among any that mean honestly and plainly and know the Truth as it is in Jesus By us when we talk of the Scriptures to use thy own words onely vice versa Ex. 1. Sect. 26. non sanctissima ista veritas seu materia Scripturarium sed scriptura formaliter considerata intenditur honestly and plainly we intend that onely which is so even the form of writing it self and not the matter or holy truths of the Scripture the Scripturam and not the Scriptum or at most the Litteram Scriptam not the rem scriptam not the Verbum Scriptum the Declaration and not the Doctrine declared the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the letter in the oldnesse of which thou art yet serving who knowest not the newness of the spirit the Scripture or Writings of the Prophecy and not the Prophesie of or contained in the writing nor the Prophetical VVord the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the writing for so the word is there translated truly 2 Chron. chapter 21. not the VVord Written or word of Prophesie that came to Elijah and was sent in a Writing to the King which thou falsly sayest p. 12. that Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used for in that Text and every wise man that is truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 especially in a dispute where the Question is whether the writing of the Word of God be the Word of God Written of or no while sub judice lis est will till the thing in debate one way or other be clearly determined remember still to keep these two things as two asunder So thou dost thy self while thou art well in thy wits witness thy words above cited by myself Ex. 1. S. 28. where thou puttest a plain difference between the Scripture it self formally considered and the most Holy Truth or matter therein delivered yea when ever thou keepest in any measure of sober-mindednesse thou keep'st these two as distinct in thy discourse as the two sticks of Iudah and Ioseph Ezek. 37 19 17. that were superscribed with two several superscriptions vouchsafing to each its own proper name and not communicating the name of either unto the other but clearly dividing between them so as that any one may see thou thy self dost not believe one of them to be the other nor yet darest affirm them to be Synonymous witness p. 12 13. where thou makest them two and writest of one of them all along as in contradistinction to the other in these Terms viz. not the Doctrine in it but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it self The Providence of God no lesse concerned in the preservation of the writings then the Doctrine contained in them the Writing it self being the product of his Counsel for the preservation of his Doctrine Satan hath no lesse raged against the Book then against the Truth contained in it it was no lesse crime of old to be Traditor libri then to be Abnegator fidel which sour last Assertions of thine though they are all four false tales for Providence is not so much concerned to preserve the Writings as the Doctrine neither is the Writing so necessary for the preserving of the Doctrine that as thou there hintest it must it must needs perish if the Writings perish for it was before them and may be without them and will be after them Neither thirdly is the malice of Satan so much against the Book called the Bible as against the Doctrine of the truth for he is willing to let hypocrites alone long enough to carry gaudy Bibles under their arms so be they serve him and abide not in Christs Doctrine nor in the Truth the Scripture tells of neither 4ly is it or ever was it so great a Crime to betray the Book called the Bible as to deny the Faith and the Word of Faith therein written of for the Book is not worth a Pin as to salvation without the Faith but the Faith is sufficient thereto without the Book and was so before the Book was witnesse the Worthies from Abel to Moses whose sufficient faith is written of Heb. 11. and would be if the Pope and the Devils rage should reach so far as to burn all the Bibles in the World so here 's four utter untruths asserted together neverthelesse as they are Tru-lies yet are they true enough to serve the truth I here summon them in proof of viz. that thou thy self who countest it as bad not to be as trusty to the Bible as to the Truth that 's in it as it is to betray the Truth and deny the Faith dost deny the Book or Scripture the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Writing to be one and the same with the Faith Truth and Doctrine or the Doctrine to be the Writing or that these can truly be denominated each of other I say then that here being more sober minded as to thy discerning between the writing and the written verity though drunk enough elsewise to lay so many lyes or at least so many tales that are not true upon the top one of another in so small a space as one short Section thou art freely willing fairly to distinguish them into two Yea further yet that thou dost not judge these two to be one it may appear plainly to thy self or any that are free to peruse the places in the 16. and 17. Sections of the same first Chapter for if thou didst then in the enjoyment of the one thou wouldest be satisfied as
had been left not onely uncapable to do ought in their own defence in the mid'st of thy many mischievous accusations but also insensible of any hurâ— at all or of who it was that hurt them with the sharp Aâ—rows which our of the same Devils Bow with T.D. in his thou shootest at Randome at them in that thy Divine piece of lying Divination Art thou not in this one of those to whom the Wo is Isa. 29.1516 That seek deep to hide their Counsel from the Lord whose works are in the dark and they say who seeth us and who knoweth us whose turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the Potters clay Art thou not herein as like one of the old Bastardly Broods viz. the Ammâ—nites and Ashdodites Zach. 9.6 that were adversaries to the True Israel of God yea as like Samballat and Tobia as ever thou canst look who with the rest of their Co-conspiratours against the Lords work that of the builders of Ierusalem that removed the Babylonish Rubbish in order to the Repairing of Breaches the Restoring the Pure Primitive Truth the building of the Old Wastes out of the Ruines and dejoâ—ations and the laying the foundations of many Generations Isa. 58 said much what to the same tune as thou dost of the Quaâ—ers Neh 3. II. They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease sure thou wast doubtful of being cal'd to accâ—unt by the Quakers and conscious to thy self of thy own uncapablenesse to clear thy self in thy false accusations of them as denyers despisers sleighters of Gods Word and the Scriptures c. hadst thou floured them so sowlly and charged them so falsly in English as thou dost in Latine and therefore as the Laws made for English people to be Ordered judged and Tryed by that the Lawers may prey the more perfectly upon their purses are laid up out of poor peoples sight in obscure terms long Scroles and Latine screel scrawls so thou chosest to be a Barbarian to the Quakers as they seem to be to thy self who art lost so far in Hebrew Greek and Latin as not to know plain English and to talk to thy Barbarous Brotherhood against them in a Language they as thou thoughest understand not rather then to talk to them in a known tongue about that enmity to the Word of God and the Scripture which thou inditest them at your High Commission as guilty of But very unjustly for As blindly as thou Judgest we deny and carelesly forget the Scriptures because we like Sheep are silent in the light and not whining for it among the Swine that seed no higher then on the empty husk yet we have not so foregone it but that according to Christs promise to such as are in the Spirit Iohn 14. upon new occasion what ever we have read in it of the mind of Christ of old is by that Spirit brought a new to our remembrance and we know so much by it that even it now the word it speaks of is put into their mouths as their chiefest strength shall be excellently useful and used by both the Tongues and Pens of very Babes and Sucklings to still and stop the mouths of such Adversaries to the Truth and the Light and the Letter also as thou yet art who talkest utterly against the Scripture in thy talking for it and pluckest it down while thou Placest it above the Light and by all thy Proof less provings of the Letter to be as the light it pleads for and thou against onely is a self evidencing Light and Power hast in Truth proved thy own undertakings in that behalf to be a piteous plain self evidencing piece of great weaknesse and greater darknesse and many more uses are to be made of the Letter yet as well as to beat the abusers of the Scripture and the livers besides it with their own Weapon of which more anon in its place and if we knew it not in the Light as we do yet from the very Letter we are well aware that the burthen of base born Moab is near to come upon him and the Night wherein Aâ— of Moab must be cut off and brought to silence and the Night wherein Kiâ— of Moab is to be cut off and brought to silence and that the time is near to come wherein as the Saints are now silent in Light before him who keepeth their feet that they do not slide so the wicked whose way is a slipery places in the dark will be driven on till they fall therein and shall at last be silent in darknesse for ever and bowl within themselves but no more so loudly against the Light for by strength shall no man Prevail Isa. 51.1 I Sam. 2. 21. Nevertheless we must give you loosers leave to talk up your talk for whether we will or no talk ye will yet a while so long as your tongues are your own untamed and without the bridle which while they are though ye seem to be Religious as thou I.O. dost yet all your Religion is but vain and though in the Light we know what we know yet from the Letter ye will be thinking your think and thrusting out your idle thoughts too till your hands be tied against the true Light and its Friends of which ye make a mear mocking stock among your selves and must mightily then when ye are got as ye suppose out of sight divining Lyes together in your Lattine Divinity Disputations and out of the Cup of your own Imaginations sit tipling to each other in the dark when ye are drunken as drunâ—erds with your own wisdom as with sweet wine and folden together as thorns thinking no hands can touch or take you to thrust you away then ye lye in Lattin together at ease as in a Bed wherein ye take your fill of Lies which ye love till ye be utterly burnt with fire in your place and be devoured as stubble fully drie 2 Sam 23.6 7. Nah. 1.9.10 Nor worse nor better then thus is the Case with thee I.O. and those Sons of Belial that wonder after thee nor is it any otherwise with thee and thy wondrous Work which thy own heart head and hands have not only wrought and wrote but brought forth also into the world against the Quakers wherein but especially in that last Fourfold Latine Fardel which thy Two former Flim-flams falling into one with it flows with them in one floud of folly and falshood wherein hoping having lap 't thy self close up in the Fig leaves of that little learning and Logick that is used therein thou liest hid out of the sight of the Quakers whose light thou deemest not large enough to lay hold on thee in that Syllogistical Siege thou there layest and those Logical lurking holes in which thou lyest in a learned Leagure against them thou adventurest more securely then thou durst well do in thy smooth English Sermons to ease thy self of thy
ye all falsly say it is that is the Word of God Witnesse not only that so much esteemed Divine in his dayes viz. Ball in his Catechisme but also the Confession of Faith of the Assembly of Divines presented to the Parliament and that of the Congregationals which is verbatim the same also therewith who all unanimously in that Article of the Scripture wherein they falsely affirm it to be the Word of God declare thus in the fifth head viz. by the heavenlinesse of the matter efficacy of Doctrine majesty of the stile excellency and perfection of the whole it doth abudantly evidence it self to be the Word of God yet notwithstanding our full perswasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof i.e. of the Scripture is from the inward work of the holy Spirit bearing witnesse by and with the word in our hearts But thou in page 90. and thorowout thy fifth chapter of thy first Treatise excludest the witnesse of the Spirit immediately in the heart at all or at least the usefulnesse much more the necessity of any such Testimony making as here page 34. the Authority of God shining in it self alone and exclusively of the spirits and words witnesse in our hearts the sole medium of all that evidence which man can have of its being what ye call it viz. The Word of God but as for God and the Spirit who within do give all the evidence that they give at all of the Scriptures being what in truth is is viz a true writing of the truth what if they are willing to grant an evidence within and to afford more then thou talkst of wilt thou bind limit and forbid them so to so who 〈◊〉 unlimitedly here declarest that God is willing to afford and grant no more must not the Spirit blow where it lifts without thy leave or acquainting thee first who art no Prophet with what he will do And this may serve as a sufficient Answer to thy vain Opinion in it it being worth no better to that whole Chapter of thine concerning the Testimony of the Spirit though whether it shall or no so that I 'le say no more to thee about that Chapter is more then I le tell thee here that I may be at liberty to do as I see occasion Only thus much is spoken to that saying of thine above pag. 34. to shew how Majestically still for the eternal Truths of God thou tellest thy own meer trashy untrusty Traditions of which sort I say is that above p. 163 which I am yet in hand with viz. that God probably suffered the losse of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reduce us to a Consideration of his Care in preserving every Tittle that was in them to this day in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Copies we have But I O. seems to take another Reason out of the bottomlesse pit of his own infinite Fancy and Imagination why God was as willing to let the first Manuscripts perish as careful to preserve every Apex thereof in their adored Transcripts and successively Crowned and Canonized Copies to this day viz. left if the immediate individual Writings had been preserved men would have been ready to adore them as the Jewes to adore their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their Synagogues Reply Which if it be Cogent or have any Reason at all in it to prove a willingnesse in God to let the first Writings be left hath it not as much to the full to evince God Regardlesnesse of your so copiously regarded Copies upon if there were no other the very self-same Account as he was so carelesse of the other But I. O. is so totally Talpified that as Eagle-eyed as he is abroad to spie a hole in the Iewes Coat he can't see that Iewish Idolatry neerer home For if God to prevent Adoration of that Brazen Serpent and Idolized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Scripture was so regardlesse of it as to permit it to perish and be brought to nothing is there not as much reason why he should be as Carelesse of your remote tottered Transcripts and false Translations ye are so carkingly careful of as to let what will become of them notwithstanding your uncessant pining and whining and whoring after them and solicitous scoldings and tearings one of another so much about them For as much as though ye Confesse ye have but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet so it is that ye Adore and even Idolize them as much as ye would or likely could the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 themselves had you them to bustle and busie your minds about and as much as the Iewes though ye advance them the Right way no more then they do theirs as I have told you at large above do their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their Synagogues Suppose ye had here the very Hand writings of Moses and the old Prophets and the individual Letters and Stories that the Evangelists and Apostles pen'd with their own hands yea the very Two Tables of Stone superscribed with Gods own finger which was a Figure and Type of that Hand-writing of his Law in the fleshly Tables of your hearts by his living Spirit the Truth and Anti-type of which ye as little heed as ye heedlesly over-value the other What could you Ministers of the Letter and not the Spirit and your Literal and Formal more then Powerful and truly Spiritual Professours say or do more unlesse you would down on your Knees to them so soon as ever ye see them in way of outward Honour and Adoration thereof then ye do to your falsified Transcripts and your People to the more unspeakably false Translations which they take for Truth but by Tradition and meer implicite Faith from your selves Le ts Reason and Reckon with you here a little while about your Transcripts and Translations which are all that are extant and enjoyed at this day the first by you that have skill in Hebrew and Greek the second by your Independent on God but on their Priests lips dependent People As for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Memorandum Oh all People by whom these presents shall ever happen to be read I. O. hath quite quitted the World of them Confessing they are all utterly perished and long since past away and lost So that 't is opon Fiction or miracuâ—ous with him for any one to affirm that there 's any one individual Role Writing or Book that was Pen'd by the Holy men that in their several successive Ages wrote the Scripture now alive and not mouldred into dust So that the World hath done with them and they with us so as never to come within our Ocular Inspection more whereby to try whether our Doctors and Divines Adored Transcripts do to a little agree as I. O. absolutely affirms they do with the Touchstone yea or nay so as to believe our own eyes or any otherwise then as I O. who first positively Asserts it doth after as improbly conclude
such Nugacyties as these that are â—atcht in I. O's head piece whom I here give to understand that while they like the Tiberian Massorites at their do-little Academies are so seriously doing of nothing and as childish in serious things yet nos nucibus facimus quaecunque relictis Arg. thy Fourth is the multiplying Copies to such a number that 't was impossible any should corrupt them All wilfully or by negligence Rep. Nugae why Impossible to corrupt them All if not by wilfulnesse yet by negligence was it impossible that there should be variation in Tittles and Iota's which is corruption with thee in them all hast thou any more infallible security against the mis-transcription of them All then thou hast against the mis-transcription of some onely surely a man well in his wits would have Argued thus It was possible to every individual of the Copies to be mis-transcribed through negligence or wilfulnesse or weaknesse and against the will or something of the Transcribers none of them being any more then fallible as thou sayest p. 167. though never so honest therefore it was possible at least and not impossible but that they might be all mis-transcribed and so corrupted â—â—â—â—â—ver might be spoken of every individual Copy as to its lyableness to â—â—â—â—â—ation caeteris paribus supposing All the remote Transcribers to be but fâ—â—lible as well as some may be said of All the Copies as well as of any one of them and if the ability of some Transcribers might be greater then that of other some yet as thou sayest of the 70 Translators p 339. thou having no security of the principles or honesty of the Ablestâ—â—â—s them for what thou knowest what ere thou thinkest they might be A'l mis-transcribed as well as any one and however seeing thou veildest somâ— might be if All could not it would puzle thee not a little to dâ—clare to him that Asks thee which is right and which wrong and in which possibly the Transcribers might be mistaken and in which it was in â—â—ssible they should â—e so and which do and which do not agree with the Autographâ— none of which are left to correct it by there being no more then the Apographa now remaining But assuredly what mistake waâ— possible to befall my one of the Copies was not impossible so befall every of them and so far art thou from denying it to be possible that some mistakes and vâ—â—iations might befall some Copies for all thy peremptory pronouncing it impossible that variations should befall them All in regard of the number of Copies that p. 191. upon that self same account of the multitude of Transcriptions thou pronouncest it utterly impossible that All the Transcriptions should be made without some variations and mistakes thy words there being these viz. that so many Transcriptions most of them by private persons for private use having a standard of correction in the publike Asseâ—â—lyes ready to relieve their mistakes should be made without some variation is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or impossible O ye Ridiculous Ringles Round Os that I. O. makes and runs in he complains of Capellus p. 15. for Asserting variations in All the pâ—esent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Transcriptions of the old Testament upon meerly uncertain Conjectures yet upon as meerly uncertain Conjectures himself asserts that they are not All corrupted yea he sayes a he thinks that its impossible there should be mistakes and variations in All the Transcriptions and yet that it is impossible but that mistakes and variations should be in many of them Quis legat haec min tu istud ais quis non ni i nemo Arg. thy Fifth is the preservation of the Authentick Copies frist in the Iewish Synagogues then in Christian Assemblies with reverence and diligence Rep What 's all that in proof that there 's no variation in Copies of the Hebrew and Greek Text in so â—uch as in Tittles and Iota's if thou couldst prove as thou dost bâ—t onely propound it as thy opinion that Authentick Copies were kept with such Reverence and Diligence downward to this day in Christian Assemblies which Christian Assemblyes unlesse thou count upon those of the Romish Synagogue as such which onely remained in an outward way of Assembling were not kept in the posture of constituted Christian Assemblyes themselves much lesse then Authentick Copies of the Original Text entire in them for a thousand years and upward But when they were in Assemblies they rather lookâ— each at their translated Copies their severall Mother Tongues then at the Hebrew and Greek Tittles and Iota's that thou so openly Tatlest for with such earnestnesse as if all divine Truth as to our knowledge thereof did entirely and eternally depend upon them what dribling doings are here for a Doctor Arg. thy Sixth is the daily Reading and Studying of the world by all sorts of persons ever since its first writing rendring every alteration lyable to immediate observation and discovery and that all over the world Rep. What 's this to the purpose when was there more Reading and Studying the Scripture by All sorts all the world over and Tumbling to and fro to wearisomnesse by the Scripture-searching Scribes that never hear Gods voice nor come to Christ the Light that they may have Life and more close and curious prying and Critical observing of the Points and Voweâ—s Accents by Syllabical and Punctual Schoolmen as at this very day in their Academical entercourses and interchangeable pro and con prate about punctations from one nation to another yet when more variety then now in the Copies of their Texts which the more they dive into the more discovery they make of the diversity of their Transcripts but the matter is not mended for all that nor the multiplication of errours and various lections and mistakes of more then Tittles in writings or printings and reprintings and why much reading study should be a means to prevent mistakes of old that 's none now though more forcible then formerly if any efficacy were in it at all that way either I have not reason enough to render the Reason of it or rather there is no Reason for it at all and that indeed is the very Truth Arg. thy Seventh is the consideration of the many millions that looked on every Tittle and Letter in this Book as their inberitance which for the whole world they would not be deprived of Rep. What people be those that lookt on every Tittle and Letter in the Bible as their inheritance which for the whole world they would not part with one Tittle of for my part I look upon them as ne'r the wiser for that if they were as many millions of millions as thou sayest there are millions of them for my part I love the Bible as much as I do any book in the world and upon a true and just account and in a right way honour it as much as any man does I. O. himself not excepted for all his
lesse you have no sound assurance what ground ye stand on for the stresse of all sacred Truth is by I. O. put upon the true Transcription or mis-transcription of the Greek and Hebrew Text which if not entire to a Tittle and Iota p. 17.18 19. upon any corruption supposed in the writing and that may very well not to say must be supposed if all the Transcribers even the first as well as the latter cannot be supposed to be as infallibly guided in Transcribing as the holy men were in the first writing there is no means of rectifying or recovering or of discovering or determining or judging of Truth any other way And so thou givest upon a matter thy whole cause in granting the whole Series of Transcribers and Race of writers to this day to be but fallibly guided and thy most perfect infallible stable and to a Tittle true Touch-stone Rule Standard Foundation falls all to the ground as a mere falible uncertain questionable Basis to build so mighty a bulk upon as thou dost according to not others knowledge onely but also thy own acknowledgements and confessions I. O. Religious care and diligence in their work with a due Reverence of him with whom they had to do is all we ascribe unto them Not to acknowledge these freely in them without clear and unquestionable Evidence to the contrary is high uncharitablenesse impiety and ingratitude This care and diligence we say in a subserviency to the Promise and Providence of God hath produced the effect contended for Nor is any thing further necessary thereunto On this account to argue as some do from the miscarriages and mistakes of men their Oscitancy and negligence in transcribing the old Heathen Authors Homer Aristotle Tully we think it not tollerable in a Christian or any one that hath the least sense of the nature and importance of the Word or care of God towards his Church Shall we think that men who wrote out Books wherein themselves and others were no more concerned then it is possible for men to be in the writings of the Persons mentioned and others like them had as much reason to be careful and diligent in that they did as those who knew and considered that every Letter and Tittle that they were Transcribing was part of the Word of the great God wherein the eternal concerament of their own souls and the Souls of others did lye Certainly whatever may be looked for from the Religious care and diligence of men lying under a loving and careful Aspect from the Promise and Providence of God may be justly expected from them who undertook that work Rep. Of the loving and careful Aspect and Promise and Providence of God and how little he stands by any promise engaged to preserve outward Tittles as thou â—atlest I have spoken not a little before but if that were as true as thou sayest it is and as it is indeed most false that God were so engaged in order to the safe guarding his word and Church to save every Tittle of your Priests Transcribed Texts does not his love and care of his word and Church as strictly call for his careful Aspect over the peoples translated Texts and bind him in his providence according to the supposed promise to watch over and direct the Translators in Translating for the use of his Church but few of which can Read your Original Texts as well as the Transcribers in Transcribing which Translators if they happen to be one the Church saâ—ing that she must take some of her Clergies words for infallible Truth and as the sole foundation of her divine forth about the integrity of the Text is out also and hath nothing but uncertainty it self even the uncertain fallible conjectures of spiritually unskilful Scholars to trust to about the foundation of her salvation Neverthelesse thou wilt by no means allow that the Translators lay under the same loving Aspect who had as much to do with God and as religious a care and diligence in their work as Transcribers had in theirs with a due Reverence of him with whom they had to do yea not to acknowledge these freely in them which is the utmost thou darest ascribe to the others without clear and unquestionable Evidence to the contrary is as high uncharitablenesse and ingratitude by how much their pains was the greater of the two as not to acknowledge the same in the Transcribers the care and diligence of which said Translators yet who must be supposed to be as much in a subserviency to that thy supposed promise and providence of God I say hath no more produced the effect thou contendest for i. e the entire agreement of their Copies to a Tittle with the first Originals thou that of the Transcribers hath done which hath not produced the said effect so exactly as thou dreamest It is enough to make a wise man wonder but that Sapiens miratur â—ibil because he expects no other then solly to proceed from the foolish wisemen of this world to see how thou settest thy Transcribers up on high yet grantest them not to be infallibly guided of God neither who if he had no higher way to expresse his love to his word and Church then by saving every Tittle of thy Transcripts from alteration or corruption could as easily have guided the Transcribers infallibly as fallibly and more easily too since his Spirit guides none fallibly so far as I know and statest thy Transcribers under the loving and careful Aspect promise and providence of God in all they did in their work about thy Greek and Hebrew Copies from whom yet no more may be expected justly then from Translators in the undertaking of their work for Translators did consider what every Letter and Tittle that they were Translating was as well as Transcribers did what every Letter and Tittle and Iota was they were Transcribing and to argue them to be as Oscitant Neglective and mis-carrying and mistaking as those that translated Heathen Authors is as intolerable ad â—ominem I speak this for else I own it tolerable enough so to argue of both Transcribers and Translatoâ—s of Scripture for such as Transcribed and Translated Heathen Authors and their work as well as they could and such as Transcribed and Translated Scripture could do no more and were thy self confessing no more infallible nor infallibly guided then they onely a kind of care in them and in God over them which amounts not to his special spiritual guidance thou tellest â— I say as intollerable as thou sillyly sayest it would be to argue from the â—citancy and Negligence miscarriages and mistakes of Transcribers of Heathen Authors to the like in the Scripture Transcribers But as for Translators thou pullest them down and depressest them into a condition of as great carelesness and negligence and under as carelesse neglect of God toward them in their work as thou statedst the other in great care and diligence and under a careful Aspect and
his Transcripts and Greek and Hebrew Copies and the absolute integrity thereof to a Tittle that the sole and final dissolution determination and discovery of all saving doctrine and distinct discerning and knowledge of all sacred Truth from cunningly devised fables does dâ—â—â—rd â—holly and alone upon the outward Greek and Hebrew writing and Scripture of it and that so necessarily and eternally that upon any corruption supposed therein that Truth Doctrine can't unquestionably be supposed to câ—â—â—â—ue entire and uncorrupt but must be consequently supposed to be without any other principle means rule or measure of judging recovering rectifying it and to be for ever â—medilâ—sly brought to nought p. 18. 68. Shall we think because I O. so thinks and sâ—lliâ—y supposes so that to suppose corruptions to have befallen his undoubtedly yea confessedly corrupted Copies and the same fate to have befallen the Hebrew and Greek Bible in its Transcribing that hath befallen other Books in theirs is a Plea unreasonable in it self devoid of all reall ground of Truth injurious to the Love and Care of God over his Word and Church in a high degree and an imagination bordering on Atheism asserted on deliberation p 18. 173 Surely the improvidence oscitancy negligence ignorance unskilfulnesse and carelesnesse that may as groundedly be supposed to have been if there was never so much care and diligence in others of them in some of the Scribes that have copied out the Scriptures as well as in some Printers that have printed them and in some Transcribers of Heathen Authors and the non-evidence of any promise of God to take any of the Scripture Transcribers under such a loving Care and Aspect as I.O. ascribes to them and I O's own concession of them being not any of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 infallible but under possibilities of mistakings and I O's confessions and grants and acknowledgements that known failings have been amongst them and that various Lections are from thence risen 167 169. and that some of those are of importance consisting of superfluity and redundancy of unnecessary and deficiency of necessary words which is destructive to the sense and arising out of Copies apparently corrupted and notoriously corrupted by old Hereticks and many more matters then are fit to repeat o're again do require other thoughts at our hands Shall we think because I.O. so thinks very cogitantly but little cogently to us conjectures that if the Points be mans invention and the Text under alteration as undoubtedly it is and therefore all the Priests Religion who live on the naked Texts and their own Traditions and not the Truth it self is at a losse however that then all is likely immediately utterly and remedilesly to perish for ever viz. Church Word of God Doctrine Truth certainty of the Gospel Gods promise Providence and care of his eternal incorruptible good and acceptabâ—e mind will and pleasure Life Spirit Light Law yea that all this and much more is little lesse then eternally undone as to our knowledge of them so that God himself can find no other sufficient means having tryed already quoth I.O. the insufficiency of all other before to save all these thing from corrupting but that of a perishing uncertain flexible at mans will fallible changeable meer dead to the light novell corruptible mouâ—dâ—ing and in its first Manuscripts already long since mou'dred moth eaten and corrupted Letter p. 12. surely the promise of God for the preservation of his word which was before the Letter and will be after it induring for ever so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one jot or Tittle of it shall never fail what ever become of all the jots and Tittles of the Letter and his Providence Love and Care of his Church of whose faith and obedience that word of his in the heart and not the Letter both was now is and ever will be the onely Rule require other thoughts at our hands p. 173. Shall we think because I.O. faâ—sly so thinks that such a fallible flexible alterable and corruptible thing as the Letter is by I. O's own confession not in its Translations onely but in the very Original Transcripts which is the onely businesse he is so busie about and so bestirs himself to bustle for is that which can justly claim and supreamly challenge to it self those preheminent Titles excellent properties extraordinary effects peculiar prerogatives marvellous successes c. which I. O attributes thereuunto throwout his first English Treatise and Latine â—hesâ— also wherein under that glorious name of the Word of God by which yet as by that which he undertakes to prove to be it's proper name he as if not more ordinarily denominates it then by its own and oneâ—y proper name of Scripture he magnifies the Text as to those Hebrew and Greek Copies of it he is pleased to crown as the Canon and set his stamp upon as the Standard while he stigmatizes not onely all Translations as mens own Altars and altered things that must not stand as the Standard by the Posts and high Altar of his said unalterable Copies but other Copies also as novel spurious and noâ—â—â—iously corrupted above all that hath any being under God insomuch that he cannot likely utter more concerning it in way of exaltation unlesse he should extoll it so far as to stile it God himself So I have done at present with I. O's unprofitable prate about the preciousnesse profitablenesse and divine Original of his high prized possession of the Hebrew punctation and with his peremptory Postâ—â—n and absolutely absurd Assertion of the non-corruption of his Canonized Copies of the Original Text to a Tittle which howbeit I have scarce gone above half so far as I might in discovering the deep dotage and folly that is to be found in his mingled management and miserable mangâ—nization of those matters yet I have gone farther by the hall then I should have done considering how far off all such husky chaffy accomplishments as those Pedantick parts of the Letter are from that wherein the Life of God chiefly lyes viz. the Spirit Light and Word that 's nigh in the heart and how little concernment the more substantial parts of the meer outward Text are of thereto in comparison of them much more such Accidentals as the meer figure of the Accents and Vowels But onely that I found I.O. manifesting his foppery so far as to render these Ticklish things of such eminent Tendency to the saving knowledge of all sacred Truth as to give them out to be the most reall Rule stable standard Gospel guides grand ground chief infallible foundation of all in which respect though otherwise it is little lesse then loathsome to me to leave the life I live in the enâ—oyment of my self with God to meddle so much in such muddy matters yet in service to the Truth and in love to the soules of the Schoolmen and Scribes that they may see the sandy fickle fâ—undation they build and
which we deny which matter notwithstanding when it comes to the point of proof before people they dare denominate only to be the only Rule and Word denying those high Titles to the naked Letter as well as we crying out with a dreadful ditty against the Qua. in their Pulpits as deniers of the Scriptures the Bible to be the Word of God the Rule c. and when we enter the lifts with them then finding themselves unable to carry it against us falling down before us in confessions to us that it is the Divine truth and matter only contained in the Scripture which is the Rule to all men so far as it that is that Truth and matter is revealed to them as it is here confessed also by T.D. to be to the very Heathen in their hearts that have no Scripture and was so before it was put into writing that is before the Scripture was which seeing it is so confest in the same way as I argued above about the Foundation against I.O. so may I here against T.D. and him both about the Rule viz. Arg. 1. The Rule must be something that is in being before the faith and life that is to be Regulated by it 2. Must be that the Scripture testifies to be the Rule 3. Something that is firm fixt sure stable inflexible infallible inalterable else all the work wrought by a Lesbian Rule a soft waxen measure may be ad infinitum crooked scanty erroneous disorderly in all Dimensions at mens pleasure who may as our Priests mostly do transcribe translate expound rectifie the Scripture according to their crooked conceits and their Antichristian Analogy of faith as they use to speak and not their crooked conceits and false faith according to the true Theology that is plain to godly honest hearted men in the Sâ—ripture wrest their Rule to their own wills self-ends interests and where it likes not their unruly selves to be Ruled by it Run from it or rather Rule over ir as they list But the Light and Spirit and Truth and living Word and holy Doctrine was in being before the faith and life of any man 2. Is testified by the Scripture at is above shewed to be the Rule 3 Is inalserable firm c. and the Scripture it self is already proved and is yet more to be proved not to be so therefore the Light Truth c. not the Scripture Text c. is the Rule Be sides what Ioh. Tombs and Rich. â—axter who must here be wrapt with their own weapon argue falsely against the Lights being the Rule I may truly argue against the Letters being it For page 51. of their Book entituled The true old Light Thus they dispute viz. That which is variable and alterable cannot be a persons Rule for its the property of a Rule to be invariable and the same at all times The Rules Measures and Weights and Dialls and Squares and what other things are made if they be varied they cease to be Rules for Rules should be fixed and certain But there is nothing more variable then mens light in them say they falsely but say I truly then a Letter or Writing without That which is to day say they taken for light is to morrow judged to be darkness and that light which is this day in a person may be lessened to morrow a person may become Fanatick and dote who yesterday was heard with applause therefore each persons light cannot be his Rule so us that at all times he should be bid to look to it as a safe guide as the Qua. do And say I that which is to day Transcribed Translated Interpreted so and in such a sense by some may be through Mis-transcription Mis-translation Mis-interpretation be wrested as a Nose of wax to morrow by others into a clear contrary sense by Transposition of Hebrew letters which in shape and sound are alike either in way of mistake among the most careful Scribes in the world or at the mâ—er will and pleasure of Criticks who ad libitum may turn the Text into twenty senses one after another as seems good to them witness I.O. himself who as is elswhere shewed in many pages together of his Epistle Dedicatory tells how easie it is so to do yea to turn that one word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the different pointing of it into 8 sundry senses some whereof are clear contrary to each other yea it is but doing so or so saith he and as many various lections arise in the very original Text as a man pleases to make It being so then with the Letter that it is so variable and flexible and contrariwise the Light being fixt firm stable without variation as it is for all their lying of it it 's eternally and unchangeably the same even yesterday to day and for ever as Christ is from whom it comes one and the same in all the Foundation and witness of God which stands sure and keeps its place in the consciences of men let them go whether they will testifying the same truth as Gods witness in all men that it doth in any mâ—n both de jure defacto also never consenting to any evil but condemning it all in all men more or less Therefore say I in consutation of I O. T. D. I.To. and Rich. Baxter out of their own Books the Light Word and Spirit of God within every one may and ought to be every mans Rule so as that at all times he should be bid to look to it and follow it as a guide as the Qua. do But the Text or Letter without however owned as it is by me above to be useful and profitable for men of God that know how to use it cannot be the most perfect stable Standard much less the only infallible Rule and guide of mens faith and life as the blind guides say in words it is though in works they themseves live and walk besides it as much as any Again if the Scriptures be the Rule and not the Light and Spirit then either there was no Rule before the Scripture or else they who lived before the Scripture had one Rule we another and so consequently there are two Rules for the one faith of the one holy Church But all these whimsies are most absurd for then the one Church hath tot regulus quot novas explicationes ejusdem veritaetis as many Rules as particular wayes of Revelation of the truth And T.D. said the Truth was one and that the matter was the Rule before the writing was and I.O. sayes Ex. 4. s. 22. Vnicus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divinus the Divine Rule is but one and so say I of the one general Catholick Church or Assembly of the first born from Abel to this day therefore the Light Spirit and not the Scripture is the Rule As for I. Os shallow shuffling off the Lights being the Rule and sleight slinging at it Testaque lutoque with his muddy pellet in that Section
conceived in thy brain to be the power of God both in it self and in respect of you Look upon all litteral Professâ—rs that run a whoring from God the Lord the Spirit and the Light that shines in them there shewing moral good and evil and spiritual good and spiritual wickedness also for the fruites of the spirit and works of the flesh and the lusts thereof envy hatred lasciviousness c. are manifest and what ever manifests them and all things in the conscience is the light within which is the Armour against the one and the enabler to the other and not the Letter wihout which only sayes so of the Light and see what works most abound in the most Reformed Nations and Churches of it that are turned aside from the truth it self to a meer talking of the Text that talks of it are they not the same that are to be found among Papists that live by no other professed Rule but tradition and Popish putasion yea set aside that grosser sort of superstition and thicker cloud of superfluous Ceremonies in matter of outward observations in Religion in which the Kingdome of God which stands in inward Righteousnâ—â—s of the heart expressing it self outwardly in the life comes not as to Moralities Mercy Iudgement Equity Honesty Innocency Love Purity Humility Faith and Fear of God unfained which are the end of carnal Commandements contained in Ordinances and bodily exercises that else are profitable to little which said Moralities as little as thou makest of Moral obedience Moral good is that which the light in all mens hearts may avail to lead them to p. 42 43 45. as if these were some pedling trivial matters that God regards not which yet indeed being done in the Light out of which God who is Light accepts of nothing nor hath pleasure or delight in any of your litteral performances are nâ— less then Spiritualities fruits of the Spirit and of the Spirics only and not the Letter bringing forth for the Letter never yet brought forth the Spirits fruits in its Ministers and children who for all their searchings and lookings into and labouring for the letter sow to the flesh still as the Scribes and Pharisees did of old that trusted in Moses and the Prophets Writings and of the flesh reap corruption whilest the Ministers not of the Letter but the Spirit the children of the Light sow to the Spirit and of it and the Light reap the life it self and these are the weightier matters of the Law I say as to the foresaid Moral matters saving the grosser dimnest of their devotions are not the same that is to say as good fruits found among poor Papists as amongst you and as bad among you as with them and as unsound yea V in tu câ—rtis Iudaeis â—ppederâ— wilt thou judge and disdain the concised Letter-lauding â—ew O thou meerly Rantized Scripture-profissing-Christian when they who make their boast of the antient Ceremonies and Letter of the Law do not more through breaking the Law in the Morals and Spirituals of it then ye who boast of the later Letter and Ceremonies thereof through breaking the weightier Moral and Spiritual matters of it do dishonour God Is not your Vine aâ— the vine of Sodome to the Lord notwihstanding your solemn meetings and Sabbaths and Fasts and fained forms and many things that God never required at all as much as theirs who were punctualin performance of the very things that God himself required and are not your goodly Grapes of Injustice Cruelty Whippings imprisonings Persecutings of tender conscences for telâ—â—ng truth for not paying Tythes c. and all other iniquity dissoluteness and propaneness that overflows in Vniversities Cities Countries as the Grapes of Gommorrah as theirs were and as clusters of Gall and Wormwood yea shall not the Gentile the Heaâ—hen as ye call them the uncircumcistâ—n the unchristned people as to the Letter that by the remants of the pure nature for the corâ—upt nature only breakes the Law do the things contained in the Law and shewed them in the Light within them by which they are a Law to themselves and go accused or excused in their own conscences before God judge as well thee who by the Letter and Baptism transgressest it as the Iews who by the Letter and Circumcision do transgress the Law and Rebel against the Light is not as much of the true Righteousness found among many Heathens as among most litteral Christians who ever name the Name of Christ but never depart from iniquity What geat efficacy and power then hath the Letter alone of it self without any other helps advantages or any other Revelation by the Spirit and Light within put forth and exerted to the conquering of the world and the bringing forth of fruit in all the world when as it is evident that it never yet subjected any one whether Minister or Professor of it to the perfect obedence of it self in the main matters of it as the Light and Spirit hath done done the children of it As for our Parochial and Academical livers by the Letter temporally I mean for otherwise they live neither by the Letter nor the Light but beside both both they and their Bible-blessing Beleevers are far from answering the call of their very literal Rule which is all they own under that name and notion that they are not come by it into the faith that ever they shall conform to it or be perfected in holiness or cleansed from sin by it either in this world or that to come for whereas much of it is written in way of warning not to sin 2 Ioh. 2.1 and is profitable and powerful as they say themselves from 2 Tim. 3.16 which speaks of Timothy men of God only and also not exclusively of all other helps and advantages from the Spirit and Light as I.O. but as in conjunction with faith which is in the Light as is shewed above to make men wise to salvation and perfect in good works they are so far from beleeving it possible in this world not to sin and be perfected in holiness or good works that they deny it as little better than plain Popery to affirm any works done though by Christs own power in us to be truly or perfectly good or any better than dung and filthy Rags witness T.D. who as above said p. 13â— of his 1 Pamp. sayes the Righteousness wrought in Paul after his onversion was Christs and yet renounced by him as dung damn it down â—â— Doctrine of Devils to teach men that they may be fully free from sin here witness T. Rumsey whose blinde judgement therein T.D. justifiâ—r in p. 41. of his â— Pamph. and that its most false to say the Scripture either doth or can obtain its end fully towards us while we are in this world and yet that it is of no use to us in the world to come also so denying again what other whiles they affirm of the power and perfection of the Scripture
when it shines upon him that is ignorant of it or assents not to it since as R.H. told him then it was so so I tell him here over again in R.H. his words with the addition of the long tract of time wherein t was wont to be so The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God which was effectual two thousand years before the Letter was And this I the rather assert against T.D. here in this place because he is so ignorant as to tax R.H. there for usual speaking non-sense and for understâ—nding non-sense as well or better then good sense in that when T.D. said The Spirit was not wont to be effectual without the Letter R H. repeats him saying thus The Sword of the Spirit is ineffectual without the Letter which in effect is all one if T.Ds. eyes were well open to see clearly what the Spirit is and what the Letter and then replies thus The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God which was effectual before the Letter was Now I demand of thee T.D. 1. where is any non-sense R.H. spake whose words I here speak after him that I may clear them from thy unjust cenâ—â—re of non-sense And if R.H. understood any non-sense as thou sayest he did then that must import that thy self with whom he was then in discourse hadst spoken some for he could not understand that non-sense from thee which thou never speakest Out of thy own mouth then at least thou art condemned for speaking some non-sense if a man were minded to prosecute thee for it for habemus Retâ—â— conficentem we have it from thy self if it were so but though thou tacitly taxest thy self with non-sense yet I shall do thee that Right this once as to clear and exuse thee from thy own false self-accusation for in truth both what thou spakest and what R.H. spake was all good sense as to the intelligibleness of the phrases unless thou account every sentence to be non-sense that is false as to the matter propounded in it as in a sense thou mayest there being no sense nor reason for it that any man should affirm and tell an untruth and then I confess thou spakest non-sense and R.H. good sense Sith his saying was true and thine was false For the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and the Spirit it self and not the Letter as thou who art somewhat low and implicite not very loud me thinks nor express as if thou durst not for shame speak out thy minde about it seemest to make it was wont to be effectual without and was effectual before the Letter was But here 's indeed the very knot of the business thou deemest R.H. to utter non-sense in not being so non-sensical as with T.D. I.O. and their Chronies to interpret the Sword of the Spirit there called the Word of God of the outward Letter or Scripture that is the thing will not down with T.D. without straining at it as a peece of non-sense to assert the Sword of the Spirit not to be the Letter witness T.Ds. words of R H. T.D. As for what he says that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God if he meant like a man in his oppositions he must mean Christ who but once is called the Word of God Rev. 19.13 And Christ cannot be intended Eph. 6.17 because he is not the Sword of the Spirit but the Spirit his Sword rather for by the Spirit he works in the hearts of men and therefore Gen. 6.3 he sayes My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man which is meant of the Holy Ghost as will appear by comparing it with Act. 7.51 where Stephen tells the Jews Ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost Christ by the common operations of his Spirit strives with men and by the special operations thereof preâ—ails with them Rep. In this parcel is more truth granted to the Qua. then T.D. himself understands so to be or will ever stand under the force of when made use of by them against himself for he sayes the Spirit is Christs Sword by which according to Gâ—n 6.3 Act. 7.51 he works operates in men mark his words and is said to strive with them that alwayes resist him even in themselves I could never yet get it granted from T.D. or any other contenders against the truth in this point that Christ had a Spirit of his in men by the operations of which he is said in those two Texts to strive with them n themselves for howbeit its the common Doctrine laid down positively by themselves unawares many times yet when they meet with Qua. in verbal discourses who urge these two self same Texts and that in 1 Pet. 3.18 19 20. By the which Spirit Christ preached to Spirits in prison which were disobedient in the dayes of Noah c. And that Ioh. 16.8 9 10 11. concerning the Spirits convincing the world of sin c. in themselves and that Ioh. 3.19 20 21. of Christ the light coming into the world i.e. the word which is in mens hearts there condemning the evil deeds even in the dark cells of wicked mens own consciences which Light is sent not to condemn but unless men love the darkness more then it in order to their salvation and that they might be saved by beleeving in it vers 17 18. And that Text also Ioh. 1.9 concerning the truâ— Light which is Christ enlightning every man in the world all which places and many more are parallel together in this point among all the several sorts of shifts whereby to shuffle of the sound Doctrine of the Qua. this is most commonly made use of viz. that the strivings and shinings of Christ by his Light and Spirit with and unto the Sons of men which they dare not deny neither to be universal and yet do own ten parts to one of the world too to be at this day without any true outward Gospel Ministry or Traditions by by men or Letter of Scripture O Rotas where 's the beginning and end of these mens Rounds are not by any Light or Spirit of his that is in them for that measure of his Light and Spirit within wee call men to they name natural imaginary figment Fanaticisme Enthusiasme and ironically that infallible Doctor Qualitas nescio quae divina seu anima mundi omnibus mista 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 merae tenebrae caecitas nesâ—io quid niâ—il nothing and much more as I.O. pleases but by a Letter and Ministers of the Letter without them only he strives and shines by his Spirit say they and reproves and conviâ—ces the world that resist but t was of old by the outward Ministry of Noah only a Preacher of Righteousness t is since by the Scripture and Ministers of it that preach outwardly out of it though perhaps not one of an hundred in the world ever read it or heard it preacht on but not by any measure of his Spirit or immediate workings of any Light or
and an inexpressible exaltation of it above them the light of one day of this Sun meaning the Scripture which hee expresses by the terme the Word of God being unspeakably more then that of seven others as to the manifesting the glory of God nor doth it impaire this self-evidencing efficacy of the Scripture that it is a moral spiritual not a natural Light This and much more utters I.O. concerning these Termes of the Word the Light as the proper names of the Right belonging to the Letter Neither is I.O. alone in this but some others I have met with that have stifly stood up to defend the Scripture or Letter to be the Light the Word of God yea verbum oris the word of his mouth and the Voice of God and Christ properly and properly to be so called Rep. Which sayings O the contrariety that is in them to common sense and reason they may as well say they hear that mans voice properly some of whose sayings they read in the letters of such as write what they heard him say they may as properly say they are to own the voice of the Scribes and Pharisees for their Rule as they are written down by the Apostles and Evangelists sith Christ saith They sit in Moses chair all that they say do and that they do now properly hear their voyces sith what they said was recorded as say that they now properly hear Christs Voice in reading some things he spake as they are written by them that heard him speak them and stablish and canonize them and other mens sentences as the only standing Rule on this account because God said Hear him and they now hear properly Moses voice and must own his Law that vanisht as to the shadow of it still to the Church a standing Rule because Christ said They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them 2 O the contrarity of this to the Scriptures themselves for if they be properly the Voice of God and Christ then absit blaspemiae they make Christ charge the Scribes improperly and falsely that they never at any time heard Gods voice Joh. 5. for they heard the Scriptures read every Sabbath neither could he say truly what he doth exclusively of such as are not his sheep My sheep hear my voice if the Scriptures were his voice properly for the Dogs and Swine hear and hear the outward Scriptures read as well as his sheep but his sheep hear another secret still voice of his in all things that hee saith unto them in their own consciences which the loud Brawlers for the bare Bible drown within themselves with their non-sensical notes and noyses about their Diana's and siâ—ver shrines and Temple worship and Church work which voice and words of his are heard in secret with more profit among the wise Luke 10.17 then the cry of the Truth selling Spirit stinting-Scripture stealers among fools which still voice of Christs yeâ— whoever hears not and heeds not more then our heady high-minded Hypocrites of these dayes do may preach themselves out a while longer yet as the Ministers and Church of Christ but shall ere long be cut off from among his people in the mean time however this is the improper tone they tune it out in when we bid them fear God hearken to his voice own that as your only guide his Word his Voice his Spirit his Light as the only infallible sure standard the witness of God himself the Scripture witnesses of and sends men to which hee that heeds follows beleeves in obeyes needs not be so restless by wrangling as the wrestless for and wresters of the Scripture are about the Witness of man though witnessing from and for God as moved by him for the Witness of God himself and the Witness of Christ himself in the conscience is greater needs not be so loud for a Letter for the voyces and words of men and the Writings and Revelations of holy men for the inward immediate Voyce the Word the Spirit the Light Revelation of Christ himself in the heart is greater True say they we must hear Christs voice in all things he sayes abide in his Doctrine or Teaching receive his Witness and Testimony walk by his Word live by his Light alone bee guided and ordered in all things by his Spirit which alone reveals the minde of God and Christ without whose Revelation none knows the things of God and Christ but the Letter of the Scripture the outward Writings of such as heard him as we do not the Hebrew and Greek Text at least and Translationâ— as they keep touch with them these are that Word that living life-giving powerful heart-searching soul-saving Word those Words of his that are Spirit and Life by which alone men must come to beleeve that Light to the feet that Lamp to the path that verbum oris that very word of his mouth that works and accomplishes all things to his glory our salvation that verbum oris that goeth forth of his own mouth that hee put according to his promise Isa. 59. ult as if that were the Scripture oh gross and shameful yet over and over and over and over again I.O. cites that Text to prove Gods promise to continue the Hebrew and Greek Texts entire without loss or change of iota or title of it to the worlds end into the mouth of the Churches Seed and the mouth of her Seeds seed for ever that must go out of the mouth of babes and sucklings as the only strength against the persecutor to still the enemy and avenger that sharp sword of his mouth with which he will smite the wicked Nations Rev. 19. That Rod of his mouth or breath of his lips with which he slayes the wicked Isa. 11. That Rod of his strength and power sent out of Sion by which he will rule fâ—reuer in the midst of his enemies Psal. 110. That word that he hath spoken which God hath magnified ovâ—r all that is called his name and so over the light it self it sprang from which is his name Joh. 1. and the sâ—fe strong Tower of the Righteous That vis virtus Dei power of God and word of the Crosâ— That Doctrine or Teaching of Christ which continued in saves the Preacher and hearers ipsa doctrina quam a Deo docemur That witness of God which who so hath needs not the witness of men for the witness of God is greater That voice of God that 's more sure and certain as to its giving out its evidence to us then the very immediate voice which the Apostles heard God himself speak to them with from heaven 2 Pet. 1. And all this and much more exclusively and abstractively from that within yea and properly too so that the Word of God Foundation the Rule Light Lamp and so consequently all the rest of the Tiâ—les are the very proper names of the Scriptures no other then what are properly answerable to its nature For in this wife I.O. drives on the
Spirit of God Visions inward Light or Word are to be expected or admitted as any Rule to walk by the only guide and directory of all mens beleeving and living so that who have not that have none at all of any sufficiency to lead them to life though they should follow what light they have from God vouchsafed them to the utmost So that there is no principle to speak in his own words T. 1. c. 1. s. 16. or means of discovery of the saving Doctrine or sacred Truth no other rule or measure of judging or determining any thing about or concerning it but only that writing from whence it is taken the Revelation of it being expressed only in that writing upâ—n suppossâ—ion of any corruption in which the saving Doctrine Truth or Word of God as at first given out from God which say I whatever becomes of the Scripture is ever entire and for ever incorruptible and unquestionably uncorrupt 1 Pet. 1. cannot be evinced unquestionably to continue entire and incorrupt hee must then bee fed as himself and his fellow unlearned learned ones do feed their poor blinde pâ—râ—-blinde unlearned people viz. with a bit and a knock and bee kept close to so much as reason and Scripture can well spare him be caned into a just compass with his own Canon and Rapt into the right measure he runs out of with the Rule and measure of his making and bounded within the due bounds of equity which beyond all measure he breaks beyond for the bare Bibles and Letters sake by that Letter and Book it self which is called though by I.O. the Word of God Tr. 1. ch 1. s. 12. yet by it seâ—f never so honourably at all but only by such like Titles as a Declaration Letter Scripture Book or Bible And if he shall go on undervaluing that antient covering of Christ the Light of the world and the Armour of his light which is unchangeable and which the True Church which hath the Moon and all such moveable and changeable things as the best outward Writings are under her feet stands ever cloathed with Rom. 13.12 14. Eph. 4.23 24. Col. 3.8.12 Rev. 12.1 casting it away as some old menstruous cloath cast clout or rotten rag as he doth while in his imparralleld both ignorance and impudence he flerts at it as if 't were a meer Puppet patcht up of shreds as a fictitious imaginary Christ fain'd in the fancies of Fanatick fools and mad men Nescio quod lumen quos Enthusiasmos quem Deum c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vere nihil Ex 3. s. 11. Ex. 4. s. 15.21 Ex. 1. s. 5 6. and rejecting that covering of the Spirit of God which Wo be to him that is not covered with or is covered with any other Isa. 30.1 to cut out the outward Scripture and grave out the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into a Gâ—rment into an Idol covering to himself stealing Words from thence and therewith cloathing himself which will once wax old as a garment that is moth eaten and at last being old yea oldness it self though younger the Spirit and not the antient newness of the Spirit wherein the true worship and service stands is to vanish as an Idel that must go to the Moles Bats as the brazen Serpent be taken down and among other Idols of mens earthly Elements wordly Rudiments and carnal Ordinances that were good in their own times and places yet but imposed till the time of Reformation be sent away with Get ye hence Isa. 2.20.30 22. Rom. 7.6 Heb. 8.13.9 10. It s high time to strip I.O. naked and discover his shame which is seen by such as live in the light through his covering which is a prate of words about the Scripture and other things which yet he knows not and to summon him to sit in silence before the Lord undressing himself out of his stollen Ornaments which till he doth he shall not know what a work of spoyling the Lord hath to do unto him till it come irresistably upon him And if hee shall flye out so far in his whifling words as to call the Letter which to the Light bears the same and no better proportion then that of the Lanthorn to the Candlelight the Light as the name that is proper to it and flye up higher yet till according to his flashy fancy thereof he affirms it in Print as hee doth before the world that not only the Word of God written of in the Writing which none denies so to be but the Writing it self also which he means well-nigh in every place by that terme the Word or else hee strikes beside the Iron and lies hammering on the Anvil beating the Air and meaning another matter then that hee meant when he began and makes men beleeve that he means all along which is no more to his purpose then if he meant nothing by it at all is an illuminating shining spiritual light and higher yet preferred above the light of the Sun T. 1. c. 4. s. 8 9. the most glorious light in the world and higher yet the Sun one dayes light of which is unspeakably more then that of seven others as to the manifestation of the glory of God T. 1 c. 2. s. 15. a Sun that more eminently then any inferiour fire discovers and evidences it self by such properties as it hath viz. Light and Heat and Power T. 1 c. 3. s. 10. and c. 4. s. 16.20 and much more of such like high strains I.O. strikes up in till he stretcheth the bare Letter so far upon the â—enters as to strain it into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and make it even every thing that the true Word and Light within is when as howbeit it hath its excellency above other Writings as an instrument yet as to these peculiarities and precious prerogatives of the living Word is vere nihil then I must summon I.O. as warm as hee seems to himself to sit and as much as he seems to see by the painted flame of his fained fire and the sparks of his own kindling that if he know no other way to salvation then the Scripture and own not the light as the way which the Scripture speaks of this he shall have at the Lords hand Hee shall lye down in sorrow Finally to persue yet a little further and prosecute our present matter under the Metaphor of the Parliament and the House If a man should arise and stand up and contend that the House the Parliament meets in is the Parliament properly and none shall perswade him to beleeve otherwise but he will try it out with them that allow him to call the House by a figure or metonymy of the thing containing for the thing contained so as to say this House is the Parliament and will say the Parliament is the proper name of the House and it may properly challenge that to it self and they rob it of its true and due name and are enemies to both the Parliament and
prove that general ignorant audacious Assertion of thine Doth any one of them respectively prove the particulars thereof that it is particularly alleadged to Doth Gal. 1.8 because it is said If we or any man or Angel from heaven bring any other Gospel then what we have preached to you twice over let him be accursed prove him cursed that writes more Scriptures of the same Gospel by the same Spirit if so was not Iohn hereupon accursed that wrote more Scriptures of it after Paul was dead by a new Revelation not the same and was not Paul if he wrote any Epistle after to Galatia cursed out of his own mouth by saying though wee bring any other Gospel let us be accursed if that were his meaning ' that no more Scripture must be written is every new Revelation and new writing by way of Revelation of the old Gospel a new Gospel or doth Rev. 22.18 prove there must be no more Scripture nor Revelation within nor new outward Scripture and Revelation of the Gospel by motion from the Spirit after by Iohn because he saith If any shall adde to the words of this Booke God will adde the plagues of it to him Said he therein any more then what was said long before Deut. 4.2.12 ulz. Prov. 30.6 Adde thou not to his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar were all those adders to Gods Word or words and reprobate and liars as they must be if the Scriptures bee Gods Word and the adding of more Scripture be additament to his Word that added all that Scripture which was written after Deuteronomy and the Proverbs and if the Scripture were the Word of God is not taking away his name out of the Book of Life threatned to him that takes away from the words of that Book as well as plagues to him that addes and so ye in that ye discanonize most of what was writ there by the Prophets are discarded from the comforts of the Scripture by the places of you own quotation Doth Col. 2.18 twice over cited and allowed two votes in this Section vote either of those particulars it is cited for Doth the Spirit there condemn Angelorum alloquia alias called by thee Colloquia Angelica s. 28. all conference with Angels or only that worshipping of Angels forbid more expresly as I hinted to thee before in Rev. 19.10.22.9 where I also told thee of the lawfulness of talking with Angels or receiving of Revelation of the truth from Angels unless thou wilt Tax such as received the Law which was given by the disposition of Angels and Daniel and Mary and Zachary Cornelius and Paul and Iohn that wrote the Revelation and Christ himself who all were spoke to and ministred to by Angels were these all guilty of sin and condemnation Look again I.O. on the words in English which thou Greekest out perhaps to the further hoodwinking of Idiots that ken not Greek lest they should finde out thy folly who settest it for a Cypher if rendred in plain Latine which to give thee the reading as they stand in your Translations run thus Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility or worshipping of Angels Is the talking of Angels to men here deeply damned by the Spirit of God as thou dreamest And 2. what 's that Text to prove there must be on pain of cursing no additament of more Scripture or Writing to that Scripture that is in your Bibles with pretence of immediate Revelation of the same Doctrine Truth or Gospel there taught from the same inward Light and holy Spirit which is the second purpose for which it s cited a second time And again as to Heb. 1.2.4 cited Heb. 1.1 3. for thus thou citest that twice to the 2. same purposes with Col. 2. what hath that in it to the evincing the Spirits damning of either all talk with Angels or addition of more Scripture thereof from the Revelation motion or inspiration of the same holy Spirit to that Scripture of the Truth that is now truss'd up as the close of the whole Councel of God that ever must be declared in writing or counted upon as part of your Canon according to the Clergies Councel who first caused that consignation of it by Book-binders within the bounds of your Bibles thus run the words God who at sundry times and in diverse maners spake in times past the Fathers to the Prophets hath in these last dayes spoken to us in his Son who is better then the Angels c. Must not his eyes be out that sees any such things hinted at here as those above the proof of which I.O. intends by this quotation Because Angels are here named inferiour unto Christ therefore Anathematized is he that hears or heeds any thing that shall be spoken to him by an Angel though he reveal the same Truth and not another seeing that truth is already written in the Scripture yea cursed be hee from henceforth even for ever there 's one of I.Os. Concâ—usions who consequently concludes Iohn accursed that wrote the Revelation from thenceforth even after this of Paul to the Colossians and the Hebrews were written from whence forward I.O. drives his execration downward to this day sith the said Iohn had his Revelation immediately from an Angel by whom Christ who had it from the Father sent and signified it to his servant Iohn Rev. â— 1 And because Christ is better then the Angels and God in these last dayes speaks in and by him his only begotten Son the light of the world the great Shepherd and Over-seer of the soul whose own voice his Sheep hear warning all to hear him to hear his voice in all things what ever he sayes on pain of being cut off from among his people therefore the Scripture must have no more writing though of the same truth that is there added to it on pain of damnation for ever there 's the t'other of I.Os. Conclusions from Heb. 1. from which Conclusion I can much more clearly conclude that a cloud of darkness is drawn over I.Os. understanding and that a beam is in his eye then draw such an untruth as that no more Scripture since Iohns time was to be written by the holy Spirits moving and added to that from that Text which tells the truth if I.O. would once heed it viz. that the hour now is wherein God speaks to the Sons of men in and by his own Son whom he hath given to be a Light and Leader to all people wherein the dead must hear his voice before ever they live to God who since God speaks by him and hee by his own light Spirit Voice in I.Os. conscience why doth not I.O. heed him then but scoffe at him in his inward Light and Spirit the Qua. call to as at Christum quendam Imaginarium infallibilem Doctorem nescio quod lumen scu verbum internum nescio quem Deum seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deoforsan quopiam
turn away much people saying God is not worshipped in Temples made with hands but within onely in Spirit and Truth talking as if they would teach us as if they heard Gods voice and not we who search the Scriptures and expound the Law and have the Key of knowledge have been train'd up in the Scriptures in reading the holy letters but these we take notice of them that they are ignorant unlearned men yet they say we are unstable and unlearned and wrest Scriptures to own destruction but whence hath this man letters having never learnt at Universities as we have done away with them and their Scripture no more holy Scripture now the Canon is compleated the Standard sealed no immediate motion now no such mission as the Prophets had now no speaking by divine inspiration now no Divine authority in any mans writings now though they write not others but the same Divine truths as of old no extraordinary infallible â—uidance of men by the infallible Spirit of God now and suchlike Thus they said then and thus our wise Ignorants at Athens say now of the same Spirit that then spake in Paul pressing others now to write or speak to them of their woâ—shâ—pping an unknown God seeing their Universities given wholly to Idolatry and thus I.O. one of the sore men against the truth What will these Bablets say and in a manner so they say all But slay friend Gods arm is not shortned neither is the mouth of God more made up now then formerly from making out and manifesting his own mind immediately from himselfe in the minds and consciences of men and women so as that men may without manifest imprudence not to say impudence imagine so ignorantly as in effect I.O. doth that God spake his last to the Sons of men and all that ever he meant from his own mouth to make known of his will to any man when Iohn had at the command of Christ written that pretious Revelatio â—which God gave unto Christ to shew to his servants who was pleased to signifie it unto them by the hand of his servant Iohn and when once in after ages a Syned of some honest men who we know not upon some some mistakes and sailings which weâ— I.O. confesses Tr. 2. c 2. S. 4.5 They were lyable to establish so much as they could get together which was but little 't is like of that much that was written of the transcribed Copies of the holy mens Histories and Apostles Epistles and letters to particular Churches and private persons and canoniz'd it together with the writings of Moses and the Prophets into such a standing Rule of faith and manners for all ages to come that whatever should from thenceforth be found as not a little was even of the Apostles own and some of Christs own writings and whatever should be written after that with pretence as much hath been since then not in pretence onely but in truth of motion from the same holy spirit should be shut out for ever from standing in their Canon sith it came not in at that time to their hands and be ever of so low esteem as not to be own'd among the rest under so much as the name of holy Scriptures with them but as to all ends uses and purposes for which all holy Scripture is written be utterly raced out of the Record cancel'd made void and of none effect while those few they Authoriz'd because of their Stamp of the onely Standard upon them must be had in as high if not an higher Esteem Honour and Authority then the Light it selfe from which directing holy men in the writing thereof they had all the being they have at all as holy Scriptures Let not I.O. in any wise say so for there are yet though himselfe is none of them 7000 of the people of Christ in England that bow not the knee to Baal many of whom as they are under the new Testament i.e. the Spirit and not under the old i.e. the letter where thou yet art have even both men and women the promises thereof made good unto them concerning the gift of the holy Spirit of the Lord and power to prophecy which of old also the true had Mic. 2. and of judgment and of might to declare unto the rebellious house of Iacob and Israel even the Heads and Princes thereof if they abhor judgement and pervert all equity and the Priests and Prophets thereof that Preach for hire and Divine for money and build Sion with blood and Ierusalem with iniquity and yet leane on the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evill shall come upon us their sins and their transgression And to use thy own words I.O. p. 331.332 to thy self who are much in the dark as thou utterest them to such as are further in the dark behind thy self much more to the same purpose will same of them be found to say when men of outward wisdome and learning who are as they think able to instruct them shall condescend personally so to do Yea of myself I will not speak who by the grace of God am what I am and if the least measure of that grace be imparted to me among other of his servants that I should Preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ it is to one that for ought I know is of all the rest least worthy or rather most unworthy of it but I am bold to say so much and no more then what will stand as truth against thine or any others gain sayings that there are some who do not more professe themselves to be then they are indeed inspired by the holy Spirit whose messages and ministrations whether by voice or writing are so immediate from the mouth of the Lord that your not receiving nor submitting to them on that account but rejecting and denyall thereof with such rigour as ye do doth justify your predecessors in all ages who rejected and slew those that spake to them in the name of the Lord and speakes out in plain terms your imagination to be this that you may with safety to your selves reject them whom God sends yea to go on yet for a while much what in thy own words Tr. 1. C. 3. S. 9 10.11 12 There are some whether they work miracles yea or nay as thou confessest most of the Prophets did not that 's nothing to thee who pretend not to this inspiration falsely but both can and do to youward insist upon this that being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divinely inspired their doctrine is to be recieved by you as from God and in their so doing it will be found in due time to be your sin even unbeliefe and rebellion against God not to submit to what they speake in his name as that of his word they receive from his mouth and this is not onely pleaded and insisted on by some but also whether their Testimony be received or not received by you preachers and the
and cause the Sun to be covered with a cloud and the bright lights of heaven to be dark over Aegypt at the putting of it out and at the breaking of its yoke and set darkness upon her Land and search out the hidden things of Esau and take away understanding from his Mount and discover deep things of darkness and bring out to light the shadow of death Job 12. Isa. 19. Isa. 29. Isa. 44. Ezek. 30.18 22.7 8. Obad. 6. c. And that he will do all this to a people that have provoked him to anger with their vanities by a foolish Nation and weary them out by such as are no people in their eyes Deut. 32.21 And choose the foolish and bâ—se and weak things that Are noâ— â—o confound and bring to nothing the things that Are 1 Cor. 1.20 27.28 That the great Mountain of Babel shall become a Plain before Zerubbabel i e. Such as are from Babel as the Word is and this not by might nor power of man but by my Spirit saith the Lord Zach. 4.6.7 That the excellency of the work may be of him and not of man and that he will do great things for his own Land of Canaan whereat they shall rejoyce and be glad Joel 2.21 yet by such instruments as foolish Shepherds such silly tools as shall make subtle Sanballets and tale-bearing Tobyasses and the rest of the scoffers of the same seed of Ammon flout â—t them at first as feeble and say What will these feeble folk do will they revive the stones out of the rubbish and build and fortifie in a day Behold if a Fox go upon their wall will he not break it down Nehem. 4.1.2.3.4 c. Nehem. 6.6.7.16 c. and despise the day of God as a day of small things Zach. 4.10 and yet be amaz'd terrified cast down in themselves and made to confess it to be of God at the last and that he will begin to save not so much by the heads as by the tail of the people and gâ—â—upwards not that Prophet that teacheth lyes which is the tail that would be the head and is to be totally cut off Isa. 9. but the lower and most despised fort of people to whom he will shew his Salvation and by them to the Antient and the Honourable and instruct Apollos by Aquila and Priscila in the way of God more perfectly and make the Daughters of Philip to Prophesie when scarce a Prophetess to be found among the Princesses of the earth and Phabe and other Sisters Ministers in his Church and Labourers with Paul and fellow-helpers to the Gospel Rom. 16.1 1 Phil. 4.3 when he leaves Corvos Prophetas Prophetissas picas many unsavoury gaping Preachers and proud women pratlers of Christ and Faith c. ever teaching and learning but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth and that he will saveÌ„ the Tents of Juda first the plain plow-men and keepers in their own Tents and Country cottages that the glory of the cieled houses of David and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Kings Governours great ones fine rich Citizens mighty Merchants mincing Ladies Renowned University Schollars Scribes Pastors and such like may no more magnifie themselves against Iuda but stoop to take Truth from stammering lips or be lest ignorant thereof forever and this is one of Gods works and strange Acts which he is working in these dayes whereat the wise despisers wonder yet perish because in no wise believing it though it be declared unto them Zach. 12.7 1 Hab. 1.5 Act. 13.40.41 Isa. 28.21.22 5. The mighty multitude of false Prophets of all shapes seducing and gain saying the truth which are at least four hundred and fifty of one sort and four hundred of another to one of the Lords Elijabs 1 Kings 18. ver 19. For as thou sayest I. O. T. 1. C. 3. S. 10. in the latter dayes of that Iewish Church that poople were most emiÌ„nently perplexed with false Prophets both as to their number and subtilty so and much more is it now in these latter dayes of the out-side Christian Churches that hold the outer Court yet tread down the holy City and of the old World also wherein the old Serpent called the Devil and Satan seeing himself cast out of heaven where he held war as long as he could with Michael and his Angels and is now to have no more place there is come down to the Inhabiters of the earth unto which he is cast in great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time and so bestirs himself more then ever before and like a mad Bull that hath received a fatal blow in the forehead runs bellowing about and tears and rends what he is able and foams against the Man-child the holy Seed of God and Sheep of Christ at his going forth and being by permission more strongly then ever re-entred into the herdâ—of Swine drives them down headlong so violently that there is no saving of them to their own everlasting Perdition to which purpose he musters up all manner of his Ministers that from him as to their Ministerial capacities both live and move and have their being Gog and Magags Ministry and all the Magicians behind all these together running on with open mouth to devoure the Israel of God and iâ—compass the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City till fire come down from God out of heaven and devoure them Isa. 31. yea of a truth it it so now as was foretold 2 Esdras 13. Chap. thoroughout that it should be in the latter dayes when the most High begins to visit and deliver his Saints and come in them to the astonishment of many and as a thief and a snare upon all that dwell upon the earth viz. that though all the false Prophets and their several peoples should be Aurium tenus up to the ears in strife one sort of Seers undertaking to fight against another one City one Realm one sort of their misguided people against another one Troop of these mad Riders and their blind horses Zach. 4. against another in their uncertain fallible minds opinions conjectures thoughts Andabatarum more justling together in the dark at the Revelation of the Son of God and his espoused Sion and at the hearing of his uncouth voice they every one in their own land leave the battel they have one against another and as of old the Ammonites Mâ—â—ites and they of Mount Seir waging war against that typical people of God the outward fleshly Israel so these that hate and ban one another even to the very death make one head together against that spiritual Israel that is of a clean heart and all the false Prophets both anâ—iâ—â— and upstart and all the subtil fâ—xes natura non nomine joyn both little and great old and young together to spoil the Vine that hath clusters of tender grapes and if it were possible to root it out and under a pretence of preserving the Church the true seed of Iacob
upside down so that it shall be said Where is the Scribe where the Disputer â— where is he that counteth the Towers c. Mich. 5. per totum Zach. 9 10 per totum Isai. 33. 1 Cor. 1. And thanks be to God who alwayes maketh us thus to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place which ye Doctors and Divines cloud and darken with your diâ— dry Divinity for we are unto God though a stink to your unsavory selves a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish through their hatred of the light that enlightens every of â—homs without an illumination by which there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them for rejection of it neither are we as the many 〈◊〉 that huâ—ksterinâ—â— and deal deceiâ—fully about the Word of God for their own self ends but as of sincerity as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ 〈…〉 J. O. They say that Scripture Speaks of Christ he therefore is the light Christ is the light and moreover be inlighteneth not this and that man only but every man that comes into the world that is all men and every individual of them neither could anything be affirmed more clearly Repl. Neither could it in truth but that the selfish Seers are all blind and its niâ—ht unto them so that they cannot divine I. O. That the Scriptures are to be interpreted extorsimus we have enforced it from own Adversaries 〈…〉 wâ—ll do 〈◊〉 thou say extorsimus we have wrested it from them by force 〈◊〉 how 〈◊〉 own the interpretation of the Script which is no way of any procure interpretation may be interpreted by the same publick Spirit of God that gave it forth and by those that open it in the light of that Spirit yet we never yielded it to you yet nor never shall that the Scripture is to be opened by that dark private narrow selfish sottish spirit of Satan that in you lusts to envy against the truth nor by that fallible Spirit that ye are searching the Scripture and preaching out of it by who your selves deny any man as is above shewed to be in these dayes guided by any infallible direction of the infallible Spirit of God for that fallible Spirit of yours which leads you into as many meanings on it well nigh as ye are men that meddle with it and more too sometimes one man putting two or three senses as T. D doth and two men no lesse then four between them as I.O. and T. D. on one Text does but make such a nose of wax of the Scripture as may be and is too whereby ye may see what a steady Rule ye have of the Letter without the Light turned and twined by every of you into his own turn till as the Picture that every Passenger had liberty with a Pensil to mend what he thought and fancied to be amisse in it as he passed by at last became a mishapen Monster so the Scripture is scrued into such a multiformity of mens monstrous meanings that he must be monstrously blinded indeed within a while who will not see a necessity of a more stable Standard to measure Truth by then a transient much mistranscribed much more mistranslated most infinitely misinterpreted Text Letter or outward writing can ever possibly be which more stable Standard is that of the infallible Light and Spirit not as I. O. judges it must needs be if not the letter that pretended unerring Popes breast and bosome and his infallible chair J. O. The sense of this place comes now in question 1. Christ is light to wit in the same sense in which we have shewed God is light he is light in respect of his essentiall Majesty Holiness and Glory also he is light quatenus â— as he is the Fountain Author and Cause of All light that is essentially and efficienter as the efficient of it 2. Christ is said to be the light of men not that light which is in men he is the cause of all light not all light not that accidental and corrupt light whereof we speak Repl. O yes hear all manner of people who is so blind but I O himself who is in suis Talâ—â— as not to see how I O gives up his Cause by the way while he is but upon his triumphant march toward the Text before he touches it whereabout the pitcht Battel is to be The grand Question about which his Quarrell with the Quakeâ—s is is Whether Christ as an Efficient doth enlighten all men yea or nay That all men have some light are in some measure enlightaed within themselves to discern sins duties divine attributes moral good and evill the things of God and themselves this is not denied but abundantly affirmed by T D and I O specially who oft o're and o're tell us of a Voice of God by which he speaks so in all men that there is no need of other witness to evince it that its God that speaketh by which he reveals his Will and that obedience which from us is eternally indispensably due to him and abuudance more id genus as abovesaid then is fit or needfull here to be repeatedâ— Only the case sticks here whether this come from God only or from Christ also nâ—â— as God alone but as the true light of the World whether Christ be the Efficient Fountain Author Cause of this universal light that is confessed to be in common in all men without exception of any unlesse Infants and naturall fools We say yea Christ the true light of the World is the Cause of all that Mâ—ght whereby anything of God is to be known by them that is at all in any or all men T.D. I.O. say no such matter they 'l fight with us before they 'l yield to that that Christ as the Cause enlightens all men and we stand upon Iohn 1.9 Out of that strong Hold I. O. draws nigh in a very audacious daring way to storm us but behold as T. D. in other cases in ipso lumine he stumbles at the threshold before he euters the Garrison where our Guard is he yields falls down and flatly consesses 't is so as we say in theâ—e words which are his owns Christus lux est eodem sersu quo Deum lucem esse demonstravimus c. Christ is light in the same sense as we have shewed God is light How is that Thou mayest read it Reader abundantly in I. Os. 42 43 44 45 p. where he shews how God enlightens speaks in shews himself and will and their duty even to all men in their own hearts and consciences But what sayes he here Expresly thus As God so Christ is light not only essentialiter in regard of his own Majesty Holiness Glory but efficienter also quatenus omnis lucis sons c. as he is the Fountain Author and Cause of All light he is the light of men that is the Cause
meaning in an outward Ministry for else I know no Nation that hath not some of that Light which is Gods Gospel in them any more then Paul did who said The Gospel is preached in every creature under Heaven 1 Col. 23. and Rom. 10. Have they not all heard i. e. the Gospel yes verily c. The reason why all the Nations have so little as they all have is Because they come not to the Light which is come into them R. B. Q. 2. Why did not the world believe in Christ even generally before his coming if Reason was then a sufficient light Ans. How far forth right reason taken not for the bare natural faculty which a fool may have but for that supernatural gift of God whereby to guide men out of all bruitish wayes and his light we restiffe to which is not against but according to right reason are Synonimous it matters not to be medled with in this place but to the Query I reply the same still viz. Bâ—cause men came not to that light of God which was in them R. B. Q. 3. Why did Christ preach himself while he was on earth if the people had sufficient light before Ans. Christ speaking then audibly to the outward ear through that voice he then used preach't himself indeed that he was the Light of the World the Woâ—d â—f God and the Life and Light of men from the beginning and not from that time only of that his outward appearance unto a few Iohn 1.1.2 and to this end did he preach himself as a light in men for the Word was made flesh and dwelt in us sayes Iohn Ioh. 1.12 bidding them believe in the light i.e. his light in them and so in himself who is the light that they might be the children of it and walk in the light while they had it and come to the light and such like because the men to whom he preach't thus were not come to that light of his which was come into them R. B. Q 4. Why did he send his Apostles to preach through the world if the pâ—ople had sufficient light before Ans. To the same end for which he sent Iohn 1 Ep. 1.1.4.5.6 that they might walk with God in the light and not in the darkness as they did though the light was in them and foâ— which he sent Paul to the Naâ—ions Act. 26. to turn them from the darkneâ—s to the light from the power of Satan unto God and because men wanted to be instructed which way to look for the Life of God which they had lost and because they yee not yet come into that Light of God that only leads to it which was come into them R. B. Q. 5. Why did he set Pastors and Teachers in his Church if all have a sufficient light within them Ans. That his Church which is in God being turned from the world and the darkness of it to the light might by their memorandums of the things they knew 2 Pet. 1. be kept stedfast in their watch to the light unmoveable and abundant alwayes in that work of the Lord believing in the light which work the world are not yet come to and to abide in Christ the Light as branches in the Vine and in the teachings of the Annointing which is the truth and no lye that it might teach them by degrees all things and lead them into all truth as it had into some already that the Saints might as branches grow up in all things into him even the express Image and likeness of him who is the one head over All to the body and the express Image of the Fathers being in whom is no guile for the perfecting of the Saints a thing ye seeming Saints deny to be attainable in â—he body for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body till all that are begotten into the nature may come into the unity of the faith and knowledge of Gods Son even unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 4. Joh. 15. 1 Joh. 2. Finally because men come to the light if not exhorted to continue in their faith in it may again go out from that light of God which unless it take occasion by their wilful departings from it to depart at last from them is come unto them and continually in them R. B. Q. 6. Why do the Quakers go up and down teaching men their own doctrines if all men have sufficient light already Ans. Not their own doctrines but the doctrines of Christ and to call men into it and to counsel such as are come into it as Ioh. Ep. 2. to abide in Christs own doctrine or teaching that they as who doth not so hath neither may have both Son and the Father and because mâ—n generally are not come into that Light of God which is already come into them R. B. Q. 7. Why do they cry out against us as being in darkness when all men have sufficient light in them Ans. Were there no other thing but this one vain thought of yours that there 's no difference between mens being in the light and the light 's being in them it s enough of it self without any more ado to proclaim you to be in darkness for if ye were in the light of common reason that is in you 't would tell you as well as the Scripture that the light shines in the darkness though it comprehends not the light that it shews the way to them that walk beside it though they walk not in it because they hate it but in the darkness which they love more then it being fallen in love with its evil deeds Ioh. 1. Ioh. 3. and so to the Query we say ye are in darkness because ye among other men are not yet come into that sufficient light which if ye would once but singly look to ye should feel is already come into you R. B. Q. 8. Will they pray for more Light and Grace or not if not they are impiously proud if yea then it seems they have not yet light and grace sufficient Ans. We do pray for more Light and Grace and God gives more and more to the bumble as I have shewed above but if ye were not with all the climbers up another way Iob. 10.1 either too proud to stoop to come into the knowledge of the truth by the door the light or so blind as to groap fâ—r the wall like them that have no eyes ye could not but see that their praying for more and Gods giving more grace unto the humble is so far from evincing that they have none as that it evidently evinces they have some already for if men had no grace and should pray for it they might be said to pray for some but no man can be properly said to pray for more light and grace but such as at least have some already R. B. Q. 9. Whereas they say the Light within is sufficient if obeyed our Question is
a believers person with his works are accepted with God though his works be not perfect G. W. Answering thus viz. here he would have believers like the Priests who sin in the best of their performances as they confesse but I say the believers workes are wrought in God and these works of God are perfect As for our confession quoth T. D. 't is agreeable to Scripture There 's not a man on earth that doth good and sinneth not Eccles. 7.20 i.e. That sinneth not in doing good inquity of holy things is spoken of Exod. 28.38 Duties which are holy for the matter are iniquiâ—y for the manner of performance Rep. By which it seemes T.D. judges there is such a continuall course of sinning in the Saints as that they cannot cease from it at all for if while they are doing good and performing duty they are sinning and doing iniquity then how much more while they are doing materiall evill and iniquity it self and so consequently cease not from it at all Which if they do not then how do they cease as T.D. sayes they do here 's another stabb with his own Daggeâ— which T.D. gives himself whose words are such Swords to himself and agree â—o well together by the eares among themselves that a man need but bring them out upon the open Stage where such as are minded to behold the battell may see them falling out and fencing against each other and killing both their Master and one another And now I have that passage upon this occasion under hand one word more to it aâ—oâ—e it passe for 't is not worth returning to it again if a believers works which as G. W. truly said are wrought in God and say I by God in them T. D. himselfe from Isa. 26.12 dares not deny it any more then I do deny that all maâ—s â—on righteousnesse wrought of himselfe before and out of faith in the light are dung unclean things and filthy rags from Isa. 64.6 Phil. 3.8 If I say a believers woâ—kâ— be not perfect and his doing good be sin and his duties iniquity let me ask thee T.D. doth God who works the believers works in them work works that are not perfect but imperfect and if thou say what he works at first in believers is but in part of what he will do from 1 Cor. 13. Now we know in part c. Rep. Remember what I told thee above that in part is one thing and imperfect is another grace holinesse c. in part is a perfect gift evâ—ry dram of it as well as the highest degree of it though 't is not so much in measure as every spark of fire is perfect fire though not so great a fire as the flame it comes from But what do I talking of not pâ—rfâ—ct thou countest the best performances of the best Saints evill sin iniquity does God then who works all his Saints works in and for them absit blasphemia work evill sin and ini quity 2 Thou sayst though a believers works are not perfect but the best of them sin and iniquity yet God accepts both believers and their works hath iniquity then acceptance with God t is more then I can yet receive for truth unlesse thou scratch and scrape out of the Scripture such texts as tell us he hath no pleasure in it I know he taketh pleasure in his Saints Psal 149. but that shewes that such as you who take pleasure in pleading for iniâ—uâ—â—y are none of the Saints what ere ye call your selves that he take pleasure in Ye use to say to God in your prayers O Lord thâ—u art of purer eyes then to behold the least iniquity without abhoâ—ring it and the subiects of it and such like yet to go round again behold T.D. sayes believers works are sin iniquity and yet God takes pleasure in or accepts bâ—th the believer and his works Finally I know so much of such Saints as your selves are Isa. 1.10 to 20. that 't is iniquity even your solâ—mn meetings and appointed fasts and feasts but God takes no pleasure in them yea his sâ—ul hates loathes and detests them But he hath a people and a sort of Saints ye know not whose solemn meetings and sacâ—ifices are as incense before him who are not sinners as ye confesse ye are in all they do nor are their duties and doings of good by his power sin evill and iniquity and these and their services while ye and all yours are a smoak and stink in his nose are a sweet smelling savour to â—im in all the good they do 3. As to a mans falling into sin again after he hath once ceased from it I know no necessity of that which is the matter ye have to prove or else ye prove nothing at all to your own purpose who hold that men must needs sin while they are in the body and cannot possibly do otherwise but I know a necessity let men sin as often and as long as they will of ceasing to siâ— and of leaving it off before they leave the body otherwise if they dy not to it but but live in it till they dy and dy in it as Christ threatned the Pharisees they should do 't were good for them had they never been born there being no place for repentance from or purgation from it after death and notwithstanding your pretended necessity of aâ—l mens sinning while they breath bodily here on earth yet I know not only A necessity as aforesaid unless they mean the Tree lying as it falls as ye use to preach and the eternall Judgement finding all men as death leaves them to be remedilessly miserable for ever but a possibility also by the grace vouchsafed if themselves be not wanting in its improvement of ceasing finally from sinning while in the body nor sith T. D. confesses the Saints do cease from sin and its continued couâ—se is broken off in them can any man tell me why theâ—e should be less possibility of ceasing from sin or more necessity of sinning to morrow then to day or next day then to morrow and from that time of a mans first abstaining from what evil the Light in his conscience convinces him of and condemns him for and so successively onward to his lives end the same power that kept him to day being as all-sufficiently able as he keeps to it though the Temptation daily comes to keep him from the transgression to morrow and the next day and even for ever And who can tell me why he that withstood one temptation to any transgression by the Light and Power of God may not as well if in his will he turn not from the same Power which is alwayes nigh and ready to keep him withstand another and â—o another and so all so as to escape the transgression And why he that was not drunk nor lewd nor proud nor injuriâ—us nor wâ—cked nor unrighteous nor deceitful nor abominable nor disorderly to day must needs be so another time his being
of our wayes is reproved the wayes of God approved Now this is no small benefit to have the light to discern our errors which without light from Christ we should never have understood A wise Christian will be often judging himself by the light of the Law discovering his Transgressions That mâ—st needs be the Law in the Conscience which de facto shewes every mans own sins to himselfe It will be needfull not only to use the light of Christ to judge our selves by but also to order our actions by I am the light of the World saith Christ he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness There cannot be unsafe walking by Christs light there is no danger when Christ our light goes before walk in the light saith Christ while ye have the light lest darknesse come upon you how many millions are there of souls perplexed and tortured all their life with fears and doubts for want of walking by the light of Christ in Scripture which say I is that in the conscience which the Scripture mainly calls to and chusing rather to walk by a light and sparks of their own kindling alias their own wisdome conceits sences and meanings on the Scripture traditions in worship and such like which they call light which in the end either goes quite out or burns so dim as to leave them in darknesse of spirit and horror of conscience and no marveile since such as neglect the word preached which is that word of faith i.e. which men are to beleeve in unto life which the Scripture testifies and the Apostles preached to be nigh in mens hearts to heave and do it should follow the mares of humane reason the examples customes and dictates of men and in conclusion ly down in sorrow Isa. 40.11 Such foolish fires will lead to nothing but bogs and precipices but Christ the true light when his Gospell is followed which is the light in the heart 2 Cor 4.5 6. guides the feet of men into the way of peace The light of Christ is to be used as our weapons or Tools to defend ourselves or to work with let us put off the works of darknesse and put on the armour of light the truth is light is the chiefest instrument for safety and worke if a man be without light he can neither defend himself nor offend an enemy he that would make use of Christs light must be armed with his doctrine he that would improve the light must be a doing the businesse which the word of Christ directs him to and to that end it mark must dwell richly in him Make use of the light of Christ for thy comfort and rejoycing it is it which removes doubts griefs fears despair in life or death Oh how sweetly might men live how comfortably might they dye if they did make use of it Thus highly do these two men R.B. I.T. speake of the light of Christ within which the Qua preach yea that in the very Heathen though they oft call it naturall yet they recommend it as that which told the truth to the heathen which they holding in unrighteousnesse were under wrath and without excuse before God because they glorified him not as God but were fill'd with unrighteousnesse and did the things which by that of God in them they knew judgment was due to and that they were worthy of wrath Ignorance of the Law being not to be pleaded by them say they who sin against the innate light of their own spirits for as much as that fact must needs be voluntary which is done against the knowledge and judgment of a mans own conscience And yet somtimes to go round again they tell us that when their Saints sin through infirmity only as T. D. judges David did when he was guilty of murder and adultery which when they doe they act against the knowledge and judgment of their own consciences their facts are not voluntary but altogether yea utterly against their wills Yea p. 41. They seem to judge themselves much belyed by the Qua. for denying the light within and set themselves to vindicate themselves from that as a false aspersion as if they were men that do truly own the light within as much as any yea they there make a use of Application of their Doctrine about the Light that enlightneth every man that cometh into the World to justifie themselves against the Qua as owners and honourers of the light within and to warn men that they act not against their Light within to this purpose we may infer say they a plea for our selves against the unjust accusations of the Qua who use to charge publick preachers with denying the light within each man whereas such light is not at all denyed by them each person is to make use of the light within that he do not rebell against the light a mans own conscience is a Law to him c. This and much more do these men when they are pleased to begin of themselves confesse to the excellent usefullnesse and sing out to the praise of the light of God within each man but if the Qua fall in with them in the same work and commend the same light for t is no other but that of Christ the Qua cry up in the same words with the Priests then in enmity against the Qua they set themselves to cry it down with as much indignation and detestation as they cryed it up with approbation and high commendation before Then to go round again they sing a new song in contempt of it to the Time that hereunder followeth inveighing most heavily and bitterly against the Quak for this businesse of warning men to take heed to the Light within to that of God in their consciences calling both it and them no lesse then all to nought witnesse their clamours against the Qua for this very thing in Baxt. Epist. p. 7. Their i.e. the Quâ— great pretence when they dishonour the Scripture and the Ministry is to lead men to a light within them and this is their cry in our Assemblies and our streets hearken to the light and word within you and the sufficiency of this they clamourously defend So p. 6. They i.e. the Quakers assert that there is a light in every man sufficient to guide him to God of it self that it is a Rule to shew duty and sin that there 's no need of other teaching of man that this is one in all that it is the Gospell this is the main prop of the new Anti-christian Religion or frenzy of the Quak and leads them into pernitious courses So p. 41. A mans own light cry they speaking of that of God in the Conscience of all men which somtimes themselves call no lesse then Gods Law in them which is in them but not of them nor naturall but spirituall holy just and good cannot warrant of it self without the Scripture a mans actions to be lawfull which he doth according to that light And