their sin and sheweth unto them their state and condition then the Saviour and Salvation of the ends of the earth hath been both within man and woman ever since the day of their first creation For although the Lord came in Abraham and begot the type in Sarah when it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women even so the Lord when the fulness of time was come he by the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mary and he begot the Ante-type in her who was the end of all Types without her having any knowledge of a visible man but these things did but little concern the Gentiles although we have the history of them only all the world was freed from their offerings for sin by that one offering and also they were outwardly reconciled to God by the death of his Son and so there was to be no more outward offerings for sin but we must be redeemed justified and also saved by a measure of the same life that dwelt in the Son in which life the Son of God offered up his Soul and Body to be crucified to the death a sacrifice once for all then no salvation to the Souls of the Sons and Daughters of men by him that dyed without the Gates at Jerusalem but in and by him alone who was both without beginning of dayes or end of life a measure or a manifestation of which spirit is given to every man wherein alone stands mans Condemnation Redemption Justification Life and Salvation Restauration and Sanctification and this Salvation was in the world before Christs body came and the same that ever was the Saviour now is and not another so he that dyed without the Gates at Jerusalem was the man in the mystery the mystery being in him he being one with the mystery was comprehended by the mystery and so he was the Christ of God being one with the Spirit of God but it was the womans part that dyed that was his Soul and Body for it was Eve that had been in the transgression but the mans part which was the Godhead that dwelt in that body he never sinned nor yet saw corruption therefore he never dyed and that both was and is he which ever liveth and was without beginning of dayes or end of life Now Christ as he was a visible man and made of a visible woman made under the Law he internally dyed as to his Soul and Body and did put an end to all outward external sacrifices and services But the Christ the mystery the light the life and the word of eternal life and the salvation of the ends of the earth the which dwelt in that body he never dyed Now I do deny that ever any man or woman either was or shall be redeemed from death to life by that blood the which was spilt without the Gates at Jerusalem or that ever any did drink of that outward blood or that ever any were inwardly cleansed from sin by that outward blood and what are all outward cleansings if so be the heart and conscience be defiled Wherefore every one that comes to be inwardly cleansed it must be in and by the receiving and enjoying a measure of the same life the fulness of which life dwelt in Christs body when it was upon the earth the which spirit God hath poured forth upon all the Sons and Daughters of men wherein alone Life and Salvation Justification and Condemnation is placed and this is Gods own spirit and the invisible man Christ whom God hath by his own right hand exalted in the Sons and Daughters of men both as a Prince and a Saviour First as a Prince in manifesting his power to condemn both man and woman because of their sin and rebellion and disobedience against him And secondly as a Saviour both to redeem them justifie them and also to save them if they come to have their minds turned to him and to believe in him and obey him Now it is the mans part wherein the first man Adam was created the which God hath exalted as a Prince and a Saviour that is he which never sinned and not Eve the womans part which by the Serpent was lead into sin and transgression that part hath not God exalted as a Prince and a Saviour for she was to be redeemed both Soul and Body and so it was Eve the first woman which was in the transgression and not God who made the first man Adam a living Soul which Soul was lead into transgression by yielding to the councel of the Serpent in Eve the first woman for there is a Soul or an invisible woman the which God did make and place in every visible man and this is she that hath born the image of the earthly man and hath been one with the Serpent and now she is to be begotten regenerated and born again of the Spirit of God who is the heavenly man and this is the seed the which every invisible woman in every visible man is to bear which seed alone hath power to bruise the Serpents head in every visible man and woman and this must be done before she can truly bear the image of the heavenly man again For Eve she was a visible woman but she conceived and bore the first invisible man who was that son of perdition and the power of darkness which brought death over all that God had made in the Sons and Daughters of men as to the invisible creation of God but the Lords promise both was and is that he would create all things new and the Lords new Creation it is invisible for although Mary did bear that visible man Christ who was begotten in and by an invisible power and spirit yet she stood in need of God to be her Saviour for she saith her soul did magnifie the Lord and her spirit did rejoyce in God her Saviour and I do believe that after she was delivered of that visible man Christ that still her God and Saviour did remain in her although that visible babe was outwardly separated from her and so I do believe that whatsoever was given forth in time among the Jews as concerning all outward worship in time it was ended when Christs body was offered up and the belief and faith of all must stand in the mystery of that Light and Life which God hath now in the Gentiles revealed and Antichrists faith and belief which he hath brought in among the Gentiles in this night of Apostacy that must be overturned both root and branch by the Light which God hath revealed Friends I do believe that this writing of mine that it is written from the testimony of Jesus in me and I would willingly hear your Judgement as concerning it at our next monthly mans meeting at Sudbury for it is generally reported amongst many of the chief Inhabitants of this Town of Sudbury that I am disowned by the Quakers or at leastwise shall be if I be not already because of my blasphemous Doctrine
Bullock in Sudbury I do disown my self to be a Member of the visible Church called Quakers for these particular reasons and causes following neither do I desire to have unity nor to seek to have peace with the Church in those actions wherein they set up themselves as Judges among or above their Brethren as the Eleven Elders called Quakers have done First I disown all superiority of men Ministers or Elders in the Churches called Quakers or any who assume Authority to themselves above the rest of the Members to judge and determine things in matters of conscience the which thing only belongs to God in every one 's own particular 2. I disown my self to be a member of that Body or Church which saith He that is not justified by the witness of God in Friends is condemn'd by it in himself 3. Which saith That none are to Minister or Preach but such as are reconciled to the Church and have the approbation of the Elders and Members 4. Again I do disown both the censures and judgement of that body or Church who look upon themselves that they have both a right and power to judge of errours and yet have not power to convince the parties of their errors before they pass judgement upon them for those things which they call errors for Christ he convinceth both man and woman of their evils before he either judgeth them or condemneth them for their evils 5. Again I do disown my self to be a Member of that Church who will not admit me to take the liberty of my Conscience in matters of Doctrine and Principles in the Worship of God the outward life and conversation that being blameless and I being satisfied in my own conscience that the thing is both right and true which I do own 6. I disown my self to be a Member of that Church who will not admit me to believe and speak what God by his Spirit makes manifest in me for the Articles of your Church Faith and Belief they are concealed from me so that in plain English words with sense I cannot them neither read nor understand so that I question whether this practice of the Church doth not surpass plain Popery for they have given forth the Articles of their Faith as concerning Doctrine 7. I disown the resurrection of the power or the arising of the Seed or God in man or that ever the Seed or God was either in Captivity or Bondage or that it was ever lost or that the Light in man was ever blinded or the Image of God defaced or that the Seed hath been under the corrupt heart of man or that ever Darkness were over it or that ever God lost his Kingdom in man as he was in himself 8. Again I disown that to be any true Ministry for God who in their declaration do exhort both Friends and other people to come to a sense and to wait in a sense and to abide in a sense and continue in a sense for God is not a sense neither is his spirit a sense for the senses are things that were made by the power of God and in the power which made them they are to be exercised and so such Doctrine it is not only unsound but it is contrary to the Scriptures and also the spirit of truth and form of sound words for it is old Antichrists Doctrine the which Sathan brought in among his Ministers in this long night of Apostacy among the Gentiles when the Churches lost the injoyment of the Grace Manifestation or Revelation of the Spirit of God then they preached from a light and a sense for the Beasts of the Field they have both senses and knowledge and what preheminence hath a man above a Beast if he be not in God that made him for all things the which a man enjoys below the Light they are accompanied both with vanity and also vexation of Spirit for there is no other God Saviour Angel nor Spirit to be known in and amongst the Sons of Men but the Light that shews unto man his thoughts besides the Spirit and Power of Darkness and what God made in man in the day of his first Creation 9. Also I disown my self to be a Member of that Church who are gone from Christ the Light of the world within them the power which God revealed from Heaven in this our age and generation wherein alone Life and Salvation Justification and Condemnation is to be known and are returned back again to the professors Christ and Saviour who dyed without the Gates of Jerusalem who make it their work to declare against all salvation both by God and Christ the Light within the which the professors of this our age and time do 10. I disown all yoaks of bondage dictates or impositions whatsoever I disown your printing of several Books and imposing them upon all Friends Meetings throughout this Nation and enjoyning them to take them off a thing that I never heard of before amongst any people 11. I disown your enjoyning one Friend to match with another Friend or else you will not admit them to come together whenas God hath made all Nations of one blood and so remember that Moses took an Ethiopian woman to wife contrary to the command of God and yet God justified him for it and he also condemned both Aaron and Miriam for speaking against Moses for so doing Again the two Sons of Naomy they either of them took a Moabitish woman to wife and I never read they were reproved for their so doing and Ruth she proved a good woman So Friends I leave you to the witness of God that is in you for I little thought that ever Antichrist would have appeared with such an old Vizard as to raise up a body of Judges among us Quakers in matters of Religion and Conscience whenas we had suffered so much already by outward Judges because we made use of the liberty of our Consciences in the things of God Friends a thing which was never practiced among the primitive Christians Friends 1. What is the Tree of knowledge as it is in it self and what is the fruit it bears and from whence doth the fruit come and what is that which feeds upon it seeing it is desirable to make one wise and whether the fruit be all the same now as it was in the beginning 2. What was the Eden wherein the first man Adam was placed and what was the Garden wherein God walked after Transgression entred when he spake to Adam in the cool of the day 3. What is the Enmity which God put between the Woman and the Serpent and between his Seed and her Seed and what was or is the Woman 4. What was the Man that was drove out from God into the Earth because of Transgression seeing the visible body did remain in the visible Creation after his transgression as visible as it did before 5. What is the Image of God or what is the Soul of Man for there
particulars following First I must believe that they are as infallible as God is and that it is as impossible for them to erre as it is for God to erre Secondly That no man nor woman shall ever attain to any higher measure of the grace of God then they and that they are come to the highest Revelation that can be attainable by the Spirit of God Thirdly And that there is no more to be made known by the Spirit of God in the Sons and Daughters of men but what is already made known to them Fourthly Or if there be any thing more to be revealed by the spirit of God that God will make it known to them and to none else the which thing I cannot believe Friends I would have you seriously to take into your consideration some of your Doctrines and Principles which are commonly preached amongst us how they can stand with Gods Soveraignty Dominion and Glory that either the Seed or God should arise in man Whether the Light or Spirit Seed and God be not all one and the same thing And how came this Seed of God to be under or beneath in man And by what shall this Seed or God in man be raised again and from whence shall that power come the which shall raise up God or the Seed in Man into his Dominion again if he hath lost his Kingdom in man seeing that you preach that the Seed of God must be raised in man And whether the appearance of God in man to man by his Spirit be not for the quickning and raising of man both Soul and Body out of a state of bondage and captivity and not for the raising of God or the Seed out of bondage or captivity for the Light or the Creator hath not been in bondage and captivity but the whole Creation that God made in man that hath been both in bondage and captivity being under the power of Darkness for God hath not lost but the Gospel hath been hid in God whilst man and woman hath been lost You see and if you can either vindicate or justifie some of your Doctrines or Practices and also your Authority either by the spirit of truth or the Scriptures of truth or the form of sound words otherwise it is high time for you to lay aside your preachings among the people called Quakers and come and sit down with them in silence again Let the Eleven Elders or any of them or any that join with them write me an Answer for the vindication both of your Authority Doctrines and Practices For man in the beginning was created in the Light and the Darkness was near him but yet the Light had dominion over him and it was his habitation but Adam went out of Eden in the day of his transgression and then God cursed the Serpent and he also judged man for his disobedience and he was driven out of the Garden because of his sin and transgression but still God kept his dominion in the Garden over man to his condemnation and he placed the flaming Sword at Edens gate to keep the way of the tree of Life against the first man Adam so long as he did abide in a state of sin and transgression Friends the Kingdom of Heaven is within all men and women and Heaven is above Hell and the Light is above Darkness in all the Sons and Daughters of men and Life is above death and truth is above error and God that made the world is in the world and above the God of the world and the Light is the higher power and Gods Throne is above the Devils in all the Sons and Daughters of men yea in the wickedst of men the seed in both man and woman it is both God and Christ and it is above the seed of the Serpent in all as he is in himself and his dominion is over all who is God blessed for ever The seed is to redeem and not to be redeemed the soul is to be awakened and to be quickned by the seed that never sinned and to be raised from under the power of death and to be brought up into dominion by the spirit of Life over the power of death for the seed within must bruise the Serpents head within and deliver the Soul from under the power of death within for the seed is to quicken and not to be quickened and God is to raise and not to be raised Gods Throne is established in Justice and Judgement in wicked men over them to their condemnation because of their sin and transgression and his Throne is also established in love and mercy over them that obey him The Light is to descend and the day spring from on high is to visit the souls of the Sons and Daughters of men for they are to be lifted up by the arm of Gods power revealed from Heaven for man had his habitation in God once but man lost his habitation in God but God kept his habitation in man for the power of God in man he is above the Devils power in man for God that made man is in him and man is not above his maker nor the Creature is not above his Creator God who made all things by the word of his power and man also in his power this God was never disthroned but man was dispossessed of his habitation in God in the day of his transgression against God for the Mount Sion is above Mount Sinai and the heavenly Jerusalem is above the house of Bondage and God who is the Judge of all he is in all yea and above all that is in man or ever was in man who is God comprehended in himself blessed for ever Amen For God never lost his Kingdom nor Dominion in man although the Devil and man both lost their first habitation in God and the Devil is never like to enjoy his again but there is hopes for man and woman through their believing in the Light and receiving of the truth for them to receive life again Wherefore I do own the Light the Life the spirit and power in man to be both the resurrection and the life as he is in himself and he is also both man and womans redemption as by his power within their souls comes to be raised from death to life again but I deny the resurrection of the power and spirit of God in man or woman or that ever the seed which is Gods spirit and power that it ever came under the Devils power in man or woman or that ever the Devil had dominion over God wherefore God is not to arise in man nor woman but we are to be raised by the arme of his power revealed from Heaven within for the man-child hath been caught up to God in this long night of Apostacy which hath been over the Gentiles wherefore Christ the Light within stands in need of no blessing for he is everlastingly blessed and happy in himself without either beginning of days or end of life
to the Light that so they might be made Children of the Light for he knew that they were Children of the Darkness and God he is Light and shews unto man his thoughts who said look unto me all yea ends of the earth and be saved and some of these words were spoken by the Lord in his Prophets before Christs body came into the world and the same that ever was the Saviour now is and not another for God is not changed neither is his salvation changed Again thou saist thou know est the Father and thou knowest the Son the holy Spirit Friend consider well what thou hast written and let Gods Spirit in thee try thy words whether thou hast thy knowledge of God and his Son and holy Spirit in and from the Spirit of Revelation for Christ saith no man knows the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son reveals him and Paul saith it pleased God to reveal his Son in him so then there is no true saving knowledge of neither Father nor Son but in and through the Spirit of Revelation so consider and let Gods witness judge in thee whether thy knowledge stands in the Light or in the Letter in the mystery or in the history in the word or in the words the which were given forth from the word for the words were given forth in time from the word which was before time was And so remember what the Jews said to Christ who had the Scriptures before the Gentiles how they said that they were Abrahams Children and God was their Father and they were Moses his Disciples and that God spake to Moses But they speaking concerning Christ said as for this fellow we know not whence he is and these were the blind professing Jews who had the Scriptures but they had neither heard the voice of God at any time nor yet seen his shape as Christ in plain words tells them and yet how great was their boasting and all this while they had but a blind zeal for a vail of thick darkness was over their minds and understandings Again thou saist the holy Scriptures thou knowest to be the mind and will of God then thy soul and mind and understanding they must be in the mystery and spirit of God which gave forth the Scriptures and if it be so with thee then I would desire thee to tell me these following questions 1. What is Eden and where is it and what was the Garden wherein God walked 2. What is the tree of knowledge and where it is and what is the fruit it bears and from whence doth the fruit come and what is that which feeds upon the fruit which the tree of knowledge bears and what were the eyes that were open in Adam and Eve after sin and transgression by them were committed And what were the Books which are to be opened and how many Books to be opened and what is the Vail which Paul speaks of which is to be done away and what is the enmity which God hath put betwixt the Woman and the Serpent Jeffery Bullock Friend Pauls Ministry stood in the Spirit and not in the Letter and he desired only to know Christ according to the spirit but not after the flesh for that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit as saith the spirit of God This following was given me from the Quakers to subscribe which I refused to do for reasons inserted FOr the clearing of the precious truth of God professed by us his people called Quakers from the occasion of reproach and stumbling given by Jeffery Bullock his pernicious doctrine in affirming That he neither expects Justification nor Condemnation by that Christ that dyed or was put to death at Jerusalem These are to certifie all Friends and Friendly people whom it may concern that we testifie against this Doctrine as stated by him as both pernicious and Antichristian and contrary to plain Scripture and the constant testimony faithfully born amongst us from the beginning for neither do we profess and preach two Christs nor yet own Justification by any other Christ or in any other Name but by and in the Name of that very one Christ of God to whom the holy Prophets and Apostles gave witness in the scriptures of truth who was miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost overshadowing the Virgin Mary and was Crucified and put to death in the flesh without the Gates of Jerusalem but quickned by the Spirit whom God raised from the dead 1 Pet. 3.18 We must confess with the holy Apostles that even by him to wit that very Christ all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13.30,39 and that remission of sins Justification and Salvation as then preacht in the name of the same Lord Jesus Christ and by his Eternal power and spirit of God so the same is constantly believed and witnessed amongst us And although the best fense that we can suppose or gather as aimed at by the said Jeffery Bullock is that it is not only by the suffering and death of Christ nor by a mere literal knowledge of him as after the flesh that men can be either compleatly justified or saved from sin and death any more then the Apostles or primitive Christians were but by his life spirit and power operating in them And so by a living and spiritual knowledge of Christ as after the Spirit which though the truth of this we cannot but own and justifie yet this cannot excuse the aforecited Doctrine as laid down which denies both Justification and Condemnation by that Christ that dyed for that supposeth another Christ for that end and so two Christs And therefore the said J. B. ought to see his error and call back and recant of his words which have given occasion of stumbling in Sudbury Whereas the very Christ the Son of God is but one though he hath often and variously manifested himself from the beginning as both before he came in the flesh and in the fulness of time in the flesh viz. that body that was prepared for him to do the will of his Father in and since in spirit for the everlasting comfort and salvation of all them who believe in his name and power which by his divine Light within is livingly revealed And we confess that this Son of God our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord was made of the Seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holyness by the resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.3,4 And that that very Christ that came of Israel as concerning the flesh is God over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 So that he is truly and inseparably God and Man according to the Scripture And even that very Christ who was crucified and slain hath God lifted up with his right hand to be a Prince
for her place is to be obedient and in subjection to her Husband for the first visible man God formed of the dust of the ground and God created and made the first invisible man Adam a living Soul and he was under the dominion of the heavenly power and spirit and then he was a heavenly man but he lending an ear to the Serpent when he spake in the woman and by his receiving of his counsel the Serpent beguiled him as he had done the woman and so he lost the enjoyment of the heavenly power and so he became like the woman he being brought under the dominion of the earthly spirit and power and so he lost his habitation in God and was brought under the power of death Friends I do not own the judgement and opinion of those Ministers nor yet their superiority who saith he that is not justified by the witness of God in friends is condemned by it in himself now Justification is by Christ alone who is the head in every member and the only rule for them to walk by and if they sin against him then he is their reprover and also their condemner and chastiser And again you say in your paper that none are to minister but those who are reconciled to the Church and have the approbation of the Elders Now the Scripture saith that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and not to the Church I do remember no such Scripture Now Christ the Light within he will not give his power and authority out of his own hand to any man or men for unto him alone is all Judgement in Heaven and Earth committed in matters of conscience but you say it is abominable pride in any who will not admit of any Judgment to take place against them whom you do look upon as an offender but I say all power both to judge and to condemn and also to justifie and to reconcile it properly belongs to the Light who is the head in every member Wherefore this is my testimony that you never received your authority from God who is the Light within neither will the Scriptures justifie your authority Wherefore I would have you in Gods witness seriously to consider what you have done in putting that writing of yours upon record for that may prove as great a snare to the generation of the Quakers in ages to come as the authority of the Church of Rome hath been to the Papists in ages and generations past and is to this day And Friends this I have further to bear my testimony against that is your imposing such Books upon Friends as you shall think good to put to print When these Books came first into the Country among the Churches called Quakers then every member was left free either to buy them or to let them alone and if Friends did not buy them nor they could not be sold to others then they were to be returned to the quarterly meeting again and then the thing was well but now it is not so for now the Churches must take them off and that which is almost as bad is this that the money which is gathered as collection amongst us for the relief of the poor out of that money the books must be paid for and so the old English Proverb is fulfilled the poor must pay for all Friends this is a thing I do believe was scarce ever heard of that some should print packets of several books and injoyn others to buy them Friends in these things you do not only put a yoak of Bondage upon your Brethren but you also rob God of his honour whose right it is alone both to rule and raign in the Churches and to have the dominion over them because that he by his invisible spirit and power at first did gather them for there is so much of his spirit and power both manifested and given to man and woman that if they hear the spirit and own Christ the Light within and believe in him and obey his voice that then he will manifest his power in the redeeming their Souls from death to life for it is not Christ the Light in me which can redeem neither man nor woman neither is it Christ the Light in any man or men neither Churches nor Bodies which can redeem my Soul from death to life wherefore your dictates and impositions is no rule for me to walk by except that Christ the Light in you can do these things following for me which Christ the Light in me is able to do for me and also for all that hears his voice and obeys him For Christ the Light within me is able to bruise the Serpents head and he is able to break down the partition Wall that separates between God and my Soul and he is able to open my understanding and to open the book of the Scriptures and also rend the vail of my understanding and he is able to make me wiser then all my teachers he is able to cleanse my Soul from sin and to give me true rest and peace and he is able to sanctifie both Soul and Body he is able to redeem my Soul to himself and to keep me in the greatest hour of temptation that can come upon me and the Light within is able to reconcile both man and woman to God again and Christ the Light within is able to lead him into captivity who hath captivated my Soul and he is able to give life to my Soul and to raise it from under the power of death and darkness and to translate it into the Kingdom of Light and Life he is also able to break and he is also able to bind up that which he hath broken and to heal that which he hath wounded and to convince the whole world of sin and he is able to Justifie both man and woman If either Men Ministers or Elders Bodies or Churches are able to do any of these foregoing things for me then shall their dictates and impositions be a rule for me to walk by Now I do believe that God who is Light and shews unto man his thoughts that he is infallible and that there is no fallibility attends him but there is a fallibility attends all those who are regenerated and born of the Spirit of God who is Light and that it is possible for them to err from the Light again the enemy which is the power of darkness presenting to them the fruit of the tree of knowledge whilst they are in Eden their minds taking delight in it and they feeding upon it the enemy hath power to draw their minds out of Eden again Wherefore I do believe that I ought not to subject my self to what the Church imposeth for then I must believe that it is God in them which doth impose those Yoakes of bondage upon their Brethren and also that the Church is infallible and cannot erre which thing I do not believe for then I must believe these several