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A54126 The counterfeit Christian detected; and the real Quaker justified Of God and Scripture, reason & antiquity. against the vile forgeries, gross perversions, black slanders, plain contradictions & scurrilous language of T. Hicks an Anabaptist preacher, in his third dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker, call'd, The Quaker condemned, &c. By way of an appeal to all sober people, especially those called Anabaptists in and about the City of London. By a lover of truth and peace W. P. Penn, William, 1644-1718. 1674 (1674) Wing P1271; ESTC R220484 73,223 125

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hast designedly overlookt However let us hear what Defence thou hast made for thy self C. The Question respects the whole Scripture which you say is Dangerous and Killing The Ministers of the Scriptures are Ministers of Death and it is Dangerous for such to read them What a shameless Man art thou thus to confess what I accuse you of and yet condemn me as a Forger pag. 57. Q. These foul and confident Questions thou usest to ask me with which thou wouldst insinuate thy Innocency do but aggravate thy Forgery For first How do I confess what thou accusest us of when it is neither to be found in my words nor theirs upon whom thou chargest them viz. It is Dangerous for Ignorant People to read the Scriptures 2dly I told thee they meant by Ministers of the Letter Ministers of the Law and Death because of Transgression and thou makest it Dangerous for such to read the Scriptures whereas G. F. and R. H. said It was Dangerous for Hirelings and whi●e Walls to use them against the Saints with their carnal Exp●sitions opposing them Pharisee like to the Life of them wresting them to their own ●estruction It is Dangerous for such to read them to such Uses and Purposes not in any Sense as thou untruly sayest Of this thou takest no notice So that here the Reader may plainly see thy first Forgery since it was not the Man of no Letters but the Men of Letters such as the Scribes and Pharise●s who used them against the right Heirs of them of whom G.F. and R.H. ●poak And thy second is not less visible in that thou hast imposed upon the Reader my Confession of thy Accusation who never confessed any such thing These are some of thy wonted Tricks ever anon imploy'd to cover thy Nakedness with and to get off unsuspected from encountering the Difficulty of our Charge Proof or Argument I appeal to God's Witness in my Reader 's Conscience to right us against the many Injurious Practices against us And shall conclude with this Acknowledgment and Argument concerning the Scriptures We do receive and believe the Scriptures given forth by Holy Men of God as they were moved of the Holy Ghost and that they are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof and for Instruction in Righteousness yet since they are Writings relating to the things of God no man can understand them or have an assured Testimony of them but by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. which alone reveals the deep things of God It was not the Scripture but the Father that revealed Christ to Peter Mat. 16.5 Further The New Covenant Times are Times of Fulfilling of the Scriptures by the pouring out of the Spirit therefore Peoples regard should be to the inward Drawings and Leadings of the Holy Spirit The Law outward was a Rule to the Jew though not eminently unto them for the Lord gave them also of his good Spirit what for if not to rule them But the Law of the Spirit of Life promised to be reveal'd within under the New Everlasting Covenant was certainly to be the Rule under that Covenant being a time for the more immediate Flowings forth of Spirit and Life We do not say that every one hath hereunto attained But we affirm that God hath given a measure of his Spirit unto Men Women that they might receive the pretious Promises unto w ch we direct them for that End I know that T. Hicks according to his wonted Baseness pag. 49. interprets our saying that we deny the Scriptures to be the Rule of Faith and Practice in honour to the Divine Light to be our denying rejecting the revealed Will of God thereby must hate their Parents because they are to love Christ first Mat. 10. This were to say that Paul's regard to the Law of the Spirit of Life in him as his Rule was not to fulfil but to deny rej●ct the Law without If this Consequence be false agains● Paul How can T. H.'s Consequence be good against us Is it to reject and deny the Scriptures to have the good things they declare of brought in by the Eternal Spirit And since the Scriptures can not fulfil themselves in us but the Spirit is not the Spirit the Rule and Guide to our Divine Knowledge and Enjoyments But from our asserting the Spirit to be the Rule T.H. infers That we deny to live according to the Scriptures a Mi●take he fell into before which I offer'd to help him out of in my Answer for to own the Scripture to be the Rule and to live according to the Scriptures are not one and the same thing For the Gentiles did the things contained in the outward Law and yet had not the outward Law for a Rule Rom. 2.14 Nor is it to be doubted but that Paul and the primitive Christians lived up to the outward Law that is the inward Law outwarly declared by the Law of the Spirit of Life which was the Rule of their Obedience Yet can any infer that the outward Law and not the inward was the Rule of their so living And I must tell thee Th. Hicks that thy Exalting of the Scriptures is but an Endeavour to throw down the Spirit which Sacrifice be it known unto thee the Lord of Heaven loathes And I will say to thee as G. F. and R. H. said to the Priest They are Dangerous to be read and used for those Evil Purposes thou employest them upon But as they said though that also thou didst overlook so say I Blessed is He that doth read and understands them Testimonies concerning the Rule Irenaeus pag. 242 384 389. The Writing in the Heart is the Rule Again l. 5. c. 8. The Word giveth his Spirit to all to some according to Condition And l. 4. c. 30. The Fathers justified by the Righteousness of the Law in them therefore had no need of REPROVING LETTERS W. Perkins Works 3 Vol. pag. 220. The Light of Nature and Grace teacheth to do as we would be done to pag. 221. It is the Fulfilling of the Law the Rule to judge Scripture That of God made the Rule Something in the Conscience Happy Times if Men would follow it Bp. R. Sanderson De Obligat Conscient pag. 127. A Rule of Discerning without the Scriptures Regula discernendi extra Scripturam And T. C●llier in plain words saith The Spirit of God who is God is the ALONE RULE of a Christian Gen. Epist to the Saints chap. 12. The Spiritual Man judgeth all things by the RULE OF THE SPIRIT ibid. The Law of the New Testament is written in the Heart ibid. But what need is there further of my maintaining this Point concerning The Light being the Rule in all Ages since thou hast made such ample Confession That the Godly in all Ages before Christ in the Flesh were turned from the Darkness to the Light pag. 64. This Light must needs be within because the Darkness is there And it must needs be sufficient because
their own Lusts 1 Dial. p. 62. yet confesseth to us T●●● every man is inlightned that this Light checks for Evil and exciteth to Good That it ought to be obeyed Dial. 1. pag. 7 8. Dial. 3. pag. 8. And that this is the Quakers first and grand Principle Di●● ● Pa● 6. Observ Now Reader how our Religion can be calculated to the Service of the Devil and our own Lusts yet the first grand Principle of that Religion be unconcern'd in that Hellish Service is more then I can tell The plain English of his gross Contradiction is this Th●● the Light within which checks for Evil and excites to Good and ought to be tended upon and obeyed is the f●rst and grand Principle of that Religion which is calculat●d to the Service of the Devil and their Lusts that receive it For which detestable Blasph●my with more Reason may I use T. H's Exclamation Blush O Heaven and be astonisht O Earth Was ever such a thing as this heard of before I must tell the People call'd Anabaptists that the Attempts of T. Hicks will prove as great a Reproach to their Profession and bring the Endeavours of our Adversaries into as utter Abhorrence with all honest-minded People as any Opposition ever made against us Contr. VII The seventh Contradiction and the last I shall here mention is very well worth the notice of my Reader since it doth at once invalidate his whole Enterprise with Persons of Understanding And that is this A Dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker wherein are faithfully represented some of the chief most concerning Opinions of the Quakers 1 Dial. Title page Again A further Account of their perilous Errors clearly and plainly represented Contin Title-page Again The Things objected against the Quakers in the form●r Dialogues are fully clear'd evinced 3 Dial. Title-pag Yet as a man infatuated with a Spirit of Contradiction thus gives the Lye to his three Title-Pages and in t●em to his Three Dialogues The Doctrines delivered by the Quakers are such as neither themselves nor any for them can give us a distinct and intelligible Account of And that the Tendency of all their Writings and Declarings doth but lead People into the Thicket of Absurd Inexplicable and Vnintelligible Dotages Contin Epist p. 3. Observ Now Reader if no man can understand them how can T. Hicks represent and evince them Are they inexplicable by every Body and yet explicated by him Be they unintelligible to all People and yet not only pretended to be understood by him but by him made intelligible to others How can he with Honesty or Sense pretend to give an Account of our Doctrines to the World who confesseth not only that he has not but he cannot have from us or any other a distinct and intelligible Account of them Has he not then shot his Bow at Random Is this the way to evince and confute them Never certainly Reader did any man thought to be in his Wits give greater Ground for People to believe him out of them We have no Cause to fear what a Thousand such Adversaries can do against us who thus manifestly help us against themselves and fall by their own Weapons Which leads me to conclude this part of this Discourse and that I shall do in this Argument He that pretends to be a Christian and yet commits Forgery useth Perversion tells Lyes publisheth Slanders and in his Endeavours contradicts himse●f and that materially must be a Counterfeit and no Christian But such a Man we have evidently prov'd Thomas Hicks to be Therefore I think I may be held excusable in concluding that Tho. Hicks is a Counterfeit and no Christian THE REAL QUAKER JUSTIFIED In a Desence of the Doctrines held by him against the Mean Sophistry and Shuffling Opposition of Tho. Hicks the COUNTERFEIT § I. Of the Light within THough it matters not much what so Ill a man sayes of any Religion yet lest some should be so weak as to conclude from our Silence our Doctrines indefensible and that in having the last Word he has the best Cause I shall briefly consider his Opposition Counterfeit I do say that the Quakers affirm the Light in every man to be God And W. Penn ask● Who of us did ever say that the Light within is the whole entire God Reas against Rail p. 7. when I no where express those words 3 Dial. p. 4. Quaker Nor do I T. H. in the manner delivered nor to any such Charge as thou now makest them to answer What I said with the Ground of it was this G. W. inferring from Joh. 1.4 That if the Life was of the Divine Being the Light must be the same which was against T. H's calling it an Effect for as is the Cause the Effect must be thou madest this unreasonable Conclusion th●t not only the Light within but every Creature as Beasts and Trees are good because the Eff●cts of God's Power and Wisdom I then charged thee with insinuating that every Measure of Light in man is whole God So that thy not expressing those words will not acquit thee from not insinuating them since thou dost insinuate upon what G. W. said not only every measure of Light but every Tree and every Beast because an Effect of his Power to be God C. Thou say●st the Light within is not a potential but a natural Effect which thou illustratest thus Men are the natural Off spring and Product of men c. Though this be true yet a Son is a distinct Person from his Father Is the Light within such an Effect Is it another God ibid. p. 5. Q. I will answer thee in the Language of thy own Creed The Son of God is the natural Off-spring of God is he therefore another God The holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son is he therefore another God Her● is Off spring and Production what sayst thou T. H. to this C. If the Light within be a natural Effect then it is a necessary Effe●t and that from Eternity But were Men from Eternity in whom God had thus naturally shined if not how is the Light within a natural Effect It is in vain to pretend to Infallibility whilst thou talkest thus idly Ibid. Q. Both thy silly Sophistry and Reflection are too weak for the Business If the Light within had taken its Beginning with Men as thou asserts Dial. 1. p. 32. It were a good Consequence That the Light were not Eternal and therefore not God or if the Light had necessarily been within from Eternity that Men were from Eternity But that Men were from Eternity because the Light which shines in Men was from Eternity is to say the Word as manifested in the Flesh was from Eternity because the Word was from Eternity or that Immanuel God with men was not from Eternity because he was not with Men nor Men with him from Eternity In short thy Sophistry playes upon the Word within we speak of
which hath been the Cause why so many have been bewildred about the things there declared Spiritual and heavenly Things are not di●cernable by carnal Men they are hid from their Eyes till the Light shine out of Darkness to give them the Knowledge of the Scriptures they are as a sealed Book and they labour in a Labyrinth of Uncertainties I do say again The Light in all Ages hath made known Doctrines fit to be obeyed though not the Histories and Narratives of other Mens Actions which is thy silly Objection against the Light 's Sufficiency But one thing I must not forget on which thou didst not depend a little as an Instance to prove thy Conceit viz. How could we have known that Swearing in any Case were unlawful if it had not been written in the 5th of Matthew Swear not at all Dial. 1. p. 22. But this I proved to thee to have been revealed above 400. Years before that was written but what is the Reason thou over-lookest that Answer Clinias was taught by it rather to suffer a great Fine then swear the Essaeaens had rather dye then swear which was long before Christ came in the Flesh Was not the Light then a sufficient Rule for their practising of an Evangelical Doctrine by thy own Argument But T. H. art thou not greatly ashamed that because I supposed upon thy Principle thy Light and Rule to be two Reas against Rail p. 39. That therefore I contradict my self and overthrow mine own Opinion saying If Light be given to understand the Rule then it self is not the Rule much less greater then the Rule and as if thou hadst come rightly by this Consequence falling into thy customary Insults telling me T●is is so far from being Truth against Fiction that it discovers me to be a rash heady confident and ignorant Man one that neither cares what he sayes or affirms Hadst thou any Regard to God thy own Conscience thy Neighbour or thy own Reputation thou wouldst never commit much less continue to practise these horrid Wrongs against me However as I said before so again I affirm that supposing the Scriptures were the Rule that which informs me of the Rule and teaches me how to use it must be greater then the Rule in that it teaches me to know and do what the Rule cannot do of it self I query then if t●is Light be not the Rule how and which way I come to understand and use the Scriptures c. therefore eminently the Rule the Terms of my Argument for the Question lay not upon particular Rules C. The Primitive Christians took not their Measures from the Light within but from the Will of God revealed to them p. 46. Q. This is Confusion it self Are the Light within and the Will of God revealed inconsistent things Who was it revealed to them Paul turned from Darkness to Light the Will of God but the Light And what was it taught them the Truth when John said They had received an Anointing which abode in them and taught them all things unto which he directed and with which he left them John 1. 2 27. And doth not the same Apostle tell us If we walk in the Light we have Fellowship one with another c Was not the Light then the Rule of their Obedience and the Way in which they were to walk for the Accomplishment of that Prophetick Speech Isa 2.5 Oh ye House of Jacob come ye and let us walk in the Light of the Lord. And is there any thing plainer then that the Apostle Paul describes the Children of God to be such as are led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.14 and that he exhorts the Galatians to walk in the Spirit chap. 5.16 and the Ephesians to walk circumspectly which was according to the Manifestations of the Light chap. 5.14 15 16. Finally does not the same Apostle pronounce Peace on as many as walk according to the Rule of the N●w Creature Gal. 6.16 I further told thee that the Waldonses Lutherans Prot●st●●ts ●alvinists c. made the Testimony of God in their Consciences the chief Ground of their Belief of the Scriptures Reas against Rail pag. 48. C. That the Walden●es c. made the Testimony of their Consciences the chief Ground of the Belief of th● Scriptures is confidently said but more then ever W. Penn is able to prove Q. But if W. Penn is able to prove that the Waldenses Lutherans Prot●stants Calvinists yea and Independents and Anabaptists too have made the Testimony of God in their Consciences the Ground of their Belief of the Scriptures wilt not thou then appear to have told a confident Untruth Let us hear what they say That the Waldenses held so thou mayst inform thy self if thou pleasest out of their History penn'd by John Paul Perin of Lyons lib. 1. cap. 1 cap. 11 cap. 13. Luther taught That the Spirit is required to the Vnderstanding of the whole Scripture and of every part thereof Again The Scriptures are not to be understood but by that very Spirit by which they were wrot Tom. 3. fol. 169. John Bradford a worthy Martyr thus answered the Arch Bishop of York who catechised him how he came to know the Scriptures We do believe and know said he the Scriptures as Christ's Sheep not because the Church saith they are the Scriptures but because they be so being thereof assured by the same Spirit that wrote and spake them Book Mart. vol. 3. p. 298. William Tindal another faithful Martyr in Hen. 8 his time writes thus It is impossible to understand the Scriptures more then a Turk for him that hath not the Law of God written in his Heart to fulfil it Again Without the Spirit it is impossible to understand them W. Tind Work p. 319. p. 80. B. Jewel against the Papists hath this Passages F●esh and Blood is not able to understand the holy Will of God without special Revelation therefore Christ gave Thanks unto his Father and likewise opened the Hearts of his Disciples that they might understand the Scriptures Without this special Help and Prompting of God's holy Spirit the Scriptures are unto the Reader be he never so wise or well learned as the Vision of a sealed Book Calvin saith It is necessary that the same Spirit that spake by the Mouth of the Prophets should pierce into our Hearts to perswade us of the Truth of what they delivered Instit lib. 1. cap 8 Beza saith That the understanding of the Scriptures should be fetcht from the same Spirit that dictated them Bez in Nov. Test 2 Pet. 1.19 Pet. Martyr taught That it is the Spirit of God that reveals the Truth in the holy Scriptures Com. loc p. 2 cap. 18. H. Bullinger asserted in his 4 Decad. 8 Serm. dedicated to K. Edw. 6. That men fetch the Vnder●●anding of heavenly things and Knowledge of the Holy Ghost from no where else then from the same Spirit What sayest thou to this T. H Can the Holy