the whole Godhead is perfect and infinite in Being and Power and Wisdom and Goodness in which all his Attributes are comprehended but yet a distinct Vnderstanding of them all is not of absolute necessity to Salvation That this God is the Creator Preserver and Disposer of all things and the Owner and Ruler of Mankind most Just and Merciful that as he is the beginning of all so he is the ultimate end and the chief good of Man which before all things else must be loved and Sought Concerning the Son we must moreover believe That he is the same God with the Father the second Person in Trinity Incarnate and so became Man by a Personal Vnion of the Godhead and Manhood He omitteth his being conceived of the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary which was needful to have been exprest it being a great Article of our Christian Faith That he was without Original or Actual Sin having a sinless Nature and a sinless Life That he fullfilled all Righteousness and was put to Death as a Sacrifice for our sins and gave himself a Ransom for us and being buried he rose again from the dead and afterward ascended into Heaven where he is Lord of all and interceedeth for Believers That he will come again and raise the dead and judge the World the Righteous to Everlastâ—â—â— Life and the Wicked to Everlasting Punishment That this is the onâ— Redeemer the Way the Truth and the Life neither is there access to thâ— Father but by him nor Salvation in any other Concerning the Holy Ghost we must believe That he is the same one God the third Person in Trinity sent by the Father and the Son to inspire the Prophets and Apostles and thaâ— the Doctâ—ine inspired and miraculously attested by him is true that he iâ— the Sanctifier of these that shall be saved renewing them after the Image of God in Holiness and Righteoâ—sness giving them true Repentance Faith Hope Love and sincere Obedience causing them to overcome the Flesh the World and the Devil thus gathering a holy Church on Earth to Christ who have by his Blood the Pardon of all their sins and shall have Everlasting Blâ—ssâ—dness with God This saith Richard Baxter is the Essence of the Christian Faith as to the Matter of it And now as concerning that judged by Richard Baxter the Essence of the Christian Faith as to the Matter of it I declare sincerely without all Equivocation or mental Reservation in the true and genuine sence of the Words that I have transcribed out of his said Treatise that I know not wherein I or my Brethren of my Faith and Perswasion differ from him in any one particular as to the matter of it or substance therein contained the only exception we have is against that unscriptural Term or Phrase of Three Persons or a Trinity of Persons but we own sincerely That our Faith ought to be and is in God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost and that these Names are Names of Relation respecting the Relations as well as the Relative Offices and Works of those Three and this being granted by us in the sincerity of our Hearts we are excused or cleared by John Calvin for whose Memory I suppose C. Mather hath as full and great esteem as for R. Baxter for in his first Book of Institutions cap. 13. n. 5. he saith expresly Vtinam quidem sepulta essent se inventâ— Nomina as he expresly calleth them Trium Personarum constaret modo hec inter omnes Fides Patrem et Filium et Spiritum esse unum Deum nec tamen aut Filium esse Patrem aut Spiritum Filium sed proprietate quadam esse distinctos neque enim tam precisa sum austeritate ut obnudas voculas digladiari sustineam In English thus I wish saith he the invented Names viz. of Three Persons were buried providing this Faith were manifest among all that the Father the Son and the Spirit is one God and yet that the Son is not the Father nor that the Spirit is the Son but that they are distinct by a certain Property to wit in their â—â—lative Attributes as that the Father did beget the Son and the â—on was begotten of the Father and that the holy Spirit did proceed â—â—om both for I am not of such precise Austerity said Calvin that â—or bare small Words I would contend and withall he confesseth That the Orthodox antiently did not agree about these Terms or invented Words â—â—at he acknowledgeth were invented since the Apostles dayes to guard â—gainst the Arrian Sabellian and other Heresies And therefore since we are altogether free of these Heresies and that we detest them from our very Souls no sober Christian will judge uncharitably of us in that respect And as for the word Distinct if some of our Friends taking it to signifie distant or seperated asunder one from another as in remote and distant places have refused it in this and other matters as indeed sometimes at least vulgarly it doth so signifie as when we say America is distinguished from Europe by a great spacious Sea interveening they ought not to be accused for so doing seeing in that other sence of the word Distinct that is more in use among Schollars as when we say Things are distinct when the one is not the other they own a Distinction as that the Father is not the Son the Son is not the Father though he is our Father and is expresly call'd in Scripture the Everlasting Father and Christ's Manhood and Body is not the Godhead and yet one Christ as the Body of a Man is not his Soul and yet Body and Soul is one Man and in this second sence we do allow the word distinct And as to the Manner of receiving the Christian Faith we grant with him first That it must not only be received as true into our Understanding by a special divine Illumination that is supernatural but must be imbraced by the Will Heart and Affections as good yea exceeding good and worthy of all acceptation by a special divine Motion and working of the holy Spirit that is supernatural in upon the Will Heart and Affections 2 dly That as touching all the peculiar Mysteries and Doctrines of Faith the Scriptures have been Instrumental by and together with the immediate working of the Spirit to beget in us the true Faith of them But in this we differ I suppose from him as well as from C. Mather and his Brethren of New-England that whereas they hold That the Spirit of God worketh in Believers Effectively but not Objectively or by way of sensible Object or sensibly and perceptibly by its own Self-Evidence and Demonstration to mens Hearts and Souls We affirm That the Spirit of God worketh in Believers both Effectively 〈◊〉 also Objectively or by way of sensible Object or sensibly and â—â—â—ceptibly by its own Evidence and Demonstration to mens Heaâ—â—â— and Souls And this divers call'd Protestants have
show according to that Latine Verse Fabula narratur mutato Nomine de te i.e. Change the Name and the Tale is told truly of thy thy self CHAP. III. IN his first Argument he accuseth me to be guilty of a Lye in matter of Fact and that I pretend to an assurance for it from the Spirit of God and the Lye he alledgeth in matter of Fact is That I charge their Confession of Faith for holding that the Scriptures ought to be believed for their own outward Evidence and Testimony and not for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in mens Hearts And to prove this to be a Lye he citeth some words of that Confession which saith Our full perswasion and assurance of the infallible Truth and divine Authority of the holy Scriptures is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our Hearts And for a further Confirmation he alledgeth John Owen saying That the Scripture be received as the Word of God there is a twofold Efficacy of the Spirit c. withal affirming That I cover Lye with Lye To which I Answer Cotton Mather and not I is guilty of two gross Lyes or Falshoods in this Charge first That I pretend to an assurance from the Spirit in matter of Fact concerning what they hold is a manifest Perversion for I bring my assurance in matter of Fact not from the Spirit but from their Confession of Faith which I have diligently examined but the knowledge I have that their Doctrine in that particular is false I bring from the Spirit of God that hath given me the understanding thereof and is Truth and no Lye 2 dly That he saith Their Confession doth grant that the Scriptures are to be believed for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in mens hearts but this it doth not say nor can it be gathered by any just consequence to be their sence seeing they deny with C.M. and his Brethren all inward objective immediate Testimony and Revelation of the Spirit And whereas the Confession mentioneth the inward Work of the holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word viz. the Scripture in our Hearts This doth sufficiently prove That their Confession doth not mean or intend any inward Testimony of the Spirit reallâ— and properly so called as having a standing Evidence of its own bâ—â— only borrowed from the Scripture and therefore is no true and proper Evidence at all but only and altogether improper yea as improper as if I should say when I hear but one man give Evidence to the Truth of a thing and that I read it also in wâ—it from his hand that three Evidences or Witnesses have given their Evidence to that Truth as 1 st the Maâ— â— dly my Ear that heard him 3 dly my Eye that hath reâ—d his writ But what sober Man will say these are three Witnesses or Evidences And would it not be a great Cheat to say That whereas the Law requireth two Witnesses and there is but one man that giveth witness to Cotton Mathers hearing that C.M. should alledge his Ears are other two Witnesses because they have heard him and so they are three in all And as great a Cheat and Fallacy is it to call the witness of the Scripture the inward Witness of the Spirit when they confess the inward Work of the Spirit is only Effective to open the Ear to hear the outward Witness of the Scripture but not to speak by any distinct Witness to the inward Ear And it is like that other Fallacy as if James being required to give his Witness he giveth it not by himself but by John and John being required to give his Witness he giveth it by James but neither of them by himself or at least the one not by himself for when they are asked By what do they know the Scriptures to be the Word of God they answer By the Spirit And again By what do they know the Spirit they answer By the Scripture And thus the Fallacy and Falshood both of the Confession and of C.M. is detected and G.K. is cleared from being no wise guilty of any Lye in the case And what I said of John Owen is true for the Title and design of his Book is concerning The Self-Evidencing Authority of the holy Scriptures only he confesseth the Spirits inward Work is necessary to let men see or know it but that is no proper Witness more than a mans hearing is one Witness and the thing heard is another I do therefore Appeal to all sober impartial and judicious Readers Whether not I but Cotton Mather be not convicted of gross Lying or Falshood and whether the Society he belongs unto ought not to bring him to Repentance for such Crimes to use some of his own words His Second Argument is That I am guilty of having committed most horrible Blasphemy against the holy Spirit of God which is the unpardonable Sin And though he doth charge this one while positively yet another while If I have not the certain yet fearful Marks of it and my Sin is very like that Sin and yet again charging it positively on me That I have taken part with the Pharisees in dorg that impardonable Injury to the Eternal Spirit of God But how doth he prove any thing of this to have the lest show or shadow of truth Why because as he alledgeth I called his and his Brethrens Prayers more than once a Conjuring of the Devil and do put on them the stile of Charms and Spells by which Prayers he alledgeth he and his Brethren did cast out the Devil that did Bodily possess some Young People and that therefore their Prayers were the special Operations of the holy Ghost which I blaspheme and that therefore I have committed the Vnpardonable Sin But I Answer 1 st As I said in my Book called A Refutation c. I am little concerned whether or not these Young People were bewitched or had a Diabolical Possession further than to take notice That C.M. will have it to be so to make the simple believe that his and his Brethrens Prayers did conjure the Devil and cast him out by which it is most clearly apparent to every one of common sence that I did not mean that his or his Brethrens Prayers were done by any Diabolical Art or Craft of Conjuration for I do not think them to be Conjurers but that they would have People believe that by some divine Power of Exorcism as was frequent in the primitive Church they did conjure the Devil which is as widely different from his Perversion as East from West Now I cannot believe that they had this divine Gift of Exorcism which was a Miraculous Gift in those primitive Times that Popish Priests do also pretend to have and many strongly affirm they have cured many by their Prayers because they commonly say That Immediate Revelaiion with the Gifts of Miracles are ceased How then can
from being any design of our Religion that it more than any tendeth to humble the Creature for man can never be truly humbled until he see himself in the Light of God shining in his heart and that will greatly humble him as it did Job and Isaiah and all the holy men of God were humbled and kept humble by bowing down and subjecting thâ—â—r Minds and Thoughts with all their Desires and Affections to that divine Spirit Light and Life of Christ in them that bringeth men to the true Denyal of Self and to cease from all Self-Actings Willings and Runnings that only proceed from their meer Natural Paâ—ts and Abilities whether in Prayer or any other Religious Performance and however such Prayers and Devotions that are performed without the Spirit of God may please mans carnal Mind and give 〈◊〉 false and carnal ease and peace and exalt Self in Man yet they can neâ—â—â—â—â— profit them who use them nor please God for God who is a Spiâ—â—â— will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth And whereas in his 8th page he accuseth the Quakers for their horribly Prayer-less Lives withal asking how many Prayer-less Houses and Prayer-less Tables are to be found among the best of them I Answ In that he is very uncharitable as that the best of us had neither Prayer in our Houses nor at our Tables which is false for not only the most grown up in the Truth but even the least Babes in the Truth are not without frequent Prayer both in their Houses and at their Tables altho' not so very frequent vocally yet sometimes vocally as God is pleased to give an utterance and at other times only with our Hearts which God accepts for vocal and external words of Prayer are not so essential to Prayer but that true Prayer may be and is most frequently without it yea Samuell Rutherford a great Presbyterian saith in his Epistles Words are but the Accidents of Prayer yet Prayer with Words uttered with the Mouth as God is pleased to enable us we gladly own both in our Assemblies and Families and if any be wanting in their Families in Prayer or any other part of Devotion it is their own fault for which they must answer and ought not to be charged upon the innocent And we believe Gods holy Spirit will be wanting to none duely to move them and that most frequently to Prayer who watch thereunto both with words or without them And if they watch not unto Prayer their Neglect of watching and likewise of Prayer is their sin and chargeable upon them and they will bear their burden for it But that any faithful man owned by us hath said as C.M. alledgeth not from any Quaker but from a partial Adversary That in many Years they have not had a motion to Prayer we do not believe if any feel not their hearts moved to Prayer and that most frequently it is their own fault and sin for indeed every faithful Soul his Life is a Life 〈◊〉 Prayer and he prayeth in his heart as frequently as he breatheth in the air for true inward Prayer rightly understood is the â—â—â—â—inual Motion of the heart towards God The Spirit helping our 〈◊〉 with Groans that cannot be uttered for even Paul said We know not what to pray for as we ought Rom. 8.26 And also he hath solemn Times and that frequently for solemn Prayer and Meditation and Thanksgiving but the most sincere Christians do not always make the greateâ—â— show or outward appearance to pray as the Phariseâ— did of 〈◊〉 And I might easily retort this Question How many 〈…〉 and Independents have either Prayer lesâ— Houses and 〈…〉 very formal and Hypocritical and are wholly Strangers in the 〈…〉 Life and Mystery of Prayer Though we have Charity 〈◊〉 some of all sorts and as we judge neglect of Prayer a great 〈◊〉 so we judge 〈◊〉 Formality and Hypocrisie to be no less both which Extreams are to be avoided Some Collections of Passages out of Jer. Taylors Book 〈◊〉 The History of the Life and Death of the holy JESUS Part 1. Sect. 9. of Baptism N. 29. JVst as we use to deny the Effect to the Instrumental Cause and attribute it to the Principal in the manner of speaking So we say it is not the good Lute but the skillfull hand that makes the Musick it is not the Body but the Soul that is the Man and yet he is not the Man without both Note And so the Quakers commonly say It is not the Scriptures but the Spirit that revealeth to us divine Mysteries yet by so saying they deny not that the Scripture is an Instrument of the Spirit to reveal the Doctrinal Principles peculiar to the Christian Faith as Christs Birth of a Virgin his Crucifixion c. as much as the Lute is the Instrument of the skillfull hand that makes the Musick Infants Baptism Part 2. N. 8. No man can conclude that this Kingdom of Power that is the Spirit of Sanctification is not come upon Infants because there is no sign nor Expression of it it is within us therefore it hath no signification it is the Seed of God And it is no good Argument to say here is no Seed in the Bowels of the Earth because there is nothing green upon the face of it And N. 19. For as the reasonable Soul and all its Faculties are in Children Will and Vnderstanding Passions and Powers of Attraction and Propulsion yet the Faculties do not operate or come abroad till Time and Art Observation and Experience have drawn them forth into Action so may the Spirit of Grace the Principle of Christian Life be infused till in its own day it is drawn forth for in every Christian there are three parts 〈◊〉 to his integral Constitution Body and Soul and Spirit and all these have their proper Activities and Times but every one in his 〈◊〉 Order first that which is Natural then that which is 〈…〉 what Aristotle said A Man first lives the Life of a Plaâ—â— then of 〈◊〉 and lastly of a Man is true in this sence and the 〈◊〉 spiritual the Principle to the longer it is before it operates because â—â—re things concur to spiritual 〈◊〉 than to Natural and these are 〈◊〉 and therefore first the other are perfect and therefore last 〈…〉 who is he that so 〈◊〉 understands the Philosophy of this third Principle of a Christians Life the Spirit as to know how or when it is infused 〈◊〉 how it operates in all its Periods and what it is in its Being and proper 〈◊〉 and whether it be like the Soul or like the Faculty or like a 〈…〉 to what Purposes God in all varieties doth dispense it thaâ— which is 〈◊〉 is that the Spirit is the Principle of a new Life or a new Birth 〈…〉 the Seed of God and may lie long in the Furrows before it springs up that from the Faculty to the Act the passage is not always suddain and quick And a little after