last Authority I shall Produce is of the Great Fox Himself in his Book call'd Several Papers given forth for the Spreading of Truth c. Printed 1671. There p. 54. is a Chapter which bears this Title Concerning Christ's Flesh which was Offered c. And this Flesh he makes not to be That which He took of the B. Virgin but That which he had from the Beginning and which he supposes was Crucify'd when Adam Fell And in That Crucifixion to Consist the Atonement and Satisfaction made for Sin And he takes that Text The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world not as then Decreed and Purposed by God but Literally as then Actually Fulfill'd Thus he Begins that Chapter Christ the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world when it began its Foundation then the Lamb was slain And Christ according to the Flesh Crucified the Lamb slain that Flesh of His which is a Mysterie when the first Adam's and Eve's Flesh was Defiled This he calls a Mystery And it is the true Mystery of Quakerism It is upon this account That the Quakers think all the Christian world to Lie in Darkness but Themselves That other Christians know of no other Flesh and Blood of Christ but that outward Flesh which He took in Time of the B. Virgin Hence it is common in their Discourse and in their Books to tell others That the Flesh of Christ is a Mysterie That they understand nothing of it As Solomon Eccles wrote That the Pope Sn. Sect. x. p. 138. the Episcopal the Presbyterian Independants and Baptists understand the Blood of Jesus Christ no more than a Brute Beast Therefore the Quaker's Confessing to the Blood of Christ in General Terms can be no Justification of them while they mean another Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones of Christ than any Christian ever Dreamt of But it Argues their Deep Deceit and Hypocricy to seem to Justifie themselves to the world by their General Confessions But Conceal their secret Meaning whereby they know that they Differ most Widely from those with whom they make this False Appearance of Agreeing Exactly Therefore their Answer to the Queres is no Answer while they Refuse to Renounce this Distinction that they have of Different Manhoods in Christ or otherwise to Explain themselves and tell us which of the Manhoods they mean The words of their Answer to the Queres upon this Head are these We sincerely believe in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of the Living God both as he is true God and Perfect Man But what they mean by Man here they do not Declare Whether that Eternal or Heavenly Manhood before spoke of or the Outward and Terrestrial Manhood which he took of our Earth But Tho. Ellwood we thank him has told us and Discover'd the secret in his Answer to G. Keiths first Narrative p. 205. where he Recites a Quotation G. K. had brought out of G. Whiteheads Book The Malice of the Independent Agent p. 17. That Christ's Body now in Heaven is the same in substance He had on Earth which wou'd seem a Fair Confession to the Humanity of Christ But hold a little crys T. E. Did G. Whitehead ever call or own Christ's Body now in Heaven or while it was on Earth to be Terrestrial or of the Earth Here we see how to Understand their words and how to Interpret this their Answer to the Quaeres not of the outward or Terrestrial Manhood which Christ took of our Nature but of their Secret and Heavenly Manhood which they Madly Fancie He had from Eternity And thus G. Whitehead Explains himself in his Part of The Christian Quaker Printed An. 1674. p. 140. where he says That he was not at all against Jesus Christ being God and Man take Man says he as Christ is the Heavenly Spiritual and Glorify'd Man But he Confesses that he was against this viz. That Jesus Christ consisteth of Human Flesh and Bone Here he Distinguishes betwixt the Heavenly and the Human Manhood The first he Ascribes to Christ but Denies the Latter that Christ has any Human Manhood And the Reason he gives for it is Seeing Christ says he was from Everlasting which is the same we have heard before from Thom. Ellwood where he takes upon him to Explain Will. Penn's sense in this Matter viz. That Christ as Christ always had a Manhood And seeing He had it from Everlasting therefore it cou'd not be the Human but the Heavenly Manhood Flesh Blood and Bone What then was that Flesh and Blood which he took of the B. Virgin wherein He suffer'd and Rose again And of which he said Behold my Hands and my Feet Luk. xxiv 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see Me have To this says G. W. ibid. p. 139. 140. yes Christ Had such Flesh and Bones but he did not Consist of them I distinguish between Consisting and Having Says he i. e. A man Hath anything that he Possesses or wears I Have a Cloak but I do not Consist of that Cloak that is It is no Part of my Nature and I may Put it on or Throw it off without any Change of my Nature And no otherwise do the Quakers reckon of the Body and Blood which Jesus our B. Lord took in Time in the Womb of the Virgin Not that He took it into His Person so as to Consist of it as a Man do's Consist of Both Natures of his Body and Soul But only that He Had it that is Made Vse of it and wore it for a Time as a Vail or Garment which He has now laid aside and subsists in Heaven only in that Heavenly and Eternal Manhood Flesh Blood and Bones which He had as Christ from Eternity And they make it a Contradiction to say That Christ do's Consist of any other Flesh and Bone that is of Human Flesh and Bone they think this to be a Contradiction to Christ's being the Eternal Word because they hold that He cou'd not be the Word or Christ without Consisting of Flesh Blood and Bone And therefore That if He had None but the Flesh c. of the Human Nature which was Created in Time it must follow That He was not the Word or Christ from Everlasting Thus says G. W. ibid. p. 139. Is there not a Plain Contradiction between Jesus Christ Consisting of Flesh and Bone Human Nature And that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal word from Everlasting c. Therefore you see it is Necessary for us in order to Oblige these Quakers to Discover their Meaning that we Insist upon the word Human And that they will Answer whether they Allow Christ to have Now in Heaven any Human Body Or whether He do's Consist Now of that Body or did Consist of it while He was upon Earth But will the Word Human hold them Have they no Dodge nor Shift whereby to use even that word Plainly in a sense in which they know that
down in as Clear a Light as I can the Bottom and Foundation of this their Mystery of Iniquity which indeed is wonderful And without Understanding of which Exactly it is Impossible to Dive into their Hidden Meanings that they have whenever they speak of Christ 1. We must know then That they do hold with the Anthropomorphits and Muggletonians that God has a Body of Flesh Blood and Bones And that Christ as God had such a Body from Eternity And that this was an Human Body And consequently that God or Christ was a Man from Eternity This Humanity of Christ they call Spiritual Heavenly Vncreated And they Distinguish it from that Manhood which He took of our Nature in the Womb of the B. Virgin which they call Earthly Corruptible Created and Outward Manhood 2. They say that He took upon Him this Outward Manhood but not into His own Person so as to become Truly and Really His own Manhood or Part of His Nature But only as a Vail Vessel Garment or Cloathing to His Heavenly Manhood As when Angels assum'd Bodies to Appear in they took them not into their Nature but only as a Vail or Garment for a time and then laid them down again Tho' while they Appear'd in them they might be call'd Their Bodies as being us'd or Possess'd by them So and no otherwise the Quakers call the outward Body of Christ His Body 3. The Heavenly Manhood of Christ Flesh Blood and Bones they say Dwells in them This is what they call their Light within 4. They Attribute the whole of our Redemption of the Atonement and Satisfaction made for our Sins to the Madly suppos'd Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension of the Heavenly Manhood or their Light within Which they say is all Perform'd Within them Of which they say the Outward Sufferings of Christ were a Type or Figure 5. They Vilifie the outward Christ and His Sufferings as of no Efficacy towards our Salvation more than the Sufferings of other Goodmen as an Example or Encouragement to us For they say That their Light within is sufficient to their Salvation without any thing else i. e. without the outward Jesus what He did or suffer'd for us And they Deny that He is now in Heaven in the Outward Manhood of our Nature or that He will Come in That Manhood to Judge the World In short They Deny Jesus of Nazareth or that Person who suffer'd upon the Cross to be Properly the Son of God 6. They are Perfect Deists in Every Respect 7. They are the most Monstrous sort of Deists that ever were in the World For they hold with the Ranters whence they sprung That ther is no Difference or Distinction betwixt God and Creatures But that Every thing is God even the Devil The first of these Seven Particulars I will shew in this Place The 2.3.4 and 5. are shewn in Sect. vii viii ix and x. The 6th in Sect. xvi And the 7th in the 2d Part Sect. vii N. 2. For the First then That God and Christ as God was a Man from Eternity c. see Tho. Ellwood's Answer to G. Keith's Narrative p. 96. 97. where he Delivers Will Penn's true sense and Meaning The Plain Import of all his W. P 's Arguments says T. E. is That Christ as Christ was from the Beginning before He took that outward Body of Flesh in which He suffer'd at Jerusalem which is so far from a Denyal of His being Man as well as God that it is a fair Acknowlegement of it inasmuch as He wou'd not have been Christ if He had not been Man as well as God As therefore He was Christ from the Beginning so was He also both God and Man and that not only In his People but out of or without them also And if He was Truly Man Then before He Appear'd in that outward Body which was Nailed to the Cross to be sure He is not less Truly Man now since that outward Manhood became as I may say a Cloathing to that Divine and Heavenly Manhood which He had before Thus T. E. wrote lately An. 1696. And shews what their Principles are Now. viz. That ther are Two Manhoods of Christ the one outward which serv'd only as a Cloathing to the Heavenly Manhood That Christ had not been Christ if He had not been Man as well as God And therefore That He was Man from the Beginning as well as God And Consequently That God was Man from Eternity For Christ or the Eternal word was no other than God Now let Us go a little Back and see the same Doctrine taught by the Quakers formerly Isaac Penington in his Question to the Professors c. Printed An. 1667. p. 30. do's plainly Distinguish these Two Manhoods of Christ Thus he says He that knoweth the Substance the Seed of the Kingdom the Birth of the Spirit knoweth the Flesh and Blood which is of the Seed And this Flesh is Flesh indeed this Blood is Blood indeed even the Flesh and Blood of the Seeds Nature But the other was but the Flesh and Blood of our Nature which He honoured in taking upon Him in which He did the will in which He offer'd up the Acceptable Sacrifice but yet did not give the Honour from His own Flesh and Blood to It. For the Flesh and Blood of our Nature was not His own Naturally but only as He pleas'd to take it upon Him and make it His. But that whereof He formeth Vs and which He giveth us to Eat and Drink is the Flesh and Blood of His own Nature And this was It wherein was the Virtue and wherein is the Virtue Life and Power for Ever Happy O happy is he who is of It who is taken out of and Formed of Him as Eve was of Adam and so becomes Flesh of His Flesh and Bone of His Bone c. This was the Flesh and Bone of the Heavenly and Eternal Manhood which he calls of the Seed's Nature that is of Christ not as He was of the Seed of Abraham after the Flesh but as He is the Seed or Light in our Hearts for I. P. calls this the Seed's own Flesh and Blood of His own Nature And Distinguishes it from the Flesh and Blood which he took of our Nature And says that the Vertue and Life is not in that but in the Flesh and Blood of His own Nature Not the Flesh and Blood says he p. 25. of the outward Earthly Nature but the Flesh and Blood of the Inward spiritual Nature Not the Flesh and Blood which Christ took of the first Adam's Nature but the Flesh and Blood of the Second Adam 's Nature This is of God or Christ as God And p. 10 says We are taught both by the Spirit and by the Scriptures to Distinguish between Christs own Flesh and that of ours which He took up and made His. Ther is much more to the same Purpose in that Book of Penington's with which I will not Detain the Reader The
by a Solemn Declaration asserted their Right to Possess the whole Earth and to Fight for it with the Carnal Sword And the words of their said Declaration are there set down which was Penn'd by that Renown'd Quaker Edward Burrough and Subscrib'd by Fifteen of the Principal Leaders among the Quakers in the Name of All the Rest Now G W. do's not deny one word of all this What then How do's he Answer it what is the Mistake Abuse or Calumny which he charges upon this Passage He says These are very Bitter Invidious and Calumnious Suggestions and Cruel Jealousies of a High Nature as if this poor Libeller eagerly thirsted after our Blood That Libeller as you call him I dare say had no Design upon your Blood or the Blood of any body But if you Preach up Bloody and Treasonable Doctrin must no Man Detect this without a Design upon your Blood You Proclame Blood to the Ends of the Earth especially against the Priests of all Professions Oh! Give the Priests Blood to Drink for they are worthy Slay Balaam vex the Midianites Blot out the Remembrance of Amaleck from under Heaven that is the Clergy and the Lawyers c. as the Quakers themselves Explain it See Sn. p. 230. c. yet this must not be told you but you Cry out Here is a Design upon our Blood But you Answer not a word of the Charge Are any of your Authors falsly Quoted Have they not said all these things Will you then Disown these Authors at least as to these Bloody and Desperate Tenets No. This cannot be done For then their Infallibility will Crack And your whole Foundation Sink Then will it appear that the Spirit by which they have been Led was not the Spirit of Truth but of Murder Treason and the Vilest Errors The Best Excuse that can be made for them in this Case is that which I have before Instanc'd viz. Madness For if they are in Good Earnest in all these Bloody Designs which they have Express'd Considering their Power and Number now amongst Us they are Dangerous indeed And Every Government will be oblig'd to take a Care of them And that in some other Manner than as John Parret Charles Baly and Jane Stoaks were Serv'd who were so kindly dealt with at Rome to be sent to a Mad-House and Phisick prescrib'd for them The Matters thus Suggested Says G. W. p. 17. are so Gross that we need say little to them How Say but Little to them If they are so Gross you need say the More to them But what if they are True as well as Gross And you offer not to Disprove one Tittle of the Truth of them And the more Gross one wou'd think you shou'd be the more Concern'd to Disprove them And if the least of the Proofs which are brought against you had been False or any way Exceptionable no doubt we shou'd have heard of it as from Rich. Scoryer about a small Mistake alledg'd as to his School George you shou'd either have said nothing of this Matter or have said more to it But the Nation is oblig'd to you for this Discovery You Repeat this Charge again p. 18. where you Quote the Sn. p. 133. saying Their Principles Destructive to all Government c. And you answer This is a General very Gross c. How a General was ther only a General Charge given against you and no Proof no Particulars at all Mention'd Yes George ther are abundance of Quotations and Particulars which are Insisted upon and Prov'd at large And Thou do'st not Answer to any one of them Thou Dar'st not Deny one of them yet here Thou woud'st Impose it upon the Reader as if nothing but a General Charge had been Exhibited against you This is Thy Sincerity and Quakers Plainness Their Opposition of Tythes V. From this place to p. 24. he spends against what is said in behalf of Tythes And p. 19. Quotes the Sn. saying that the Pope was the first Author of the Sacrilegious Impropriations which is more largely Insisted upon in the Sn. yet he Charges the Author as a Popish Agent and in his Contents calls this a Popish Plea for Tythes But all the Reason he gives is that some Papists were for the Divine Right of Tythes Then he names some of the Protestants which were not of this opinion And this is all Poor Man that he knows of the Matter He Answers none of the Arguments which are there brought for Tythes nor do's he bring any Arguments against them That is none of his Method But as to Fr. Bugg's Impeachment against them for opposing and Annulling the Laws of the Land which enjoyn Tythes he fairly Pleads Guilty in Express Terms while he thought he was Acquiting the Quakers of that Charge And he Re-Asserts their Seditious Principle p. 18. against The Secular Powers Imposing them Tythes being Abolisht says he by Christ's Law Which was all that Bugg Charg'd against them as making our Laws to be Anti-Christian Upon this Head I wou'd Recommend to their serious Consideration a Principle they set down in a Famous Martyrologie of theirs call'd The West Answering to the North. An. 1657. wrote by G. Fox and several others of their Chiefs suffering then some Chastisements for their Blasphemie c. Contrary as they thought to the then Laws by the Arbitrary Orders of some Inferior Magistrates There p. 80. they say That for Any Party of Men under a Government to Make Laws being not Lawfully Authorized so to do for the Binding of others and thereunto to require obedience is the setting up of Themselves above the Law and Treading it under their Feet And rendring of them whom they do so Bind their Slaves and Vassals And so is Treason Now in the Sn. Sect. xix Ther is mention'd a Declaration Sign'd by above Seven Thousand of the Quakers Abolishing all the Laws and Damning the Law-Makers who Enact Tythes the Payers of them the Receivers or any who but Countenance or Own them This was in the year 1659. At which time the Quakers were very Busie with their Proposals to oppose the Restoration of the Church and the King Rob. Rich Hiden things c. p. 29. a Quaker tells Us of two other Printed Papers of the Quakers that same year one subscrib'd by more than Ten Thousand and the other by More than Fifteen Thousand All presented to the then Parliament To whom I am Credibly Inform'd They offer'd to Raise Twenty Thousand Men against the Common Enemy so they Term'd the King and Loyal Party And they had then so much Favour That as the above Author Informs us And cannot Deceive Us in that by the Act of Parliament bearing Date the 28 June 1659 for Setling the Militia the Quakers were made Commissioners to Form Troops and Regiments to Nominate the Officers and to Assess Money for Buying Horse Arms c. He Names Five by Name whom he knew who were of the Committee for the Militia of
Spirit of Truth in George Whitehead and Geo. Fox the younger as it is said on the Title-Page of this Book And p. 7. That it is of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and Greater this puts it past a Jest and ought to be Animadverted upon as a most Outragious Blasphemy And shews moreover the Mad Delusion of these Quakers that they are out of their Wits and their Brains turn'd by an Enthusiastical Distraction For as before has been shewn the meaning of the word Figure in this Dispute is a Type or Shadow whether Christ was a Type or Figure of something else i. e. of the Light within Vs And to Prove this by the Figure that is the Shape or outward Appearance of His Body and Raiment being Chang'd in His Transfiguration upon the Mount if these Men believe themselves is such a Portion of Ignorance as sets them not out of the Rank of Children But their thinking it to be Divine Inspiration makes them Mad-Men and Blasphemously so Then again to make Figure even in this sense that they wou'd take it to be the same as an Example which is Express'd in both the Answers of G. F. and G. W. this is not to know at all what they say but to set down words at Random For let Christs Transfiguration be a Figure in whatever sense yet how is it an Example to Vs Are we to be Transfigur'd while upon Earth as He was upon the Mount And must the Cloaths we wear become White and Shining as His was then Who wou'd have found fault with Hubberthorn for saying that Christ was to be an Example to Us Tho' the word But cou'd not have past even there To say that Christs coming in the Flesh was But an Example as if it had been Intended for nothing else And neither G. F. nor G. W. find any fault with this But of Hubberthorn's tho' it was objected but Justify Hubberthorn in the whole For it is the very Quaker Doctrin viz. That the Birth Sufferings and Death of Christ are but Types or Examples of all those things to be Perform'd more Eminently within Vs what Christ Did or Suffer'd Outwardly they make but the History and even Facile Representations as before has been said of what was to be Accomplish'd in Man Where the Atonement and Satisfaction for Sin is made by the Birth Sufferings c. of the Light within and not by any thing which Christ suffer'd Outwardly for Us. For that we must Suffer the same our selves even Eternal Burnings and are Justify'd only by what We suffer or the Light suffers In us And not by the Sufferings of any Christ without Vs as before shewn p. 61. And this Regeneration wrought by the Light in our Hearts they make to be a greater Mystery than the Incarnation of Christ and His taking our Flesh upon Him in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin who according to them was But a Type or Example of their Virgin Hearts where the True Christ is Born c. But G. W. has another Text for his Figure it is Heb. i. 3. where Christ is said to be The Express Image of His Fathers Person Which G. W. will have render'd thus The Express Figure of his Fathers substance He gives no Reason for the Fault he finds with our Translation Yet I suppose he gave all he had But however what use can he make of it That Christ was the Figure or Example of His Fathers Substance what is the Example of a Substance And was Christ an Example to His Father Alas poor Quakers Every thing goes wrong with them But Pursue this Antidoie G. W. says p. 39. That the Quakers do own that Christ's outward Blood is a Part of His Sacrifice But George what Part is it this was put in but to Amuse And by what is said above if it be a Type tho' the Chief Type it can be no Part of the Sacrifice or Atonement for let me ask thee George Is not the Light within sufficient without something else was ther no Atonement before Jesus suffer'd under Pontius Pilate or was it the Vertue of that Death and Sacrifice of Jesus which did operate backward to those before Him by Faith in Him who was to Come or was ther then another Atonement before He came if so was not that Atonement Perfect then the outward Blood was no Part of it Or were ther Two Atonements was that First which the Quakers suppose made by the Heavenly Body which as G. Fox says was Crucified when Adam fell was that Perfect and Sufficient If so what needed Another was the other which follow'd 4000 years after any Part of it And if not a Part then how is it a Part now But George thy Light and Life p. 55. has been before Quoted p. 97. where thou opposes the outward Blood of Christ being Any way Meritorious to Salvation Yet here thou allows it us as a Part of the Sacrifice Great wits have short Memories G. W. in the same p. 39. offers two mighty Arguments why the Quakers do not make Christ without but the History and the Light within the Mystery or Substance First Argument The Quakers make him Christ no otherwise than the Father has Appointed and made Him to be This was strong And in favour to George I pass it without any Reply Second Argument He Christ as in Himself is the Substance of all Shadows and the fulness of Light and Life Who Doubts it George But what Christ do'st thee mean Thee say'st As in Himself did'st thee not mean by this The Light within yea verily then thy meaning is that the Light within is the Substance of all Shadows And this is the very thing that is Charg'd upon thee and thy fellow Quakers Why did'st thee not say that the outward Jesus of Nazareth who was Nail'd to the Cross was the Substance of all Shadows That wou'd have been speaking Plain But that was none of thy meaning But by this Dodging way which thy Sincerity uses we see thy meaning plain enough 1. Their Spiritual Body of Christ which they Suppose He â—â—d from Eternity And their Denial of his now Human Body in Heaven X. Yet they have a Salvo even for this tho' full of more Contradictions for as before shewn p. 13. c. they have a Notion of a Body which Christ had all along before His Incarnation And which sort of Body they now allow him to have in Heaven but not that Body which He took of the B. Virgin in which He Suffer'd Dy'd and Rose again And by the help of this Private Notion of a Body they Deceive many People who know it not in their Confession to the Body of Christ now in Heaven as if they meant the same Body that we do which they do not but they mean it only of that Spiritual Body of the Second Adam's Nature as they Phrase it which they say Christ or the Light had before the First Adam was Created And they say that this
the Gift of God He of His Infinit Mercy Grant it at length to these Miserably Deluded Souls For they yet stick fast in this Root of Bitterness and Bond of Iniquity As you may see in a Book lately Publish'd by one of themselves but who has with others happily Discover'd the most Gross of their Heresies this is one Daniel Leeds in America his Book is Intitul'd News of a Trumpet Sounding in the Wilderness Printed at New-York An. 1697. And some Numbers of them are sent over hither There at the Conclusion of the Preface he tells of the Doctrin which is at Present Preach'd among the Quakers in America One Preach'd thus says he It is the work of the Devil to cause People that have Profest the Appearance of Christ in the Heart to Respect the Person without them Another Preached thus I am Grieved that any that have Profest the Light shou'd now direct the Minds of People to Respect him as he is now in Heaven above the Clouds Truly Friends it is Delusion Another Preach'd thus There is that wou'd have Flesh added in the Creed but let them take it that will I believe the Lord will give them his Plagues and Torments with it Of this a Quaker there one Abraham Hulings complained and gave in a Paper with the above cited Quotations under his hand to the Quakers Church at Burlington desiring them to censure this Doctrin But they wou'd not On the contrary they Exccommunicated or Disown'd as they Phrase it this Hulings for opposing this Doctrin Moreover says Dan. Leeds there is one John Humphrey a Preacher near Philidelphia that writes a Letter against G. Keith and his Friends wherein he has this Expression I am Grieved to hear some say they expect to be Justify'd by that Blood that was shed at Jerusalem In Justification of which Passage he writes in another Letter thus His Christs own words will clear me from your Aspersion Joh. 6.63 It is the Spirit that Quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing So He himself ascribes the work of Mans Salvation and Sanctification not to the Flesh that Suffer'd but to the Spirit that Quickned Not to the Blood that was shed at Jerusalem but unto that Flesh and Blood which was Spiritual c. of this False Doctrin G. K. complain'd to the Quarterly Meeting at Philadelphia but no Answer cou'd he have nor no Blame nor Condemnation must pass against their Brother John Humphrey for this False Doctrin tho' it 's near Six years since these Letters were Writ Thus far Dan. Leeds As to the Quakers mis-understanding of this and other Texs in the 6th of St. John it is Rectify'd before p. 101. this Text. ver 63. is an Explanation of ver 53. viz. That it was Christ's Literal Flesh of which He spoke but He corrected the Gross Conception of Eating it Literally in which sense it wou'd not have Profited any who had Eat it But the Spiritual-Eating of it by Faith is that which Quickneth but the Quakers put the Figure and the Allegorie upon the Flesh as if it were not the Outward Flesh of Christ of which He spoke but an Inward and Allegorical Flesh by which they mean what they call their Light within And so Enervat and Evacuat the Whole Foundation of the Christian Faith Dan. Leeds Informs Us That in America the Quakers had heard that their Brethren in England particularly at London where most Notice has been taken of the Late Controversies with them had begun of Late to Preach of an outward Christ and of His Death and Sufferings But this is only to Amuse For as has been said they are not Charg'd with Denying the Matter of Fact that Jesus of Nazareth did Suffer as is Recorded of Him in the H. Gospel And which they now Preach to make themselves Appear to be Christians But who ever heard them Preach of Faith in Him His outward Sufferings and Death as of any Necessity to Salvation This only is the Christian Faith The other of an Historical Belief that He did Suffer is no more than what Jews and Mahometans do Confess And which the very Devils do Believe and Tremble And no more have the Quakers yet Preached But they think that a Great Deal and are brought to it with mere Force For till of late the outward Christ or Jesus of Nazareth was seldom or never so much as mention'd in any of their Meetings unless to Revile and cast Dirt upon Him To give it as a Mark of False Ministers Will. Smith's Primmer p. 8. Gr. Mystery p. 250. to Preach Christ without and bid People believe in Him as He is in Heaven above Nay as a Proof of their being Possest with the Devil as G. Fox Blasphemes The Devil was in thee says he to a Christian Thou say'st thou art Saved by Christ without thee and so hast Recorded thy self to be a Reprobate But tho' the Quaker Preachers in London to stop the Cry against them have of late submitted to Mention the outward Christ with some seeming Respect Yet in the Country where they have less Politicks and more Honesty they cannot be brought even to that as you may see in Sat. Dis. Glean Sect. vi N. 4. p. 94. And there are later Instances which G. Keith met with in a Progress he made last Summer by Invitation from some Quakers who begin to open their Eyes in Huntington-shire and other Places thereabouts where tho' kindly Receiv'd and the Doctrin he Preach'd of Faith in the Lord Jesus of Nazareth and what He Did and Suffer'd for us well Entertain'd and Listen'd to by several of the Sincere tho' Deluded among the Quakers Yet it was a New Doctrin to them And ther were others who violently oppos'd this Doctrin particularly of the Quaker both He and She-Preachers one of which at St. Ives in Hunington-shire ask'd him what Christ he Preached He said The Man Jesus of Nazareth who was Born of the Virgin Nail'd to the Cross c. She askt what was become of him G. K. said That He was gone into Heaven What said she that Heaven above our Heads Pointing upwards Which she Ridicul'd And said she knew no Christ or Heaven but within her self Thank'd God That she had Bread in her own House and Water in her own Cestern And did not believe that ther was any thing without her cou'd do her any Good And upbraided G. K. that he cou'd not be content with the Ancient Doctrin of Friends of Faith in the Light within as alone sufficient to Salvation and ask'd him if now he wou'd have any thing else Or wou'd he make himself Wiser than all the Friends who had gone before And to the like purpose A He-Preacher at Charteres in the Isle of Ely being askt by G. K. What he suppos'd was become of that Body which Christ took of our Nature Answered That He left it behind Him when He Rose from the Dead And he Profess'd to Believe in no other Christ but only his Light
they Profess'd from the Beginning How then came they to Excomunicate any for Receiving of Baptism as for Instance John Cox And call'd it a Drawing back to the Weak and Beggarly Elements Come Friends speak out in Plainess and tell Us wou'd you own any for a True Quaker who shou'd Receive Baptism and frequent the Holy Sacrament of The Lord's Supper wou'd you neither Censure not Condemn them if they made a Conscience of it as their Duty Wou'd you have Greater Tenderness towards these than for William Wilkins whose Excommunication is put in the Collection at the End of this for Marrying one that was not a Quaker and for Marrying by a Priest Was this a greater offence than the Receiving of the outward Baptism But in good Earnest did you never Censure or Condemn Baptism Is this new Moderation of G. W.'s no other than what you always did Profess In the Quotation before brought of Edw. Burrough's it is Rank'd amongst the Damnable Heresies even to the Denying the Lord who bought Vs And it is call'd The Doctrin of the Devil And p. 644. of his Works he says That it is not Lawful for the Saints of God to Join themselves to your Ordinances Yet now G. W. will let them go and neither Censure nor Condemn them He has forgot a Book of his own to which he gave this Title The Authority of the true Ministry in Baptizing with the Spirit And the Idolatry of such men as are Doting about shadows and Carnal Ordinances and their Ignorance of the Spirits Baptism of which water-Baptism was but a Figure Discover'd And herein is shewed that Water-Baptism is neither of Necessity to Salvation nor yet is now Practised either by Authority from Heaven or by any New-Testament Law that is in force upon Believers seeing the Substance and the End of things Abolished is come and Enjoyed wherein the Types Shadows and Figures are Ended Yet George now will neither Censure nor Condemn them if they be Conscientiously Tender in the Observation of these Abolished Types and Shadows tho' he calls it Idolatry nay and Doting Idolatry yet these men never Vary'd they always said the same since they were first a People that they say now Appen p. 5. slighting all the Authorities brought for Baptism in Prim. Her within the first 150 years after Christ they care for no Antiquity or Fathers says Indeed if he can absolutly Determin the Question by the Scriptures the work is done And yet in the Discourse of Baptism the Arguments are all Limited only to the Holy Scriptures and for any thing the Quakers have said to the contrary the Question is there Absolutely Determin'd They Referr to a Book of one Dell against Baptism This is their Great Assylum Yet he was not a Quaker he was one of the Professors whom they call Children of Darkness and Damn them All to the Pit of Hell And a Cambridge Schollar too another Mark of Reprobation with them and yet they fly to this Man to Help their Light against the Divine Institutions of our Blessed Saviour And they have Printed and Re-Printed this Book as oft as they have been Attack'd upon this Point of Baptism And out it has come since the Discourse of Baptism was Publish'd This made me Curious to look into it And there I found not one Objection but what is fully Answer'd in that Discourse Tho' I am satisfy'd that Author had never seen it before that Discourse was Printed Yet still they Referr to that Book which is only a Put-off because they have nothing to say and shews them to be Self-Condemn'd Their Appealing from their own Printed Books to the Original Copies 7. They have yet another Contrivance which is the Prettiest of all to avoid the Quotations brought out of their Books When none of the former ways will do then they say They have not the Book as if they cou'd not come at their own Books or otherwise they Appeal from the Print tho' themselves have Publish'd it to the Original Copy which if Extant none can have but Themselves Yet they do not Produce the Copy or tell how it is worded there or that it is otherwise than in the Print Thus p. 9. of the Prim. Heres ther is a Bloody Quotation out of a Book of G. Fox's call'd News out of the North. p. 14. where he makes it as unlawful to Return to Baptism as to Circumcision and calls the Lord's Supper The Table of Devils and Cup of Devils which is in the Generation of Serpents c. and p. 39. where he Denies the Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John to be the Gospel and calls them Carnal c. To this says Appen p. 32. I cannot Examin it not having the Book by me but I much Question the Truth of the Quotation And this is all that is said to it Now I can assure the Reader that this Quotation was taken out of the Book it self and not from any second hand And will he believe that this Book which is Common enough for I have seen more than one of them cou'd not be Procur'd among the whole Quaker Sanhedrin or that if this Quotation were much Question'd the Quakers are so Good Natur'd or so very Remiss as not to be at the Pains to look into that Book if they thought to Catch that Author at one False Quotation which they have not yet been able to do or whether every sober Person will not rather Judge that the Quakers do herein Plead Guilty I leave it to their consideration But hear another Pleasant Instance G. W. being Press'd with a very untoward Quotation in Sat. Dis. Glean Sect. iv p. 82. out of the Works of Edw. Burrough p. 273. where he Blasphemously makes the Sufferings of the Quakers not only Greater but more Vnjust than the Sufferings of our Blessed Lord Himself He comes to give an account of this in his Antidote p. 254. and he says after the old Fashion that E. B. is Cited Vnfairly and Partially in this Point But he tells not wherein These are only words of Course in all their Answers Nay himself finds no Fault with the Quotation that ther is a word Added or Diminished or Alter'd But says he Whether it was so Verbally stated by E. B. himself or by some mistake since I shall not undertake to Determin unless I see his Original Copy This Justifies the Quotation out of his Printed Book And if ther was any Mistake it was not in him who Quoted it So that G. W. if he Reguarded Instice ought to make Satisfaction for saying that this was Vnfairly or Partially Cited But in the next place this was Printed by E. B. in the year 1657. And Re-Printed in his Works An. 1672. And these Works were Collected and Published by an Junto of the Chief of the Quakers whereof George Whitehead was one and his Epistle particularly among others Praesix'd in High Commendations of the Author and the Works Yet now he wou'd turn it
Father A Manifestation can not take Flesh be Born Suffer or Dye then it must be the Father Himself and none other who was Born Dy'd c. then it was the Father who sent Himself and Return'd back to Himself and was Received of Himself who upon the Cross Pray'd to Himself and Complain'd to Himself that He had Forsaken Himself And when He Dy'd Recommended His Spirit into the Hands of Himself c. This the Quakers are Desir'd to Answer and it will soon Discover their sensless Sabelliamsm And Farnsworth's Testimony says nothing at all against this 2. They Leap now Ten years forward for the next Testimony p. 13. which is of Rich. Hodden An. 1661. in his Book call'd The one Good way of God Where he tells of the Great Mystery of Jesus Christ come in the Flesh which he says no Man can Understand by Hearing Reading Telling or Talking of Him or Concerning what He Did Said or Suffer'd How he is Formed In his Servants How they take up the Cross or what that Cross is How they are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones What the Church is or how his Body or what it is to Eat his Flesh and Drink his Blood c. This as before told is the Body Flesh and Bones of God which they suppose He had from Eternity and which now Dwells in the Quakers not the Flesh of our Nature which Jesus assum'd in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin That is not the Flesh which we Eat c. And they that think so he tells know nothing of the Mystery of Christ which they say cannot be learn'd by Hearing contrary to what the Apostle thought Rom. x. 17. of what Christ Did Said or Suffer'd Which shews that they meant not the outward Christ but Their Christ the Light within otherwise how is it that as he says none but the Quakers understand what the Church is how it is the Body of Christ or what it is to Eat his Flesh or what his Cross is c This shews plainly That they have another Meaning for All these things than we have And Consequently this is so far from being a Contrary Testimony to the Charges produc'd upon this Head that it speaks the same and might well have been put among the Charges instead of the Contrary Testimonies 3. The third Testimony is p. 14 from Geo. Bishop that Loyal good Subject See Sn. p. 227. to 232. in his Vindication of the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers An. 1665. where he speaks too of Christ made Flesh c. But then tells us what Christ he means Christ In you says he that is their Light within which they call Christ. He says p. 15. as here Quoted That where this Christ is there is not the Body that Suffer'd at Jerusalem that was Flesh that Proceeded from the Virgin Mary c. that is not within Men. No. who ever said it was tho' Christ may be there by the Blessed Influences of His Holy Spirit But then what Body of Christ is it which the Quakers say is within them For G. Fox will not allow Christ to be Absent from His Saints as touching His Flesh Gr. Mystery p. 210. And Edw. Burrough p. 146. of his Works says in Answer to this Question which he there puts Is that very Man with that very Body within you yea or Nay And this he do's not Deny but Answers in the Affirmative The very Christ of God is within Vs we Dare not Deny it He do's not mean as Bishop says well the Body of our Nature which Suffer'd at Jerusalem for that is not so much as in any one says Will Penn in his Christian Quaker p. 97. But they mean as before has been shewn The Heavenly Body of the Human Nature of God which He had from Eternity And this Vile and most Absurd Heresie is that Deep Knowlege which the Quakers Boast they have in the things of God beyond all other Men. This is the Great Mystery of Quakerism And this Testimony of G. Bishop's do's rather Confirm than Contradict it 4. The fourth Testimony is p. 15. from Isaac Penington Concerning the Sum or Substance c. This is he who in his Question to the Professors before Quoted in every Page almost tramples under foot the outward Humanity of Christ or that which He took of our Nature And sets in opposition to it as the Foundation of the Quaker-Faith that which he calls Christ's own Humanity or their Sensless Notion of the Humanity of the Heavenly Nature Now let Us hear what this Man will say to the Contrary How much he Attributes to the outward Humanity and Sufferings of Christ. First he puts the Objection That the Quakers look not to be sav'd by the outward Christ but by a Christ in us says he And to this he Answers We do indeed Expect to be Saved yea and not only so but do already in our several Measures Witness Salvation by the Revelation and Operation of the Life of Christ within Vs So that their Salvation is from the Attonement c. which is wrought Within them And what Salvation do they mean That of Heaven No not of any outward Heaven but the Heaven within Themselves See Sn. at the end of Sect. xii and consequently it is that Salvation which they have Attain'd Already in their several Measures for ther are Degrees of Glory even in Heaven But now that All is given to the Inward Christ what do's he ascribe to the Outward Truly as little as may be only to take Notice of Him he says That the Salvation wrought by Christ within is yet not withont Relation to what he did without us and had its Place and Service in the will and according to the Counsel of the Father What Place and Service was this For that he leaves you to Guess he will come no Near. Every Good Action nay every Good word of any Good Man has its Place and Service This is the Noble Testimony of Isaac Penington which is brought as a Vindication of the Quakers from throwing the Least Slight upon the outward Humanity Death and Passion of our Blessed Lord Jesus and the Satisfaction and Full Propitiation thereby Made for the Sins of the whole World And to Clear them from Transferring of this to the Propitiation which they suppose made within them by the Heavenly Flesh and Blood of their Light within 5. The fifth Testimony is p. 16. from G. Keith's Immediate Revelation where he do's sufficiently Express what Manhood of Christ he meant for he speaks of The Man Jesus whom Simeon Imbraced with his Arms according to the Flesh And the Quakers will not say That it was the Light within which Simeon had in his Arms or the Manhood of the Heavenly Nature which cou'd not be Seen or Felt. And then as to the Inward Presence of Christ in the Soul G. K. do's not speak of the Body of Christ there as the other Quakers but says
Human Nature of an Human Soul and Human Body And likewise Truly and Properly the Son of God Contrary to Will. Penn. And that He is not such in Any Other Person Whatsoever Not in the Person of Will. Penn G. Whitehead or Any of the Quakers Reader forgive me for using so many Words Less Particular and Positive will not do with these Men. It is for their sakes that I do it That I may by any Means if Possible Open their Eyes to Discover their Horrible Delusions They have by this Means of Allegorizing the Incarnation and Birth of our Blessed Saviour from the Letter to their Imagined Conception Birth Passion Death and Resurrection of the Light within taken away all Certainty whereby we may know Whether ever ther was Such a Man in the World as Jesus Christ or that He ever did any Miracle or had any Attestation from Heaven for His Ministry That Most Express of the Glorious Appearance of a Light from Heaven Descending Leasurly and Hovering upon the Head of Jesus at His Baptism after the Manner that a Dove Lights upon the Ground the Quakers have Deny'd that is turn'd it to an Allegorie Doest thou believe says G. Whitehead to his Opponent in his Truth Defending the Quakers p. 42. That it was visible to the Carnal Eye as a Created Dove is or its Lightning I believe he Meant Lighting upon Him as a Dove was in respect of its Nature and Comliness By this they Mean That Innocency and Simplicity like that of a Dove was all that did Light upon Jesus or which Exprest His Nature and Comliness at that Time And then indeed they might well Ask Was it visible to the Carnal Eye But by this they have Quite Overthrown the Validity of that Miraculous Attestation given to Christ And so they have done to all the Rest That as I said they have not left One Single Proof that Ever ther was such a Man in the World For that can not be known but by Outward Acts and Attestations And if they can be thus Turn'd ther is an End of all Proof from them But they wou'd have no other Proof for Christ or His Mission than ther is for their Own Since they vouch Themselves to be Christ and God! Indeed as many Gods as ther are Quakers For if as they say the Seed in them can Grow up to be God That God do's BEGET Himself in them Then I do not see how they can avoid the Consequence of a Multiplication of Gods Of God's having a Beginning and being Created For if He be Begotten in Time Every Day in Every New Quaker He must be Created and so is both the Creature and the Creator If He be Capable of Encrease of Growing up from a Seed to a Child c. He must likewise be Subject to Dissolution He must be Lyable to Infirmities and Passions as We are And this the Quakers do not Deny Nay they Argue Expresly for it They take in a Literal Sense those Expressions in Scripture Where God is said to Repent to be Weary to Suffer c. several of which G. Whitehead Quotes in his Divinity of Christ p. 56. as Isai 63 10. Amos. 2.13 Hos. 11.8 9. Psal 95. Gen. 6.6 Psal 78.40 Isai 1. and chap. 43.24 These he brings as an Answer to the Argument of Thomas Vincent against whom he Disputed That Christ as God Cou'd not make Satisfaction for our Sins because as God He cou'd not Suffer The Contrary of which G. W. here Endeavours to Prove and brings these Texts to shew That God can Suffer These are the Natural and Necessary Consequences of this Mad Foundation of the Quaker Faith in Setting up their Light Within for Christ and God I am Weary in Pursuing their Blasphemies But it is Necessary in Order to Un-Deceive the Simple and Deluded among them Who know not these Depths of Satan into which they have been Led Especially Considering the Tenacious Obstinacy of their Leaders Who tho' they know these things Yet for Popularity or other Ends will not Suffer their Implicit Followers to Repent But Buoy them up with all the Artifice and Cunning they are Able to Believe That all is Well And to adhere firmly to All that they haue Taught them from the Begining And that IN ALL THE PARTS OF IT Some Texts Rescu'd from the False Glosses of the Quakers to favour the Universality of what they call The Light within 3. Let me for a Conclusion Rescue some Texts of Scripture which the Quakers have wrested to their own Destruction And upon which they build their wild Notion of the Light-Within That being undeceiv'd in this they may by the Blessing of God see their Error and Return Their Chief Text which they have Constantly in their Mouths is Rom. x. 8. The word is Nigh thee even in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that is the word of Faith which we Preach This word of Faith they take to be the Light which is in Every man of the World and not to Refer to the outward Christ or to the Faith in Him His outward Sufferings and Death but to the Faith in their Light within which Every man has even those who never heard of Jesus of Nazareth But the very next words ver 9. shew the Apostle's Meaning to be quite otherwise and to Refer wholy to Faith in the outward Christ This is the word of Faith which we Preach says he That if thou shalt Confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt Believe in thine Heart that God hath Raised Him from the Dead thou shalt be saved Now that by Faith the Apostle did not mean that Light which is Common to All men is plain from 2 Thess iii. 2. For all men have not Faith Says he You see here That in the very next verse following Rom. x. 8. which is the Quakers Text the Apostle do's Limit it Expressly not to the Light within but to Faith in the outward Jesus So in Deut. xxx 11 12 13 14. Whence the Apostle Quoted it the very next Verse immediately Before viz. Ver. 10. do's Limit these words in Moses to the outward Book of the Law and not to their Light within For thus says he If thou wilt hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to keep His Commandments and His Statutes which are Written in this Book of the Law For this Commandment which I Command thee this Day is not far off It is not in Heaven or Beyond the Sea c. And Chap. xvii 18 19 20. The King is Commanded to Write him a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that before the Priests the Levits And to Read therein all the Days of his Life That he might thereby Learn to Fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them Was he to write a Copy of the Light within in a Book out of the Levits Book And by Keeping the words of this Law was no More
Meant than to Keep to his Light within Cou'd that have told him all that was Commanded in the Law of Moses How came all the Heathen then not to Know it for they had the Light within As little cou'd it of it Self without the Help of outward Revelation have Discover'd a Messiah the Son of God to be Incarnat and offer'd up a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World This Faith as the Apostle truly Says All men have not None Ever had it by Means only of their Light within But either by Express Revelation such as was Given of it to Adam to Abraham and the Prophets or by the outward Means of Hearing as the Apostle says in that same Chap. of the x. Rom. ver 17. Describing how that same Faith commeth of which he spoke ver 8. And he says That it cometh by Hearing viz. The outward Preaching of it For as he says ver 14. How shall they Believe in Him of whom they have not Heard And how shall they Hear without a Preacher So Mad and Void of all Common Sense as well as most Impious and Heretical Is that Quaker Exposition of Deut. xxx 14. And Rom. x. 8. Whereby they wou'd Exclude the outward Christ from being the Object of the Christian Faith And Blasphemously Translate it to Themselves that is to their own Light Within And by this make the Christian Faith Common to all Mankind even to those who never Heard of the outward Christ Which is To make Him His Blessed Death and Passion Vseless and Vn-necessary to the World Another Text they urge mightily for the Vniversality of their Light within is Joh. 1.9 That was the true Light which Lighteth Every man that cometh into the World This they Understand of Faith the True Saving Faith and so suppose that Every Man must have it But the Apostle from the beginning of this Chap. was speaking of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Word by whom All things were Made And therefore not only what Light but what Life Every man or any Creature has is from Him Act xvii 25.28 Seeing He giveth to All Life and Breath and All things For in Him we Live and Move and have our Being Now that Light which He giveth to All Men is not the Light of Faith which All Men have not But the Natural Light of our Vnderstanding which is Common to All Men. And is a Ray Communicated from the Supreme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reason The Quakers to Avoid this set about that Mad Task of Proving that All men have not Reason as before is shewn And yet wou'd give All men Faith of which no man is Capable without supposing him to have the use of his Reason Otherwise a Tree or a Stone might Believe as well as a Man I will Name but one Text more upon which they Chime Exceedingly that is 1 Joh. 2.20 27. But ye have an Vnction from the Holy one and ye know All things And ye need not that any man Teach you but as the Same Anointing Teacheth you of All things This they Interpret of the Light within which is Common to All Men. But then by this it wou'd follow That All Men do know All things Quite contrary to what the Apostle there Supposes who speaks of those who Knew not the Truth And Applys this of the Anointing only to those who Knew the Truth Ver. 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the Truth but because ye Know it c. Therefore this of the Anointing was spoken only To and Of the True Believers and not of Infidels or Generally of All Men as is Plain to any who Read that Chapter These are the Chief Texts they Insist upon for the Vniversality of Faith which they call The Light within And they All prove Directly against them Ther are others so Forc'd and Strain'd as need not Confutation As 2 Pet. 1.19 We have also a more sure word of Prophesy c. which they apply to their Light within Whereas it was plainly spoken of the Holy Scriptures as the next Verse do's Expressly Determin it Knowing this first that no Prophesy of SCRIPTVRE is of any Private Interpretation I wish the Quakers wou'd Reflect Seriously upon this It wou'd correct the Exorbitancy of their Private Interpretations by what they call their Light within Different from the Sense of the whole Catholick Church in All Ages And let them see and Consider that ther was Great Reason for that Caution given in this same Epistle Ch. iii. 16. That the Vnlearned and Vnstable do wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction The Quakers pretend sometimes to be Determin'd by Scripture and to admit of no Interpretation which is not in Express words of Scripture See a Book of theirs call'd The Divinity of Christ Wrote by G. Whitehead and G. Fox where in the Epistle they speak thus Where do the Scriptures speak of three Persons in the Godhead in these Express words Let us see where it is written Come do not shuffle for we are Resolv'd the Scriptures shall Buffet you about And where doth the Scripture speak of a Human Nature of Christ in Heaven And where doth the Scripture say the Soul is Part of Man's Nature Give us plain Scripture without Adding or Diminishing Come let us see Chapter and Verse c. Now the Quakers cannot Refuse the same Measure which they have Meated to others Therefore let us see Chapter and Verse where The Light within is spoke of In these Express words wher is ther any thing of Faith in the Light within of Believing In The Light within as this Appen do's often speak Where is it said that Christ was not the Lamb but that the Lamb was in Christ where is ther a word of the Manhood of God of Christ's Heavenly Flesh Blood and Bones of His Flesh that was Crucify'd when Adam Fell Where is His Body call'd a Garment or a Vessel where shall we find the Distinction of Christ Without and Within of an Outward and an Inward Christ of the Shedding of His Blood within Vs of the Blood and Bones of our Light within where is it said that the Person who Suffer'd upon the Cross was not Properly the Son of God He is oft call'd The Son of God what Text says that He was not Properly so In these Express words Come Produce Chapter and Verse Where are the Holy Scriptures call'd Beastly ware Serpents meat Death and Dust Where is the Text for Theeing and Thouing and for not taking off your Hats For your Silent-Meetings For the Ceasing of Baptism and The Lord's Supper For Womens Preaching and Womens Meetings which you call the Good Ordinance of Jesus Christ what Text do's Abolish Tythes in these Express words or Declare all going to War to be unlawful To keep Holy-Days or Marry by a Priest Where is it said that the Quakers are Infallible That their Preachings are of as Great Authority as the Scriptures and GREATER And
therefore not so strong as mine Secondly I have brought William Shewen's own Book Writ and Printed after that Meeting sufficiently declaring at least the Two last Particulars or rather indeed all the Three For since he construeth Christ's Ascension into Heaven to be inwardly in Men he has left us no proofs for his Ascension outwardly Thirdly had G. Whitehead been ingenuous he would have been positive to have told what he did remember seeing some present at these Meetings as old in years and as weak in Memory as himself hath very lately told what was said in one of them Meetings and that is the chiefest of the Three and indeed includes all the three Particulars above mention'd Fourthly know then for a further evidence that Thomas Heart an ancient Citizen of very good credit and fame a person of greater Age than G. Whitehead as I suppose and one whom G. Whitehead I think will own to be worthy of Credit in any other thing if not in this hath lately declar'd to me in answer to my request to him that seeing I was called in question as a Lyer for saying some of my opposers at one of these Meetings had said they needed not Christ then he would be pleased for the truths sake to speak what he did remember was said by them to that effect that he did remember that they did say They needed not Christ and also that he did reply to them It may be before they Dyed they would find their need of Christ thus he freely and voluntarily declared to me in my House 22d 12. Month. 1697. in answer to my request as above I having told him that to clear me of the Imputation of a Lyer I did desire him by a few lines in writing to speak with me who came to my House in complyance to my desire and I having repeated to him all his words as they are above mentioned that he spoke to them he answered me directly that his memory was weak and did not remember the other passages but this said he I do well remember that when some of them said they needed not Christ I told them before they Dyed they might come to find their need of him and he said further I own it to be a truth that I need Christ still for I find my obedience so short that I cannot rely upon it and therefore I need that God be merciful to me and forgive me my sins and failings for Christ's sake And diverse things he spoke to this purpose very sensibly and Christianly with which I was much refreshed to find him so sound and sensible and that he still adhered to his former Testimony he gave at one of these Meetings And seeing he hath confirmed the truth of my Relation in one of the chief Particulars that one containing all the rest I judge it is an Authentick evidence to the whole for if they needed not Christ then sure they were not to Pray to him and as sure it is that there is no need of any such belief according to their sentiments that Christ's Body did Ascend into Heaven for they having denyed the end of his Ascension which was that We might have him to be our merciful high Priest in Heaven to make intercession for us according to our need they must consequently deny his Ascension otherwise say he Ascended to no purpose or end as to us For a further evidence I here add the Testimony of John Bull who was present at one of these Meetings who had also at my desire and request obtesting him to speak the truth seeing my Christian Name and Reputation was concerned in the case declared Note since the writing of this Paper John-Bull is det ceased Bu I have Evidence of some alive who heard him so affirm that it having been long ago he did not remember much but this he did remember that they opposed to that passage in my Book wherein I did assert that Christ's Body that was buried rose again and ascended into Heaven As also that several Friends said they were much benefited by the things that they heard discoursed by way of Objections and Answers and blessed God for that opportunity This he told me at my House 23d 12th Mo. 1697. Having thus finish'd my Relation touching these weighty Matters which I solemnly declare to be true and which I think I have give a sufficient Evidence of by the concurring Evidences of some of their Brethren that remain in Unity with them it now remains to give some Reasons of making publick this Relation which I do thus 1. My first Reason of making publick this Relation is to clear my Name both as a Man and a Christian from the imputation of Lyer Slanderer and false Accuser which some of the contrary Party have cast upon me for my having affirmed that some noted men among the Quakers yea and Teachers too Twenty years ago have oppos'd some of the great Fundamentals of Christianity and greatly Censured me for asserting them 2. The second Reason is that this Account given by me here will serve for an Apologie and Excuse to me in great part why I have in some of my former Books especially in my Controversies with some of the Preachers at Boston in New England praised and defended William Penn and George Whitehead as sound and Orthodox in the Fundamental Principles of the Christian Faith Concerning Christ and the real existence of his Manhood-Nature consisting of a glorified Soul and Body in Heaven being both God and Man and yet one Christ And our Faith in him as such for Remission of Sin and eternal Salvation whom these men did represent as unsound Now that which gave me as I thought just ground so to judge was that they seemed to me by the defence they made for me at these two Meetings aforesaid to be not only sound in their judgements as touching these great truths but to be cordially and zealously concerned for the defence of them And in this persuasion of them I continued until the differences arose in Pensilvania betwixt my Adversaries and me in the year 1691 concerning the necessity of Faith in Christ without us for Remission of Sin and eternal Salvation as well as the beleif of his inward appearance by his Light and Grace in our hearts both which I affirmed was necessary to our Christianity which my Adversaries rose up against charging it to be false as well new Doctrine and contradicting the printed Testimonies and Books of sound Friends and particularly of William Penn and George Whitehead so that I was accused by my Pensilvanian opposers in our publick Meetings there for contradicting the Principles of William Penn and G. Whitehead in their Printed Books particularly in that Book called the Christian Quaker both in relation to the sufficiency of the Light within without any thing else to Salvation and also in relation to the Resurrection of the Body And thus time after time they opposed me with these men's Books and when I
desir'd them to begin with the Scriptures and prove the Contradiction of my Doctrine first to the holy Scriptures and then it was time to Consider these men's Books Samuel Jennings in a publick Meeting at Philadelphia on a first day said it was not necessary to prove me guilty of Heresie whereof they had accus'd me from the Scriptures but from Friends Books for said he the Question betwixt G. K. and them is not who is the best Christian but who is the best Quaker And though I still desir'd them to bring their Scripture proofs yet they for most part waved that and continued clamouring that my Doctrine contradicted Will. Pen. Geo. Whitehead and other Friends which I did not know all that time that it did for though the places they quoted out of their Books seemed much to favour my Adversaries yet I was not willing to think so but labour'd to retain my Charitable perswasion of them putting the most Charitable Constructions upon their Words as was possible so farr as I had read the passages in their Books that seemed to interfere with me At last I came to a firm Resolution in my mind to Come for England having first writ to George Whitehead and other Friends of the Ministry about our differences desiring to know their sense they seemed to blame me for the separation but in great part to approve of my Principles but the words in their Epistles were so dubious like the Heathen Oracles that as to the main difference of Principles betwixt my Adversaries and me in Pensilvania it was rather increas'd by their Epistles then allayd my Adversaries Construing them one way and I and my Friends another way After I arrived in England and came to London And had some private Conferrences with George Whitehead and William Penn about these very Principles of the sufficiency of the Light within to Salvation without any thing else by the something else that I did plead for declaring that I meant the man Christ Jesus and his most holy and perfect Obedience unto death for our Sins and his Intercession for us in Heaven I began easily to perceive that they greatly differed from me in those great things yet they did seek to hide themselves as much as they well could mainly and almost only blaming me for the Separation and making a breach in Pensilvania and the neighbouring Provinces among Friends But by degrees the difference in Principles betwixt them and me began plainly to appear before they Excommunicated me at their yearly Meeting in the Year 1695. For at a large Meeting of Friends of the Ministry where were many Country Friends about two days before the yearly meeting in 1694. William Penn accused me for seeking to bring in a new method of Preaching Christ and Faith in him differing from that of Friends and that new method was to preach the Man Christ without us and his Death and Sufferings in order to bring people to know the Divine Principle within them and the work of Regeneration And at the said Meeting G. W. blamed me for affirming that all the Light and Grace that any men had in any age of the World was the effect of Christ's Obedience unto death for us and argued against it thus Men had Light and Grace before Christ came in the Flesh to perform that obedience can the Effect be before the Cause this plainly enough let me see into G. Whitehead's Principles he had the same strength of Argument but that 's none at all against any mens having Remission of Sin by Christ's death before he came in the Flesh why can the effect be before the Cause I told him a Moral effect can be before its cause and oft times is and gave an Example how a man by a Contract or Covenant buyeth a House or Field and posesseth it before the Money is paid the Condition of the Covenant being that the Money is not to be paid until such a time so by Virtue of the Covenant of Grace which respected Christ to Come and the satisfaction he was to make to divine justice by his Death and Sufferings for mens sins past as well as to come all the faithful had remission of sin and inward Light and Grace as well before he came as since And some Months after this at a publick Meeting of the Quakers at Ratcliff by London William Penn did publickly oppose my testimony and charged me to be an Apostate and that I endevoured to pluck up the testimony of truth by the roots And at the same time He told the Auditory that Friends saw no great need to preach the Faith of Christ's Death and Sufferings for all England had that Faith and all Christendom had it but it did not profit them * Reader by this Argument it should not be Preached at all With many Abusive words all which he father'd upon a transport of the glorious power of God at the next yearly Meeting when I Complain'd upon his so abusing me Yet they have after all this sought to hide the differences in Doctrine betwixt them and me from publick notice so that in their sentence of Excommunication they blame not my Doctrine nor Morals in any particular thing but cast out some general charges against me for being turbulent c. and seperating my self from the Church of Christ But their unchristian dealings with me as well as Antichristian Principles have sufficiently proved them not to be a Church of Christ though still I have that charity to diverse among them that they belong to Christ and his Church but not as respecting that visible Society that has less the face of a Church than any Society of Protestants any where in the world A third Reason is that this publication of the foregoing Relation will be a true Evidence and Witness for me that as to the great fundamentals of the Christian Faith I am not changed from what I was Twenty years ago when own'd among them and for many years after acknowledg'd by them that I was in the Unity And that therefore it is manifest to be a Calumny and false Accusation rais'd by some Malicious Persons among the Quakers against me that I am Apostatised from my former Principles of Christianity and have embraced new notions or Priests and Professors Principles as they are pleased 〈…〉 that formerly I had relinquished and from a tentation that I had let prevail over me to seek and affect preheminence over my Brethren and not finding my desire and end answered in that I sought occasion to differ from them and purposely chang'd my Principles that I might have a ground of Strife and Contention with them all which the Righteous Judge of the whole Earth and the searcher of hearts knoweth to be false and injurious charges I have sufficiently in my late Printed Books proved that I am the same in all Principles of Truth that I was formerly and wherein I am changed in some lesser matters of Perswasion it is to
to John Draper by H. Norton p. 84. of Ms WHether Christ Jesus suffered not upon that Cross which he Preached when he was in the Body and said He that will be my Disciple must take take up his Cross Daily Luk. 9.23 Or what Cross he suffered on And how oft he hath suffer'd since the beginning See Second Part. p. 114. Ms p. 81. Wherein thou asketh me what do I understand by the Eternal Judgment Or whether ther shall be a time when God shall Judge all Men and make their works manifest and also give to every Man according to his Deeds Ans The Eternal Judge is upon his Throne and the time of his Judgment is come and the Hearts of all Men are made manifest before him And the wicked shall not Escape but shall Receive a Portion according to their Deeds Therefore say I arise ye Dead and come to Judgment for the Hour is Coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall Live Joh. 5.25 N. B. This shews in what sense they Vnderstand the Scriptures viz. That the Resurrection of the Dead and the Final Judgment is already Come as before Quoted which they bid us Mark That the End of the World was Come in the Apostles time which they Infer from 1 Cor. 10.11 Ms p. 57. in a Letter to Lieut. Scot. NEver hereafter suffer such words to proceed out of thy Mouth as to say that the Glorious God was in a Wall because thy Dark Wisdom finds it Written that He fills Heaven and Earth But this I say unto thee That that Heaven and that Earth which he fills thou knowest not neither can any Vulturous Eye see into it H. Norton N. B. The Quaker Means the Inward Heaven in the Heart which he says no Vulturous Eye can see into And they Acknowledge no other Heaven or Hell See First Part. p. 62. Snake p. 164. And Sat. Dis p. 55. For the Outward Heaven the Quaker Eyes can no more see into than those Eyes which they call Vulturous I will close my present Excerptions out of this Precious Ms with an Account which this Norton and one Will. Shaw gave of their Examination before John Bret Governor of Wexford in Ireland p. 86. of the Ms Governor Are you the Men Quakers Yea. Gov. Why did you Disturb the Minister yesterday Hum. Norton Examine the business to the bottom we were forc't out of our Meeting and brought to the Steeple-house And if there was any wrong done we had it Gov. By whom Hum. By a Lieutenant Gov. But not to disturb the Minister Humb. A Minister of Christ cannot be disturb'd neither is it contrary to the order of the Church of Christ for all to speak one by one Gov. But you have transgrest the Law in disturbing our Minister Hum. What 's your Law contrary to the Law of God Gov. Nay Hum. He is no Minister of Christ neither have we transgressed any Law of God Gov. Why is he not a Minister of Christ Hum. He was found in the Idols Temple having the chief seat in the assembly standing Praying in the Synagogue Gov. You all say so Hum. Send for him hither let us speak with him Gov. I have no command of him but I shall axamine the Lieutenant and if he have transgrest let him suffer Hum. Be not partial but let it be before us Gov. Take these men into your charge Gaoler Hum. Well mind the fear of God This was the effect of what was spoken so near as can be remembred Hum. Norton Will. Shaw The Recommendation of the above named Humphrey Norton by E. Bourrough and Francis Howgil when he went to Ireland and Answered and put the above Queries NOw dear Friends I rejoyce in the Lord that his care is towards you and his love abids for you who are unto him begotten and not of him forgotten in visiting you with his power to the refreshing of you in sending this my dear Brother and faithful companion in the Kingdom of Jesus call'd Humphry Norton who cometh to you in the name and fear of the Lord and not of his own will but according to the will of God as being moved thereunto by the spirit of the Father And unto you all I do him recommend as a faithful Labourer to be received by you in the name of him that sends him in tender pitty for you all and the blessing of the Lord upon his Faithfulness I doubt not But the flock will receive refreshment the weak will be strengthened the weary laden will be comforted and the body will be edified and for this cause hath the Lord chosen him into this service to manifest further unto you the power of the Gospel of God by his Ministry upon which the blessing of the Lord be for ever And with my dear Love in the Lord saluting you all that are faithful farewel in the Lord. London 10th of 3d. Month 56. to the Churches in Christ in Ireland by a lover of your Souls and a Labourer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ E. B. Receive Hum. Norton in the Lord whom the Lord hath moved to come unto you who is a brother and faithful in the Lords work and be subject unto him in the Lord all unto him for I much desired that he might come unto you and so the Lord hath orderd it And as you receive him you receive me Francis Howgill Some Few of the Many OMISSIONS and ALTERATIONS in the Re-printing of the Works of the Deceased QVAKERS tho' said to have been given forth by the SPIRIT of the ETERNAL GOD to Trim with every Turn of Government And Cover the Deceit of their Horrid Principles 1. EDWARD BVRROVGH the Second in Honour to the Great FOX among the Apostles of the Quakers Printed a Book An. 1656. to which he gave this Title A TRVMPET OF THE LORD Sounded out of Sion Which gives a Certain Sound in the Ears of All Nations And is a True Noise of a fearful Earth-Quake at hand which shall shake the whole Fabrick of the Earth and the Pillars of its standing shall Fall and never more be set up again Or Fearful Voices of Terrible Thunders uttered forth from the Throne And is an Alarum and Preperation for War against all Nations where Gog and Magog resideth And sheweth the Wounding Sword of the Mighty God from whose Blow the Kings nor the Captains nor the mighty Men cannot Fly to Escape Declared and Written by a Son of Thunder In an unknown Language which none can Vnderstand save the Redeemed of the Lord. By one whose Name is truly known by the Children of the same Birth but unknown to the World though it be called EDWARD BVRROVGH Ther is more than here set down in that Magnificient Title-Page But I would shew the Reader thus much to let him see the no ordinary Stile of the Quakers In this Book p. 9. Ther is a Chapter against the King and his Cause then under the