considered as God-Man If by the Saviour of his People he means such a Saviour as saves them with eternal Salvation and makes them Heirs of God and Co heirs with Christ I say without all Faith either explicit or implicit That some of the Gentiles who endeavoured to live up to some Moral Principles discovered to them by the Light in their Consciences and the Improvements that their reasonable Faculties made being enlightned thereby by viewing the Works of Creation and general Providence had a kind of Faith and Hope in God that prompted them to expect Temporal Blessings and some Temporal Rewards from the Observation they could make that Divine Providence did ordinarily bestow such Blessings upon Men that were morally honest may and ought to be granted But this is not the Faith of God's Elect and of the Heirs of eternal Salvation that is grounded upon the Faithful Word of God and his Faithful Promises first delivered to his Holy Prophets and Apostles and by them to us even such a word of Faith as that It is a faithful saying that Jesus Christ is come into the World to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 For to him gave all the Prophets witness as Peter preached to Cornelius that whoever believeth in him should receive remission of Sins Acts 10.43 God's Promises come not to Men nor ever came to them by the common Dictates of the Light within whither they call it God or the Word or the Spirit there are diversities of Operations Gifts and Ministrations inward as well as outward of one God one Lord and one Spirit who is over all in all and through all It is but a faint Hope and Faith that Men can have in God without the Promises and without all special Revelation The knowledge of God's Goodness discoverable by the Light in every Conscience in the Works of Creation and Providence may give Men that are morally honest some probable Faith that he will be favourable to them But the infallible ground of certainty concerning eternal Life and Salvation none ever had or can have without the Promises and special Revelation For all the Light and Knowledge that the Ephesian Gentiles had in their meer Gentile State Paul told That at that time they were without hope and without the Promises and aliens and strangers to the common-wealth of Israel Eph. 2.12 An indigent Man that knows a good Man that is able to help him yet he is not sure that he will help him unless he has his promise and some particular intimation of his mind but if he have that then his Faith hath sure footing But the Faithful have not only God's Word and Promises but confirmed by his Oath that by two immutable things they might have strong Confidence and Hope that is as an Anchor sure and stedfast and which enters within the Vail whither the Fore-runner hath gone But there is nothing of this sort of Faith that I can find as any-wise necessary or essential to the Religion here described in this Treatise of W.P. but pure Deism and at best refined Paganism all along as will further appear in what follows I find in Page 50 of the same Treatise a quite differing Definition of Faith which if not plainly contradictory to the former is very disingenous and full of Equivocation but whatever way it be taken if he adhere to it and allow it to be a proper Definition where the Definition it self in the parts of it ought to be essential to the thing defined and such as the thing defined cannot be without it yields as sufficient Argument against his Position That the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith His Definition is this Faith is yielding up to the requirings of God's Spirit in us in full assurance of the Remission of Sins that are past through the Son of his love and Life everlasting Several things are faulty in this Definition First That he confounds the Effect or Concomitant of Faith with Faith it self for the yielding up or Resignation to God's Requirings is rather an Effect or Concomitant of Faith than Faith it self especially in the present case as it hath respect to the Rule which determines what is to be believed or assented unto upon the Credit of Divine Authority Secondly That he makes Remission of Sins to be antecedent and prior to Faith which is the Error of the Antinomians and plainly contradictory to the Scripture that holds forth both Repentance and Faith to be necessary Requisites in order to Forgiveness Thirdly That he makes full Assurance of Remission of Sins to be of the Nature of Faith whereas there is a Faith of Adhesion that is true Faith that many of the Faithful have who have not arrived to that full Assurance But that which I principally notifie in this his last Definition is That he makes this full Assurance of the Remission of Sins to be through the Son of God's love Where that the Equivocation and Fallacy may be discovered I ask him what he means by the Son of his Love through which this Assurance if Remission of Sins is obtained If he means by the Son of his Love only the Light within every Man's Conscience it is a palpable Equivocation and inserted on purpose to deceive the Christian Readers who generally by Mens having Remission of Sins through the Son of God's Love do understand the Son of God's Love to be the Word Incarnate to wit Jesus Christ God-man as he died for our Sins by his Death to purchase to us the Pardon of them But this sense of the words which is the true Scripture sense and the sense of all true Christians W.P. doth not admit if he adhere to what he hath said both here and in his other Books for in his Serious Apology Page 146. he saith in behalf of himself and Brethren That that outward Person that suffered at Jerusalem was properly the Son of God we utterly deny And here in this Book he makes it not any of the absolute Necessaries in Religion but some considerable Matters superadded P. 44. That God was manifested extraordinarily in the Flesh that he gave his Life for the World that such as believe and obey his Grace in their Hearts receive Remission of Sins and Life everlasting But which way soever he understands these words The Son of God's Love seeing he makes the Rule of every Man's Faith not to be the Words of God declaring his Promise of Forgiveness as outwardly delivered in the Holy Scriptures but the Light in every Man's Conscience he is bound to give us some better proof than his simple Affirmation That the Light in every Man's Conscience or indeed in any Man's conscience reveals to him God's Will to forgive Sins without all special Revelation or Declaration of God's Will as contained in the Holy Scriptures seeing the Holy Scriptures do hold it forth as one of the great Secrets and Mysteries of God's Will declared to Men by the special Revelation of the Holy
Spirit through his Holy Prophets and Apostles even Remission of Sin and Free Justification by Jesus Christ through Faith in him and not by any Works or Obedience that either the Jew did perform to the outward Law or the Gentile did perform to the Law writ in the Heart When Peter preached Remission of Sin by Faith in Jesus Christ whom the Jews hang'd on the Tree to Cornelius he confirm'd this Doctrine not from the eternal Precepts in every Man's Conscience or the common Dictates of the Light in every Man but from the general Testimony of the Prophets Acts 10.43 To him said Peter give all the Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins But according to W. P's Doctrine the Apostle Peter should have said To him the Light in every Conscience gave the Dictates of that Light in every Conscience witness That whosoever gave up to the Requirings of the Light in them without all Faith in Christ God-man without them shall receive the Remission of their Sins And seeing whatever is the Rule of Faith must teach us all that is needful to Salvation by it self as W.P. argueth he must prove that the Light in every Man's Conscience dictateth to him this Proposition That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.9 Or if it doth dictate some other way than this then that and the like places of Scripture contradict the Dictates of the Light within But that this Proposition laid down Rom. 10.9 is no Dictate of the Light within in Mens Consciences is evident from W. P's plain Confession P. 32 33. who saith That the Light within should tell us that Christ suffered Death and rose again is not needed inasmuch as an account of that is extant in Scripture Whereby it plainly appears he holds it not needful to our Salvation to believe that Proposition Rom. 10.9 seeing the Light within that is the Rule of Faith doth not reveal it and such Revelation is not necessary and consequently according to him the belief of that Proposition Rom. 10.9 is not necessary to any for Salvation And if that be not necessary by the same method of Argument according to W.P. nor is the belief of all the other parts of Scripture necessary to Salvation which are not the common Dictates of the Light in every Conscience The only use of the whole Scripture according to W.P. is meerly Historical which though perhaps true is nowise necessary to our Salvation to believe the truth of it but we are left at liberty to believe or disbelieve all and every part of what is contained in the Scripture without any danger to our Salvation excepting these few absolute necessaries that the Light within every Conscience teacheth us as well as the Scriptures But none of all the twelve Articles of the Apostle's Creed according to the true Sense of Scripture or the common received Sense of all true Christians are taught by the Light within without the external Revelation of the Scripture therefore according to W.P. the belief of none of these twelve Articles is necessary to our Salvation The which being the plain Import of W. P's Doctrine laid down in his Book whither it be not Plain Deism appearing with open face I appeal to all sincere Christians Section 2. His Arguments from Scripture that the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith and Life Answered HE begins with his Proofs Page 4. That the Light in every Man's Conscience is the general Rule of Faith and Life from Matt. 11.27 and 1 Cor. 2.11 he argues That because the Father cannot be known but by the Revelation of the Son and Holy Spirit consequently that Light metioned John 1.3 or Spirit must have been the general Rule of Mens Knowledge Faith and Obedience with respect to God Answ His Consequence is denied he gives no proof of it yea it is manifestly false and to discover its Fallacy observe how he confounds the efficient Cause and Author of Knowledge and Faith with the Rule which he ought to distinguish He might as well argue no Man sees what hour it is on a Sun-dyal but by the Sun and consequently the Sun and not the Dyal is the Rule whereby he knows the hour Page 5. His next Argument is from Eph. 5.13 Whatever makes manifest is Light therefore the Light in the Conscience is the general Rule Answ The Consequence again is denied it has the same defect as the former as will appear by forming the like Argument Whatever makes manifest an outward object to our Eye is some outward light of Sun Moon or Candle c. Therefore that alone without the object manifests it and also without the Organ of sight who sees not the Fallacy of this Argument and as much he may see the Fallacy of the other The next place of Scripture he argueth from is Rom. 1.19 which he falsly quotes as I have observed he hath misquoted this place both here and in pag. 21 for thus he quotes it WHATEVER might be known of God was made manifest within for God who is Light hath shewn it unto them But let the place it self be considered and it saith not WHATEVER but what is to be known of God is manifest in them to wit the Gentiles or Heathen Nations who had not the peculiar Doctrines of the Christian Faith revealed to them or Preached among them And that the words what is to be known of God cannot be meant of WHATEVER can or is to be known of God was manifest in them as the Text doth not say it so it is a manifest Falshood It cannot be said of the best Christians â—hat whatever is to be known of God is made manifest in them for the best know but in part and there is still more to be known of God even in the best of Christians than what is at present revealed or made manifest in them And it is very evident from the following words what Paul meant by that saying What is to be known of God or as it is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. The Eternal power and God-Head which was made manifest partly by the things made or created without Men and partly by some Divine Illumination within them But doth it therefore follow that because those Heathens had some knowledge of the Eternal Power and God-head that therefore they knew all the fundamental Princiles of the Christian Religion By no means more than it followeth that W.P. knoweth some things of England and some other Countries partly by History and partly by his sight of them therefore he knows the whole Earth so far as it is habitable He brings another Proof That the Light in every Man's Conscience is the Rule of Faith and Life from Micah 6.8 He hath shewed unto thee O Man what is good and what God requireth of thee
c. Which saith he could not be without the Light of his Son shines in Man's Conscience therefore the light of Christ in the Conscience must needs have been the General Rule c. Answ His Consequence is again denied which he doth not prove it has the same defect with his foregoing proofs that he confounds the Author and Efficient cause of Faith with the Rule which is the instrumental Cause thereof But let it be further considered what the following words are not mentioned by W.P. here and let them be compared with the foregoing words Ver. 7. Will the Lord be pleased with Thousands of Rams or with ten Thousands of Rivers of Oyl shall I give my first born for my transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul Ver. 8. He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and love Mercy and walk humbly with thy God And it will appear that the words at least have a Comparative Sense as intimating that Justice Mercy and Humility or Humble walking with God are more acceptable to God and the greater things of God's Laws than all outward Sacrifices were But doth it therefore follow that God did not require those outward Sacrifices then to be offered up or that God did not require Faith in the People of Israel that he did Command them And if such a Faith was then required of them which the common dictates of the light in every Conscience did not teach them but special Revelation by the like reason it can be proved that the Faith of Christ the great Sacrifice as he was outwardly to be offered up of which all the outward Sacrifices were Types was also required by the Lord from that People the which Faith all the faithful then had and by which Faith they received the remission of their Sins according to Acts 10 43. But seeing the Light within every Man gives them not this Faith nor teacheth it them it evidently follows that the Light within every Man is not the Rule of the Christian Faith it may be further said that the words Micah 6.8 9. if they were to be understood with respect to meer Heathens and Gentiles who have not the External Word might imply that no more is required of them than those general things which the Law or Light in them doth teach them and is the only Rule they have but these words seem not to be spoke with respect to meer Gentiles but rather to them that were by Profession the Church of God and though neither Faith nor Repentance nor many other Evangelical Virtues and Duties are there expressed yet without doubt they are implyed as well as where Faith is only exprest in many places of Scripture Love and other Virtues are implyed And indeed by the like Fallacy W.P. might infer that our whole Religion consists in practiseing the Duties of the 2d Table from James's words Pure and undefiled Religion is to visit the Fatherless and the Widow and to keep unspotted from the World And that Consequently he that doth this though he practise none of the Duties of the First Table he has Religion enough yea though he have no Faith in God no fear of him nor Love to him if he be Charitable and temperate as it has been reported some Atheists have been Page 5. His next Argument is It was by this Law that Enoch Noah Abraham Melchisideck Abimilech Job Jethro c. walked and were accepted as saith Jreneus and Tertullian they wâ—re Just by the Law written in their Hearts then was it their Rule too and in that Just State Answ This Argument hath several defects in it 1. To argue from a Law or Rule of Moral Justice to a Law or Rule of Faith in Christ the promised Messiah without which Faith there is no promise of Eternal Life and Salvation in all the Scripture Secondly That he Jumbleth Abimelech and Jethro none of which were prophets with Abraham and others that were Prophets and had extraordinary Revelation concerning the Messiah Thirdly That he makes no distinction betwixt what the Light or Word did reveal commonly in all Men by the common Illumination and what that same word did reveal to the Prophets and by them to the Faithful by special Revelation and Illumination And indeed all his Arguments are in great part built on this Fallacy of not distinguishing but confounding the common or general Illuminations given to all Men from the special and extraordinary given to some That the common Illumination of the Divine Word was to the Patriarchs Abraham Noah c. a Law or Rule of Justice is granted but that it was to them a Law or Rule of Faith whereby they believed in the promised Messiah is denied for that was a special Revelation that was the Law or Rule of that Faith and not the common Illumination though both common and special were and are from the same Divine Word yet this hinders not their Distinction as all the Creatures of God have one Creator and Author of their Being yet this hinders not but that the Creatures are widely distinct one from another Section 3. His first and second Arguments that the Scripture is not the Rule of Faith and Life Answered Page 5. IN the next place he pleads that the Scriptures cannot be the Rule arguing thus Arg. 1. How can they be the general Rule that have not been general Answ He is still guilty of confounding and jumbling things that ought to be distinguished 1. None saith that the Scriptures are a general Rule If by a general Rule he means a Rule actually obliging all Men whomsoever for the Scripture obligeth none but such who either have them or at least can by some possible means have them 2. It is granted that the Law or Illumination that is in all Men is the general Law or Rule of Justice and Morality to all Men. But what then will it follow that Christians have no other Rule but that of moral Justice 3. He ought to have distinguished betwixt the general Law or Rule of Justice given to all Mankind and the general superadded Law and Rule of Christian Faith and Practise given in general to Christians but for want of this distinction he deceives himself and seeks to deceive others with fallacious Arguments Page 6. He brings an Objection thus But granting that the Light within were so viz. the general Rule before Scripture was extant yet c. Answ He supposeth that to be granted which ought not to be granted viz. That the common Illumination before Scripture was extant was the Rule of the Faith of all the Faithful who lived and died in the Faith of the promised Messiah by whom they believed to have Remission of Sin and eternal Life This is altogether denied for this Faith they had not by the common Illumination but by special Revelation given to some by Prophesie and to others by means of their Prophesies Page
even in them to wit the Doctrine of the Kingdom together with which some inward Seed of Light might have been sown in some of their Hearts by his Ministry beyond and above the common Illumination But what proof is this that the Gentiles had the Kingdom of God in them in this Sense who never to this day heard Christ or any of his Ministers nor received any Gospel Doctrine by any outward Testimony by voice or writing And Heb. 8.10 compared with Jer. 31.33 and all the other places do wholly respect that part of Mankind to whom the Gospel is outwardly preached and for most part such who did believe it or were in due time to believe it as that noted place Titus 2.11 12. by the Grace of God that had appeared to all cannot be understood the common Light or Illumination in all because v. 13. it was such a Grace that taught such who gave up to be taught by it and obey it to look for that blessed Hope and glorious Appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to dye for us that by his Death and precious Blood outwardly shed for us he might redeem us from all Iniquity Now can W.P. or any of his Deist Brethren prove that any Jew Mahometan Heathen or Deist that obey the Dictates of the Light within are taught thereby to look for this glorious appearing of Jesus Christ when he shall come in his glorified Manhood to judge the Quick and the Dead for that no doubt is the glorious Appearing here meant the most Obedient of his Jewish Mahometan Brethren to the Light within them and the most strict and exact Deists here in England will tell him they believe no such thing their Light within them hath taught them no such Faith nor Hope yea Cornelius that was a most excellent Gentile for Virtue and I suppose in his Gentile state surpassed for Piety and Virtue the best Deist in England was not taught by the Light that was formerly in him in his Gentile state to believe Remission of Sin through Faith in Jesus of Nazareth whom the Jews hanged on a Tree c. but was informed by the Angel to send for Peter to preach this Jesus to him nor did the Angel direct him to the Light in him simply for Information but to the Apostle Peter without him that by means of his Ministry he might receive the Christian Faith and the special Illumination of the Holy Ghost as accordingly was fulfilled And as to the words Jer. 31.34 compared with Heb. 8.11 they shall not teach every Man his neighbour and every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord For all shall know me from the least to the greatest This Promise doth only belong to the Children of the New Covenant to wit the Members of Christ's Catholick Church and not to all Mankind therefore cannot be meant of the common Illumination in Heathens and Infidels nor of many Thousands living under a visible Profession of Christianity who are not so taught of God that they need not a Man to teach them or to say know the Lord for to be so taught is a high State and the words have their full and perfect accomplishment in the future State though in part here and comparatively they have their present fulfilling as often indeed many places of Scripture have a comparative meaning Besides that it is granted that that high degree of Divine knowledge above described that is a divine enjoyment of God by Spiritual Sensation Sight and Taste one Man cannot teach it to another for it surpasseth all words either uttered or conceived as one Man cannot teach another that is Blind to see or Deaf to hear or that hath not his Taste to Savour though as to the Doctrinal knowledge he may teach him and by means of that Teaching be made instrumental by the blessing and Grace of God to open his Spiritual Eyes and excite those Spiritual Sensations in him And what though Christ left nothing in Writing by himself for the Rule of Faith and practise as W.P. argueth what his Apostles and Evangelists committed to Writing by his Inspiration was sufficient why it should be received to be the Rule of our Faith that is the outward Instrument whereby Faith is wrought in us and whereby we may be helped through the Spirits inward Illumination and assistance how to discern what we are to believe to be true Doctrine and what we are to practise But it 's very strange what he further saith That had he intended the Rule of his followers to have been a written Rule note a written Rule he would have left it upon record with all punctuality this must be believed and that done on pain of Eternal Death His words plainly import as if such punctuality had not been recorded but as if People who read the Scriptures or hear them ever so truly expounded were left at liberty to believe this or the other thing or not belive it though written and commanded and also to do or not do without any danger of Damnation whereas the plain words of our Saviour are recorded by Mark 16.16 He that believeth not shall be Damned believeth not what surely both what Christ Preached and what his Apostles and Evangelists were inspired to write by his Spirit to whom those Writings should come for others to whom they have not come their Sins against the Law and Light in their Consciences are sufficient to render them without excuse But saith he nor did his followers write in the method of a Rule How knows he that Is he so great a Master of Method so as that he can prove they write not in the Method of a Rule What saith he to Christ's Sermon on the Mount and his other Sermons recorded by the Four Evangelist's which alone though we had no other parts of the New Testament are a sufficient Rule both of Faith and Life which yet makes not the other parts superfluous It is a good saying Abundance of the Law breaks not the Law as God's ways are not as Man's ways so God's Method in delivering us the Rule of Faith and Life is not as Man's Method And what saith he to Luke who Luk. 1.13 declareth that having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first it seemed good to him to write them in Order and said John John 20.31 These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have Life through his Name It is strange that a Quaker should argue against the Scripture being the Rule of Faith and Life for wanting the Method of a Rule who may be thought very improper Judges of Method being so immethodical themselves both in Writing and Preaching and cry out against others for Method and yet now the Scriptures must be rejected from being the Rule of Faith and Life for not being writ in the Method of a Rule If W.P. must be believed
them speak that God was manifested extraordinarily in the Flesh that he gave his Life for the World that such as believe and obey his Grace in their Hearts receive Remission of Sins and Life everlasting First It is needful he should explain what he means by these words That he gave his Life whither the Life of the Man Christ without us or the Blood which is the Life and that Life is the Light within as he hath been heard to preach and is according to his Books And what means he by the word believe Whither to believe that Christ died for our Sins and rose again Well in Charity I will suppose this to be his meaning otherwise he would greatly equivocate but still all this belief is none of the absolute Necessaries in Religion they are some considerable Matters superadded Superadded to what To the Scriptures Nay they are the chief Doctrines of the Scriptures Therefore again I ask Superadded to what Why to the Light within its Dictates But are they necessary to be believed since they are supernumerary and superadded to the Dictates of the Light in every Conscience Yea saith W.P. Page 35. where the History has reached and the Spirit of God has made a Conviction upon the Conscience Well then If they are necessary to be believed where the Spirit of God hath made this Conviction upon the Conscience this Conviction is not the Effect of the general Light in every Conscience but somewhat superadded and therefore the general Light in the Conscience is not the perfect and compleat Rule But what if the Spirit make not this Conviction upon the Conscience of some who have the Scripture which he calls the History Is he sure the Spirit will make it or doth make it on every Conscience to whom the History reacheth If he say yea he throweth down his Fabrick with his own words for if so this Conviction made by the Spirit of God on the Conscience must be a part yea the greatest part of the Rule of Faith to all who have the Scriptures because the Scriptures hold forth many more things to be believed and practised than these few eternal Precepts as he calls them of the Spirit in the Conscience And though W.P. here seems to render them excusable to whom the Doctrine of Christ's Death hath reached and yet believe it not on whom the Spirit of God hath not made a Conviction Yet in his Treatise of Spiritual Liberty he calls it a loose Plea to pretend want of Conviction for not obeying G. F's Orders and tending to Ranterism But if he shall say the Spirit doth not work this Conviction upon many that the History reacheth as his words import then they are left at liberty whither to believe them at all without all Sin or danger Thus we may see what sort of Faith he and his Brethren have of the Articles of the Creed viz. An unnecessary Faith to have it or not have it is all a Case if they have it not it is not their Sin their primary Rule the Light within them tells them nothing of it But then why should the Secondary Rule tell them any of these things As there is nothing in the Copy but what is in the Original so there is nothing in the Secondary Rule the Scriptures at this rate but what is in the Dictates of the Light within and therefore all that is to be found in the Scripture that is not in the Dictates of the Light within is not so much as the Secondary Rule Thus we may see of what little value the Scriptures are and must be with him and his Party by this his way of arguing and answering Objections But note Reader how in his foregoing words I have faithfully quoted he makes the believing and obeying God's Grace for Remission of Sins and Life everlasting to be none of the absolute Necessaries of Religion but superadded as some of them speak Here is Obedience to God's Grace made as unnecessary by W.P. as Faith in Christ as he was outwardly manifest in the Flesh What thinks G.W. and his Brethren of this Doctrine Is it not plain Antinomianism yea plain Ranterism Section 16. The Scriptures are not certainly known and believed upon the Foundation of W.P. and his Party among the Quakers but are upon the Foundation of all Orthodox Christians The Question wrongly stated by W.P. about the Sufficiency of the Light or Spirit of God within which is not what he can reveal but what he doth reveal without the outward Means of Instruction Page 23. HE labours to turn off that Objection against him of his arguing from the uncertainty of the Scriptures that they cannot be a Rule of Faith and Life by answering The Scriptures are uncertain upon their Foundation but not upon ours We would have them received saith he upon the Spirits Testimony and Evidence which gave them forth I answer And so would all true Christians but the difference is great in the way and manner of their and his defining this Testimony or Evidence which he and his Brethren will have wholly to be by Prophetical and Apostolical Inspiration the same in Specie and Kind with what the Prophets and Apostles had giving them a new repetition of the same Articles and Precepts and all this only from the Light within as it is a common dispensation to all Mankind the falsity of which common experience as well as the Testimony of Scripture doth sufficiently prove for if the Light within them doth de novo give W.P. and his Brethren the Revelation of all or most of these peculiar Doctrines of Christianity why should they have it more than Jews Mahometans Deists and Heathens many of whom they account have been and are faithful and obedient to the Dictates of the Light within them Besides if more be revealed to the Quakers by the common Light within than to other parts of Mankind who have not the Scriptures they must needs grant their Rule of Faith is more large and full than that in others and consequently not being so perfect in others as in them it is no general Rule of Faith for thus he argued against the Scriptures But if the Scriptures are so wholly uncertain upon the foundation of other Christians and so certain upon the foundation of the Quakers from their pretence to the same divine Inspiration that the Prophets and Apostles had they would wonderfully oblige the Christian World If we could believe them to tell us from their infallibility what Translations are best or rather to give us a new Translation by divine Inspiration and which of all the Copies and various Iections are truest but that this is a groundless and empty brag is too apparent while their ignorance and gross perversions of Scripture and false Interpretations are greater than any other in Christendom as can easily be proved But in contradiction to all this that the Scriptures are certain upon the Quakers foundation from the divine Inspiration and Revelation that
allow What if any now should say that the Light within them forbids them to eat Flesh How could W.P. convince them of their Error If he bring Paul's words or any other Scripture words to his Conviction may he not answer that the Scripture is not the Rule of his Faith and W.P. hath confirmed him by his late Book that saith the same and if the Light within in the Esseni might contradict the Scripture of the Old Testament why may not the Light within in a Quaker contradict the Scripture of the New Testament both being given from the same Spirit and the Scripture of the Old Testament as binding to the Jews before Christ's Incarnation as the Scripture of the New Testament is to the Christians since And how can W.P. prove that Poligamy is against the Light within It is granted that the New Testament forbids it But what then by W. P's Doctrine the greatest things in the New Testament are not necessary absolutely to be believed but upon Conviction of the Spirit i. e. upon a new Revelation as that Christ was born of a Virgin dyed for our Sins c. And he plainly tells us Any such new Revelation is not necessary If this be not to turn People loose and to run them into great Confusion Light against Light and Spirit against Spirit while the Holy Scripture is denied to be the Rule of Faith and Life yea a Rule I leave to the Sober and Intelligent to judge Section 18. A Correction of a Saying of W.P. Scandalous and Offensive to Christian Ears That Men are not like to be informed of the Knowledge and Experience of the New Birth from our Saviour's words to Nicomedus John 3. Nor can that Scripture be my Rule saith he in that heavenly travel c. Neither can any other Writing whatever Page 29. HERE I find one passage more in this book of W. P's that I am sure greatly derogates from the Scriptures and is justly offensive to Christian Ears Having quoted our Saviour's words to Nicodemus that he saith may be credited Historically that unless a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3. But what is that saith he to the Knowledge and Experience of the new Birth that they are never like to be informed of there Nor can that Scripture be my Rule in that heavenly Travel respecting the many and wonderful Trials and Exercises that are to be met with in the way to it Neither can any other Writing whatever This Only is the Office of that Spirit and Word Immortal by which we are begotten again I answer Here he excludes not only that place above mentioned but the whole Scripture from being instrumental to our Information and plainly denies that any can be informed of it there this is indeed to make it not only not the Rule but not a Rule in this great case But his assertion is extreamly false the place quoted John 3.3 5. informs us of the necessity of Regeneration and the following words informs us of the way and manner how it is wrought to wit by the Spirit as the principal Efficient and by Faith in the Son of Man as the Instrumental cause v. 14 15 16. and this Faith is wrought instrumentally by the Words and Doctrine of the Gospel called by Paul Rom. 6.17 The Form or Pattern of Doctrine whereunto the believing Romans were delivered as the Mettal that is melted into the Mould that frames it into a Vessel And will W.P. say that his and his Brethrens Preaching and Words inform People nothing of Regeneration nor of the manner of it and the several steps in the progress of it If not their Preaching so much of the New Birth and the manner of it at least as they think is very unprofitable but if they think their Preaching profitable to inform concerning Regeneration and manner of it then their Preaching must be better than the whole Scripture Had he said the Scripture without the Spirit cannot guide or direct us in the way of Regeneration nor be instrumental towards it without the same he had not been to blame all true Christians say the same but to exclude the Scriptures that is the Word and Doctrine contained in the Scriptures from being so much as an Organ or Instrument in the hand of the Spirit as the Spirit giveth Efficacy to it is extreamly false and erronious and contradicts the Scriptures Testimony and the Experience of Thousands who can set to their Seal that the Spirit of God has made the Scriptures to wit the Word and Doctrine delivered in them Instrumental both to their Conviction and Conversion Surely James was of another mind than W.P. who said That the Faithful were begotten of the Will of God by the Word of Truth and Peter said They were made Partakers of the Divine Nature by the exceeding great and precious Promises which are to be found in the Holy Scriptures through the Operation of the Divine Power And as false it is what he saith That Experience to wit of the New Birth must go before all Doctrinal Scripture Meaning the Doctrine delivered in the Scripture which was the same before it was written This is to set the Cart before the Horse as the Proverb is or the Fruit before the Seed Are Men regenerated in Blindness and Ignorance or rather are they not renewed in Knowledge And this Knowledge doth it not presuppose some doctrinal Principles of which Men must be first convinced Has the Doctrine of the great Love of God in sending his Son into the World outwardly to dye for us and inwardly to enlighten us no Influence on our Regeneration Was Adam regenerated before God gave him the Promise of the Womans Seed after his Fall by his Assertion it must be so which is wonderful Ignorance Is he so little acquainted with the Holy Scriptures as not to have seen the Lineaments Steps and Progress of the New Birth fairly delineated and the whole manner of it as clearly as any Country can be delineated in the fairest Map with all the several Roads but as the Map can be of no use to a blind Man though to a seeing it is of great use so to a Man whom the Spirit of God has in some measure enlightned the Scriptures are as serviceable as a Map to a Traveller yea and much more they are really the Instrument of the Spirit both for convincing and converting Men and the Rule according to which the Spirit leads them in the various steps of it It is granted That the Experience of Regeneration in whom it is wrought is much more than any verbal account of it by the best of words and gives a Man in some respect a more satisfactory Knowledge of it than any Man can have by Scripture words or any words whatsoever who is not himself regenerated as the sight of a Country is more and gives a Man a more satisfactory account of it than all verbal Descriptions or Maps can do to