bookplate VIRTUTE ET OPERA The Right Honble. My Lord Bracco. Primitive Heresy REVIVED, IN The Faith and Practice Of the PEOPLE Called QUAKERS: Wherein is shown, in Seven Particulars, That the Principal and most Characteristic Errors of the Quakers, were Broached and Condemned, in the Days of the Apostles, and the first 150 Years after Christ. To which is Added, A Friendly Expostulation with William Penn, upon Account of his Primitive Christianity, lately Published. By the Author of The Snake in the Grass. LONDON: Printed for C. Brome, at the Gun, at the West-End of St. Paul's. W. Keblewhite, at the Swan in St. Paul's Churchyard. And H. Hindmarsh, at the Golden-Ball over-against the Royal Exchange. 1698. THE CONTENTS. The Seven Errors, wherein the Quakers are Compared with the Ancient Heretics. I. THeir Denial of the Incarnation of Christ, that is, of the Hypostatical, or PersonalVnion of the Divine and Humane Natures, in His being made Flesh. page 2. II. Their Denial of the Truth and Reality of His Death and Sufferings. p. 3. III. Their Denial of the Resurrection & Future Judgement. p. 7. iv Their Abstaining from the Sacraments and Prayers of the Church. p. 9 V Their forbidding to Marry, & preaching up of Fornication. p. 12. VI Their Contempt of Magistracy and Government. p. 14. VII. Their Stiffness in not taking off their Hats, or giving Men their Civil Titles. p. 17. The Conclusion, Wherein, 1. The Quakers are Invited to view their Errors in those Primitive Heresies. p. 18. 2. Their Complaint of being misrepresented. 3. Their Modern Representation of their Principles; leaves not Difference enough betwixt us, to Justify their Separation: Whence an Invitation to them to Return. The Friendly Expostulation, Concerning, 1. Mr. Penn's Notion of the Light within. p. 20. 2. This not sufficient to Justify his Separation. p. 28. 3. For he owns that we are of one Religion. p. 29. 4. His Exposition of Justification in his Primitive Christianity most Orthodox, and agreeing exactly with us. And his whole ix. Chapt. of the Inward or Spiritual Appearance of Christ in the Soul. Some Objections of his solved, so far as not to be any Justifiable Causes of a Separation, as Concerning, 1. Forms of Prayer. p. 30. 2. The Spirituality of the Ministry. 3. Their being Witnesses of Christ. p. 31. 4. Their Receiving Hire (as he calls it) for their Preaching. 5. Tithes. 6. Swearing. 7. War. 8. holidays. p. 32. Errata. PAge 11. l. 29. f. one r. only. P. 17. l. 21. r. Discriminating. P. 21. l. 11. deal? Primitive Heresy Revived, etc. IN my Discourse of Baptism, I promised something upon this Subject, in hopes that the Quakers, seeing the Original of their Errors, may bethink themselves, and Return from whence they have Fallen. And particularly, as to Baptism, that I might confirm my Expositions of the H. Scriptures, with the Concurrent Testimony of the H. Fathers, who were Cotemporarys with the Apostles, and learned the Faith from their mouths; and those who immediately followed them, to 150 Years after Christ. Though we have very little Remaining of the Writings of the Fathers in that early Age. Yet I would descend no lower (where I might have had Clouds of Witnesses) to avoid a Groundless Cavil, which the Quakers have learned from our Elder Dissenters, to Run down the Primitive Church, by wholesale, because it was so Full of Bishops, and, in all the Pretences of their Schism, went so Directly contrary to them. But the Fathers of the First Age, that next to the Apostles, and of which the Apostles were a Part, tho' as much Bishops, and as much against them as those following, yet for Decency sake, they Pretend to Reverence, lest in allowing them off, they should seem to throw off the Apostles with them, from whom they could not be parted. And because, even in this first Un-controverted Age, we have Proofs sufficient, I would avoid Needless Disputes, and Argue from Topics that are allowed on all hands. The Greatest Part of the following Discourse was wrote at the time with the Discourse of Baptism, and Intended to have been Annexed to it, but being Prevented at that time, it has since been neglected. Till I was stirred up afresh by a Book lately Published (though said to be Printed in 1696.) Entitled, [Primitive Christianity Revived in the Faith and Practice of the People called Quakers.] This came Directly to my Subject, therefore I have Examined it thoroughly, and leave the Reader to Judge, whether the Primitive Christianity or Heresy does belong most to them: At least, whether it did, before the late Representations of Quakerism, which have given it quite another Turn and Face than it ever had before. Such a Turn, as has left nothing on their side, whereby to justify their Schism. And therefore we hope that their Conversion is nigh; or if already Converted, their Full Reconciliation to the Church. That the Present Quakers, chief the Valuable Mr. Penn, may have the Honour, and the Happiness to Heal up that Breach, which now for 48 Years has so Miserably Torn and Divided this once most Christian and Renowned Church of England. In this following Discourse, I will not take up the Reader's time to Prove the several Positions which I name upon the Quakers; only Briefly Recite them, and Refer to the Places in The Snake in the Grass, and Satan Disrobed, where they are proved at large. And to Repeat them Here, would swell this to an unreasonable Bulk. And this being intended in the Nature of a Supplement to these, it would be Needless. The proper Business of this, is, to Compare the Quaker-Heresies with those of the first 150 Years of Christianity. Where I Quote The Snake, the Reader is desired to take notice, that it is the Second Edition. And now to our Task. The Seven Particulars wherein the Quakers have, if not copied after, at least Jumped with the Condemned Heretics before mentioned. I. The First is, as to their Denial of the Incarnation of Christ. They confess that Christ or The Word took Flesh; that is, That He Assumed or Dwelled in an Human Body, i. e. the Body of that Man Jesus; who was therefore called Christ, because that Christ or the Word Dwelled in Him. And for the same Reason, they take the Name of Christ to themselves; and say that it belongs to every one of the Members as well as unto the Head, i. e. as well as to that Man Jesus, who was Principally and Chief called The Christ, because that Christ Dwelled in Him, or did Inspire Him in a Greater Measure than other Men. But they Utterly Deny that the Man Jesus was Properly the Son of God. In a large Sense, every Christian may be called a Son of God; and so, and no otherwise, they allow Jesus to be the Son of God. But that He was Properly the Son of God, we utterly Deny,— says their serious Apology, p. 146. which was Printed 1671. See this Proved at large in The Snake in the Grass, Sect. x. Now I Proceed to show, That this Heresy was Broached and Condemned in the Days of the Apostles. This is it which St. John Reprehends, 1 Joh. iv. 3. Every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh, etc. or as Socrates (Hist. Eccl. l. 7. c. 32.) tells us it was wrote in the Ancient Copies, Every Spirit which separateth Jesus from God, is not of God. And he observes that this Text, and other Parts of this Epistle were altered by those who would separate the Divinity of Christ from His Humanity. Tho' as it now stands in our Copies, it means the same thing; for he that denys Christ to have been made Flesh, only says that he took it upon Him for a Cloak or a Veil, as Angels assume bodies when they appear in them: He denys Christ's coming in the Flesh, so as to become Truly and Really a Man; he takes away the Humanity of Christ, and so separates Jesus from God: Which, in the sense of this Text, is to Deny His coming in the flesh. St. Polycarp, in his Epist. to the Philippians, n. 7. Disputes against these Anti-christs', in the words of his Master St. John, whose Disciple he was, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (says he) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. i e. Whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh, is an Antichrist. II. The Second point is the Quakers Denial of the Truth and Reality of the Death and Sufferings of Christ. This is Consequential to the former Heresy; for if Christ took not the Body of Jesus into his own Person, but only dwelled in the Body of another Man, as he dwells in his Saints; if Christ and Jesus are two Persons; if the Body of Jesus was only a Veil or Garment for Christ to shroud himself in, as the Quakers speak; then, tho' Jesus suffered, yet Christ could not; and the Sufferings of Christ were but in Appearance and show, as if a Man's Cloak or Garment only were Crucify'd. What are then those Sufferings of Christ which the Quakers do own as Meritorious in the sight of God, for the Atonement of our sins? Why, an ALLEGORICAL Suffering, Death, and shedding of the Blood of their Light within; which they call Christ; of which Jesus, or the outward Christ, they say was but a Type; and that his Sufferings were only an Historical Transaction of the Greater Mystery of the Sufferings and Atonement performed by their Light within, as I have fully shown in The Snake in the Grass, Sect. x. p. 127. and Satan Disrobed, Sect. xii. p. 11. But now I am to show, That the Devil had Broached these Heresies, against the Truth of the Incarnation of Christ, and consequently against the Reality of his Death and Sufferings, within the first 150 Years after Christ: and that they were then Condemned by the Holy Fathers of the Church. Ignatius that Glorious Martyr of Christ, Bishop of Antioch, who flourished about the Year 70 after the Birth of Christ, and was Disciple to St. John the Evangelist, writes thus in his Epistle to the Magnesians, instructing their Faith, in what sort of Sufferings of Christ we were to Believe and Trust, not these Inward in our hearts, but to distinguish most effectually from these, those that He suffered under Pontius Pilate. I would have you Preserved, that you fall not into the snare of vain Doctrine; but that ye may abound, and be filled with the knowledge of the Birth, Passion, and Resurrection, which truly, and firmly were of Jesus Christ our hope, in the time of the Government of Pontius Pilate, from which let none of you be turned away. Stop your ears therefore (says he in his Epistle to the Trallians) when any shall speak to you without Jesus Christ. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. What Christ was this? the Outward Man Jesus, or the Light within? That Jesus, who was of the stock of David, who was of Mary, who was truly Born, did both Eat and Drink; was truly Persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly Crucify'd and Dyed— And who truly Risen from the Dead, his Father Raising of him; and his Father will, after the like fashion, Raise us up in Jesus Christ, who believe in him, without whom we cannot truly live. But some Atheists, that is, Infidels, do say, That He only appeared to be a Man, but took not a Body in Reality, and in appearance only seemed to Suffer, and die, etc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. And in the beginning of his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, after having Described that Christ who is the Object of our Faith, in the fullest manner, to obviate the Deceit of applying it to an Inward Christ, by calling Him the Son of David, Born of the Virgin, and Baptised of John, truly Crucified under Pontius Pilate, and Herod the Tetrarch; none of which can be applied to The Light within. He adds that we can only be saved by the Faith in this OUTWARD Jesus. By the Fruits of whose Divinely Blessed Passion, we are Saved— For he suffered all these things for us, that we might be saved. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And to Obviate the two Heretical Pretences, of making the Meritorious Suffering of Christ, to be His Suffering within us. And that His outward Sufferings, were not Real, but, in appearance only, as not being Really a Man, but only Residing in that Man Jesus, as in a Veil or Garment. Ignatius adds in the next words. And he truly suffered, and truly Raised himself; not, as some unbelievers say, that he only appeared to suffer, they but appearing to Exist. And as they Believe, so shall it be unto them, when they come to be out of the Body, and in the state of Spirits; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. that is, they shall justly Forfeit the True and Real Benefits Purchased for True Believers, by the death of Christ; since they will have it to be only in Appearance or False show; and take the Merit from the Outward death of Christ, which he suffered upon the Cross, and place it in a Fancied Suffering of the Light within them. And as He asserts the Faith in Christ's outward Death, so does he, in His Resurrection; not the Inward Rising of Christ in our hearts, but in His Outward Resurrection, that which was proved by their Handling of Him, and Feeling of His Flesh, and His Eating and Drinking with them, after His Resurrection. But, in the next Paragraph, he has a Prophetic Exhortation, which looks terribly upon the Quakers, among others. He tells the Smyrnaeans, that he gives them these Admonitions, not that he thinks them Guilty of these Heresies. But I Guard you before hand (says he) against Beasts in Human shape, whom you ought not only not to Receive; but if it be possible, not so much as to meet with them, only to pray for them, if they may at last Repent, which will be difficult. And again, says he, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom some not knowing, do deny, or rather, are denied by him, being the Preachers of Death, rather than of Truth. They abstain from the Eucharist, (that is, The Sacrament of the Lord 's Supper) and from the Prayers (of the Church) because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins; and which the Father in his Goodness Raised up. But these speaking against this Gift of God, die in their Inquiries. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And vain and Death must those Inquiries be, which, leaving the Gifts of God, the Sacraments of his own Institution, and to which His Promises are Annexed, seek for Salvation in ways and means of their own Devising. But it was unavoidable, that they who had left the Body of Christ, as a forsaken veil or garment, to Rot for ever in the Grave; or are careless what is come of it, as a thing now of no Virtue or Consequence to us, should Reject the Sacrament of it, which is a continual Exhibition of its virtues and efficacy to us: Or that they who hope for no Resurrection of their Bodies out of the Dust, should continue the use of those Sacraments which were ordained as signs and pledges of it. But, if it please God that they ever Return to the Faith, it is to be hoped that they will then Reassume these Guards, and Confirmations; which are the outward vehicles, and assurance of it. III. The Third point is their Denial of the Resurrection and Future Judgement. For the Proof of this upon the Quakers, I Refer to The Snake in the Grass, Sect. xii. p. 152. and to Satan Disrobed, Sect. iii. and iv. beginning at p. 26. and p. 21. of the Glean. Now we find full Proof, that this Heresy was Broached in in the Days of the Apostles; and by them Condemned, as is plain from 1 Cor. xv. 12. etc. and 2 Tim. 2.18. in which last Text, the very Quaker-salvo is expressly set down, by which they have Betrayed themselves into this Fatal Heresy, viz. Saying that the Resurrection is Past already, that is, Performed Inwardly, to those who follow the Light, (see Satan Disrobed, p. 21. of the Glean) and Mr. Penn understands that Full and Elegant Description of the Resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. all of this Inward and Allegorical Resurrection; for in his Book; Entitled, The Invalidity of John Faldo 's Vindication, etc. Printed 1673. repeating ver. 44. of this Chapt. viz. It is sown a Natural Body, it is Raised a Spiritual Body, he says p. 369. I do utterly deny, that this Text is concerned in the Resurrection of Man's carnal Body, at all. And p. 370. I say this doth not concern the Resurrection of carnal bodies, but the two states of Men under the first and second Adam. And though as he objects, the 47 and 49 verses seem to imply a Bodily Resurrection, But (says he) let the whole verse be considered, and we shall find no such thing. To the Arguments of the Apostles against this Heresy, let me add some Testimonies of others their Co-temporary Fathers, or rather explain the Texts of the Apostles by their Comments, who learned this Article of the Faith from their mouths. The Texts above Quoted were wrote by St. Paul, who (Phil. iv. 3.) mentions Clement as his Fellow Labourer, and whose Name is in the book of Life: And he was as likely to know St. Paul's meaning, as Mr. Penn, whom I desire to read his 2d. Epist. to the Corinthians, where, N. ix. he will find these words. Let none of you say, that this same flesh is not judged, nor shall rise again. Understand, in what have ye been saved; was it not while ye were in this flesh? therefore it behoveth us to keep our flesh, as the temple of God. For as ye have been called in the flesh, so shall ye come in the flesh. Jesus Christ the Lord, who saveth us, was first a Spirit, and then made flesh, and so he called us. So shall we Receive our Reward, in this very flesh. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr, who flourished about the Year of Christ, 70. and was Disciple to St. John the Evangelist, in his Epistle to the Philippians, n. 7. says that Whoever does not confess the Martyrdom or suffering of Christ upon the Cross, is of the Devil: And he that will wrest the Oracles of Christ to his own Lusts, and say that there is no Resurrection nor Judgement to come, he is the Firstborn of Satan. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And Hegesippus, who lived near to the Days of the Apostles, in his Fifth Book; as Quoted by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 23.) speaking of these Ancient Heretics, says, that they did not believe either the Resurrection, or the coming of Christ to render to every one according to his Works. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. iv The Fourth Point, is their abstaining from the Sacraments and Prayers of the Church. And for this, I have before quoted Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, where he tells of those who Abstained from the Prayers of the Church, and the Lord 's Supper, because they did not believe it to be the Flesh of Christ, which Suffered for our sins, and was Raised up, etc. For how could they who (as the Quakers) made no more of the flesh of Christ, than a Garment or a Veil, but no part of his Person, and consequently could never call the Bodily Garment, Christ: And thought their own Flesh and Blood to be the Flesh and Blood of Christ, as well as the Flesh and Blood of that Man Jesus, in whom they say that Christ or the Light dwelled, as in themselves (see Satan Disrobed, Sect. two. n. 2. and 3. p. 2. and 3. of the Glean) and placed the Meritorious Cause of our Redemption, and Justification, not in the Blood of Christ outwardly shed; but in the Allegorical or Inward Blood of their Light within, Inwardly and Invisibly shed, etc. I say, How could these endure a Sacrament so contrary to their Belief? For the Bread cannot be called the Flesh of their Light within; but it was of His Outward Flesh that Christ spoke, when he said, This is my Body, and His Outward Blood was said to be shed for The Remission of Sins. And the Eucharist was such a visible Representation of this, as could not but shock these Enthusiast Heretics. And where the Sacraments are Practised, such mad Enthusiasm cannot take place. And we see, by woeful Experience, that where these Guards of the Truth and Importance of Christ's Outward Sufferings are taken away, Men fall, from the True Faith, in them. But the Quakers have not only thrown off the Use and Practise of the Sacraments, and left them as things Indifferent, or Lawful to be Practised by such as may be conscientiously concerned for them, but Damn them as Carnal, and Doctrines of Devils. G. Fox, in his News out of the North, Printed 1655. p. 14. makes them the like Witchcraft as turned the Galatians to Circumcision. And their Sacrament (says he) as they call it, is carnal— And their Communion is carnal, a little Bread and Wine— Which is the Table of Devils, and Cup of Devils, which is in the Generation of Serpents in this Great City Sodom and Gomorrah, so dust is the Serpent's meat, etc. And p. 39 You say that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is the Gospel, which is carnal— You say, that sprinkling Infants is the Baptism, which Baptizeth them into the faith, and so into the Church, which is carnal: And you tell People of a Sacrament, bringing them to Eat a little Bread and Wine, and say, that this is a Communion of Saints, which is carnal, and all this feeds the Carnal Mind, etc. And he Blasphemously says in his Title Page, that all this was Written from the mouth of the Lord. Edward Burrough, p. 190. of his Works, Printed 1672. says, Their Doctrines are of the devil, who— say sprinkling Infants with water— is Baptism into the faith of Christ, this is the doctrine of the devil. And p. 191. These have filled the world with damnable Heresies, as holding forth, That sprinkling Infants with water is Baptism into the faith of Christ, etc. These are damnable Heresies, even to the denying the Lord that bought them. And p. 644. That it is not lawful for the Saints of God, to join themselves to your Ordinances. This Hideous Blasphemy and Outrage against the Divine Institutions of our Lord, I hope will appear to be such to the well-disposed among the Quakers, who will be at the pains to Read my Discourse of Water-Baptism. It seems to have had some Effects already, even with George Whitehead himself. For in his Answer to The Snake (whereto he adds a chapter upon that Discourse of Baptism) he seems to come off that former Rigour of the Quakers, and says, p. 114. That as for those who are More conscientiously tender in the observation thereof, we are (says he) the more tender to these so as not to censure or condemn them merely for Practising that which they believe is their duty, either in breaking of Bread, or Water-baptism. So that, by this, he yields the Practice of the Sacraments to be at least Lawful, contrary to Burrough, Fox, and the Primitive Quakers; for, if it were not Lawful, I suppose he would not have that Tenderness for the Observation thereof, but would censure and condemn it, as those others have done. I pray God perfect his Conversion, and let him see the Necessity as well as Lawfulness of it. And I would desire him to consider that if it be Lawful, it must be Necessary: For if Christ has not commanded Water-Baptism, it cannot be less than Superstition to Practice that as a Sacrament, and consequently as a Means of Grace, which he has not Commanded: Even the Church of Rome does not pretend to a Power to Institute a Sacrament, that can be done by none but God alone: Therefore if Water-Baptism was not Instituted by Christ, it cannot be Lawful to Practise it: And if he did Institute it, it is not only Lawful, but Necessary, and a Duty. Now, in Aid of George Whitehead, and by way of An Antidote against the venom of G. Fox, Burrough, and other sour Quakers; and to pursue the Design of this present Paper, I will, to the Authoritys of H. Scripture, which I have Produced in The Discourse of Baptism, add in this place, as a sure Comment and Explanation of them, the Testimonies of some of those Fathers, whose Works we have Extant within the Compass of Years proposed, that is, 150 Years after Christ, in witness to this Divine Institution of Water-Baptism, and to show what stress they laid upon it. St. Ignatius, who was (as ) bred under Saint John the Beloved Disciple, makes our Baptism not only the Badge, but the Arms and Defence of our Faith; and the quitting of it to be a Deserting of Christ. Let no one of you (says he, in his Epist. to St. Polycarp) be found a Deserter, but let your Baptism remain as your Armour. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And St. Barnabas, who was St. Paul's Fellow-Traveller, mentioned so often in the Acts, speaking, in his Catholic Epistle, chapped. xi. concerning Water and the Cross, says, that, It is written concerning Water to the People of Israel, that they should not receive that Baptism which was sufficient to the Pardon of sins. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Which they did not under the Mosaical Dispensation. But they Instituted a Baptism to themselves, whereby to admit Men as Proselytes to the Law: But that was not the Baptism which could take away Sin. No, nor the Baptism of John: That was the Peculiar one of the Christian Baptism. A little after St. Barnabas says, that God had joined the Cross (that is, the Faith in CHRIST Crucified) and the Water (that is, Baptism) together, viz. the Inward Faith, and the Outward Profession and Seal of it. Consider (says he) how He (God) has appointed the Cross and the Water to the same end. For thus he saith, blessed are they who hoping in the Cross, have gone down into the Water. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And again, pursuing the same Argument, he Magnifys the great Efficacy and Power of BAPTISM, when duly Received, a few lines after what is above quoted, saying, For we go down into the Water full of sins and filthiness; and come up again bearing fruit in our hearts by the fear and hope which is in Jesus, which we have in the Spirit. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. After the same manner, and in the like words speaks St. Hermas (whom St. Paul salutes Rom. 16.14.) in that only Remaining Work of his, called The Shepherd of St. Hermas, there in the 3d. Book, and 9th. Similitude, he speaks thus: Before a Man receives the Name of the Son of God, he is designed unto death: but when he receives that seal, he is delivered from death, and given up to life. Now that seal is Water, into which Men go down, liable to death, but come up again, assigned over unto life. Antequam enim accipiat homo nomen Filii Dei, morti destinatus est: at ubi accipit illud sigillum, liberatur a morte, & traditur vitae. Illud autem sigillum Aqua est, in quam descendunt homines morti obligati, ascendunt vero vitae assignati. I have taken this out of the Ancient Latin Translation, according to the Oxford Edit. 1685. For the Greek was, in great part, lost, and came not down to us entire, as this old Latin Version did. St. Clement, in his 2d. Epist. to the Corinthians, Paragr. 8. calls Baptism by the same name of our Seal, and applies to it that Text, Isa. lxvi. 24. which he renders thus. They that have not kept their seal, their worm shall not die, etc. Or, as he expresses it in the Paragr. before this, Unless we keep our Baptism pure and undefiled, with what assurance can we enter the Kingdom of God? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V The Fifth Point is their forbidding to Marry, and Preaching up of fornication. I charge not All the Quakers with this; no, nor the Greatest Number of them. Only those called New-Quakers in America, of whom, and this their Principle and Practice, an Account is given in The Snake in the Grass Sect. vi. n. x. Par. 11. p. 74. and Sect. xii. p. 160. But the Quakers are thus far answerable, That all this Wild Extravagance is a Natural Consequence of their Common Principle and Notion of The Light within, as such an Absolute Rule and Judge, that is not to be Controlled by Scripture, or any Law or Rule whatsoever: Which leaves every Man in such an Un-limited Latitude, that there is no Restraint to whatever the Wildest Imagination (so it be Strong enough) can suggest: Nor any Cure upon their Foundation) but to bid him follow it still on. Listen to that within you That is all their Advice, and all their Rule. But besides, I would fain know what Answer the Old Quakers can give to the New ones, upon their Principle; for the New threw off their Wives, because they found it Written, That the children of the Resurrection neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Now, as shown in The Snake, Sect. xii and before spoke to, the Quakers General Notion is that the Resurrection is Spiritual, and that every Regenerate Man has obtained it already. And some of the Chief and Oldest of them have declared, that they expect no other than what they have obtained already, or at least, shall attain before they leave this body. See Satan Dis-Robed p. 21. of the Glean. Now let me ask the Old Quakers: Are they the Children of the Resurrection? They must answer Yea, or go against their own avowed Principles. And if Yea, than the Text is plain against their Marrying. Let me ask again. Are they the Children of this World? They will all say, Nay, for that is the common Epither by which they describe the Wicked; and is a Term that they put in opposition to the Children of the light, which they bestow upon themselves. Now it is written, That the children of this world marry. Therefore, say the New Quakers, Marriage is a Wicked Thing, and consequently of the Devil: And the Old Quakers have not yet answered their Arguments, that I can hear of. And the New Quakers do vouch themselves to be the only True and Genuine Quakers, who follow their Principles up to the height. Nor do they want Antiquity in all this. The Gnostick Quakers, who boasted in their Light beyond all other Men, and called themselves (as the Quakers do) the Purest and most Perfect of Christians; held these same Principles, and Practised them, in the very days of the Apostles, And they are Reprehended, and our Later Heretics, who should follow their steps, Prophesied of 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3. VI The Sixth Point is, Their Contempt of Magistracy and Government. This is shown, as to the Quakers, in The Snake, p. 94. and in Sect. xviii. and nineteen. more largely. George Fox in his Great Mystery, Printed 1659. p. 76. says, The Power of God— strikes down Government of Men and Governors. And p. 90. And so (says he) for the Lord 's sake the Saints cannot be subject to that Power. And he Argues (though very falsely) that, The Jews of old time could not obey the Heathen Magistrates— Nor the Apostles could not bow to the Authority of the Jews— Nor that among the Gentiles, held up by the Magistrates. I say all this is most False; for the Jews did obey the Heathen Magistrates; and the Apostles both the Jews and and Gentiles, and that, not only for Wrath, but also for Conscience sake. But it showed what Fox meant, viz. That the Saints are not under the Dominion of the World's Rulers, whom they think to have no other Authority than that of the Devil. Accordingly Fox says (ibid.) For it was the Beasts Power hath set up your Tithes, Temples, and Colleges. This will include all the Governments upon the Earth: For there is none but have some of these; hardly any but have them All. And then down go All, if the Quakers prevail. But to come to our Point. This Wicked Heresy was born into the World in the days of the Apostles, and set up by the then Quakers, That the Receiving of Christianity did Exempt Men from the Service of Vnbelievers, whether Masters or Magistrates. Which occasioned the many Repeated Exhortations in the Epistles, especially of the Apostle of the Gentiles, to be subject both to Masters and Magistrates, though Vnbelievers. And there were those Jews in our Saviour's time, who, upon the same account, thought it not Lawful to give Tribute to Caesar, being then an Heathen. They thought that the Jews were not to submit to the Dominion of the Heathen. And Judas of Galilee, mentioned in Act. 5.37. drew away much People after him, upon the same Pretence, of not paying Taxes to the Romans, Joseph. (de Bell. Jud. l. 2. c. 7.) says, he Taught that no Tribute should be paid to the Romans. But he went further (a thorough Quaker) for he would have had all Magistrates taken away, and God only to be King. I suppose (as the Quakers) he would have been Content that the Government should have come into his own hand, and to some Saints under him, as Deputies from God Such he made his Gaulonites or Galileans who followed him. For the meaning of those who find fault with the Government of others, is commonly to seize upon it for themselves, (and they seldom mend the matter) tho' their pretence is always to set up the Kingdom of God and His Saints. Such Gaulonites or Galileans are the Quakers, who, in a Declaration to the Present distracted Nation of England, (Printed 1659. Penned by Edw. Burrough, and subscribed by Fifteen of the Chief of the Quakers, in the name of all the rest) p. 8. do Proclaim that they have chosen a King, (viz. their own Light within, which they call the Son of God) and that it is His only Right to Rule in Nations, and their Heirship (as being only his Faithful Subjects) to possess the uttermost parts of the Earth: And that He may command thousands and ten thousands of (these) his Saints, at this day, to Fight— mark that, to Fight, even with the Carnal Sword, to Regain their Right. But in the Reprinting of Burrough's Works, 1672, it was thought convenient to leave out this Passage (p 603. of his works) tho' it was said to be given forth by the Spirit of God, and in His Name. It is set down more at large in The Snake, p. 209. The same Universal Monarchy and Heirship of the Quakers is asserted by Samuel Fisher, in a Collection that he Printed of several Messages which he said he had, By Commission from God, to deliver to the then Protector and Government, 1656. The last of which bears this Title. The Burden of the Message of the Lord itself, there p. 32. speaking of the Quakers and their King, says, He in them, and they in him shall Rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron, and break them to pieces as a Potter's Vessel— And every tongue that riseth up in Judgement against them shall they condemn. And p. 33. he brings in God, saying, yea, I will never rest till I have made all their Foes their Footstool: And howbeit the Powers of the Earth are of me— I will utterly subvert and overturn them; and bring the Kingdoms and Dominions, and the Greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven into the hands of the Holy Ones of the most High, and give unto my Son, and his Saints to Reign over all the Earth, and to take all the Rule and Authority, and Power that shall stand up against my Son in his Saints. There is the Mystery couched in the last words. In his Saints, that is the Light within (which they call Christ) in the Quakers: And to which they ascribe all that is said of Christ in the Scriptures. Edw. Burrough writing from Dublin in Ireland to the Quakers in England, in the Year 1655. Directs thus, To the Camp of the Lord in England. This is p. 64. of his Works. And he was then for their beginning of their War to Conquer the whole Earth. He Exhorts them, p. 67 in their Conquests to be very severe and bloody, to spare none. Give the great Whore (says he, that is Rome) double into her bosom; as she hath loved blood, so give her blood, and dash her Children against the stones. This was for all the Popish Countries, and those who partook of their Abominations, which in their Account were all the Protestants too, whom they, in contempt called Professors; and All sects in these Nations, whom Burrough includes in his Epist. 10 the Reader, p. 1▪ and declares War against them. But were the Heathens then to escape? No, their Conquest and Empire was to be Universal, their Heirship did extend to the uttermost parts of the Earth. For thus he goes on, ( supra) Let none of the Heathen Nations, nor their Gods escape out of your hands— but lay waste the fenced Cities, and tread down the high walls, for we have proclaimed open War betwixt Michael our Prince and the Dragon— And cursed be every one that riseth not up, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Put on your Armour, and gird on your sword, and lay hold on the spear, and march into the Field, and prepare yourselves to the Battle, for the Nations doth defy our God, and saith in their hearts, who is the God of the Quakers, that we should fear him, and obey his voice?— Our Enemies are whole Nations, and multitudes in number, of a Rebellious People that will not come under our Law (a great Fault indeed!) stand upon your feet, and Appear in your terror as an Army with Banners; and let the Nations know your power, and the stroke of your hand: Cut down on the right hand, and slay on the left; and let not your eye pity, nor your hand spare, etc. And in his Trumpet of the Lord sounded, which he calls An Alarm and Preparation for War against all Nations where Gog and Magog resideth, Printed 1656. p. 32. he says to the Quakers, your despised Government shall rule over Kingdoms, and your laws shall all the Nations of the earth become subject unto. And p. 41. He expostulates with God, When wilt thou appear to lay their honour in the dust of Confusion? Thy Host and Chosen waiteth for a Commission from thee to do thy will. And thy Camp waiteth to see the honour of Kings and Princes overthrown by thee, etc. But it seems the Quakers would make use of the swords of the wicked, till their own were ready. Therefore in the Year 1659. they had great Hopes in the Rebel English Army; who having Destroyed the King, and the Church in these Kingdoms, Burrow Hoalloos' them (in his Epist. to them, p. 537.) upon Italy and Spain, and all the Popish Countries: For what are these few poor Islands (says he) that you have run through? in comparison of the great Part of Christendom, in which Idolatry— do abound— wherefore, Hue down the Tops, strike at the Branches, make way, that the Axe may be laid to the root of the Tree, that your sword, and the sword of the Lord may neither leave Root nor Branch of Idolatry— to avenge the blood of the Guiltless through all the Dominions of the Pope, the blood of the Just it cries through Italy, and Spain— and it would be your honour to be made use of by the Lord, in any degree, in order to this matter. They were to be made use of, in some degree, to clear the way for the Quakers, who were, at last, to have All. Now whether these have not outstripped their Forerunner Judas, and his Galileans, I leave the Reader to judge. And Proceed to the next. VII. The Seventh and last Point which I intent to speak of, is now come, and is so near of kin to the last, that I shall dispatch it quickly. It is, Their stiffness in not taking off their Hats, or giving Men their Civil Titles. There needs no Proof of this, as to the Quakers, for they All own it, it is their Liscriminating Character. And now to find a Precedent for them in Antiquity, the same Judas Galilaeus is ready at hand. Josephus tells (Antiq. Jud. l. 18. c. 2.) that he was the Head of a Fourth Sect among the Jews, which he himself (like George Fox) Founded. And that as he acknowledged but one Lord and Master, that is, God; so as a consequence of this, he would pay honour to none other; and so Obstinate were his Sect in this, That, as Joseph. tells in the chapped. last quoted, they would rather expose themselves, their Children and Relations to the most cruel Torments, than call any mortal Man Lord or Master. So that George Fox has not the Honour of this noble Invention, as he would make us believe in his Journal, p. 24. where he says, When the Lord sent me forth into the world, He forbade me to put off my Hat to any— And I was required to Thee and Thou all men and women. He would call none Lord or Master more than Judas. And their Inspirations came from the same Author; the Spirit of Pride, under the Guise of Humility; so that in this, and all the other Instances before mentioned, George Fox is deprived of the Glory of being an Original, and to be No man's Copy, as is Boasted of him, in the Preface to his Journal, p. 31. I do not suppose that he knew a tittle of these Ancient Precedents, only Good wits Jumped; and so exactly, as shows, That they were all Taught by the same Master. The CONCLUSION. 1. What Application now needs to be made, from all that has been said, to the Quakers? The thing shows itself. Let them not call it Malice and Envy and what not, to oppose them. We oppose the Primitive Heresies in them. We cannot but oppose them: Unless we would Condemn the Apostles and Primitive Fathers, who have Condemned them. I charitably believe that the Quakers, at least, the Generality of them, do not know, nor, may be, have heard of these Ancient Heresies, or that they have so literally licked them up. But now they do know, let them consider, and see how they have put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness! 2. But if the Quakers say, as of late they have begun to do, That they are misrepresented, that they do not hold these Vile Heresies, and Errors Charged against them, nor ever did hold them. Let the Reader judge of that by the Quotations which are produced out of their most Approved Authors, in The Snake, and Satan Disrobed; of all which G. Whitehead, in what is called his Answer, does not deny one: But pleads Not Guilty, without offering to Disprove the Evidence brought against them. However, That is not my Business now. I am willing they should come off as easily as they can: Provided they do come off, and mean not this to Deceive us. 3. Let it then be supposed, that the Modern Representations they have given of their Notion of The light within, and of other their Doctrines (since the oppositions they have lately met with) are the True and sense of what they held from the beginning: And, when truly explained and understood, the same, and no more than what the Ch. of England, and all sober Christians have always held. If so, than they must begin again to give a new Account of their Separation, and so violent a Separation as they have made, not only from the Ch. of England but all the Churches in the World, as Edw. Burrough, p. 416. of his Works, And so all you Churches and Sects, by what name soever you are known in the world, you are the seed of the great Whore. And p. 17. of his Epist. to the Reader he tells him, Thou mayst fully perceive we differ in Doctrines and Principles; and the one thou must justify, and the other thou must condemn, as being one clean contrary to the other in our Principles. And p. 1. he says, We have sufficient cause to cry against them, and to deny their Ministry, their Church, their Worship, and their whole Religion. What shall we do now! Now we Agree in nothing! our Whole Religion is Condemned: And there is no Compounding: we must Condemn the One, and Justify the other. Here is Foul-Play on some side! By some Modern Accounts, it is hard to distinguish wherein the Doctrines of the Ch. of England, and those of the Quakers, do differ. Particularly in their Fundamental Principle of The Light within, on which all the Rest do Depend, as it is Explained by Mr. Penn in his late Primitive Christianity, and in The Snake, Sect. i. and Sect. xxii. except the Particular hereafter excepted, they are the same; and Mr. Penn asks no more (upon the Main) than what is not only Allowed, but Practised, and always has been, and that Daily, in our Common Prayers, by the Ch. of England; yes, and by our Dissenters too; so that now we are very Good Friends again! And the Difference betwixt us, upon this Point, is no ways sufficient to Justify any Separation. And so of the other Points of Doctrine, as, of late Explained. And for the Sacraments, G. Whitehead allows them to be Lawful, and let such Practice them, as so think fit. Then there is no ground for their Separation from us, for our Practice of what themselves Allow to be Lawful. And for Episcopacy, that is a matter of Government, not of Worship, so that we might join in Worship for all that. And the Bishops Exercise no other Power than what is used amongst the Quakers, to Disown those who will not walk according to the Rules of the Society. And their Power herein is much Kerbed by the Laws, and Appeals lie from their Sentence to the Secular Courts, which are not Allowed in the Quaker-Discipline. Now, to bring this matter to an Issue, in a Friendly manner, without Ripping up or Confronting Former Testimonies, it is desired, That Mr. Penn, or any other for him, would show such Differences betwixt his Explanation of the Light within, and that in The Snake, as are so Material, to justify a Separation; and so of the other Points Treated of in his Primitive Christianity. And herein let him and them Consider the Grievousness of the Sin of Schism; even as Enforced by them against their own Separatists; it is a Tearing the Body of Christ in pieces; and turning the Heaven of Christianity, into a Hell of Confusion. Let us Act herein Manfully; for we Fight for our own Souls, the Union and Joy of Christendom, the Honour of Religion, and the Glory of God, who knows our Hearts, and will Reward our Sincerity. He, through whose Holy Inspiration only, we think those things that be Rightful, Prevent us, in all our Do, with His most Gracious Favour; Further us with His Continual Help, and Pardon all our Infirmities, in the Prosecution of these Glorious Ends, through Jesus Christ, our Lord; who for these same Ends, Dyed, Rose, Ascended, and will come again, in that same Body, to Reward and to Judge every Man according to what he has been Useful, or Prejudicial to these Ends. To whom with the Father, and the Eternal Spirit, be All Power, Honour, and Glory, from All Creatures, Converted Sinners especially, now, and for ever. Amen. A Friendly Expostulation with Mr. Penn, upon Account of his Primitive Christianity, lately Published. 1. I Have said before, how near Mr. Penn has brought the Quaker Principles (as he has, of late, Represented them) to the Doctrine of the Ch. of England, and the Common Principles of Christianity. But I would desire to Expostulate a little with him upon one Part of his Exposition of The Light within, p. 29. where he is not satisfied with what we allow, viz. that it does Influence and Assist our Natural Light; but he will not grant that we have any Natural Light at all, or any other than that Divine Light of the Word, which is God; which he says, some, mistakenly, call Natural Light. As G. Fox says, in his Great Mystery, p. 42. where he opposes this Tenet, That no man by that Native Light inherent in him, had Power to Believe, etc. G. F. Answers, The Light that doth enlighten every man (which is their description of the Light within) he calls it Native and Inherent: The names he gives of Native and Inherent, are his own, out of the Truth. Here he denys any Natural Light, and will have none other but the Divine Light within. But to go on with Mr. Penn, he says, p. 30. and 31. That the Scripture makes no distinction between Natural and Spiritual Light, and Provokes any to give so much as one Text to that Purpose; he makes it as Absurd, as to talk of a Natural and Spiritual Darkness within. He says, There are not two Lights from God in man, that Regard Religion. Not that Reproves or Condemns a Man for Sin. But how then does he Answer the Objection, which he puts against himself, of the many False Religions in the world? It was not the True Light which guided men into them. And if they have no other Light, how came they by them? He says, it was because they did not follow the True Light. But why did they not follow it? How could they help following of it, if they had nothing else to follow? What was it that Resisted It? Or, What could Resist It, if we have no Natural Light or Understanding to Refuse it's Dictates? But suppose our No Light or Understanding could shut its eyes, and not follow this light; than it might lose the True Religion? But could no-understanding invent another Religion? For that is something Positive; and something must Guide and Direct Men to it. The Absence of Light is Darkness, not a False-light. But an Ignis Fatuus, or Will i'th' Wisp, is a Light that leads Men wrong. Men that are in Error follow a Light, but it is False-light, and they think themselves to be in the Right. Our Understandings have a Natural, which is a Fallible-light; and therefore often leads us wrong. What else is the meaning of Prov. 3.5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own Understanding. It is true, that Understanding and the Natural light of it, was given us by God: And He made it Right and True; but Fallible, else it could never be mistaken. God has placed a Natural light, as a Candle in our Hearts; and His Supernatural light does Influence and Direct it, when we seek to Him for it, and serve Him according as He has commanded: Solomon says, Prov. xx. 27. The Spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord, searching all the Inward Parts. You will not call the Spirit of Man the Eternal Light, which is GOD. This was the Mistake which drove George Fox to make our Soul a Part of God, without Beginning, and Infinite in itself, etc. as shown in The Snake, Sect. two. and to make us even Equal with God, as shown, Sect. iii. And Mr. Penn, p. 15. of this Book, (Primit. Christian.) allows no Natural light to the Understanding, For (says he) Man can no more be a Light to his Mind than he is to his Body: And thence infers, that as the Eye has no Light in itself, so neither the Understanding: He makes our Nature and Minds wholly Dark of themselves, only succeptible of Supernatural light, when sent into our Understanding: And that all the Light we have is thus Supernatural; and only called Natural, because, as he says, It is Natural to Man to have a Supernatural light. I will not take advantage of the Philosophy of this; for, I suppose his meaning to be, that it is Natural to the Understanding to Receive a Light that is infused into it, as for the Eye to see by an Extraneous light; that is, it is an Organ fitted to Receive Light, tho' it has none in itself; as the Understanding to Apprehend, tho' it has no Reason or Light in itself. Thus he expresses it, p. 50. All Men have Reason, (says he) but all Men are not Reasonable; which must be taken with the same grains of Allowance. For every Man is a Reasonable Creature, that is, the Definition of a Man. But according to his Hypothesis, tho' all men have Reason, yet not Natural, but super-naturally put into their Understanding: And so, tho' they have Reason, yet are they not Reasonable, because that Reason is none of their own, only as Gifted, that is, Accidental, but not Natural to them; and so they can no more be called Rational, than a Bag can be called Rich, that has Money in it. For he says, p. 15. That God, is the Light of our Nature, of our minds, and understandings. If it were meant as an Assistant, Guide or Director, to the Light of our Understanding, there were no difference betwixt us: But quite to put out the Natural light of our understandings, and make it but only Passive, that is, succesptible of another light, that is the point on which I would Reason now with Mr. Penn. It is said 1 Cor. 1.21. That the World by Wisdom knew not God. What Wisdom was this? it could not be a Divine light; and if Man have no Natural light; it must be the Quaker third sort of light, that is, No light at all. But if by Wisdom here, you mean men's Natural light or Reason, the Text is Plain and Easie. It is Written, 1 Joh. 3.20. If our Heart Condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Now, by Heart, here must be meant the Natural light; because, if it means the Light which is God, God is not Greater than Himself. And it is supposed here that the Heart does not Know all Things: Therefore this must be meant of our Natural Conscience, and not of God. And now here is a Natural light, which does Reprove of Evil, which Mr. Penn supposes cannot be shown, p. 30. Our Saviour says, Luk. xii. 57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge not what is Right? But why of yourselves, if we have no Light at all of ourselves whereby to Judge? I find a great Light of the Quakers, Edw. Burrough, owning these Two Lights within, in his Warning to Vnderbarrow, 1654. p. 16. and 17. of his Works reprinted 1672▪ where speaking of some of the World's People, whose Light (says he) is only Natural and Carnal, and doth only make manifest Carnal Transgressions, and who Judge by the Natural light, etc. This being Objected by John Stalham, in his Reviler Rebuked, p. 282. as a Contradiction to what other Quakers had said of the Light. Richard Hubberthorn (a Quaker of the First Rank) undertakes the Defence of Burrough, which you find in his Works, reprinted 1663. p. 144. where he says that Burrough was misrepresented, in that Stalham would have had him say, that the Light of Christ was Natural and Carnal, which he says Burrough did not mean; but the Light of Man (says he) by which Carnal Men do judge of Carnal Transgressions, is Natural— And Man's light, by which Carnal men do Judge of any thing, is one thing, and the light of Jesus Christ, which is Spiritual men's Guide, is another thing. Here are Two Lights within most plainly, which Mr. Penn does so positively Oppose. But which of these Lights guided Mr. Penn, and which Hubberthorn and Burrough? For it could not be the same Light that guided to Two Lights, and not to Two! And now it will be time, to ask from Mr. Penn a Solution of the Difficulty which he Proposes p. 29. that is, To assign us some certain Medium, or Way, whereby we may truly discern, and distinguish between the Manifestations and Reproofs of the Natural Light within, from those of the Divine Light within. He proposed this as a Difficulty upon the Opinion of Two Lights within, a Natural, and a Divine. And presses it against those who held that the Natural Light could Reprove of Evil; if which were granted, he would yield that there must be Two Lights. But he supposes that nothing but the Divine Light could Reprove of Evil. The Contrary of which has been shown from 1 Joh. 3.20. and allowed both by Burrough and Hubberthorn, who both (in the places above Quoted) do assert that the Natural Light does Reprove of Carnal Transgressions: And therefore, if Carnal Transgressions be Evil, the Natural Light does Reprove of Evil. But that which I would Improve from this, and for which I have been so long upon it, is, to Represent to Mr. Penn the Consequence of this Opinion of his. For if I think that my Understanding is a Perfect Blank, uncapable to Judge any thing of itself, that is, by the Natural Light which God has given it: But that every Thought of my Heart, concerning Religion, is Supernatural, Darted in there Immediately by God Himself, by the very Life of the Word Eternal, Then must I follow every such Thought, even without Examination, and Refuse to let it be overruled, either by the Written Word of the Scriptures, or by All the Reason or Authority of Men or Angels. And if such Thought be Erroneous, I am Vnmoveable and Irrecoverable! This is the most Desperate Condition of which Man is Capable in this world. Therefore this stumbling Block must be Removed before we can proceed any further. And this is that, which keeps the Quakers so Deaf to all Arguments, Charm we never so wisely! It was this which Confirmed Gilpin, Toldervy, Milner, and other Quakers, that their Diabolical Possessions (owned now as such by all the Quakers) and the Quaker-witches who Attempted the lives of Henry Winder and his Wife (see the Story in The Snake, p. 300.) and tho' Disproved, Confuted, and Confounded many ways in all their Accusations against them, yet still to stick to it, and could never be brought to Repentance, or to own themselves Mistaken. Why? Because they had this Notion, That what came into their minds, was the Light of Christ. And so it must be, if there be no other Light in the mind but that of Christ, except we allow of a Diabolical. And then there are three sorts, Natural, Divine, and Diabolical. Unless you will say, That a False-light (as the Diabolical is) ought not to be Reckoned a Light. But that will not do. Because what Guides, or Directs, or Persuades, that is called a Light: And you may as well say, That a False-Guide is no Guide, as that a False-light is no Light: Thus it is, that Satan Transforms himself into an Angel of Light. And, as our Saviour has forewarned us, That the Light in some Men is Darkness. Not that Light is Darkness, but what Men take for Light; and that is a Light or Guide to them, though a False One. And then how we shall know the one from the other? That is a Material Question which you have asked, and which now Returns upon you. What is that Spirit of the Prophets, that is Subject to the Prophets? Is it the Divine Light within? is God Subject to the Prophets? Must you not then allow a Natural Light? Cease from thine own Wisdom, Prov. xxiii. 4. Can there be Wisdom without Light? Wisdom is Light. Must I then Cease from the Divine Light? or is there not Another? And how shall I know mine own Light, from the Divine Light? We are Commanded not to Believe every Spirit, but to Try the Spirits, 1 Joh. iv. 1. How shall we Try them? By Themselves! Must I Try the Spirit or Light in my Heart, by itself? Ask it, whether it be a True Light, or not? It says it is. So do all Deceivers say, so does every False-Spirit say; then I must not take its word: But I must Try it. And I ask again, How Try it? Therefore it must be by something else than itself. And what is that? Now we are near the Truth. For, Mr. Penn, the Case stands thus. God has given a Natural Light to our Understanding, but a Fallible one; therefore it needs Help, and our own Endeavours. The Principal Help is the Influence and Light, of the Holy-Spirit of God, which works together with our Light, and Enables it to work. Besides this, God has given us a Rule to walk by. Plain Directions in writing, which we may Study, and have always Before us. That is, The Holy Scriptures; and His Light, will open, that is, Help our Understanding in the Reading and Studying of the Scriptures; but that Implys we must Read and Study; we must use our Endeavours, else He can not Help our Endeavours: We must not in the Ditch, and cry God Help us; use no Outward Helps, which God has Appointed; but fold our Arms, and sit still, and gape for Extraordinary Inspirations, which is a Tempting of God, instead of waiting upon Him. Then God has Appointed other Helps besides the Scriptures, He has Constituted a Church, and an Order of Men to Teach us, to Help us to Understand the Scriptures; and to Administer the Sacraments to us, which Christ has Commanded; and Promised the Assistance of His H. Spirit to those who shall Reverently, as He has Appointed, approach unto them. We have likewise the Helps of Histories, and Human-Learning, to know former Times, to observe the Rise and Growth of Heresies, and to beware, lest we Fall into the like Snares of the Devil. But if we will Neglect all these Helps; nay, Vilify and Despise them, cry out upon them as Low, Carnal, and what not; and Direct God to work Miracles for us, while we Refuse to work, to send such an and Infallible Light into our Hearts, as may, without any Pains on our side, secure us Absolutely; and there is an End on't! If we will thus Alter our own Frame, and the whole Method of God's Dispensations, it is but just with God to give us up to follow our own Imaginations, and let us feel the Effect of our Folly. But now, on the other hand, if we will be Content to follow God in His way: To acknowledge what we Feel and Know, that we have a within us, and an Understanding, which has Natural Powers, to Judge, and Discern, and Consider; and will use the Helps God has given us; then, and not till then, are we in a Capacity to be Reasoned with; to Judge and Try our own Spirits, and other men's, by the Plain Rule of God's H. Word; and if we find they speak not according to that, then to Reject them. Then may we Expect the Assistance of God's B. Spirit to Inform our Understandings, and lead us into All Truth necessary for us. For, what ever the Quakers think, the Ch. of England has always Acknowledged the Influences and Inward Operation of the B. Spirit of God upon our Hearts, as the Cause of All the Good that is wrought in us; which is sufficiently shown in The Snake, Sect. xxii. And this has been all along the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, which I might Prove at length; but that is not the Point in which we are, at Present, engaged: Yet for the satisfaction of the Quakers who may not know this, I will set down two Canons of the Council of Carthage, which was held in the year of our Lord, 419. Can. 113. Whoever says, That the grace of God, by which a man is Justified through Jesus Christ our Lord, avails only for the Remission of sins that are already past, but does not also give strength to resist sin for the future, Let him be Anathema. For the grace of God does not only give us the knowledge of what we ought to do, but also inspires us with love, whereby we may be enabled to Perform those things which we know to be our duty. Likewise whosoever shall say, that this grace of God, which is through Jesus Christ our Lord, does help us to avoid sin, only as the knowledge of sin is made manifest to us by it, whereby we know what we ought to seek after, & what to avoid; but that strength is not given us by it, that what we know we ought to do, we may also love it, and be enabled to perform it, Let him be Anathema. Can. 114. Whosoever shall say that the grace of Justification was therefore given unto us, that what we could perform by our own freewill, we may do the more easily by grace; insomuch, that tho' grace had not been given, we might, tho' with difficulty, perform the divine Commandments without it, Let him be Anathema. For, concerning the fruits of the Commandments, The Lord did not say that without me, ye shall do them with difficulty; but He said, without me, ye can do nothing. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This Constant Doctrine of the Church, the Quaker Infallibility did not know that she had ever held; and therefore set it up as a New discovery of their own, and broke with the Church for it. And to Advance Divine Grace, they would extinguish Human Reason, which is a Divine Grace itself, and the Subject given unto us by God, whereupon His B. Spirit should work. And to Divest us of it, is to make us cease to be Men, instead of being Saints. It makes God the sole Author of all our Sin; for if we have no Naturallight, we can have no ; are only Passive in God's Hands, acted by Him, but do nothing of ourselves, and therefore are not answerable for any thing that we do; more than a Sword or a Pen are Blame-worthy for whatever use is made of them. This Arraigns' the Wisdom of God, in all the Institutions and Ordinances that ever He gave to Men. For, what need of such Helps to the Divine Light! and Mr. Penn says we have no other. Why then does he Preach? To whom doth he Preach? To the Divine Light in Men? (as G. Fox, and the Primitive Quakers used to speak) Can he Teach that? Cannot that guide Men without his Preaching? If he says that he only Preaches to persuade Men to follow that Light. But cannot the Light Teach even that too? Or has it Forgot it? Does it need Help in that? Then why not in other things? then is it not self-sufficient without something else. Nay, by this Principle, there was no need of Christ's coming into the World, at least of His dying for us: For Men had the Divine Light before. And what could the Man Jesus add to that? Was it not sufficient without Him? If not, than you want something else besides your Light within: But if it was sufficient without Him, than could not His Coming be Necessary. I desire to know what you differ herein from the Deists? They hold a Divine Light Planted by God in the Heart of Man, which they call Reason: And that this is sufficient, without any thing else, to Teach a Man all that he ought to Know or Do. This Divine Light you call the Light within: So that you Differ from them but in Words: Both of you Reject the Necessity of any Outward Revelation, that is, of a Christ without. And so are the same with all the Pagan or Gentile World. For they too (and the latter Mahometans) allow Jesus to have been a Good Man; and to have had this Divine Light (which you call Christ) within Him, as all other Men have: But this does not make Him Properly the Son of God; which you also utterly deny Him to be, as said before, p. 3. This is Literally that Anti-Christianism which is Reprehended, 1 Joh. 2.22. of Denying Jesus to be the Christ. For having of the Light in me, does not make me to be the Light: But Jesus not only had the Light in Him, but He was the Light, or Christ; which it is Blasphemy to say of any other. And yet, if Man have no other Light in him but the Divine, and that be made Part of his Nature, it must follow that he is God: For whoever does Properly partake of the Divine Nature, is so. 2. But now whatever Mr. Penn thinks of my Reasoning, (which by his own Principle, must be the Immediate Dictate of the Holy Ghost, if I have no Natural Light which taught it me) yet he can have no Reason to break Communion with us, upon this Account, more than with Hubberthorn, Burrough, or other Quakers who held the same, as James Naylor, and others. I could show, if that were worth the while. And though James Naylor was Censured by the Quakers for other things, yet never for this; and he was Received again into Favour, and Lived and Died in their Communion. 3. This hinders not, by Mr. Penn's own Acknowledgement, they and we being all of one Religion. For he says, p. 62. I know not how properly they may be called of divers Religions, that assert the True God for the Object of Worship; The Lord Jesus Christ, for the only Saviour; and the Light or Spirit of Christ, for the Great Agent and Means of Man's Conversion and Eternal Felicity. Now all this, Mr. Penn, the Church of England does most sincerely and hearty Believe, and ever have Professed it: And therefore, if we be not of divers Religions, why of divers Communions! 4. Again, your Exposition of Justification, p. 79. That you acknowledge Justification only for the sake of the Death and Sufferings of Christ; and nothing we can do, (say you) though by the Operation of the Holy Spirit, being able to Cancel old Debts, or wipe out old Scores: It is the Power and Efficacy of that Propitiatory offering, upon Faith and Repentance, that Justifies us from the sins that are past; and it is the Power of Christ 's Spirit in our hearts, that Purifies, and makes us Acceptable before God. All this is most Sound and Orthodox. And your whole Ninth Chapter concerning the Inward and Spiritual Appearance of Christ in the Soul, I not only Approve, but do very much Congratulate with you, that you have so Christianly and Pathetically Pressed it. I know you will not suspect me of Flattery: For, where there is occasion, I speak Plain enough. This Cause Requires not Dodging. Let us Contend for the Truth, on whatever side it lies. It is for our own Souls. And we must give an Account. How do you keep up a Schism, if you agree with us in these Fundamentals of Religion! Small Matters, you know, are not sufficient to excuse a Schism. Great things are to be done, and much to be Born to Compass such good of souls. Therefore let me consider All your Objections. 1. Chap. x. Sect. 1. You Insist much upon the Spirituality and Life of Prayer. In the name of God, carry that as High as you can, you shall find no opposition from us: For without this, All Prayer, in whatever words, whether Ex-tempore, or Pre-meditated, are but Dead Forms. And an Ex-tempore Prayer, is only Ex-tempore as to the Speaker, if he has not thought of it before: But it is as much a Form to the Hearers, as if he had thought of it; if they join with him, they are tied to his words and method, and every thing else of his Prayer. So that the Question is ill stated, to call Pre-meditated Prayer a Form, and the other not. Both are Forms, and equally Forms to the Hearers: But the True State of the Question is this, whether an Ex-tempore, or a Pre-meditated FORM, is most Beneficial to the Hearers? Which can be freed from most Defects? And which best fitted to the Common Exigencies of the People? If the Heart cannot be supposed to be Spiritually lifted up in the use of any Form, then must All Public Prayer cease. Then was The Lord's Prayer Un-fitting ever to be used; or the Psalms of David, which were daily Read in the Temple, and composed for that End. But if the soul may be spiritually lifted up in the Use of a Form, then is it Great Un-Charitableness to Censure those who use it: And this can be no sufficient Cause for a separation. Besides that it is Impossible for any of your Hearers to know whether they make use of (that is, join in) an Ex-tempore, or a Pre-meditated Form: For how do they know whether the Speaker has thought of it before? These are too slender Causes for a Separation. But in our Churches, the Ministers are not tied to the Common-prayer, but take the same Liberty as yours, to Pray according to their own Conceptions before and after Sermon. So that herein you may join quite free from this Exception. 2. Your next Exception, Sect. 2, and 3. is concerning the Ministry, That they who undertake it, aught to be Guided and Influenced by the Holy-Spirit. Herein you differ not from us. We assert the same. And it is Demanded in the Examination of Persons to be Ordained, Whether they are persuaded that they are moved thereto by the Holy Ghost? If Men will belie their own Consciences, and thrust themselves Unworthily into the Ministry, that is not to be objected against the Constitution: And, Mr. Penn, you know that your Communion has Laboured under this Inconvenience as well as ours. I need not go to Instances. I know you will not put me to it. Therefore this is no Cause for Separation. 3. Your 4. Sect. That Ministers are Christ's Witnesses, and applying to this 1 Joh. 1.1, 3. That which we have heard, seen with our Eyes, and our hands have handled, etc. seems Strange; for this was spoken by St. John in relation to the Person of Christ, whom they had seen, felt, etc. And such sort of Witnesses I suppose you do not Pretend to be: You Pretend not to have seen our Lord in the Flesh. But if you take this spiritually, (as I perceive you do) than we Witness it as much as you. And here can be no Cause of Separation. 4. Your 5. Sect. against men's offering money to be made Ministers. I would fain know what Caution you can advise against Simony that is not taken. But if you think it utterly unlawful for Ministers to Receive aught from the People, to whom they Preach, How got G. Fox so much Money? And I would desire to know how you answer 1 Cor. ix. 7, 11, 14. Gal. vi. 6. Phillip iv. 14.16. However, here can be no Cause of Separation. 5. Chap. xii. Sect. 1. You say nothing against Tithes, but that you will not Support our Ministry: And that depending upon what is said before as to them, I dismiss it. Though you might Grudge them their Tithes, and yet not break Communion: For you are no less Liable to them now, than if you were in our Communion. And, not now to enter upon the Jus Divinum of Tithes, (which I think is very Plain) yet till you can show it to be a Sin for the King and Parliament to give Allowances or Estates to the Clergy, as well as to other Men, you can never countenance a Separation upon the account of Tithes. There are many in our Communion who are not yet persuaded of the Divine Right of Tithes. 6. As to your 2. Sect. against Swearing. You have obtained an Act of Parliament to Swear in your own Form. Therefore that Objection is taken out of the way. At least it can be made no Pretence for a Separation. 7. As to your 3. Sect. concerning War, you say no more of it, than that it ought to Cease among Christians. And who does not wish it? But that it may sometimes be Necessary and Lawful you have allowed, in Engaging to the Government to maintain Soldiers in Pensilvania. But however you may keep that opinion, and yet not make a Separation. As you may, what you mention Sect. 4, 5, 6, and 7. That is, The Salutations of the Times. Plainness of Speech. Not to Marry from among yourselves. Plainness in Apparel. And to Refrain Sports and Pastimes. 8. As to Sect. 8. against our Public Fasts and Feasts, they are little enough observed amongst ourselves. You'll not be much Quarrelled for that. But your Reason against them, because they are of Human Institution, needs another Reason why that is one, which you do not Give us. All Churches, both before and since Christ, have done the same. And there is no Prohibition against it. However, if you cannot comply with it, you may stay at home on those days. That is no Reason for a General Separation. And these are all the Causes you have Instanced or Hinted at in your Book. And I hope, upon serious Consideration, you will not think that any or all of them are sufficient for a Separation. Remember what you said to your own Separatists of Harp-Lane, when they desired to put up past Quarrels; you bid them then to Return from their Separation. Take the Good Advice you have given. Sure the Cause is more Important. And our Church can Plead more Authority over you, than you could over them. And if you think that she has Errors and Defects, (wherein I will join with you) yet Consider, that no Errors can justify a Breach of Communion, but those which are Imposed as Conditions of Communion. We shall have many things to Bear with, to Bemoan, to Amend, to Struggle with, while we are upon this Earth. And he that will make a Separation for every Error, will fall into much greater Error and Sin than that which he would seek to Cure. It is like tearing Christ's seamless Coat, because we like not the colour, or to mend the Fashion of a Sleeve. God Direct you, and us all. To His Grace I commend you, and the Influences of His Blessed Spirit, to show you what Great things it is in your Power to do for Him and His Church; and give you a Heart to do them, that it be not laid to your Charge. ADVERTISEMENT. I Would not have the Reader or the Quakers think, because I have instanced but in Seven Particulars, wherein the Quakers have Copied after the Ancient Heretics within the first 150 Years of Christianity, that therefore there are no more. But I would not swell this matter to too great a bulk. I have shown in The Snake, Sect. ix. how George Fox falls in with the Patripassians, who Denied any Distinction of Persons in the Godhead; and consequently held that it was God the Father who was Born of the B. Virgin, and Died for us. And whoever will compare the Tenets of the Quakers with the Account which Epiphanius and others later, have given of the Gnostics, and other Heretics of those times, will find many other Particulars wherein they agree. But because the Quakers, and others of our Dissenters, have (for no cause but their own Gild) excepted against the Account of former Heresies, given by those of After Ages, I have, to take away all Umbrage, fetched my Authoritys from those who were Cotemporaries with those Heretics which they mention. FINIS.