A VINDICATION OF W. P. FROM THE Erroneous and False Testimony OF Thomas Budd: BEING In Answer to a Sheet of his, ENTITLED, A Testimony for Truth, against Error. By Joseph Wyeth. London, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, next Door to the Meetinghouse in White-hart-court in Gracious-street; and at the Bible in Leaden-hall-street, near the Market, 1697. A VINDICATION OF W. P. FROM THE Erroneous and False Testimony OF T. BUDD; etc. HAving met with a Sheet, Entitled, A Testimony for Truth against Error, Subscribed Thomas Budd, in which he Charges W. P. with denying some of the Chief Principles of Christianity: After Reading the Sheet, I was very desirous to get those Books of W. P's mentioned by T. Budd, that I might examine the Quotations from which he pretends to draw this Charge of Error; accordingly I did (with some difficulty) get them, and have Examined the Pages referred to by T. Budd, and have just reason to be Amazed, that after such picking, leaving out, and sometimes forging W. P's Adversaries Words for W. P's; a Man should have so hard a Forehead as to Entitule it, A Testimony for Truth; when in truth, it is a Testimony of as great Villainy as one Man can be capable of towards another; and nothing but Malice and Apostasy could be the Parent of so Monstruous a Production; which yet I know cannot at all influence those who know, and impartially consider the different Characters and Qualities of W. P. and T. Budd: But to some who know them not otherwise, than as this Erroneous Testimony against Truth represents, may (not having the Books to examine) take this Monster of a Draught for W. P's True Figure. For the Information of such (and now having the Books by me) as also to do Justice to W. P. I have undertaken this, wherein I shall do little more than to set down the places as they are quoted by T. Budd, and then subjoin the places as they are in W. P's Books, & which will be found sufficient to prove, that W. P. does not deny, The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit to be God, nor that Christ was wounded for our Transgressions, and bore our Griefs; nor deny that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that died at Jerusalem; nor that we are Justified through the Righteousness of Christ; nor that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ of God; or the Resurrection of the Body; nor Undervalue the Scriptures: All which Blasphemy, Heresy and Error he pretends to find in the Books following, as they are Cited by him. His First Quotation is out of Sandy Foundation, p. 12, 13, 15. If God, as the Scriptures Testify, hath never been declared or believed, but as the Holy One, then will it follow, that God is not a Holy Three, nor doth subsist in Three distinct or separate Holy Ones; and since the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God: Then unless the Father, Son and Spirit are Three distinct Nothings, they must be Three distinct Substances, and consequently Three distinct Gods: Thus he. Now to give some Light in this matter, it may be convenient to give the Reader a Brief Account of the occasion of this Book and method which the Author W. P. has taken in the Writing of it: As to the first, viz. The occasion it was this, Thomas Vincent, in a Meeting of his, said, That the Quakers held Damnable Doctrines. George Whitehead being present, stood up, and as it was his place, willingly would have given the People an Information of our Principles; which, if Objected against, he was ready to defend them by the Authority of Scripture and Reason; which T. Vincent prevented, and put the following Question: Whether we owned one Godhead Subsisting in Three distinct and separate Persons? This was the occasion of this Book, next as to the method it is this, W. P. refutes the the Doctrine built upon the foregoing Question; first from Scripture, next from Right Reason; showing many Irreligious and Irrational Consequences flowing from that Doctrine; and all this intermixed with many Informations and Cautions concerning it. Now the two first Lines of T. Budd's Quotation are part of an Argument drawn from Scripture by W. P. against the Doctrine in the Quotation above, and the rest of that Quotation is part of one of those Irreligious Consequences which W. P. shows in the Book before Cited, to be the result of the same Doctrine: But besides this abusive patching, and setting down as W. P's Sentiment; what W. P. sets down as an Irreligious Consequence. T. B. does not come up to the Terms of Question which is concerning Three distinct and separate Persons Subsisting in one God. If he can prove this from Scripture, than he proves what W. P. hath denied. But while T. Budd does only set down the Testimony of the Apostle, viz. That the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are the Three that bear Record in Heaven, and are One God. He does not at all show himself to believe the Question in the Terms W. P. denies it. And for such Holy Three, as is mentioned in Scripture, which have none of the Terms W. P. opposes, he hath sufficiently shown his Belief thereof, not only in the Confession of Faith hereafter mentioned, but also in his Innocency with Her open Face; and his Key. And many of his Books which do at all border upon that Point of Faith. This for T. Budd's first Charge. His Second is, The Denial of Christ's Satisfaction; for Proof of which T. Budd hath made a Quotation out of the same Book, viz. Sandy Foundation, p. 16, 18, 21, 22. W. P. saith, The Justice offended being Infinite, his Satisfaction ought to bear a proportion therewith, which Jesus Christ, as Man, could never pay, he being Finite; and from a Finite Cause could not proceed an Infinite Effect— Since Christ could not pay what was not his own; it follows, that in the payment of his own, the Case still remains equally grievous, since the Debt is not hereby absolved or forgiven, but transferred only; and by consequence we are no better provided for Salvation than before, owing that now to the Son which was once owing to the Father. It no way renders Men beholding, or in the least obliged to God, since by their Doctrine he would not have abated us, nor did he Christ the least Farthing. Hitherto T. Budd's Quotation, but the Doctrine which W. P. does in the Pages before Cited oppose, is mentioned by W. P. in p. 14. of Sandy Foundation, and is in the Terms following: Doctr. That Man having Transgressed the Righteous Law of God, and so exposed to the Penalty of Eternal Wrath, it's altogether impossible for God to remit or forgive without a plenary Satisfaction; and that there was no other way by which God could obtain Satisfaction, or save Men, then by Inflicting the Penalty of Infinite Wrath and Vengeance on Jesus Christ the Second Person in the Trinity, who for Sins past, present, and to come, hath wholly borne and paid it, to the offended Infinite Justice of his Father. AGainst this Rigid and Unscriptural Doctrine W. P. brings about Fifteen Texts of Scripture, and from them shows the great Forgiveness of God; after them in p. 17, 18. he refutes this Doctrine from Right Reason; showing, why Jesus Christ, as Man, could not be a plenary Satisfaction; the place is thus, p. 18. 6. the Justice Offended, being Infinite, his Satisfaction ought to bear a proportion therewith, which Jesus Christ, as Man, could never pay, he being Finite, and from a Finite Cause could not proceed an Infinite Effect; for so Man may be said to bring forth God, since nothing below the Divinity of Christ itself, can rightly be Styled Infinite. Of this Reason T. Budd cut off the last Line. But to go on, W. P. having in this, and six or seven particulars more, shown the contrariety of the Doctrine above, to Right Reason, he than numbers up nine Irreligious and Irrational Consequences from the afore Doctrine: The seventh and eighth Consequences in p. 19 runs thus, Since Christ could not pay what was not his own, it follows that in the payment of his own, the case still remains equally grievous; since the debt is not hereby absolved or fogiven, but transferred only; and by consequence we are no better provided for Salvation than before; owing that now to the Son which was once owing to the Father. 8. It no way renders Man beholding, or in in the least obliged to God, since by their Doctrine he would not have abated us, nor did he Christ the least Farthing, so that the acknowledgements are peculiarly the Sons; which destroys the whole Current of Scripture Testimony, for his good will towards Men. O the Infamous Portraiture, this Doctrine draws of the Infinite Goodness: Is this your Retribution? O Injurious Satisfactionists. Of this, T. B. in his Quotation hath taken but about two Lines. T. B's Third Charge is, That W. P. hath denied Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that Died at Jerusalem; his Quotation is out of Serious Apology, in Answer to T. Jenner, p. 146. W. P. saith, He (T. Jenner) takes up a whole Chapter in his endeavours to prove, That we deny the Lord that bought us, because we deny that Person (the Son of God) that Died at Jerusalem to be our Redeemer. It will be convenient here, to give some Brief Account of this Book, before I give the Quotation out of it, in order to its better Understanding, which in short is this: This Book, Entitled, A Serious Apology, etc. was written by W. P. in Answer, and for the Clearing of the People called Quakers, from the Malicious Aspersions, Erroneous Doctrines, and Horrid Blasphemies of Tho. Jenner and Timothy Taylor, in a Book of theirs, Entitled, Quakerism, Anatomised and Confuted: In which Book among other things they say, The Quakers deny the Lord that brought them, etc. In reply to this, W. P. in p. 146. of the Apology, says, 1st. He takes up a whole Chapter in his endeavours to prove, that we deny the Lord that bought us, though very falsely, and with equal insuccess. And here he brings in a Quotation out of Quakerism Anatomised, etc. p. 153, 154. The Quotation is thus out of Jenner, Because we deny that Person (the Son of God) that Died at Jerusalem to be our Redeemer. And immediately W. P. subjoins, which most horrid Imputation has been Answered more (I believe) than a Thousand times; that is, That he that laid down his Life, and suffered his Body to be Crucified by the Jews, without the Gates of Jerusalem, is Christ the only Son of the most High God: But that the outward Person (or Body only, which is what W. P. meant as appears by what follow) which Suffered was properly the Son of God, we utterly deny, and it is a perfect Contradiction to their own Principles; A Body hast thou prepared me, said the Son; then the Son was not the Body, though the Body was the Sons; this brings him more under the charge of making him but a mere Man, than us, who acknowledge him to be One with the Father, and of a Nature Eternal and Immortal; for he was Glorified with the Father before the World was. The Patching and Horrid Forgery of T. Budd in this place is surely without Example, for here he has not been content only to pick a Line, but also to join to it (as W. P's, a Quotation which W. P. took out of his Adversaries Book to Answer as above. To this Forgery, he has also added Folly in that after picking two or three Lines of the last Quotation, he has laid them down in his Sheet, as a Charge of a different Nature from the last mentioned, which he makes his Fifth Charge; but this his Folly, Blind Malice, and Forgery, falls back upon himself: Such is the Shame and Confusion of him, and all others; who, by Apostatising from the Spirit of Truth, are become Darkness. I proceed now to T. Budd's Fourth Charge, drawn out of p. 148. of this same Book, and which is, That W. P. denies Justification by an Imputative Righteousness T. Budd's Quotation runs thus, That we deny Justification by the Righteousness which Christ hath fulfilled in his own Person for us (wholly without us) and therefore deny the Lord that brought us. In Answer to this W. P. saith, And indeed this we deny, and boldly affirm it, in the Name of the Lord, to be the Doctrine of Devils, and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption, which does now delude the whole World. If Men may be Justified while Impure, then God quits the Guilty. Death came by actual Sin, not imputative in his Sense; therefore Justification unto Life, comes by Actual Righteousness, not Imputative. But in the Apology it appears: That W. P. does in this Page of 148. bring a Quotation out of T. Jenner's Book, p. 155, 156, 157, viz. That we deny Justification by the Righteousness which Christ hath fulfilled in his own Person for us (wholly without us) and therefore deny the Lord that bought us. TO this W. P. subjoins, And indeed this we deny, and boldly affirm it in the Name of the Lord, to be the Doctrine of Devils, and an Arm of the Sea of Corruption, which does now deluge the wbole World. And then goes on, I shall not so much insist upon this, as I have not upon the other four particulars, they having been Irrefutable Considered and Answered by my Friend and Partner in this Discourse, in the first Part of this Apology: Only this I shall observe and add: First, No Man can be Justified without Faith (says Jenner) No Man hath Faith without Works (any more than a Body can Live without a Spirit (saith James) viz. the Apostle.) Therefore the Works of Righteousness, by the Spirit of Christ Jesus, are necessary to Justification. Secondly, If Men may be Justified, whilst impure, then God quits the Guilty; contrary to the Scripture, which cannot be. Thirdly, Death came by Actual Sin, not Imputative in his Sense; therefore Justification unto Life comes by Actual Righteousness, and not Imputative. There are Three more Conclusions which follow, and which for brevity sake, I omit, willing only to recite so much as may take in all that T. Budd has here and there picked to make up his Quotation, only next immediately after the Three Conclusions; which, I say, I have left out, there follows a short Confession of our Faith, which it may be of Service to the Honest-minded to publish; as also a Testimony against the Apostasy, hypocrisy and Envy of T. Budd, who could not but see it when he mangled that part of the Book, as he thought, for his Service: It is in p. 149. We do believe only in one Holy God Almighty, who is an Eternal Spirit, the Creator of all Things. And one Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son, and Express Image of his Substance, who took upon him Flesh, and was in the World, and in Life, Doctrine, Miracles, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and Mediation, perfectly did, and does continue to do the Will of God, to whose Holy Life, Power, Mediation and Blood, we only ascribe our Sanctification, Justification, Redemption and perfect Salvation. And we believe in one Holy Spirit, that proceeds and breathes from the Father and the Son, as the Life and Virtue of both the Father and the Son, a measure of which is given to all, to profit with; and he that has One has all; for those Three are One, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, God over all, Blessed for ever, Amen. T. Budd's Sixth Charge against W. P. is, The Denying the Messiah the Christ of God; for which he Cites a Book, Entitled, The Christian Quaker; written by G. W. and W. P. against the Injurious Attempts of many Adversaries; and it will stand against the weak, though black, Attempts of this Man, who in this Quotation of his, has with a hardened Face, cut a Sentence asunder in the midst, which I question whether any Spanish Inquisitor has yet done, when he willingly raked in a Book for Heresy; his Quotation is thus, Chr. Quaker, p. 96. Abraham saw my Day and Rejoiced: They still harping upon that visible Body, not Thirty Years Old, Replied, Thou art not yet Fifty, and hast thou seen Abraham? Taking that to be the Messiah the Christ of God, and Saviour of the World; he meant, which they saw with their Carnal Eyes. I shall now give the Quotation from the Book itself, but am obliged to Recite the whole Paragraph (the above Quotation being in the middle) and the whole being so dependant upon every part, that it cannot, without some hurt to the meaning of the whole, be separated; it is thus, Chr. Quaker, p. 96. Before I conclude, take this notable saying of Christ to the Jews, and what may be collected from it to our purpose, Before Abraham was, I am: Abraham saw my Day and Rejoiced, John 8. 56, 57, 58. which affords us briefly thus much: That though he was not so visibly come, yet it was the very same HE that came about One Thousand Six Hundred Years ago, who was with the Fathers of Old; and that Abraham, who Lived Nineteen Hundred Years before that outward Appearance, saw him, and his Day. If this be not the import of the place, I know none; for the Jews, not believing him to be the Messiah, thought it high Presumption for him to compare with Abraham; Art thou greater than our Father Abraham, who is Dead, and the Prophets are Dead? Unto which he answered (that he might prove himself to be the true Messiah, the Christ of God) (the foregoing part of this Sentence, as also the explanatory Parenthesis T. B. cut off, and gins his here) Abraham saw my Day, and rejoiced: They still harped upon that Visible Body not Thirty-three Years Old, replied, Thou art not yet Fifty, and hast thou seen Abraham? Taking that to be the Messiah, the Christ of God, and Saviour of the World, he meant, which they saw with their Carnal Eyes. To which he rejoined with a Verily, Verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am; then took they up Stones to cast at him, etc. By all which it is most clear, that unless our Adversaries will deny him that so spoke (which yet T. Hicks 's Anti-Scriptural Opinion doth imply) to be Christ, who singled and distinguished himself as the Messiah, the Christ of God, and Saviour of the World, from that Visible Body, not Fifty Years Old indeed; both Christ that spoke then must needs have been long before Abraham 's Time; and that such Holy Ancients were not without a sight and prospect of him, and the day of his Glorious Appearance, or that most Signal Manifestation of himself in that Body prepared for that Great and Holy Purpose, witness the exceeding Clear and Heavenly Prophecies, that were as so many Forerunners or Introductions of the Evangelical State. This true Quotation does sufficiently show W. P. to own and believe in the Messiah, the Christ of God. I come now to T. Budd's Seventh Charge, viz. Christ, the Son of the Virgin, denied by W. P. to be the Seed of the Promise. In this Charge T. Budd has hid his head; he having made a Quotation, but named no Book, nor any Page where his (I doubt not) false Quotation may be found; therefore I pass it by without notice. T. Budd's Eighth Charge is, The Resurrection of the Body denied by W. P. The Book he quotes is W. P 's rejoinder to John Faldo, p. 369, 370. his Quotation runs thus: W. P. saith, But suppose J. F 's Relative (it) to hold, I do deny that this Text (viz. It is Sown a Natural Body, it is Raised a Spiritual Body) is concerned in the Resurrection of Man's Carnal Body at all.— I say, this doth not concern the Resurrection of Carnal Bodies, but the two States of Men under the first and Second Adam. In this, as in the former, he has played the Inquisitor, taking here and there a Line, as best liked him; only his pretence may be more fairly made for clipping this than any of the former; for they were all English, but here is a little Greek and Latin; yet of the English he has not taken all he ought and might have done. I will Recite the two Paragraphs out of which he has pillaged his Quotation. The Greek Text is first set down, and then the Latin Translation, it runs thus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 1 Cor. 15. 44. Seritur Corpus animale, resuscitatur corpus spirituale. i e. A Natural Body is Sown, a Spiritual Body is Raised: That is, They lay down a Natural, and take up a Spiritual Body, or in lieu of a Natural receive a Spiritual Body; not that the Natural Body shall be Transubstantiated into a Spiritual Body, or that admitting of such an exchange, that the Spiritual is the same Numerical Body, that was the Natural; for so the Natural and Spiritual Body would be one and the same; but suppose J. Faldo 's Relative (It) to hold, I do utterly deny that this Text is concerned in the Resurrection of Man's Carnal Body at all. I will Recite it with the five following Verses as they lie in our English Translation. It is sown a Natural Body, it is raised a Spiritual Body; there is a Natural Body, and there is a Spiritual Body; and so it is written, The first Man Adam was made a Living Soul, the last Adam was made a Quickening Spirit; howbeit, that was not first which was Spiritual, but that which is Natural, and afterward, that which is Spiritual; the first Man is of the Earth, Earthy; the second Adam is the Lord from Heaven; as is the Earthy, so are they that are Earthy; and as is the Heavenly, so are they also which are Heavenly; and as we have born the Image of the Earthy, we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly, Verse 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49. I say, this doth not concern the Resurrection of Carnal Bodies, but the two States of Men under the First and Second Adam, Men are Sown into the World Natural, and so they are the Sons of the First Adam. but they are Raised Spiritually, through him who is the Resurrection and the Life, and so they are the Sons of the Second Adam, the Lord from Heaven, the Quickening Spirit. The very words of the Apostle undeniably prove this to be the Scope; how else could the First Adam 's being made a Living Soul, and the Second Adam a Quickening Spirit, be a Pertinent Instance to prove Natural and Spiritual Bodies; upon which follows, that the Natural was First; that is, the First Adam; and than that which is Spiritual, which is the Second Adam, the Quickening Spirit, the Lord from Heaven, who came to raise up the Sons of the First Adam, from their Dead to his Living, their Natural to his Spiritual, State. Having now given the Paragraphs entire, out of which T. Budd had picked his Quotation, and which does sufficiently Confute the wrong Suggestions thereof, I may not well omit to take some little notice of his Reply to the above Quotation: It is thus, Therefore let P. W. know, etc. (he has forgot to place the Letters right) I can assure T. Budd that W. P. does know, and believe the good Doctrine of Christ's Crucifixion, and the advantages of a true Christian upon it; and I can also assure T. Budd, that I look upon him no more Cordial an Adviser to W. P. than Satan was to our Saviour, when he repeated the Text to him, And he hath given his Angels Charge over thee, etc. T. Budd hath done with Advising, and now Threatens: And if he thinks to stop our Testimony, etc. And I do tell T. Budd, that if he thinks to go on without Opposition in Forgery and Wresting, than I think he will find himself mistaken, since we have Solomon's advice for to use the Rod: And indeed the Night is so far spent, and the Day so dawned, as sufficiently discovers where to apply it. But now T. Budd would appear one that can Calculate Mysteries, and point at a Beast by its number; but if he will take the Numerical Letters of his own Name, he will find he makes up Three times that Beast, and Seven to spare. As for what he Promises for the Year 1700 and 1750, I can without such Calculation tell him, That let the freedom of the Upright-hearted and Faithful towards God be as in his Divine Wisdom he shall see meet; yet T. Budd, with all that Apostatise from the Spirit of Christ, and turn their backs upon his Holy Law, will still be in severest Bondage. I now come to his last Charge against W. P. which is, That he hath Vndervalued the Scriptures. The Book T. Budd quotes, is Christian Quaker, p. 144. 142. (I am not to account for his Folly in Postponeing the bigger number) his Quotation is thus: Christ left nothing in Writing, as the Rule that we hear of; and doubtless had he intended the Rule of his Followers to have been 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. If the Scriptures were the Rule of Faith and Life, etc. then because they cannot be the Rule in their Translations, suppose the Ancient Copies were exact, it cannot be the Rule to far the greatest part of Mankind; indeed to none but Learned Men. In this part of the Book G. W. and W. P. come to speak concerning the Scriptures, which were asserted to them, to be a General and Perfect Rule of Faith and Life (viz. to all Men) they have divers Arguments to show the contrary; their Eighth Argument lies thus: 8. Furthermore, if the Scriptures were the Rule of Faith and Life, etc. then because they cannot be the Rule in their Translations, suppose the Ancient Copies were exact, it cannot be the Rule to far the greatest part of Mankind, indeed to none but Learned Men; which neither answers the Promise relating to Gospel times that is Universal, nor the necessity of all Mankind for a Rule of Faith and Life. (Here he cut off the conclusion of this Argument) In p. 144. There is another Objection thus, But if the Law engraven and delivered to Moses was a Rule to the Jews, why should not the Law delivered by Christ, and written by his Apostles, be the Rule to Christians. To this it is Answered, Answ. Christ left nothing in Writing as the Rule, that we hear of; and it is not to be thought he was less Faithful in his House than Moses (This last Sentence T. Budd cut out) and doubtless had he intended the Rule of his Followers to have been 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 (what follows T. Budd has cut off) Nor did his followers Writ in the Method of a Rule, as the Law was Written; nor did they so Call or Recommend what they Writ. Having now done with all the False Charges of T. Budd upon W. P. and put the several Quotations in their true Light, from whence the Unprejudiced Reader may make a Solid Judgement of them. I shall in few words bespeak the Readers Patience, while I more particularly speak concerning this T. Budd, who was in Unity of Profession with W. P. divers Years after all the Books by him were Written; and in which he now pretends to find such Errors and Heresies, and I doubt not was acquainted with all, or a great part of them: But now (like Eve) his Eyes being opened, he is become a Man of Gath, one who gives Information to all (as himself says) who seek after Truth and Righteousness; but which, I am sure, is not to be found in this his Testimony, nor in any Testimony that ever was given forth by the Spirit of Apostasy, in which he is. He calls himself A Servant of Christ. To this his Claim it may be proper to ask him the Question which was put to the Man in the Gospel; Friend, how camest thou hither? It is but a few Years since he made public Profession of what he now calls Errors and Heresies; and the distance is very great betwixt the Erroneous and Heretic, and him who is truly a Servant of Christ; and we have not seen any marks of Repentance and Recantation, in order to this his pretended Restoration; and it is not to be allowed in the Nature and Order of Conversion, for a Man who hath through Ignorance embraced Error, and through the viciousness of his Will followed Heresy, to become reallya Servant of Christ, and a True Member of a Christian Society without deep Sorrow, hearty Repentance, and great Acknowledgements of God's Goodness, and his own former Vileness and Ignorance; of all which we have heard nothing, but have often heard, that like the Pharisee, he is crying out, I am more Righteous than thou; from whence I conclude he is at great distance from a true Possession of this Claim. I shall now, honest Reader, give thee a Dismiss, only desiring that the Quotations truly made may be to thy Edification, as the Detection of T. Budd's Fraud will be, I hope, to thy Satisfaction. THE END