i^ff:J^-

i !

'^I.gCve ihe/e Batki
,-/«= the. founding ef i ColUgf o^thEs C^/o«^J'i|

¦v^a¦^V'^,V^^^.^V.^^^.V^;.^¦^.^VV.^^.V^^^^.^3s

»M«.mw««t^~TO;TO:;j^

Acquired by Exchange

iftW¦W^tfW>^T^^'-WWUl-B^M^l^a¦,!.l,^|.¦u^.l^

VIEWS

Christian Doctrine

The Religious Society of Friends,

PASSAGES TAKEN FROM

BARCLAY'S APOLOGY,

WITH THE DESIRE ON THE PART OF THE EDITOR
TO PRESENT IN SMALLER COMPASS,
BUT UNCHANGED,
THE TRUTHS SET FORTH IN HIS WORK,
AND SOME OF HIS ARGUMENTS IN THEIR SUPPORT.

PHILADELPHIA:
FOR SALE AT FRIENDS' BOOK-STORE,
304 Arch Street.
188 2,

PREFACE.

T^HE work from which these passages are taken, is
-*- styled
AN APOLOGY FOR THE TRUE CHRISTIAN DIVINITY,
BEING AN EXPLANATION AND VINDICATION
OF THE PRINCIPLES AND DOCTRINES OF
THE PEOPLE CALLED QUAKERS.
BY ROBERT BARCLAY, 1675.
In his address to the Reader, he says :
" Forasmuch as that, which above all things I propose
to myself, is to declare and defend the truth, for the
service whereof I have given up and devoted myself
and all that is mine: therefore there is nothing which
for its sake, by the help and assistance of God, I may
not attempt.
" I have not sought to accommodate this my work to
itching ears, who desire rather to comprehend in their
heads the sublime notions of truth, than to embrace it

11 PREFACf:.
in their hearts : for what I liave written comes more
from my heart than from my head ; what I have heard
with the ears of my soul, and seen with my inwanl
eyes, and my hands have handled of the Word of Life,
and what hath been inwardly manifested to rae of the
things of God, that do I declare ; not so much regarding
the eloquence and excellency of speech, as desiring to
demonstrate the efficacy and operation of truth."

CONTENTS.

PROPOSITION I.
PAGE
Concerning the True Foundation of Knowledge . . 5
PROPOSITION II.
Concerning Immediate Revelation  8
PROPOSITION III.
Concerning the Scriptures  35
PROPOSITION IV.
Concerning the Condition op Man in the Fall . . 56
PROPOSITIONS Y. AND VI.
Concerning the Universal Redemption by Christ, and
ALSO THE Saving and Spiritual Light wherewith
every Man is Enlightened  60
PROPOSITION VII.
Concerning Justification  112
PROPOSITION VIII.
Concerning Perfection .  133
iii

iv CONTENTS.
PROPOSITION IX. PAGE
Concerning Perseverance and the Possibility of Fall
ing from Grace  145
PROPOSITION X.
Concerning the Ministry  149
PROPOSITION XI.
Concerning Worship  183
PROPOSITION XIL
Concerning Baptism  217
PROPOSITION XIIL
Concerning the Communion or Participation of the
Body and Blood of Christ ..:... 235
PROPOSITION XIV.
Concerning the Power of the Civil Magistrate in
Matters Purely Religious and' Pertaining to the
Conscience  260
PROPOSITION XV.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations . . . 267

AN" APOLOGY

FOR THE

TKUE CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.

PROPOSITION I.
CONCERNING THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE.
SEEING the height of all happiness is placed in the true
knowledge of God ; " This is life eternal, to John xyii. 3.
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent ; " the true and right understanding of this foun
dation and ground of knowledge is that which is most nec
essary to be known and believed in the first place.

He THAT desireth to acquire any art or science, seeketh
first those means by which that art or science is obtained.
If we ought to do so in things natural and earthly, how
much more then in spiritual 1 In this affair then should
our inquiry be the more diligent, because he that errs in
the entrance is not so easily brought back again into the
1* 5

6 PROPOSITION I.
right way; he that misseth his road from the beginning of
his journey, and is deceived in his first marks, at his firsi
setting forth, the greater his mistake is, the more difficult
will be his entrance into the right way.
Thus when a man first proposeth to himself the knowl
edge of God, from a sense of his own uuworthiness, and
from the great weariness of his mind, occasioned by the
secret checks of his conscience, and the tender, yet real
glances of God's Hght upon his heart ; the earnest desires he
has to be redeemed from his present trouble, and the fervent
breathings he has to be eased of his disordered passions
and lusts, and to find quietness and peace in the certain
knowledge of God, and in the assurance of his love and
good-will towards him, make his heart tender, and ready
to receive any impression ; and so — not having then a dis
tinct discerning — through forwardness embraceth any thing
that brings present ease. If, either through the reverence
he bears to certain persons, or from the secret inclination
to what doth comply with his natural disposition, he fall
upon any principles or means, by which he apprehends he
may come to know God, and so doth centre himself, it will
be hard to remove him thence again, how wrong so ever
they may be ; for the first anguish being over, he becomes
more hardy; and the enemy being near, creates a false
peace, and a certain confidence, which is strengthened by
the mind's unwillingness to enter again into new doubtful
ness, or the former anxiety of a search.
This is abundantly proved by the experience of all such,
as being secretly touched with the call of God's grace unto

OF THE TKUE FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 7
them, do apply themselves to false teachers, where the
remedy proves worse than the disease ; because instead of
knowing God, or the things relating to their salvation
aright, they drink in wrong opinions of him ; from which
it is harder to be disentangled, than while the soul remains
a blank.

PROPOSITION II.
OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION.
SEEING " no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and
be to whom the Son revealeth him;" and seeing the
Mat. xi. 27. "revelation of tbe Son is in and by the Spirit; "
therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which
the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be onl)-
revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he dis
posed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in
which it was in the beginning, and created man a living
soul, to rule and govern it, -so by the revelation of the
same Spirit he hath manifested himself all along unto the
sons of men, both patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; which
revelations of God by the Spirit, whether by outward
voices and appearances, dreams, or inward manifestations
in the heart, were of old the object of their faith, and
remain yet so to be ; since the object of the saints'
faith is the same in all ages, though held forth under
divers administrations. Moreover, these divine inward
revelations, which we make absolutely necessary for the
building up of true faith, neither do nor can ever contra
dict the outward testimony of the scriptures, or right and
sound reason. Yet from hence it will not follow, that these

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 9
divine revelations are to be subjected to the test, either of
the outward testimony of the scriptures, or of the natural
reason of man, as to a more noble or certain rule and touch
stone; for this divine revelation and inward illumination,
is that which is evident and clear of itself, forcing, by its
own evidence and clearness, the well-disposed understanding
to assent, irresistibly moving the same thereunto, even as
the common principles of natural truths do move and in
cline the mind to a natural assent : as, that the whole is
greater than its part.

FoK THE better understanding of this proposition, we
do distinguish betwixt the certain knowledge of God, and
the uncertain ; betwixt the spiritual knowledge, and the
literal ; the saving heart-knowledge, and the soaring airy
head knowledge. The last, we confess, may be divers ways
obtained ; but the first, by no other way than the inward
immediate manifestation and revelation of God's Spirit,
shining in and upon the heart, enlightening and opening
the understanding.
The CERTAINTY of which truth is such, that it hath been
acknowledged by some of the most refined and famous of
all sorts of professors of Christianity in all ages.
Cyrillus Alexandrinus affirmeth, " That men know that
Jesus is the Lord by the Holy Ghost, no otherwise, than
they who taste honey know that it is sweet, even' by its
proper quality."
Luther, in his book to the nobility of Germany, saith,

lO PROPOSITION II.
"This is certain, that no man can make himself a teacher
of the holy scriptures, but the holy Spirit alone." And
upon the Magnificat he saith, " No man can rightly know
God, or understand the word of God, unless he immedi
ately receive it from the Holy Spirit ; neither can any one
receive it from the Holy Spirit, except he find it by expe
rience in himself; and in this experience the Holy Ghost
teacheth, as in his proper school ; out of which school noth
ing is taught but mere talk."
Philip Meiancthon, in his annotations upon John vi. :
" Those who hear only an outward and bodily voice, hear
the creature ; but God is a Spirit, and is neither discerned,
nor known, nor heard, but by the Spirit ; and therefore to
hear the voice of God, to see God, is to know and hear the
Spirit. By the Spirit alone God is known and perceived.
All those who apply themselves effectually to Christianity,
and are not satisfied until they have found its effectual work
upon their hearts, redeeming them from sin, do feel that
no knowledge effectually prevails to the producing of this.
but that which proceeds from the warm influence of God's
Spirit upon the heart, and from the comfortable shining of
his light upon their understanding."
And therefore to this purpose a modern author, viz., Dr.
Smith of Cambridge, in his select discourses, saith well ;
"To seek our divinity merely in books and writings, is to
seek the living among the dead; we do but in vain many
times seek God in these, where his truth is too often not so
much enshrined as entombed. Intra te qvsere Beum, Seek
God within thine own soul. He is best discerned, vo^pi

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 11
ifta^ij, as Plotinus phraseth it, by an intellectual touch of
nim. We must see with our eyes, and hear with our ears,
and our hands must handle the word of life — to express it
in St. John's words. — t-fi xai ^xiji aw^ijats ¦f,?, &c., the soul
itself hath its sense, as well as the body. And therefore
David, when he would teach us to know what the divine
goodness is, calls not for speculation, but sensation : ' Taste,
and see that the Lord is good.' That is not the best aud
truest knowledge of God which is wrought out by the
labor and sweat of the brain, but that which is kindled
within us, by an heavenly warmth in our hearts." And
again : " There is a knowing of the truth as it is in Jesus,
as it is in a Christ-like nature ; as it is in that sweet, mild,
humble, and loving Spirit of Jesus, which spreads itself,
like a morning sun, upon the souls of good men, full of
light and life. It profits little to know Christ himself after
the flesh ; but he gives his Spirit to good men, that search-
eth the deep things of God."
If we make a Tight definition of a Christian, according
to the scriptures. That he is one that hath the spirit of
Christ, and is led by it, how many Christians, yea, and of
these great masters and doctors of Christianity, so ac
counted, shall we justly divest of that noble title ? If
those therefore who have all the other means of knowledge,
and are sufficiently learned therein, whether it be the letter
of the scripture, the traditions of churches, or the works
of creation and providence, are not yet to be esteemed
Christians according to the certain definition above men
tioned ; and if the inward and immediate revelation of

12 PROPOSITION II.
God's Spirit in the heart, in such as have been altogether
ignorant of some, and but very little skilled in others, of
these means of attaining knowledge, hath brought them to
salvation ; then it will necessarily follow, that inward and
immediate revelation is the only sure way to attain the
true and saving knowledge of God.
Nor dare any affirm, that none come to the knowledge
of God and salvation by the inward revelation of the Spirit,
without these other outward means, unless they be also so
bold as to exclude Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Job, and'
all the holy patriarchs from true knowledge and salva
tion. I WOULD however not be understood, as if hereby I ex
cluded those other means of knowledge from any use or
service to man ; it is far from me so to judge, as concerning
the scriptures, in the next proposition, will more plainly
appear. The question is not, what may be profitable or
helpful, but what is absolutely necessary. Many things
may contribute to further a work, which yet. are not the
main thing that makes the work go on.
The sum then of what is said amounts to this: That
where the true inward knowledge of God is, through the
revelation, of his Spirit, there is all ; neither is there an
absolute necessity of any other. But where the best, high
est, and most profound knowledge is, without this there is
nothing, as to the obtaining the great end of salvation.
This truth is very effectually confirmed by the first part of
the proposition itself, which in few words comprehendetb
divers unquestionable arguments.

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 13
First, That there is no knowledge of the Father but
by the Son.
Secondly, That there is no knowledge of the Son but
by the Spirit.
Thirdly, That by the Spirit God hath always revealed
himself to his children.
Fourthly, That these revelations were the object of
the saints' faith.
And Lastly, That the same continueth to be the ob
ject of the saints' faith to this day. ,
As TO THE first, viz.. That there is no knowledge of the
Father but by the Son, it will easily be proved, being
founded upon the plain words of scripture, " No man
knoweth the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal him," Matt. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. And again,
he himself saith, " I am the way, the truth, and the life :
no man cometh unto the Father but by me," John xiv. 6.
Hence he is fitly called. The mediator betwixt God and
man : for having been with God from all eternity, being
himself God, and also in time partaking of the nature of
man, through him is the goodness and love of God con
veyed to mankind, and by him again man receiveth and
partaketh of these mercies.
Having then laid down this flrst principle, I come to the
second, viz. : That there is no knowledge of the Son but by
the Spirit ; or, That the revelation of the Son of God is by
the Spirit.
Where it is to be noted, that I always speak of the sav
ing, certain, and necessary knowledge of God ; which that it
2

i-i PROPOSITION II.
cannot be acquired otherways than by the Spirit, doth also
appear from many clear scriptures. For Jesus Christ, in
and by whom the Father is revealed, doth also reveal him
self to his disciples and friends in and by his Spirit. As
his manifestation was outward, when he testified and wit
nessed for the truth in this world, so being now with
drawn, as to the outward man, he doth teach and instruct
mankind inwardly by his own Spirit; " He standeth at tho
door, and knocketh, and whoso heareth his voice and open-
, eth, he comes in " to such. Rev. iii. 20. Of this revelation
of Christ in him Paul speaketh, Gal. i. 16, in which he
placeth the excellency of his ministry, and the certainty
of his calling. And the promise of Christ to his disciples,
"Lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world,"
confirmeth the same thing ; for this is an inward and spir
itual presence, as all acknowledge.
I shall deduce the proof of this proposition from two
manifest places of scripture: the first is, 1 Cor. ii. 11, 12.
"What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of a man which is in him? Even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have
received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
of God, that we might know the things which are freely
given us of God." The apostle, in the verses before, speak
ing of the wonderful things which are prepared for the
saints, after he hath declared, that "the natural man can
not reach them," adds, that "they are revealed by the
Spirit of God," ver. 9, 10, giving this reason, "For the
Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.'

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 15
And then he bringeth in the comparison, in the verses
above-mentioned, very apt, and answerable to our purpose
and doctrine, that "as the things of a man are only known
by the spirit of man, -so the things of God are only known
by the Spirit of God ; " that is, that as nothing below the
spirit of man (as the spirit of brutes, or any other crea
tures) can properly reach unto or comprehend the things of
a man, as being of a nobler and higher nature, so neither
can the spirit of man, or the natural man, receive nor dis
cern the things of God, or the things that are spiritual, as
being also of an higher nature ; which the apostle himself
gives for the reason, saying, " Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned."
The other scripture is also a saying of the same apostle, '
1 Cor. xii. 3. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost." This scripture, which is full of
truth, and answereth full well to the enlightened under
standing of the spiritual and real Christian, may perhaps
prove very strange to the carnal and pretended follower of
Christ, by whom perhaps it hath not been so diligently re
marked. Here the apostle doth so much require the Holy
Spirit in the things that relate to a Christian, that he posi
tively avers, we cannot so much as affirm Jesus to be the
Lord without it.
The third thing affirmed is. That by the Spirit God
always revealed himself to his children. I think it will
not be denied, that God's converse with man, all along
from Adam to Moses, was by the immediate manifestation
of his Spirit : and afterwards, through the whole tract of

16 PROPOSITION II.
the law, he spake to his children no otherways ; which
cannot be denied by such as acknowledge the scriptures of
truth to have been written by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost : for these writings, from Moses to Malachi, do de
clare, that during all that time God revealed himself to his
children by his Spirit.
But if any will object, that after the dispensation of the
law God's method of speaking was altered; I answer: That
God spake always immediately to the Jews, in that he spake
always immediately to the High-Priest from betwixt the
Cherubims: who, when he entered into the Holy of Holies,
returning, did relate to the whole people the voice and will
of God, there immediately revealed. So that this immedi
ate speaking never ceased in any age.
From this immediate fellowship were none shut out,
who earnestly sought after and waited for it; in that
many, besides the High-Priest, who were not so much as
of the kindred of Levi, nor of the Prophets, did receive it
and speak from it; as it is written. Numb. xi. 25, where
the Spirit is said to have rested on the seventy elders ;
which Spirit also reached unto two that were not in the
tabernacle, but in the camp ; whom when some would have
forbidden, Moses would not, but rejoiced, wishing that all
the Lord's people were prophets, and that he would put
his Spirit Upon them, ver. 29.
This is also confirmed, Neh. ix., where the elders of the
people, after their return from captivity, when they began
to sanctify themselves by fasting and prayer, numbering
up the many mercies of God towards their fathers, uay,

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 17
verse 20, " Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct
them ; " and verse 30, " Yet many years didst thou for
bear, and testify against them by thy Spirit in thy proph
ets." Many are the sayings of spiritual David to this
purpose, as Psalm li. 11, 12, "Take not thy holy Spirit
from me : uphold me with thy free Spirit." Psal. cxxxix.
T, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" Hereunto doth
the prophet Isaiah ascribe the credit of his testimony, say
ing, chap, xlviii. 16, "And now the^Lord God and his
Spirit hath sent me." And that God revealed himself to
his children under the New Testament, to wit, to the
apostles, evangelists, and primitive disciples, is confessed
by all.
The fourth thing affirmed is. That these revelations
were the object of the saints' faith of old.
This will easily- appear by the definition of faith, and
considering what its object is. " Faith," saith the apostle
Paul, "is the substance of things hoped for, and the evi
dence of things not seen : " which, as the apostle illus-
trateth it in the same chapter by many examples, is no
other but a firm and certain belief of the mind, whereby it
resteth, and in a sense possesseth the substance of some
things hoped for, through its confidence in the promise of
God : and thus the soul hath a most firm evidence, by its
faith, of things not yet seen nor come to pass. The object
of this faith is the promise, word, or testimony of God,
speaking in. the mind. Hence it hath been generally af
firmed, that the object of faith is Deus loquens, etc., that
is, God speaking, etc., which is also manifest from all those
2* B

18 PROPOSITION II.
examples dedv.ced by the apostle throughout that whole
chapter, whose faith was founded neither upon any out-
tvard testimony, nor upon the voice or writing o-f man,
but upon the revelation of God's will, manifest unto them,
and in them; as in the example of Noah, ver. 1, thus,
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of
his house ; by the which he condemned the world, and be
came heir of the righteousness which is by faith." What
was here the object of Noah's faith, but God speaking unto
him ? He had not the writings nor prophesyings of any
going before, nor yet the concurrence of any church or
people to strengthen him ; and yet his faith in the word,
by which he contradicted the whole world, saved him and
his bouse. Of which also Abraham is set forth as a singu
lar example, being therefore called the Father of the faith
ful, who is said against hope to have believed in hope, in
that he not only willingly forsook his father's country, not
knowing whither he went ; in that he believed concerning
the coming of Isaac, though contrary to natural proba
bility ; but above all, in that he refused not to offer him up,
not doubting but God was able to raise him from the dead ;
of whom it is said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called
The object of Abraham's faith in all this was no other but
inward and immediate revelation, or God signifying his
will unto him inwardly and immediately by his Spirit.
It may be objected, that those who found their faith
now upon immediate revelation, ought to have also out
ward voices or visions, dreams or appearances for it.

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 19
It is not denied, but God made use of the ministry of
angels, who, in the appearance of men, spake outwardly to
the saints of old, and that he did also reveal some things to
them in dreams and visions. Let us consider how or how
far these outward voices, appearances, and dreams were
the object of the saints' faith : was it because they were
simply voices, appearances, or dreams ? Nay, certainly ;
for they were not ignorant, that the devil might form a
sound of words, convey it to the outward ear, and deceive
the outward senses, by making things to appear that are
not. What made them then give credit to these visions?
Certainly nothing else but the secret testimony of God's
Spirit in their hearts, assuring them that the voices, dreams,
and visions were of and from God. Abraham believed the
angels ; but who told him that these men were angels ?
We must not think his faith then was built upon his out
ward senses, but proceeded from the secret persuasion of
God's Spirit in his heart.
We may observe many passages of the holy scripture,
where it is only mentioned, "And God said," etc., "And
the word of the Lord came " unto such and such, saying,
etc. Seeing the Spirit of God is within us, and not with
out us only, it speaks to our spiritual, and not to our bodily
ear. Therefore I see no reason, where it is so often said in
scripture. The Spirit said, moved, hindered, called such or
such a one, to do or forbear such or such a thing, that any
have to conclude, that this was not an inward voice to the
ear of the soul, rather than an outward voice to the bodily
ear.

20 PROPOSITION II.
These inward and imniediate revelations continue to be
ihe object of the saints' faith unto this day.' If the faith
of the ancients were not one and the same with ours, i. e..
agreeing in substance therewith, and receiving the same
definition, it had not been pertinent for the apostle, Heb.
xi., to have illustrated the definition of our faith by the ex
amples of that of the ancients, or to go about to move us
by the example of Abraham, if Abraham's faith were dif
ferent in nature from ours. Nor doth any difference arise
hence, because they believed in Christ with respect to his
appearance outwardly as future, and we as already ap
peared : for neither did they then so believe in him to
come, as not to feel him present with them, and witness
him near ; seeing the apostle saith, " They all drank of that
spiritual rock which followed them, which rock was Christ; "
nor do we so believe concerning his appearance past, as not
also to feel and know him present with us, and to feed upon
him; except Christ, saith the apostle, be in you, ye are
reprobates ; so that the faith of both is one, terminating in
one and the same thing. And as to the other part or con
sequence of the antecedent, to wit. That the object is one
where the faith is one, the apostle also proveth it in the
fore-cited chapter, where he makes all the worthies of old
examples to us. Now wherein are they imitable; but be
cause they beUeved in God ? And what was the object of
their faith, but inward and immediate revelation, as we
have before proved ? Their example can be no ways appli
cable to us, except we believe in God, as they did, that is,
by the same object.

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 21
Such as deny this now-a-days use here a distinction ;
granting that God is to be known by his Spirit, but again
ilenying that it is immediate or inward, but in and by the
scriptures ; in which tbe mind of the Spirit (as they say)
being fully and amply expressed, we are thereby to know
God, and be led in all things.
That Christians now are to be led inwardly and imme
diately by the Spirit of God, even in the same manner,
though it befall not many to be led in the same measure,
as the saints were of old, I shall prove by divers argu
ments: and first from the promise of Christ in these words,
John xiv. 16, " And I will pray the Father, and he will
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever." Ver. IT. " Even the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him ; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you." Again, ver. 26. "But the Com
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance." And xvi. 13. But "when
he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all
truth : for he shall not speak of himself ; but whatsoever
he shall hear he shall speak, and he will show you things
to come." We have here first, who this is ; and that is
divers ways expressed, to wit : The Comforter, the Spirit
of truth, the Holy Ghost, the Sent of the Father in the
name of Christ. Secondly, Where this Spirit is to be, " He
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." And thirdly,
What his work is, " He shall teach you all things, aud

22 PROPOSITION II.
bring all things to your remembrance, and guide you into
ail truth."
As to the first, most do acknowledge that there is noth
ing else understood than what the plain words signify. As
to the second. That this Spirit is inward, in my opinion
needs no interpretation or commentary, " He dwelleth with
you and shall be in you." This indweUing of the Spirit in
the saints, as it is a thing most needful to be known and
believed, so is it as positively asserted in the scripture
as any thing else can be. " If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you," saith the apostle to the Romans, chap. viii.
9. And again, " Know ye not that your body is the tem
ple of the Holy Ghost," 1 Cor. vi. 19. "And that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? " 1 Cor. iii. 16. Without this the
apostle reckoneth no man a Christian. " If any man (saith
he) have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Whatsoever is excellent, whatsoever is noble, whatsoever
is worthy, whatsoever is desirable in the Christian faith, is
ascribed to this Spirit, without which it could no more sub
sist than the outward world without the sun. Hereunto
have all true Christians, in all ages, attributed their strength
and life. It is by this Spirit that they avouch themselves,
to have been converted to God, to have been redeemed from
the world, to have been strengthened in their weakness,
comforted in their afflictions, confirmed in their temptations,
emboldened in their sufferings, and triumphed in the midst
of all their persecutions. Yea, the writings of all true
Christians are full of the great and notable things which
they all affirm themselves to have done, by thf power, and

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 23
virtue, and efficacy of this Spirit of God working in them.
" It is the Spirit that quickeneth," John vi. 63. It was
the Spirit that gave them utterance. Acts ii. 4. It was
the Spirit by which Stephen spake, that the Jews were not
able to resist. Acts vi. 10. It is such as walk after the
Spirit that receive no condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. It is
the law of the Spirit that makes free, ver. 2. It is by
the Spirit of God dwelling in us that we are redeemed
from the flesh and from the carnal mind, ver. 9. It is
the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us that quickeneth our
mortal bodies, ver. 11. It is through this Spirit that the
deeds of the body are mortified and life obtained, ver. 13.
It is by this Spirit that we are adopted, and " cry ABBA
Father," ver. 15. It is this "Spirit that beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God," ver. 16.
It is this " Spirit that helpeth our infirmities, and maketh
intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be ut
tered," ver. 26. It is by this Spirit that the glorious things
which God hath laid up for us, which neither outward ear
hath heard, nor outward eye hath seen, nor the heart of
man conceived by all his reasonings, are revealed unto us,
1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. It is by this Spirit that both wisdom and
knowledge, and faith, and miracles, and tongues, and proph
ecies, are obtained, 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10. It is by this Spirit
that we are " all baptized into one body,'' ver. 13. In short,
what thing relating to the salvation of the soul, and to the
life of a Christian, is rightly performed, or effectually ob
tained, without it ? And what shall I say more ? For the
time would fail me to tell of all those things which the holy

24 PROPOSITION II.
men of old have declared, and the saints of this day do
themselves enjoy, by the virtue and power of this Spirit
dwelling in them.
If therefore it be so, why should any be so foolish as to
deny, or so unwise as not to seek after this Spirit, which
Christ hath promised shall dwell in his children ? They
then that do suppose the indweUing and leading of his
Spirit to be ceased, must also suppose Christianity to be
ceased, which cannot subsist without it.
Thirdly, What the work of this Spirit is, is partly before
John xvi. 13 shown, which Christ compriseth in two or three
and 14, 26. things, "He wiU guide you into aU truth;"
"He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance." Since Christ hath provided for us so good
an instructor, why need we then lean so much to those
traditions and commandments of men wherewith so many
Christians have burthened themselves ? Why need we set
up our own carnal and corrupt reason for a guide to us in
matters spiritual, as some will needs do ? May it not be
complained of all such, as the Lord did of old concerning
Israel by the prophets, Jer. ii. 13: "For my people have
committed two evils, they have forsaken- m.e, the fountain
of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cis
terns, that can hold no water ?" Have not many forsaken,
do not many deride and reject, this inward and immediate
guide, this Spirit that leads into all truth, and cast up to
themselves other ways, broken ways indeed, which have
not aU this while brought them out of the flesh, nor out of
the world, nor from under the dominion of their own lusla

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 25
and sinful affections, whereby truth, which is only rightly
learned by this Spirit, is so much a stranger in the earth ?
From all then that hath been mentioned concerning this
promise, and these words of Christ, it will follow, that
Christians are always to be led inwardly and immediately
by the Spirit of God dwelling in them, and that the same
is a standing and perpetual ordinance, as well to the church
in general in all ages as to every individual member in
particular. But there are some that will confess, That the Spirit
doth now lead and influence the saints, but that he doth it
only by enlightening their understanding, to understand
and believe the truth deUvered in the scriptures.
This opinion is not altogether according to truth, neither
doth it reach the fulness of it. Because there be many
truths, which as they are applicable to particulars and
individuals, and most needful to be known by them, are in
nowise to be found in tbe scripture. Besides,' that which
teacheth me aU things, and is given me for that end, with
out doubt presents those things to my mind which it teach
eth me. It is not said, It shaU teach you how to under
stand those things that are written ; but, It shall teach you
all things.
My second argument shall be drawm from the nature of
the new covenant ; by which, and those that follow, I shaU
prove that we are led by the Spirit immediately.
The nature of the new covenant is expressed in divers
places ; First, Isa. Ux. 21, "As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord ; My Spirit that is upon thee,
3

26 proposition ii.
and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shaU not
depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed.
nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord,
from henceforth and for ever." By the latter part of this
is sufficiently expressed the perpetuity and continuance of
this promise, "It shaU not depart, saith the Lord, from
henceforth and for ever." In the former part is the prom
ise itself, which is the Spirit of God being upon them, and
the words of God being put into their mouths.
There is no mention made of any medium ; he saith not,
I shall by the means of such and such writings or books,
convey such and such words into your mouths ; but My
words, I, even I, saith the Lord, have put into your
mouths. He saith not. The words which ye shall see
written, my Spirit shall only enlighten your understand
ings to assent unto ; but positively, "My words, which I
have put in thy mouth."
The nature of the new covenant is yet more amply ex
pressed, Jer. xxxi. 33, which is again repeated and reas
serted by the apostle, Heb. viii. 10, 11, in these words,
" For this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my
laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts, and
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all
shall know me, from the least to the greatest." In this
then is the law distinguished from tbe gospel; the law be
fore was outward, written in ta))les of stone, but now ia

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 27
inward, written in the heart: of old the people depended
upon their priests for the knowledge of God, but now they
have all a certain and sensible knowledge of Him.
How much then are they deceived, who, instead of
making the gospel preferable to the law, have made the
condition of such as are under the gospel far worse ? For
no doubt it is a far better and more desirable thing to con
verse with God immediately, than only mediately, as being
an higher and more glorious dispensation ; and yet these
men acknowledge that many under the law had immediate
converse with God, whereas they now cry it is ceased.
Again : Under the law there was the holy of holies, into
which the high priest did enter, aud received the word of
the Lord immediately from betwixt the cherubims, so that
the people could then certainly know the mind of the Lord ;
but now, according to these men's judgment, we are in a
far worse condition, having nothing but the outward letter
of the scripture to guess and divine from. But Jesus
Christ hath promised us better things, though many are
so unwise as not to believe him, even to guide ns by his
own unerring Spirit, and hath rent and removed the veil,
whereby not only one, and that once a year, may enter ;
but all of us, at all times, have access unto him, as often as
we draw near unto him with pure hearts : he reveals his
win to us by his Spirit, and writes his laws in our hearts.
The third argument is from these words of John, 1 John
ii. ver. 27, " But the anointing, which ye have received of
him, abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you : but as the same anointing teacheth you of aU things,

28 PROPOSITION II.
and is truth, and is no lie ; and even as it hath taught you,
ye shaU abide in him."
This could not be any special, peculiar, or extraordinary
privilege, but that which is common to all the saints, it
being a general epistle, directed to all them of that age
The apostle proposeth this anointing in them, as a more
certain touchstone for them to discern and try seducers by,
even than his own writings ; for having in the former verse
said, that he had written some things to them concerning
such as seduced them, he begins the next verse, " But the
anointing," etc., " and ye need not that any man teach
you," etc., which infers, that having said to them what can
be said, he refers them for all to the inward anointing,
which teacheth all things, as the most firm, constant, and
certain bulwark against all seducers. It is a lasting and
continuing thing ; the anointing which abideth. If it had
not been to abide in them, it could not have taught them
all things, neither guarded them against all hazard.
The most usual objection to these doctrines is. That these
revelations are uncertain.
But it is one, thing to affirm, that the true aud undoubted
revelation of God's Spirit is certain and infallible ; and
another thing to affirm, that this or that particular person
or people is led infallibly by this revelation in what they
speak or write, because they affirm themselves to be so led
by the inward and immediate revelation of the Spirit. The
first only is asserted by us, the latter may be called in ques
tion. The question is not, who are or are not so led, but
whether all ought not or may not be so led ?

OP IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 29
Seeing then we have already proved that Christ hath
promised his Spirit to lead his children, and that every one
of them both ought and may be led by it, if any depart
from this certain guide in deeds, and yet in words pretend
to be led by it into things that are not good, it wiU not
from thence follow, that the true guidance of the Spirit is
uncertain, or ought not to be followed ; no more than it
will follow that the sun showeth not light, because a blind
man, or one who wilfully shuts his eyes, falls into a ditch
at noon-day for want of light ; or that no words are spoken,
because a deaf man hears them not ; or that a garden full
of fragrant flowers has no sweet smell, because he that has
lost his smelling doth not smell it ; the fault then is in the
organ, and not in the object.
These divine and inward revelations, which we establish
as absolutely necessary for the founding of the true faith,
as they do not, so neither can they, at any time contradict
the Scripture's testimony, or sound reason. Besides the
intrinsic and undoubted truth of this assertion, we can
boldly affirm it from our certain and blessed experience.
For this Spirit never deceived us, never moved us to any
thing that was amiss ; but is clear and manifest in its reve
lations, which arc evidently discerned by us, as we wait in
that pure and undefiled light of God, that proper and fit
organ in which they are received.
Therefore if any reason after this manner. That because
some ungodly men have committed wicked actions, and
have yet more wickedly asserted, that they were led into
these things by the Spirit of God; therefore, no man
3*

80 PROPOSITION II.
ouglit to lean to the Spirit of God, or seek to be led by it,
I utterly deny the consequence, which, were it to be re
ceived as true, then would all faith in God and hope of
salvation become uncertain, and the Christian reUgion be
turned into mere scepticism.
For after the same manner I might reason thus : Because
Eve was deceived by the lying of the serpent, therefore she
ought not to have trusted to the promise of God : that
because the old world was deluded by evil spirits, therefore
ought neither Noah, nor Abraham, nor Moses, to have
trusted the Spirit of the Lord : that because a lying spirit
spake through the four hundred prophets that persuaded
Ahab to go up and fight at Ramoth Gilead, therefore the
testimony of the true Spirit in Micaiah was uncertain, and
dangerous to be followed.
They argue very ill, who despise and reject any princi
ple because men pretending to be led by it do evil ; in case
it be not the natural and consequential tendency of that
principle to lead unto those things that are evil. And for
my part, as I have never a whit the lower esteem of the
blessed testimony of the holy scriptures, nor ¦ do the less
respect any solid tradition, that is answerable and accord-
, ing to truth ; neither at all despise reason, that noble and
excellent faculty of the mind, because wicked men have
abused the name of them, to cover their'wiekedness, and
deceive the simple; so would I not have any reject or
doubt the certainty of that unerring Spirit which God hath
given his children, as that which can alone guide them
into aU truth, because some have falsely pretended to it.

OF IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 31
Because the Spirit of God is the fountain of all truth
and sound reason, therefore we have well said. That it can
not contradict either the testimony of the scripture, or right
reason. Yet it will not from thence follow, that these
divine revelations are to be subjected to the examination
either of the outward testimony of scripture, or of the
human or natural reason of man, as to a more noble and
certain rule or touchstone ; for the divine revelation and
inward illumination irresistibly moves the understanding
to assent by its own evidence and clearness.
Through all the scriptures we may observe, that the
manifestation and revelation of God by his Spirit to the
patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, was immediate as is
above proved ; which they did not examine by any other
principle, but their own evidence and clearness.
To say that the Spirit of God has less evidence upon the
mind of man than natural principles have, is to have too
mean and too low thoughts of it. How comes David to
invite us to taste and see that God is good, if this cannot
be felt and tasted ? This were enough to overturn the
faith and assurance of all the saints, both now and of old.
How came Paul to be persuaded, that nothing could sepa
rate him from the love of God, but by that evidence and
clearness which the Spirit of God gave him ? The apostle
John, who knew weU wherein the certainty of fajith con
sisted, judged it in no ways absurd, without further argu
ment, to ascribe his knowledge and assurance, and that of aU
the saints, hereunto iu these words ; " Hereby know we that
we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of

32 PROPOSITION II.
his Spirit," 1 John iv. 13. And again, chap, v., ver. 6 : "It
is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is
truth." Observe the reason brought by him, " Because the Spirit
is truth ;" of whose certainty and infallibiUty I have here
tofore spoken. We then trust to and confide in this Spirit,
because we know, and certainly believe, that it can only
lead us aright, and never mislead us ; and from this certain
confidence it is that we affirm, that no revelation coming
from it can ever contradict the scripture's testimony nor
right reason. Yet those that have their spiritual senses,
and can savor the things of the Spirit, as it were in prima
instantia, i. e., at the first blush, can discern them w^ithout,
or before they apply them either to scripture or reason.
1 SHALL add one argument to prove that this inward,
immediate revelation, which we have pleaded for all along,
is the only sure and unmovable foundation of all Christian
faith ; which argument, when well considered, I hope will
have weight with all sorts of Christians, and it is this :
That which all professors of Christianity, of what kind
soever, are forced ultimately to recur unto, when pressed
to the last ; that for which all other foundations are recom
mended, and accounted worthy to be believed, and without
which they are granted to be of no weight at all, must
needs be the only true and unmovable foundation of all
Christian faith.
And first. As to the Papists, they place their foundation
in the judgment of the church and tradition. If we press
them to say. Why they believe as the church doth ? their
answer is. Because the church is always led by the infalli-

OP IMMEDIATE REVELATION. 33
"ble Spirit. So here the leading of the Spirit is the utmost
foundation. Again, if we ask them, Why we ought to
trust tradition ? they answer. Because these traditions were
delivered us by the doctors and fathers of the church;
which doctors and fathers, by the revelation of the Holy
Ghost, commanded the church to observe them. Here
again all ends in the revelation of the Spirit.
And for the Protestants and Socinians, both which ac
knowledge the scriptures to be the foundation and rule of
their faith ; the one as influenced by the Spirit of God to
use them, the other as managing them with and by their
own reason ; ask both, or either of them, Why they trust
in the scriptures, and take them to be their rule ? Their
answer is. Because we have in them the mind of God de
livered unto us by those to whom these things were in
wardly and immediately revealed by the Spirit of God ;
and not because this or that man wrote them, but because
the Spirit of God dictated them.
It is strange then that men should render that so uncer
tain and dangerous to follow, upon which alone the certain
ground and foundation of their own faith is built ; and that
they should shut themselves out from that holy fellowship
with God, which only is enjoyed in the Spirit, in which we
are commanded both to walk and live.
If any reading these things find themselves moved, by
the strength of these scripture arguments, to assent and
believe such revelations necessary, and yet find themselves
strangers to them, let theyn know, that it is not because
it is ceased to become the privilege of every true Christian
C

34 PROPOSITION II.
that they do not feel it, but rather because they are not so
much Christians by nature as by name ; and let such know
that the secret light which shines in the heart, and reproves
unrighteousness, is the small beginning of the revelation
of God's Spirit, which was first sent into the world to re
prove it of sin, John xvi. 8. And as by forsaking iniquity
thou comest to be acquainted with that heavenly voice in
thy heart, thou shalt feel, as the old man, or the natural
man, that savoreth not the things of God's kingdom, is
put off, with his evil and corrupt affections and lusts ; I
say, thou shalt feel the new man, or the spiritual birth and
babe raised, which hath its spiritual senses, and can see,
feel, and taste the things of the Spirit ; but till then the
knowledge of things spiritual is but as an historical faith.
But as the description of the light of the sun, or of curious
colors to a blind man, who, though of the largest capacity,
cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively
description, as a child can by seeing them ; so neither can
the natural man, of the largest capacity, by the best words,
even scripture words, so well understand the mysteries of
God's kingdom, as the least and weakest child who tasteth
them, by having them revealed inwardly by the Spirit.
Wait then for this in the small revelation of that pure
light which first reveals things more known ; and as thou
becomest fitted for it, thou shalt receive more and more,
and by a living experience easily refute their ignorance,
who ask. How dost thou know that thou art actuated by
the Spirit of God ? Which will appear to thee Uke asking
one whose eyes are open, how he knows the sun shines at
noon-dav?

PEOPOSITION III.
CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES.
r^ROM these revelations of the Spirit of God to the
J- saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth, which
contain, I. A faithful historical account of the actings of God's
people in divers ages ; with many singular and remarkable
providences attending them.
II. A prophetical account of several things, whereof
some are already past and some yet to come.
III. A full and ample account of all the chief principles
of the doctrine of Christ, held forth in divers precious
declarations, exhortations, and sentences, which, by the
moving of God's Spirit, were at several times, and upon
sundry occasions, spoken and written unto some churches
and their pastors.
Nevertheless, bei^ausephey are only a declaration of the
fountain, and not the fountain itself, therefore thev~aTe not
1:0 be esteemed the principal ground of all truth and knowl-
edge, nor yet the adequate primary rule of fj^ith and Tj;,f||n-
ners. "|""{*et because they give a true and faithful testimony
of the first foundation, they are and may be esteemed a
secondary rule, subordinate to the '?pirit^from which they

36 PROPOSITION III.
have aU their excellency and certainty ; for as by the in
ward testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know
them, so they testify. That the Spirit is that
John xvi. ¦' 11 m I.
1.3. Rom. Guide by which the saints are led into all Truth ;
""¦'*¦ therefore, according to the scriptures, the Spirit is
the first and principal leader. Seeinar then that we dn
therefore receive and believe the scriptures been use thev
proceeded from the Spirit, for the verv same reason is the
Spirit more originaUy and principally the rule.

In THAT which we affirm of the holy scriptures, it doth
appear at what high rate we value them, accounting them
the most excellent writings in the world ; to which not only
no other writings are to be preferred, but even in divers
respects not comparable thereto. There wants not a majesty
in the style, a coherence in the parts, a good scope in the
whole ; but seeing these things are not discerned by the
natural, but only by the spiritual man, it is the Spirit of
God that must give us that belief of the scriptures which
may satisfy our consciences.
Though then we do acknowledge the scriptures to be
veiy heavenly and divine writings, the use of them to be
very comfortable and necessary to the church of Christ,
and that we also admire and give praise to the Lord, for
his wonderful providence in preserving these writings so
pure and uneorrupted as we have them, through so long a
night of apostacy, to be a testimony of his truth against
the wickedness and abominations even of those whom he

OP THE SCRIPTURES. 37
made instrumental in preserving them, so that they have
kept them to be a witness against themselves ; yet we may
not call them the principal fountain of all truth and knowl
edge, nor yet the first adequate rule of faith and manners ;
because the principal fountain of truth must be the Truth
itself; i. e., that whose certainty and authority depends not
upon another. When we doubt of the streams of any river or
flood, we recur to the fountain itself; and, having found it,
there we desist, we can go no farther ; because there it springs
out of the bowels of the earth, which are inscrutable.
But the scriptures' authority and certainty depend upon
tbe Spirit by which they were dictated ; and the reason why
they were received as truth is, because they proceeded from
the Spirit : therefore they are not the principal ground of
truth. If by the Spirit we come to the true knowledge of God ;
if by the Spirit we are to be led into all truth, and so be
taught of all things ; then the Spirit, and not the scriptures,
is the foundation and ground of all truth and knowledge,
aud the primary rule of faith and manners.
The very nature of the gospel itself declareth that the
scriptiires cannot be the only and chief rule of Christians,
else there should be no difference betwixt the law and the
gospel. But herein doth the law and the gospel differ, in
that the law, being outwardly written, brings under con
demnation, but hath not life in it to save ; whereas the
gospel, as it declares and makes manifest the evil, so, being
an inward powerful thing, it gives power also to obey, aud
delivers from the evil. Hence it is called ^a/yyi%i,ov, which
4

38 PROPOSITION III.
is glad tidings. The law or letter, which is without us,
kills ; but the gospel, which is the inward spiritual law,
gives Ufe ; for it consists not so much in words as in virtue.
Wherefore such as come to know it, and be acquainted with
it, come to feel greater power over their iniquities than aU
outward laws or rules can give them. Hence the apostle
concludes, Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shaU not have dominion over
you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
This grace then that is inward, and not an outward law, is
to be the rule of Christians. Hereunto the apostle com
mends the elders of the church, saying. Acts xx. 32, "And
now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of
his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you
an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." He
doth not commend them here to outward laws or writings,
but to the word of grace, which is inward ; even the spirit
ual law, which makes free, as he elsewhere affirms, Rom.
viii. 2, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath
made me free from the law of sin and death." This spirit
ual law is that which the apostle declares he preached and
directed people unto, which was not outward, as by Rom.
X. 8, is manifest ; where distinguishing it from the law, he
saith, " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in
thy heart ; that is the word of faith which we preach."
The principal rule of Christians under the gospel is not
an outward letter, nor law outwardly yvritten and delivered,
but an inward spiritual law, engraven in the heart, the law
of the Spirit of life, the word that is nigh in the heart and
in the mouth.

OP THE SCRIPTURES. 39
That which is given to Christians for a rule and guide,
must needs be so full, that it may clearly and distinctly
guide and order them in all things and occurrences that
may fall out. But there are numberless things which par
ticular Christians may be concerned in, for which there can
be no particular rule had in the scriptures. I shall give an
instance in two or three particulars to prove this.
As for instance, some are called to the ministry of the
word : Paul saith, There was a necessity upon him to preach
the gospel ; woe unto me, if I preach not. If it be neces
sary that there be now ministers of the church, as well as
then, then there is the same necessity upon some, more
than upon others to occupy this place ; which necessity, as
it may be incumbent upon particular persons, the scripture
neither doth nor can declare.
If it be said. That the qualifications of a minister are
found in the scripture, and by applying these qualifications
to myself, I may know whether I be fit for such a place or
not ; I answer, The qualifications of a bishop, or minister,
as they are mentioned both in the epistle to Timothy and
Titus, are such as may be found in a private Christian;
yea, which ought in some measure to be in every true
Christian : so that this giveth a man no certainty. Every
capacity to an office giveth me not a sufficient call to it.
Next again, By what rule shall I judge if I be so quali
fied ? How do I know that I am sober, meek, holy, harm
less ? Is it not the testimony of the Spirit in my conscience
that must assure me hereof ? And suppose that I was quali
fied and called, yet what scripture rule shall inform me,

40 PROPOSITION III.
whether it be my duty to preach in this or that place, in
France or England, Holland or Germany ? Whether I
shaU take up my time in confirming the faithful, reclaiming
heretics, or converting infidels, as also in writing epistles
to this or that church ?
The general rules of the scripture, viz., To be diligent
in my duty, to do aU to the glory of God, and for the good
of his church, can give me no Ught in this thing. If Paul,
when his face was turned by the Lord toward Jerusalem,
had gone back to Achaia, or Macedonia, he might have
supposed he could have done God more acceptable service,
in preaching and confirming the churches, than in being
shut up in prison in Judea; but would God have been
pleased herewith ? Nay certainly. Obedience is better
than sacrifice ; and it is not our doing that which is good
simply that pleaseth God, but that good which he wiUeth
us to do.
Every member hath its particular place in the body, as
the Apostle showeth, 1 Cor. xii. If then, I being the foot,
should offer to exercise the office of the hand ; or being the
hand, that of the tongue ; my service would be troublesome,
and not acceptable ; and instead of helping the body, I
should make a schism in it. So that that which is good
for another to do, may be sinful to me : for as masters will
have their servants to obey them, according to their good
pleasure, and not only in blindly doing that which may
seem to them to tend to their master's profit, whereby it
may chance, the master having business both in the field
and in the house, that the servant that knows not his mas-

OF THE SCRIPTURES. 41
ler's will may go to the field, when it is the mind of the
master he should stay and do the business of the house,
would not this servant then deserve a reproof, for not an
swering his master's mind ? And what master is so care
less as, having many servants, to leave them in such dis
order as not to assign each his particular station, and not
only the general terms of doing that which is profitable ?
which would leave them in various doubts, and no doubt
end in confusion.
Shall we then dare to ascribe unto Christ, in the order
ing of his church and servants, that which in man might
justly be accounted disorder and confusion ? The apostle
showeth this distinction well, Rom. xii. 6, 1, 8, "Having
then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to
us ; whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our minis
tering ; or he that teacheth, on teaching ; or he that ex-
horteth, on exhortation." Now what scripture rule show
eth me that I ought to exhort, rather than prophesy ? or to
minister, rather than teach ? Surely none at all. Many
more difficulties of this kind occur in the life of a Christian.
Moreover, that which of all things is most needful for
him to know, to wit, whether he reaUy be in the faith, and
an heir of salvation, or not, the scripture can give him no
certainty in, neither can it be a rule to him. That this
knowledge is exceeding desirable and comfortable all do
unanimously acknowledge ; besides that it is especiaUy
commanded, 2 Cor. xni. 5, " Examine yourselves, whether
ye be in the faith, prove your own selves ;- know ye not
4*

12 PROPOSITION III.
your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye
be reprobates ? " And 2 Pet. i. 10, " Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure." Now I say, What scripture rule can assure me that
I have true faith ? That my calling and election is sure ?
If it be said, By comparing the scripture marks of true
faith with mine : I demand, Wherewith shaU I make this
observation ? What shall ascertain me that I am not mis
taken ? If it be said. My own heart :
How unfit a judge is it in its own case ? And how like
to be partial, especially if it be yet unrenewed ? Doth not
the scripture say, that " it is deceitful above all things " ?
I find the promises, I find the threatenings, in the scrip
ture ; but who telleth me that the one belongs to me more
than the other ? The scripture gives me a mere declaration
of these things, but makes no application.
The scripture itself, wherein we are so earnestly pressed
to seek after this assurance, doth not at all affirm itself a
rule sufficient to give it, but wholly ascribeth it to the
Spirit, as Rom. viii. 16, " The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God." 1 John
iv. 13, " Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in
us, because he hath given us of his Spirit ;" and chap v. 6,
"And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is truth."
Lastly, That cannot be the only, principal, nor chief
rule, which doth not universally reach every individual
that needeth it, to produce the necessary effect ; and from
the use of which, either by some innocent defect, or natu-

OP THE SCRIPTURES. 43
ral imperfection, many who are within the compass of the
visible church are necessarily excluded, and that either
wholly, or at least from the immediate use thereof. But
it so falls out frequently concerning the scriptures, in the
case of deaf people, children, and idiots, who can by no
means have the benefit of the scriptures. Shall we then
affirm, that they are without any rule to Godward, or that
they are all damned ? As such an" opinion is inconsistent
both with the justice and mercy of God, so I know no
sound reason can be alleged for it. Now if we may sup
pose any such to be under the new covenant dispensation,
as I know none will deny but that we may, we cannot
suppose them without sbme rule and means of knowledge ;
seeing it is expressly affirmed, " They shall be all taught
of God." John vi. 45. " For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest," Heb. viii. 11.
Though we were rid of this difficulty, how many illiter
ate and yet good men are there in the church of God who
cannot read a letter in their own mother tongue ? These
can have no immediate knowledge of the rule of their
faith ; so their faith must needs depend upon the credit of
other men's reading or relating it unto them ; where either
the altering, adding, or omitting of a little word may be a
foundation in the poor hearer of avery dangerous mistake,
whereby he may either continue in some iniquity igno
rantly, or beUeve a lie confidently.
But further; suppose all could read the scriptures in
their own language ; where is there one of a thousand that
hath that thorough knowledge of the original languages in

44 PROPOSITION III.
which they are written, so as in that respect immediately
to receive the benefit of them ? Must not aU these here
depend 'upon the honesty and faithfulness of the interpre
ters ? Which how uncertain it is for a man to build his
faith upon, the many corrections and amendments, which
even among Protestants have been used, doth sufficiently
declare. And that even the last translations need to be
corrected, learned men do confess.
But last of all, there is no less difficulty occurs even to
those skilled in the original languages, who depend upon
the honesty and credit of the transcribers, since the origi
nal copies are granted by all not to be now extant. Of
which transcribers Jerome in his time complained, saying.
That they wrote not what they found, but what they un
derstood. And Epiphanius saith. That in the good and
correct copies of Luke it was written, that Christ wept,
and that Irenaeus doth cite it ; but that the Catholics blot
ted it out, fearing lest heretics should have abused it.
Other fathers also declare. That whole verses were taken
out of Mark, because of the Manichees.
But further, the various readings of the Hebrew char
acter by reason of the points, which some plead for, as
coeval with the first writings, which others, with no less
probability, allege to be a later invention ; the disagree
ment of divers citations of Christ and the apostles with
those passages in the Old Testament they appeal to ; the
great controversy among the fathers, whereof some highly
approve the Greek Septuagint, decrying and rendering
very doubtful the Hebrew copy, as in many places vitiated

OF THE SCRIPTURES. 45
and altered by the Jews ; other some, and particularly
Jerome, exalting the certainty of the Hebrew, and reject
ing, yea, even deriding the history of the Septuagint,
which the primitive church chiefly made use of; and the
many various readings in divers copies of the Greek, and
the great altercations among the fathers of the first three
centuries, who had greater opportunity to be better in
formed than we can now lay claim to, concerning the
books to be admitted or rejected, as has been above ob
served : all these and much more which might be alleged,
put the minds even of the learned into infinite doubts, scru
ples, and inextricable difficulties. Whence we may very
safely conclude, that Jesus Christ, who promised to be
always with his children, to lead them into all truth, to
guard them against the devices of the enemy, and to es
tabUsh their faith upon an unmovable rock, left them not
to be principally ruled by that, which was subject in itself
to many uncertainties : and therefore he gave them his
Spirit, as their principal guide, which neither moths nor
time can wear out, nor transcribers nor translators cor
rupt ; which none are so young, none so illiterate, none in
so remote a place, but they may come to be reached, and
rightly informed by it.
Through and by the clearness which that Spirit gives
us it is, that we are only best rid of those difficulties that
occur to us concerning the scriptures. The real and un
doubted experience whereof I myself have been a witness
of, with great admiration of the love of God to his chil
dren in these latter davs : for I have known some of my

46 PROPOSITION III.
friends, who profess the same faith with me, faithful ser
vants of the Most High God, and fuU of divine knowledge
of his truth, as it was immediately and inwardly revealed
to them by the Spirit, who not only were ignorant of the
Greek and Hebrew, but even some of them could not read
their own language, who being pressed by their adversa
ries with some citations out of the English translation,
and finding them to disagree with the manifestation of
truth in their own hearts, have boldly affirmed the Spirit
of God never said so, and that it was certainly wrong ; for
they did not believe that any of the holy prophets or apos
tles had ever written so ; which when I on this account
seriously examined, I really found to be errors and corrup
tions of the translators ; who, as in most translations, do
not so much give us the genuine signification of the words,
as strain them to express that which comes nearest to that
opinion they have of truth.
II? IT be then asked me. Whether I think hereby to render
the scriptures uncertain, or useless ? I answer ; Not at all.
The proposition itself declares how much 1 esteem them ;
and provided that to the Spirit from which they came be
but granted that place the scriptures themselves give it, 1
do freely concede to the scriptures the second place, even
whatsoever they say of themselves ; which the apostle Paul
chiefly mentions in two places, Rom. xv. 4 : " Whatsoever
things were written aforetime, were written for our learn
ing, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope." 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, IT : The holy scrip
tures are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through

OF THE SCRIPTURES. 47
faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture given by in
spiration of God, is profitable — for correction, for instruc
tion in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
For though God doth principally and chiefiy lead us by
his Spirit, yet he sometimes conveys his comfort and con
solation to us through his children, whom he raises up and
inspires to speak or write a word in season, whereby tbe
saints are made instruments in the hand of the Lord to
strengthen and encourage one another, which doth also
tend to perfect and make them wise unto salvation ; and
such as are led by the Spirit cannot neglect, but do natu
rally love, and are wonderfully cherished by that which
proceedeth from the same Spirit in another ; because such
mutual emanations of the heavenly life tend to quicken the
mind when at any time it is overtaken with heaviness,
Peter himself declares this to have been the end of his
writing, 2 Pet. i. 12, 13: "Wherefore I will not be neg
ligent to put you always in remembrance of these things,
though ye know them, and be established in the present
truth ; yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this taber
nacle, to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance."
God is teacher of his people himself; and there is noth
ing more express, than that such as are under the new
covenant, need no man to teach them : yet it was a fruit
of Christ's ascension to send teachers and pastors for per
fecting of the saints. So that the same work is ascribed
to the scriptures as to teachers ; the one to make the man
of God perfect, the other for the perfection of the saints.

48 PROPOSITION III.
As then teachers are not to go before the teaching of
God himself under the new covenant, but to follow after
it; neither are they to rob us of that great privilege which
Christ hath purchased unto us by his blood ; so neither is
the scripture to go before the teaching of the Spirit.
God hath seen meet that herein we should, as in a look
ing-glass, see the conditions and experiences of the saints.
of old ; that finding our experience answer to -theirs, we
might thereby be the more confirmed and comforted, and
our hope of obtaining the same end strengthened ; that
observing the providences attending them, seeing the snares
they were liable to, and beholding their deliverances, we
may thereby be made wise unto salvation, and seasonably
reproved and instructed in righteousness.
This is the great work of the scriptures, and their ser
vice to us, that we may witness them fulfilled in us, and so
discern the stamp of God's spirit and ways upon them, by
the inward acquaintance we have with the same Spirit and
work in our hearts. The prophecies of the scriptures are
also very comfortable and profitable unto us, as the same
Spirit enlightens us to observe them fulfilled, and to be ful
filled ; for in all this it is to be observed, that it is only the
spiritual man that can make a right use of them: they are
able to make the man of God perfect, so it is not the natural
man ; and whatsoever was written aforetime, was written
for our comfort, [our] that are the believers, [our] that are
the saints ; concerning such the apostle speaks : for as for
the others, the apostle Peter plainly declares, that the un
stable and unlearned wrest them to their own destruction :

OP THE SCRIPTURES. 49
jhijse were they that were unlearned in the divine and
heavenly learning of the Spirit, not in human and school
Uterature: in which we may safely presume that Peter
himself, being a fisherman, had no skill.
In THIS respect above mentioned, then, we have shown
what service and use the holy scriptures, as managed in
and by the Spirit, are of to the church of God ; wherefore
we do account them a secondary rule. Moreover, because
they are commonly acknowledged by all to have been writ
ten by the dictates of the Holy Spirit, and that tbe errors
which may be supposed by the injury of times to have
slipped in, are not such but that there is a sufficient clear
testimony left to all the essentials of the Christian faith ;
we do look upon them as the only fit outward judge of
controversies among Christians ; and that whatsoever
doctrine is contrary unto their testimony, may therefore
justly be rejected as false. And for our parts, we are very
willing that all our doctrines and practices be tried by
them ; which we never refused, nor ever shall, in all con
troversies with our adversaries, as the judge and test. We
shall also be very willing to admit it as a positive certain
maxim, That whatsoever any do, pretending to the Spirit,
which is contrary to the scriptures, be accounted and
reckoned a delusion of the devil. For as we never lay
claim to the Spfrit's leadings, that we may cover ourselves
in any thing that is evil ; so we know, that as every evil
contradicts the scriptures, so it doth also the Spirit in the
first place, from which the scriptures came, and whose mo
tions can never contradict one another, though they may
5 D

50 PROPOSITION III.
appear sometimes to be contradictory to the blind eye of
the natural man, as Paul and James seem to contradict
one another.
Thus far we have shown both what we believe, and what
we believe not, concerning the holy scriptures, hoping we
have given them their due place. But they that wUl have
them to be the only, certain, and principal rule, object John
V. 89, " Search the scriptures," etc. Here, say they, we
are commanded, by Christ himself, to search the scrip
tures. That the scriptures ought to be searched, we do not at
all deny ; but are very willing to be tried by them, as hath
been above declared : but the question is. Whether they
be the only and principal rule ? Which this is so far from
proving, that it proveth the contrary ; for Christ checks
them here for too high an esteem of the scriptures, and
neglecting of him that was to be preferred before them,
and to whom they bore witness, as the following words
declare ; "for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and
they are they which testify of me : and ye will not come
unto me, that ye might have life." This shows, that
while they thought they had eternal life in the scriptures,
they neglected to come unto Christ to have life, of which
the scriptures bore witness. This answers weU to our
purpose, since our adversaries now do also exalt the scrip
tures, and think to have life in them ; which is no more
than to look upon them as the only principal rule and way
to Ufe, and yet refuse to come unto the Spirit of which
they testify, even the inward spiritual law, which could

OP THE SCRIPTURES. 51
^i ve them life. Moreover, that place may be taken in the
indicative mood. Ye search the scriptures ; which interpre
tation the Greek word will bear, and so Pasor translateth
it : which by the reproof following seemeth also to be tho
more genuine interpretation, as Cyrillus long ago hath
observed. Another objection is from these words. Acts xvii. 11,
" These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness of mind,
and searched the . scriptures daily, whether those things
were so."
But that the scriptures either are the principal or only
rule, win not at ah follow from this ; for we recommend
and approve the use of them in that respect as much as
any ; yet will it not follow, that we affirm them to be the
principal and only rule.
It is to be observed also that these were the Jews of
Berea, to whom these scriptures, which were the law and
the prophets, were more particularly a rule ; and the thing
under examination was, whether the birth, life, works, and
sufferings of Christ, did answer to the prophecies concern
ing him ; so that it was most proper for them, being Jews,
to examine the apostle's doctrine by the scriptures ; seeing
he pleaded it to be a fulfilUng of them. It is said, never
theless, in the first place. That "they received the word
with cheerfulness;" and in the second place, "They
searched the scriptures:" not that they searched the scrip
tures, and then received the word ; for then could they not
haye prevailed to convert them, had they not first minded

62 PROPOSITION III.
the word abiding in them, which opened their understand.
ings ; no more than the Scribes and Pharisees, who searched
the scriptures and exalted them, and yet remained ii. their
unbeUef, because they had not the word abiding in them.
If this commendation of the Jewish Bereans might
infer that the scriptures were the only and principal rule
to try the apostle's doctrine by, what should have become
of the Gentiles? How should they ever have come to
have received the faith of Christ, who neither knew the
scriptures, nor believed them ? We see in the end of the
same chapter, how the apostle, preaching to the Athenians,
took another method, and directed them to somewhat of
God within themselves, that they might feel after him.
He did not go about to proselyte them to the Jewish re
ligion, and to the belief of the law and the prophets, and
from thence to ijrove the coming of Christ; nay, he took a
nearer way. The apostle to the Athenians used a testi
mony of one of their own poets, which he judged would
have credit with them ; and no doubt such testimonies,
whose authors they esteemed, had more weight with them
than all the sayings of Moses, and the prophets,' whom
they neither knew nor would have cared for. Now be
cause the apostle used the testimony of a poet to the
Athenians, will it therefore follow he made that the prin
cipal or only rule to try his -doctrine by ? So neither will
it follow, that though he made use of the scriptures to the
Jews, as being a principle already believed by them, to try
his doctrine, that from thence the scriptures may be ac
counted the principal or onlv rule.

OF THE SCRIPTURES. 53
That which at first view seems to be the greatest ob
jection is this : If the scripture be not the adequate, prin-
oipal, and only rule, then it would follow that the scripture
is not complete, nor the canon filled ; that if men be now
immediately led and ruled by the Spirit, they may add
new scriptures of equal authority with the old ; whereas
every one that adds is cursed : yea, what assurance have
we, but at this rate every one may bring in a new gospel
according to his fancy ?
I answer ; We have shut the door upon all such doctrine
in affirming. That the scriptures give a full and ample tes
timony to all the principal doctrines of the Christian faith.
For we do firmly believe that there is no other gospel or
doctrine to be preached, but that which was deUvered by
the apostles ; and do freely subscribe to that
saying. Let him that preacheth any other gos
pel, than that which hath been already preached by the
apostles, and according to the scriptures, be accursed.
So we distinguish betwixt a revelation of a new gospel
and new doctrines, and a new revelation of the good old
gospel and doctrines ; the last we plead for, but the first
we utterly deny. For we firmly believe. That no other
foundation can any man lay, than that which is laid
already. But that this revelation is necessary we have
already proved ; and this distinction doth sufficiently guard
us against the hazard insinuated in the objection.
As to the scriptures being a filled canon, I see no neces
sity of believing it. And if these men, that believe the
scriptures to be the only rule, wiU be consistent with their

54 PROPOSITION III.
own doctrine, they must needs be of my judgment ; seeing
it is simply impossible to prove the canon by the scriptures.
For it cannot be found in any book of the scriptures, that
these books, and just these, and no other, are canonical, as
all are forced to acknowledge.
If they should allege ; That the admitting of any other
books to be now written by the same Spirit might infer the
admission of new doctrines ; I deny that consequence ; for
the principal or fundamental doctrines of the Christian re
ligion are contained in the tenth part of the scripture ; but
it will not follow thence that the rest are impertinent or
useless. If it should please God to bring to us any of those
books, which by the injury of time are lost, which are
mentioned in the scripture ; as, The Prophecy of Enoch ;
the Book of Nathan, etc., or, the Third Epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians ; I see no reason why we ought not to
receive them, and place them with the rest. That which
displeaseth me is, that men should first affirm that the scrip
ture is the only and principal rule, and yet make a groat
article of faith of that which the scripture can give us no
light in.
As for instance : How shall a Protestant prove by scrip
ture, to such as deny the Epistle of James to be authenfic,
that it ought to be received ? If he would say. Because it
contradicts not the rest ; it would as weU follow, that every
WTiter that contradicts not the scripture, should be put into
the canon ; and thus they would equal every one the writ
ings of their own sect with the scriptures ; for I suppose
they judge their own confession of faitli dsth not con-

OF THE SCRIPTURES. 55
tradict the scriptures : WiU it therefore follow that it should
be bound up with the Bible ? And yet it seems impossible,
according to their principles, to bring any better argument
to prove the Epistle of James to be authentic. There is
then this unavoidable necessity to say, We know it by the
same Spirit from which it was written ; or otherwise to step
back to Rome, and say, We know by tradition that the
church hath declared it to be canonical ; and the church is
infallible. And lastly. As to these words. Rev. xxii. 18, That "if
any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto
him the plagues that are written in this book ; " I desire
they will show mc how it relates to any thing else than to
that particular prophecy. It saith not, Now the canon of
the scriptures is filled up, no man is to write more from
the Spirit; yea, do not all confess that there have been
prophecies and true prophets since ? But, moreover, the
same was in effect commanded long before, Prov. xxx. 6,
" Add thou not unto his words, le.st he reprove thee, and
thou be found a liar : " Yet how many books of the proph
ets were written after ? And the same was said by Moses,
Deut. iv. 2, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you ; neither shall ye diminish aught from it."
So that, though we should extend that of the revelation
beyond the particular prophecy of that book, it cannot be
understood but of a new gospel, or new doctrines ; or of
restraining man's spirit, that he mix not his human words
with the divine ; and not of a new revelation of the old, as
we have said before.

PROPOSITION IV.
concerning THE CONDITION OF MAN IN THE FALL
A LL Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gen
.A. tiles, as to the first Adam or earthly man, is fallen,
degenerated, and dead ; deprived of the sensation or feeUng
Bom V. 12. of this inward testimony or seed of God ; and
15- is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the
serpent, which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide
in this natural and corrupted estate : from whence it comes,
that not only their words and deeds, but all their imagina
tions, are evil perpetually in the sight of God, as proceed
ing from this depraved and wicked seed. Man therefore,
as he is in this state, can know nothing ari.n'ht ; yea, his
thoughts and conceptions concerning God and things spirit
ual, until he be disjoined from this evil seed, and united to
the Divine Light, are unprofitable both to himself and
others. Nevertheless, this seed is not imputed to infants,
until by transgression they actually join themselves there
with ; for those are by nature " the chUdren of wrath,"
Eph. ii. who walk according to the " power of the prince
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience," having their conversation in the lusts of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

OFMANINTHEFALL. 57
Hitherto we have discoursed how the true knowledge
of God is attained and preserved ; also of \vhat use and
service the holy scripture is to the saints. We come now
to" examine the state of man as he stands in the fall; whet
his capacity and power is ; and how far he is able, as of
himself, to advance in relation to the things of God.
Not to dive into the many curious notions which many
have concerning the condition of Adam before the fall, all
agree in this : That thereby he came to a very great loss,
not only in the things which related to the outward man,
but in regard of that T;rue fellowship and communion he
had with God. This loss was signified unto him in the
command, " For in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die," Geij. ii. 11. This death could not be an out
ward death, or the dissolution -of the outward man ; for as
to that, he did not die yet many hundred years after ; so
that it must needs respect his spiritual life and communion
with God. The consequence of this fall, besides that which
relates to the fruits of the earth, is also expressed, Gen. iii.
24, "So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east
of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword,
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of
life." Now whatsoever literal signification this may have,
we may safely ascribe to this paradise a mystical significa
tion, and truly account it that spiritual communion and
fellowship, which the saints obtain with God by Jesus
Christ; to whom only these cherubims give way, and unto
as many as enter by him, who calls himself tho Door. So
that, though we do not ascribe any whit of Adam's guilt

58 PROPOSITION IV.
to men, until they make it theirs by the like acts of diso
bedience ; yet we cannot suppose that men, who are- come
of Adam naturally, can have any good thing in their na
ture, as belonging to it; which he, from whom they derive
their nature, had not himself to communicate -unto them.
If then we may affirm, that Adam did not retain in his
nature (as belonging thereunto) any will or light capable
to give him knowledge in spiritual things, then neither
can his posterity ; for whatsoever real good any man doth,
it proceedeth not from his nature, as he is man, or the son
of Adam ; but from the seed of God in him, as a new visi
tation of life, in order to bring him out of this natural con
dition : so that, though it be in him, yet it is not of him ;
and this the Lord himself witnessed, Gen. vi. 5, where it
is said, he " saw that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually." The Lord expressed
this again a little after, chap. vin. 21, "The imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth." But if man's
thoughts be always and only evil, then are they altogether
useless and ineffectual to him in the things of God.
This appears clearly from that saying of the prophet
Jeremiah, chap. xvn. 9, " The heart is deceitful above alJ
things, and desperately wicked." For who can with any
color of reason imagine, that that w^hich is so hath any
power of itself, or is in any wise fit to lead a man to right
eousness, whereunto it is of its own nature directly oppo
site ? This is as contrary to reason, as it is impossible in
nature that a stone, of its own nature and proper motion.
should flv upwards: That which s "deceitful above all

OF MAN IN THE PALL. 59
things, and desperately wicked," is not fit, neither can it
lead a man aright in things that are good and honest.
This evil and corrupt seed is not imputed to infants
until they actually join with it. For this there is a reason
given in the end of the proposition itself, drawn from Eph.
ii. For those are by nature children of wrath, who walk
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Here
the apostle gives their evil walking, and not any thing that
is not reduced to act, as a reason of their being "children
of wrath." And this is suitable to the whole strain of the
gospel, where no man is ever threatened or judged for what
iniquity he hath not actually wrought : ¦such indeed as con
tinue in iniquity, and so do allow the sins of their fathers,
God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.
Is it not strange then that men should entertain an opinion
so cruel and contrary to the nature as well of God's mercy as
justice, concerning which the scripture is altogether silent ?
We confess that a seed of sin is transmitted to all men
from Adam, although imputed to none, until by sinning
they actually join with it; in which seed he gaveoecasion
to all to sin, and it is the origin of all evil actions and
thoughts in men's hearts. This seed of sin is frequently
called death in the scripture, and the body of death ; seeing
indeed it is a death to the life of righteousness and holiness:
therefore its seed and its product is caUed the old man, the
old Adam, in which all sin is ; for which cause we use this
name to express this sin, and not that of original sin ; of
which phrase the scripture makes no mention.

PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
CONCERNING THE UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION BY CHRIST,
AND ALSO THE SAVING AND SPIRITUAL LIGHT
WHEREWITH EVERY MAN IS ENLIGHTENED.

PBOPOSITION V.
GOD, out of his infinite love, who delighteth not in the
death of a sinner, but that all should live and be saved,
hath so loved the world, that he hath given his only Son
EzeicxTiii. a Light, that whosoever believeth in him shaU
li. ' be saved, John iii. 16, who enlighteneth every
man that cometh into the world, John i. 9, and maketh
manifest all things that are reprovable, Ephes. v. 13, and
teacheth all temperance, righteousness, and godliness ; and
his Light enlighteneth the hearts of all for a time, in order
to salvation ; and this is it which reproves the sin of all
individuals, and would work out the salvation of all if not
resisted. Nor is it less universal than the seed of sin, being
the purchase of his death, who tasted death for every man :
for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made
alive, 1 Cor. xv. 22.
PBOPOSITION VI.
According to which principle all the objections against
the universality of Christ's death are easily solved ; neither
60

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 61
is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those
dther miraculous means which they say God usetb to mani
fest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion unto such,
who, living in parts of the world where the outward preach
ing of the gospel is unknown, have well, improved the first
and common grace. For as hence it well follows that some
of the old philosophers might have been saved, so also may
some, who by providence are cast into those remote parts
of the world where the knowledge of the history is wanting,
be made partakers of the divine mystery, if they receive
and resist not that grace, a manifestation whereof is given
to every man to profit withal. This most certain i Oor. xii. 7.
doctrine being then received, that there is an evangelical
and saving light and grace in all, the universality of the
love and mercy of God towards mankind, both in the
death of his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the
manifestation of the light in the heart, is established and
confirmed, against all the objections of such as deny it.
Therefore Christ hath tasted death for every man ; Heb. a. 9.
not only for all kinds of men, as some vainly talk, but
for every man of aU kinds; the benefit of whose offering
is not only extended to such who have the distinct outward
knowledge of his death and sufferings, as the same is
declared in the scriptures, but even unto those who are
necessarUy excluded from the benefit of this knowledge
by some inevitable accident; which knowledge we will
ingly confess to be very profitable and comfortable, but
uot absolutely needful unto such from whom God himself
hath withheld it; yet they may be made partakers of the

62 PIKJPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
mystery of his death, though igDorant of the history, if
they suffer his seed and light, enlightening their hearts, to
take place ; in which light, communion with the Father and
the Son is enjoyed ; so as of wicked men to become holy,
and lovers of that power, by whose inward and secret
touches they feel themselves turned from the evil to the
good, and learn to do to others as they would be done by,
in" which Christ himself affirms all to be included. As they
have then falsely and erroneously taught, who have denied
Christ to have died for all men : so neither have they suffi
ciently taught the truth, who, affirming him to have died
for all, have addud the absolute necessity of the outward
knowledge thereof, in order to obtain its saving effect.
Many asserters of universal redemption have been wanting,
in that they have not placed the e.xtont of this salvation in
that divine and evangelical principle of light and life where
with Christ hath enlightened every man that cometh into
the world, which is exceUently and evidently held forth in
these scriptures, Gen. vi. 3 ; Deut. xxx. 14 ; John i. 7, 8,
9, 16 ; Rom. x. 8 ; Titus ii. 11.

Hitherto we have considered man's fallen, lost, cor
rupted, and degenerated condition. Now it is fit to in
quire how^ and liy what means he may come to be freed
out of this miserable and depraved condition, which in
these two propositions is declared and demonstrated;
which I thought meet to place together because of their
affinity, the one being as it were an explanation of the other.

OP UNIVERSAL AND 8 A V I .\ G LIGHT. 63
As FOR TH.\.T doctrine which th(vse propositions chiefly
strike at, to wit, absolute reprobation, according to which
some are not afraid to assert. That God, by an eternal and
immutable decree, hath predestinated to eternal damnation
the far greater part of mankind, without any respect to
their disobedience or sin, but only for the demonstrating
of the glory of his justice ; and that for the bringing this
about, he hath appointed these miserable souls necessarily
to walk in their wicked ways, that so his justice may lay
hold on them : and that God doth therefore not only suffer
them to be liable to this misery in many parts of the world,
by withholding from them the preaching of the gospel and
the knowledge of Christ, but even in those places where
the gospel is preached, and salvation by Christ is offered ;
whom though he publicly invite them, yet he justly con
demns for disobedience, albeit he hath withheld from them
all grace by which they could have laid hold of the gospel,
viz. : Because he hath, by a secret will unknown to all
men, ordained and decreed (without any respect had to
their disobedience or sin) that they shall not obey, and that
the offer of the gospel shall never prove effectual for their
salvation, but only occasion their greater condemnation.
As to this horrible and blasphemous doctrine, our cause
is common with many others, who have both wisely and
learnedly, according to scripture, reason, and antiquity,
refuted it. We may safely caU this doctrine a novelty,
seeing the first four hundred years after Christ there is no
mention made of it. However, we should not oppugn it
for the silence of the ancients, if we did observe it to have

64 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
any real bottom in the writings or sayings of Christ and
the apostles, and that it were not highly injurious to God
himself, to Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer, and
to the power, virtue, nobility, and excellency of his blessed
gospel, and lastly unto all mankind.
Having briefly removed this false doctrine which stood
in my way, because they that are desirous may see it both
learnedly and piously refuted by many others, I come to
the matter of our proposition, which is. That " God out of
his infinite love, who delighteth not in the death of a sin
ner, but that all should live and be saved, hath sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that whosoever beUeveth
in him might be saved ;" which also is again affirmed in
the sixth proposition, in these words, Christ then tasted
death for every man, of all kinds.
This doctrine of universal redemption, or Christ's dying
for all men, is of itself so evident from the scripture testi
mony, that there is scarce found any other article of the
Christian faith so frequently, so plainly, and so positively
asserted. It is that which maketh the preaching of Christ
to be truly termed the gospel, or an annunciation of glad
tidings to all. Thus the angel declared the birth and
coming of Christ to the shepherds to be, Luke ii. 10, " Be
hold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people :" he saith not, to a few. Now if this coming
of Christ had not brought a possibility of salvation to all,
it should rather have been accounted bad tidings of great
sorrow to most people ; neither should the angel have had
reason to have sung, "Peace on earth, and good will to-

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 65
wards men," if the greatest part of mankind had been
necessarily shut out from receiving any benefit by it. How
should Christ have sent out his servants to " preach the
gospel to every creature," Mark xvi. 15, (a very compre
hensive commission,) that is, to every son and daughter of
mankind, without all exception ? He commands them to
preach salvation to all, repentance and remission of sins to
all ; warning every one, and exhorting every one, as Paul
did. Col. i. 28. Now how could they have preached the
gospel to every man, as became the ministers of Jesus
Christ, in much assurance, if salvation by that gospel had
not been possible to all ? What if some of those had
asked them, or should now ask any of these doctors, who
deny the universality of Christ's death, aud yet preach it
to all promiscuously. Hath Christ died for me ? How can
they, with confidence, give a certain answer to this ques
tion ? If they give a conditional answer, as their principle
obligeth them to do, and say. If thou repent, Christ hath
died for thee ; doth not the same question still recur ?
Hath Christ died for me, so as to make repentance possible
to me ? To this they can answer nothing, unless they run
in a circle ; whereas the feet of those that bring the glad
tidings of the gospel of peace are said to be beautiful, for
that they preach the common salvation, repentance unto
all ; offering a door of mercy and hope to all, through
Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all. The
gospel invites all ; and certainly by the gospel Christ in
tended not to deceive and delude the greater part of man
kind, when he invites and crieth, saying ; " Come unto
' 6*> E

66 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." If all then ought to seek after him, and to look
for- salvation by him, he must needs have made salvation
possible to all ; for who is bound to seek afttjr that which
is impossible ? Certainly it were a mocking of men to bid
them do so. Seeing Christ, after he arose and perfected
the work of our redemption, gave a commission to preach
repentance, remission of sins, and salvation to all, it is
manifest that he died for aU. For, He that hath commis-
sionated his servants thus to preach, is a God of truth, and
no mocker of poor mankind ; neither doth he require of any
man that which is simply impossible for him to do : and
seeing he is both a most righteous and merciful God, it
cannot at all stand, either with his justice or mercy, to bid
such men repent or beUeve, to whom it is impossible.
Moreover, if we regard the testimony of the scripture
in this matter, where there is not one scripture, that I
know of, which affirmeth Christ not to die for all, there are
divers that positively and expressly assert. He did ; as 1
Tim. ii. 1, 3, 4, 6: "I exhort therefore, that first of all,
suppUcations, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks,
be made for aU men," etc. " Por this is good and accept
able in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all
men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the
truth ; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified
in due time." He gives us a reason of his willingness that
aU men should be saved, in these words, " Who gave him
self a ransom for aU;" as if he would have said. Since
Christ died for all, since he gave himself a ransom for all,

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 67
therefore he will have all men to be saved. This Christ
himself gives as a reason of God's love to the world, in
these words, John iii. 16 : " God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ;" com
pared with 1 John iv. 9. This [whosoever] is an indefinite
term, from which no man is excluded.
This is very positively affirmed, Heb. ii. 9, in these words,
" But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and
honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
every man." For he came not "to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved," John iii.
17. " He came not to judge the world, but to save the
world," John xii. 47.
If he never came to bring salvation to the greater part
of mankind, but that his coming, though it could never do
them good, yet shall augment their condemnation ; from
thence it necessarily follows, that he came not of intention
to save, but to judge and condemn the greater part of the
world, contrary to his own express testimony ; and as the
. apostle Paul, in the words above cited, doth assert affir
matively. That God willeth the salvation of aU, so doth the
apostle Peter assert negatively. That he willeth not the
perishing of any, 2 Pet. in. 9. " The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness ; but
is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance." And this
is' correspondent to that of the prophet Ezekiel, xxxin. 11 :

68 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
" As 1 live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way and
Uve." If it be safe to believe God, and trust in him, we
must not think that he intends to cheat us by all these ex
pressions through his servants, but that he was in good
earnest. And that this will and desire of his hath not taken
effect, the blame is on our parts, as shall be after spoken of;
which could not be, if we never were in any capacity of
salvation, or that Christ had never died for us, but left us
under an impossibility of salvation. What mean all those
earnest invitations, all those serious expostulations, all thoso
regretting contemplations, wherewith the holy scriptures
are full ? As, Why will ye die, 0 house of Israel ! Why
will ye not come unto me, that ye might have life ? I have
waited to be gracious unto you : I have sought to gather
you : I have knocked at the door of your hearts : Is not
your destruction of yourselves ? I have called all the day
long. This doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the
apostle, 1 John ii. 1, 2 : " And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
he is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world." The world here,
say some, is the world of beUevers : for this commentary
we have nothing but their own assertion, and so while it
manifestly destroys the text, may be justly rejected. The
apoistle in this very place contra-distinguisheth the world
from the saints thus ; " And not for ours only, but for the
sins of the whole world : " What means the apostle by

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 69
ours here? Is not that the sins of believers? Was not
he one of those believers ? And was not this an universal
epistle, written to all the saints that then were ? Seeing
then that the apostle John tells us plainly. That Christ not
only died for him, and for the saints and members of the
church of God, to whom he wrote, but for the whole world,
let us then hold it for a certain and undoubted truth.
This might also be proved from many more scripture
testimonies, if it were at this season needful. All the
fathers, so called, and doctors of the church, for the first
four centuries, preached this doctrine ; according to which
they boldly held forth the gospel of Christ, and efficacy of
his death ; inviting and entreating the heathen to come
and be partakers of the benefits of it, showing them how
there was a door opened for them all to be saved through
Jesus Christ ; not telling them that God had predestinated
any of them to damnation, or had made salvation impos
sible to them, by withholding power and grace, necessary
to believe, from them.
Seeing then that this doctrine of the universality of
Christ's death is so certain and agreeable to the scripture
testimony, and to the sense of the purest antiquity, it may
be wondered how so many, some whereof have been es
teemed not only learned, but also pious, have been capable
to fall into so gross and strange an error. But the cause
of this doth evidently appear, in that the way and method
by which the virtue and efficacy of his death is communi
cated to aU men, hath not been rightly -.mderstood, or in
deed hath been erroneously taught. Because none of those

70 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
who have asserted this universal redemption since the
reformation have given a clear, distinct, and satisfactory
testimony how it is communicated to all, and so have fallen
short of fully declaring the perfection of the gospel dispen
sation, others have been thereby the more strengthened in
their errors.
As DARKNESS, and the great apostasy, came no't upon the
Christian world all at once, but by several degrees, one
thing making way for another ; until that thick and gross
vail came to be overspread, wherewith the nations weie so
bUndly covered, from the seventh and eighth, until the six
teenth century ; even as the darkness of the night comes
not upon the outward creation at once, but by degrees, ac
cording as the sun declines in each horizon ; so neither did
that full and clear light and knowledge of the glorious dis
pensation of the gospel of Christ reappear all at once ; the
work of the first witnesses being more to testify against
and discover the abuses of the apostasy, than to establish
the truth in purity. He that comes to build a new city,
must first remove the old rubbish before he can see to lay
a new foundation ; and he that comes to an house greatly
polluted and full of dirt, will first sweep away and remove
the filth, before he put up his own good and new furniture.
The dawning of the day dispels the darkness, and makes
us see the things that are most conspicuous : but the dis
tinct discovering and discerning of things, so as to make
a certain and perfect observation, is reserved for the arising
of the sun and its shining in full brightness. And we can,
from a certain experience, boldly affirm, that the not wait-

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 71
ing for this, but building among, yea, and with, the old
Popish rubbish, and setting up before a full purgation, hath
been to most Protestants the foundation of many a mistake,
and an occasion of unspeakable hurt.
Therefore the Lord God, who as he seeth meet doth com
municate and make known to man the more full, evident,
and perfect knowledge of his everlasting truth, hath been
pleased to reserve the more full discovery of this glorious
and evangelical dispensation to this our age ; albeit divers
testimonies have thereunto been borne by some noted men
in several ages. And for the greater augmentation of the
glory of his grace, that no man might have whereof to
boast, he hath raised up a few despicable and illiterate men,
and for the most part mechanics, to be the dispensers of it ;
by which gospel all the scruples, doubts, hesitations, and
otgections above mentioned are easily and evidently an
swered, and the justice as well as mercy of God, according
to their divine and heavenly harmony, are exhibited, estab
lished, and confirmed.
According to which certain light and gospel, as the
knowledge thereof has been manifested to us by the reve
lation of Jesus Christ in us, fortified by our own sensible
experience, and sealed by the testimony of the Spirit in our
hearts, we can confidently affirm, and clearly evince, ac
cording to the testimony of the holy scriptures, the follow
ing points :
First, That God, who out of his infinite love sent his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world, who tastad
death for every man, hath given to every man, wnether

72 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
Jew or Gentile, Turk or Scythian, Indian or Barbarian, of
whatsoever nation, country, or place, a certain day or time
of visitation ; during which day or time it is possible for
them to be saved, and to partake of the fruit of Christ's
death. Secondly, That for this end God hath communicated and
given unto every man a measure of the light of his own
Son, a measure of grace, or a measure of the Spirit, which
the scripture expresses by several names, as sometimes of
the seed of the kingdom. Mat. xiii. 18, 19 ; the Light that
makes all things manifest, Eph. v. 13 ; the Word of God,
Rom. x. 17 ; or manifestation of the Spirit given to proflt
withal, 1 Cor. xii. 7 ; a talent. Mat. xxv. 15 ; a little leaven,
Mat. xiii. 33 ; the gospel preached in every creature,
Col. i. 23.
Thirdly, That God, in and by this Light and Seed, in
vites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every man, in order
to save him ; which, as it is received and not resisted,
works the salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant
of the death and sufferings of Christ, and of Adam's fall,
both by bringing them to a sense of their own misery, and
to be sharers in the sufferings of Christ inwardly, and by
making them partakers of his resurrection, in becoming
holy, pure, and righteous, and recovered out of their sins.
By which also are saved they that have the knowledge of
Christ outwardly, in that it opens their understanding
rightly to use and apply the things delivered in the scrip
tures, and to receive the saving use of them : but that this
may be resisted and rejected in both, in which then God is

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 73
said to be resisted and pressed down, and Christ to be
again crucified, and put to open shame in and among men.
And to those who thus resist and refuse him, he becomes
their condemnation.
According to this doctrine the mercy of God is exceUently
well exhibited, in that none are necessarily shut out from
salvation ; and it exalts above all the grace of God, to
which it attributeth all good, even the least and smallest
actions that are so ; ascribing thereunto not only the first
beginnings and motions of good, but also the whole con
version and sEilvation of the soul.
By this day and time of visitation, which we say God
gives unto all, during which they may be saved, we do not
understand the whole time of every man's life ; though to
some it may be extended even to the very hour of death,
as we see in the example of the thief converted upon the
cross ; but such a season at least as sufficiently exonerateth
God of every man's condemnation, which to some may be
sooner, and to others later, according as the Lord in his
wisdom sees meet. So that many men may outlive this
day, after which there may be no possibility of salvation
to them, and God justly suffers them to be hardened, as a
just punishment of their unbelief, and even raises them up
as instruments of wrath, and makes them a scourge (me
against another. Whence to men in this condition may be
fitly applied those scriptures which are abused to prove that
God incites men necessarily to sin. This is notably ex
pressed by the apostle, Rom. i., from verse 17 to the end,
but especially verse 28, " And even as they did not like to

74 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not con
venient." That many may outlive this day of God's gra
cious visitation unto them, is shown by the example of
Esau, Heb. xii. 16, 17, who sold his birthright; so he had
it once, and was capable to have kept it ; but afterwards,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.
This appears also by Christ's weeping over Jerusalem,
Luke xix. 42, saying, " If thou hadst known in this thy
day the things that belong unto thy peace ; but now^they
are hid from thine eyes." Which plainly imports a time
when they might have known them, which now was re
moved from them, though they were yet alive.
By this seed, grace, and word of God, and light where
with we say every one is enlightened, and hath a measure
of it, which strives with him in order to save him, and
which may, by the stubbornness and wickedness of man's
wiU, be quenched, bruised, wounded, pressed down, slain
and crucified, we understand not the proper essence and
nature of God precisely taken, which is not divisible into
parts and measures, as being a most pure, simple being,
void of all composition or division, and therefore can neither
be resisted, hurt, wounded, crucified, nor slain by all the
efforts and strength of men ; but we understand a spiritual,
heavenly, and invisible principle, in which God, as Father,
Son and Spirit, dwells ; a measure of which divine and
glorious life is in all men as a seed, which of its own nature,
draws, invites, and inclines to God. And as every un
righteous action is witnessed against and reproved by this

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 75
light and seed, so by such actions it is hurt, wounded, and
slain, and flees from them even as the flesh of man flees
from that which is of a contrary nature to it. Now be
cause it is never separated from God nor Christ, but wher
ever it is, God and Christ are as wrapped up therein, there
fore and in that respect as it is resisted, God is said to be
resisted ; and where it is borne down, God is said to be
pressed as a cart under sheaves, and Christ is said to be
slain and crucified. And on the contrary, as this seed is
receiyed in the heart, and suffered to bring forth its natural
and proper effect, Christ comes to be formed and raised, of
which the scripture makes so much mention, calling it the
new man; Christ within, the hope of glory. This is that
Christ within, which we are heard so much to speak and
declare of; every where preaching him up, and exhorting
people to believe in the light, and obey it, that they may
come to know Christ in them, to deliver them from all sin.
But by this, as we do not at all intend to equal ourselves
to that holy man the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of
the virgin Mary, in whom all the fulness of the Godhead
dwelt bodUy, so neither do we destroy the reaUty of his
present existence, as some have falsely calumniated us.
For though we affirm that Christ dwells in us, yet not im
mediately, but mediately, as he is in that seed, which is in
us ; whereas he, to wit, the Eternal Word, which was with
God, and was God, dwelt immediately in that holy man.
He then is as the head, and we as the members ; he the
vine, and we the branches.
We understand this seed, light, or grace to he a real

76 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
spfritual substance, which the soul of man is capable to
feel and apprehend ; from which that real, spiritual, inward
birth in believers arises called the new creature, the new
man in the heart. This seems strange to carnal-minded
men, because they are not acquainted with it ; but we
know it, and are sensible of it, by a true and certain expe
rience. Though it be hard for man in his natural wisdom
to comprehend it, until he come to feel it in himself; and
if he should, holding it in the mere notion, it would avail
him little ; yet we are able to make it appear to be .true,
and that our taith concerning it is not without a solid
ground : for it is in and by this inward and substantial
seed in our hearts as it comes to receive nourishment,
and to have a birth in us, that we come to have those
spiritual senses raised by which we are made capable of
tasting and seeing the things of God : for a man cannot
reach unto those things by his natural spirit and sense*
We do NOT hereby intend any ways to lessen or derogate
from the atonement and sacrifice of Jesus Christ; but on
the contrary do magnify and exalt it. For as we believe
all those things to have been certainly transacted which are
recorded in the holy scriptures concerning the birth, Ufe,
miracles, sufferings, resurrection, and ascension of Christ;
so we do also believe that it is the duty of every one to
believe it to whom it pleases God to reveal the same, and
to bring to them the knowledge of it; yea we believe it
were damnable unbelief not to believe it when so declared,
and to resist that holy seed, which as minded would lead
and incline every one to beUeve it as it is offered unto them.

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 77
As we firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should
come, that by his "death and sufferings he might offer up
himself a sacrifice to God for our sins, who his own self
" bare our sins in his own body on the tree ; " so we believe
that the remission of sins which any partake of, is only in
and by virtue of that most satisfactory sacrifice, and no
otherwise. For it is by the obedience of that one that the
free gift is come upon all to justification. For we affirm,
that as all men partake of the fruit of Adam's fall, in that
by reason of that evil seed which through him is commu
nicated unto them, they are prone and inclined unto evil,
though thousands of thousands be ignorant of Adam's fall,
neither ever knew of the eating of the forbidden fruit ; so
also many may come to feel the influence of this holy and
divine seed and light, and be turned from evil to good by
it, though they knew nothing of Christ's coming in the
flesh, through whose obedience and sufferings it is pur
chased unto them. And as we affirm it is absolutely need
ful that those do believe the history of Christ's outward
appearance, whom it pleased God to bring to the knowledge
of it ; so we do freely confess, that even that outward
knowledge is very comfortable to such as are subject to and
led by the inward seed and light. Por not only doth the
sense of Christ's love and sufferings tend to humble them,
but they are thereby also strengthened in their faith, and
encouraged to follow that excellent pattern which he hath
left us, "who suffered for us," as saith the apostle Peter,
1 Pet. ii. 21, "leaving ns an example that we should follow
bis steps : " and many times we are greatly edified and re-
7*

78 propositions v. and vi.
freshed with the gracious sayings which proceed out of hia
mouth. The history then is profitable and comfortable
with the mystery, and never without it ; but the mystery
is and may be profitable without the explicit and outward
knowledge of the history.
This brings us to another question, to wit. Whether
Christ be in aU men or no ? Which sometimes hath been
asked us, and arguments brought against it; because in
deed it is to be found in some of our writings that Christ
is in aU men ; and we often are heard, in our public meet
ings and declarations, to desire every man to know and be
acquainted with Christ in them, telling them that Christ is
in them ; it is fit, therefore, for removing of all mistakes, to
say something in this place concerning this matter. We
have said before how that a divine, spiritual, and supernat
ural light is in all men ; how that God and Christ dwelleth
in it, and is never separated from it ; also how that, as it is
received and closed with in the heart, Christ comes to be
formed and brought forth : but we are far from ever having
said, that Christ is thus formed in all men, or in the wicked:
for that is a great attainment, which the apostle travailed
that it might be brought forth, in the Galatians. Neither
is Christ in all men by way of union, or indeed, to speak
strictly, by way of inhabitation ; because this inhabitation,
as it is generally taken, imports union, or the manner of
Christ's being in the saints : as it is written, " 1 will dwell
in them, and walk in them," 2 Cor. vi. 16. But in regard
Christ is in all men as in a seed, yea, and that he never is
nor can be separate from that holy pure seed and light

of universal and SAVING LIGHT. 79
which is in all men ; therefore may it be said in a larger
sense, that he is in all, even as we observed before. The
scripture saith, Amos ii. 13, God is pressed down as a cart
under sheaves ; and Heb. vi. 6, Christ is crucified in the
ungodly ; though to speak properly and strictly, neither
can God be pressed down, nor Christ, as God, be crucified.
In this respect then, as he is in the seed which is in all
men, we have said Christ is in all men, and have preached
and directed all men to Christ in them, who lies crucified
in them by their sins and iniquities, that they may look
upon him whom they have pierced, and repent : whereby
he that now lies as it were slain and buried in them, may
come to be raised, and have dominion in their hearts over
all. And thus also the apostle Paul preached to the Co
rinthians and Galatians, Christ crucified in them, iv v/xlv aa
the Greek hath it, 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; Gal. iii. 1. This Jesus
Christ was that which the apostle desired to know in them,
and make known unto them, that they might come to be
sensible how they had thus been crucifying Christ, that so
they might repent and be saved. And forasmuch as Christ
is called that light that enlightens every man, the light of
the world, therefore the Ught is taken for Christ, who truly
is tbe fountain of light, and hath his habitation in it for
ever. Thus the light of Christ is sometimes called Christ,
i. e. that in which Christ is, and from which he is never
separated. It will manifestly appear by what is above said, that
we understand not this divine principle to be any part of
man's nature, noi yet to be any relics of any good which

80 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
Adam lost by his fall, in that we make it a distinct separate
thing from man's soul, and all the faculties of it : yet such
is the malice of our adversaries, that they cease not some
times to calumniate us, as if we preached up a natural
light, or the light of man's natural conscience. We cer
tainly know that this light of which we speak is not only
distinct, but of a different nature from the soul of man, and
its faculties. Indeed that man, as he is a rational creature,
hath reason as a natural faculty of his soul, by which he
can discern things that are rational, we deny not ; for this
is a property natural and essential to him, by which he can
know and learn many arts and sciences, beyond what any
other animal can do by the mere animal principle. Neither
do we deny but by this rational principle man may appre
hend in his brain a knowledge of God and spiritual things ;
yet that not being the right organ, it cannot profit him
towards salvation, but rather hindereth.
Indeed the great cause of the apostasy hath been, that
man hath sought to fathom the things of God in and by
this natural and rational principle, and to build up a re
ligion in it, neglecting and overlooking this principle and
seed of God in the heart ; so that herein, in the most uni
versal and cathohc sense, hath Anti-Christ in every man
set up himself, and sitteth in the temple of God as God,
and above every thing that is caUed God. For men being
the temple of the Holy Ghost, as saith the apostle, 1 Cor.
iii. 16, when tbe rational principle sets up itself there above
the seed of God, to reign and rule as a prince in spiritual
things, while the holy seed is wounded and bruised, there

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 81
is Anti-Christ in every man, or somewhat exalted above
and against Christ.
Nevertheless we do not hereby affirm as if man had
received his reason to no purpose, or to be of no service unto
him, iu no wise ; we look upon reason as fit to order and
rule man in things natural. For as God gave two great
lights to rule the outward world, the sun and moon, the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule
the night ; so hath he given man the light of his Son, a
spiritual divine Ught, to rule him in things spiritual, and
the light of reason to rule him in things natural. And
even as the moon borrows her light from the sun, so ought
men, if they would be rightly and comfortably ordered in
natural things, to have their reason enlightened by this
divine and pure light Which enlightened reason, in those
that obey and follow this true light, we confess may be
useful to man even in spiritual things, as it is still subser
vient and subject to the other ; even as the animal life in
man, regulated and ordered by his reason, helps him in
going about things that are rational.
We do further rightly distinguish this from man's natu
ral conscience ; for conscience being that in man which
ariseth from the natural faculties of man's soul, may be
defiled and corrupted. It is said expressly of the impure.
Tit. i. 15, " That even their mind and conscience is defiled ;"
but this light can never be corrupted nor defiled ; neither
did it ever consent to evil or wickedness in any : for it is
said expressly, that it makes all things manifest that are
reprovable, Eph. v. 13, and so is a faithful witness for God
F

82 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
against every unrighteousness in man. Now conscience,
to define it truly, comes from conscire, and is that knowl
edge which ariseth in man's heart from what agreeth, con-
tradicteth, or is contrary to any thing believed by him,
whereby he becomes conscious to himself that he trans-
gresseth by doing that which he is persuaded he ought not
to do. So that the mind being once blinded or defiled with
a wrong belief, there ariseth a conscience from that belief,
which troubles him when he goes against it. As for ex
ample : A Turk who hath possessed himself with a false
belief that it is unlaw'ful for him to drink wine, if he do it,
his conscience smites him for it ; but though he keep many
wives, his conscience troubles him not, because his judg
ment is already defiled with a false opinion that it is lawful
for him to do the one, and unlawful to do the other.
So if a Papist eat flesh in Lent, or be not diligent enough
in adoration of saints and images, or if he should contemn
images, his conscience would smite him for it, because his
judgment is already Minded with a false belief concerning
these things : whereas the light of Christ never consented
to any of those abominations. Thus then man's natural
conscience is sufficiently distinguished from it; for con
science foUoweth the judgment, doth not inform it ; but
this light, as it is received, removes the blindness of the
judgment, opens the understanding, and rectifies both the
judgment and conscience. So we confess also, that con
science is an excellent thing, where it is rightly informed
and enlightened ; wherefore some of us have fitly compared
it to the lanthorn, and the light of Christ to a candle : a

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 83
lanthorn is useful, when a clear candle burns and shines in
it ; but otherwise of no use. To the light of Christ then
in the conscience, and not to man's natural conscience, it
is that we continually commend men ; this, not that, is it.
which we preach up, and direct people to, as to a most
certain guide unto life eternal.
This light, seed, and grace, appears to be no power or
natural faculty of man's mind ; because a man that is in
his health can, when he pleases, stir up, move, and exercise
the faculties of his soul ; he is absolute master of them ;
and except there be some natural cause or impediment in
the way, he can use them at his pleasure : but this light
and seed of God in man he cannot move and stir up when
he pleaseth ; but it moves, blows, and strives with man, as
the Lord seeth meet. For though there be a possibility of
salvation to every man during the day of his visitation,
yet cannot a man, at any time when he pleaseth, or hath
some sense of his ' misery, stir up that light and grace, so
as to procure to himself tenderness of heart ; but he must
wait for it : which comes upon all at certain times and
seasons, wherein, it works powerfully upon the soul,
mightily tenders it, and breaks it ; at which time, if man
resist it not, but closes with it, he comes to know salva
tion by it.
God moves in love to mankind, in this seed in his heart,
at some singular times, setting his sins in order before him,
and seriously inviting him to repentance, offering to him
remission of sins and salvation ; which if man accept of,
be may be saved. Now there is no man alive, and I am

84 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
confident there shaU be none to whom this paper shaU come,
who, if they will deal faithfully and honestly with their own
hearts, will not be forced to acknowledge that they have
been sensible of this in some measure, less or more ; which
is a thing that man cannot bring upon himself with aU his
pains and industry. This then, oh man and woman ! is
the day of God's gracious visitation to thy soul, which if
thou resist not, thou shalt be happy forever. This is the
day of the Lord, which, as Christ saith, is like
Mat. XXIV. •' '
27. the lightning, which shineth from the east unto
° °"'' ¦ the west; and the wind or spirit, which blows
upon the heart, and no man knows whither it goes, nor
whence it comes.
This leads me to speak concerning the manner of this
seed or light's operation in the hearts of all men, which
will show yet more manifestly, how widely we differ from
all those that exalt a natural power or light in man ; and
how our principle leads above all others to attribute our
whole salvation to the mere power, spirit, and grace of
God. To them then that ask us after this manner, How do ye
differ from the Pelagians and Arminians ? For if two men
have equal sufficient light and grace, and the one be saved
by it, and the other not ; is it not because the one improves
it, the other not ? Is not then the will of man the cause
of the one's salvation beyond the other ? I say, to such
we thus answer : That as the grace and Ught in all is suf
ficient to save all, and of its own nature would save all, so
it strives and wrestles with all in order to save them ; he

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 85
that resists its striving, is tbe cause of his own condemna
tion ; he that resists it not, it becomes his salvation : so that
in him that is saved, the working is of the grace, and not
of the man ; and it is a passiveness rather than an act ;
though afterwards, as man is wrought upon, there is a will
raised in him, by which he comes to be a co-worker with
the grace: for according to that of Augustine, "He that
made us without us, will not save us without us." So that
the first step is not by man's working, but by his not con
trary working.
We beUeve, that at these singular seasons of every man's
visitation above-mentioned, as man is wholly unable of him
self to work with the grace, neither can he move one step
out of the natural condition, until the grace lay hold upon
him ; so it is possible for him to be passive, and not to
resist it, as it is possible for him to resist it. So we say,
the grace of God works in and upon man's nature ; which.
though of itself wholly corrupted and defiled, and prone
to evil, yet is capable to be wrought upon by the grace of
God ; even as iron, though a hard and cold metal of itself,
may be warmed and softened by the heat of the fire, and
wax melted by the sun. And as iron or wax, when re
moved from the fire or sun, returneth to its former con
dition of coldness and hardness ; so man's heart, as it re
sists or retires from the grace of God, returns to its former
condition again. I have often had the manner of God's
working, in order to salvation towards all men, illustrated
to my mind by one or two clear examples, which I shall
here add for the information of others.
8

86 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
The first is, Of a man heavily diseased ; to whom I com
pare man in his fallen and natural condition. I suppose
God, who is the great physician, not only to give this man
physic, after he hath used all the industry he can for his
own health, by any skill or knowledge of his own, but He,
even the Lord, his great physician, cometh and poureth the
remedy into his mouth, and as it were layeth him in his
bed ; so that if the sick man be but passive, it will neces
sarily work the effect : but if he be stubborn and untoward,
and will needs rise up and go forth into the cold, or eat such
fruits as are hurtful to him, while the medicine should oper
ate ; then, though of its nature it tendeth to cure him, yet
it will prove destructive to him, because of those obstruc
tions which it meeteth with. Now as the man that should
thus undo himself would certainly be the cause of his own
death ; so who will say, that, if cured, he owes not his
health wholly to the physician, and not to any deed of his
own ; seeing his part was not any action, but a passive
ness ?
The second example is. Of divers men lying in a dark
pit together, where all their senses are so stupefied, that
they are scarce sensible of their own misery. To this 1
compare man in his natural, corrupt, fallen condition. I
suppose not that any of these men, wrestUng to deliver
themselves, do thereby stir up or engage one able to deliver
them to give them his help, saying wdthin himself, I see one
of these men wilUng to be delivered, and doing what in him
Hes, therefore he deserves to be assisted ; as say the Socin
ians, Pelagians, and Semi-Pelagians. Neither do I sup-

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 87
pose that this deliverer comes to the top of the pit, aud puts
down a ladder, desiring them that will to come up ; and so
puts them upon using their own strength and will to come
up ; as do the Jesuits and Arminians. But I suppose that
the deliverer comes at certain times, and fully discovers and
informs them of the great misery and hazard they are in,
if they continue in that noisome and pestiferous place ; yea,
forces them to acertain sense of their niisery (for the wicked
est men at times are made sensible of their misery by God's
visitation), and not only so, but lays hold upon them, and
gives them a pull, in order to lift them out of their misery ;
which if they resist not will save them ; only they may
resist it. This being applied as the former, doth the same
way illustrate the matter.
Thus both the mercy and justice of God are estabUshed,
and the will and strength of man are brought down and
rejected ; his condemnation is made to be of himself, and
his salvation to depend upon God only.
Having thus opened onr mind and judgment in this
matter, the first thing to be proved is, That God hath
given to every man a day or time of visitation, wherein it
is possible for him to be saved. If we can prove that there
is a day and time given, in which those might have been
saved that actuaUy perish, the matter is done: for none
deny but those that are saved have a day of visitation.
This then appears by the regrets and complaints which
the Spirit of God throughout the whole scriptures makes,
even to those that did perish ; sharply reproving them, for
that they did not accept of, nor close with God's visitation

88 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
and offer of mercy to them. Thus the Lord expresses him
self then first of aU to Cain, Gen. iv. 6, 7, " And the Lord
said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy
countenance fallen ? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be
accepted? If thou dost not weU, sin lieth at the door."
This was said to Cain before he slew his brother Abel,
when the evil seed began to tempt him, and work in his
heart ; we see how God gave warning to Cain in season,
and in the day of his visitation towards him, acceptance
and remission if he did well. Neither could God have pro
posed the doing of good as a condition, if he had not given
Cain sufficient strength, whereby he was capable to do
good. The Lord himself also shows that he gave a day of visi
tation to the old world. Gen. vi. 3, " And the Lord said,
My Spirit shall not always strive in man ;" for so it ought
to be translated. This manifestly implies, that his Spirit
did strive with man, and doth strive with him for a sea
son ; which season expiring, God ceaseth to strive with
him, in order to save him : for the Spirit of God cannot be
said to strive with man after the day of his visitation is
expired ; seeing it naturally, and without any resistance,
works its effect then, to wit, continually to judge and con
demn him. From this day of visitation, that God hath given
to every one, is it that he is said to " wait to be gracious,"
Isa. xxx. 18, and to be "long-suffering." That place of
the apostle Paul doth much contribute also to clear the
matter, Rom. ii. 4, " Despisest thou the riches of his good
ness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing thai

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 89
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? " Pau
speaketh here to the unregenerate, and to the wicked, who,
in the following verse he saith, " Treasure up wrath unto
the day of wrath ;" and to such he commends the riches of
the forbearance and long-suffering of God ; showing that
the tendency of God's goodness leadeth to repentance.
How could it necessarily tend to lead them to repentance,
how could it be called riches or goodness to them, if there
were not a time wherein they might repent by it, and come
to be sharers of the riches exhibited in it ?
If God plead with the wicked, from the possibility of
their being accepted; if God's Spirit strive in them for a
season, in order to save them who afterwards perish ; if
he wait to be gracious unto them ; if he be long-suffering
towards them ; and if this long-suffering be salvation to
them while it endureth, during which time God willeth
them not to perish, but exhibiteth to them the riches of his
goodness and forbearance to lead them to repentance ; then
there is a day of visitation wherein such might have been,
or some such now may be saved, who have perished, and
may perish, if they repent not.
This appeareth from the prophet Isaiah, v. 4, "What.
could I have done more to my vineyard ? " For in verse
2, he saith : He had fenced it, and gathered out the stones
thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine ; and yet,
saith he, " when I looked it should have brought forth
grapes, it brought forth wild grapes." Wherefore he call-
eth the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, to
judge betwixt him and his vineyard, saying ; " What could
8*

90 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
I have done more to my vineyard, than I have done in it ?
and yet," as is said, " it brought forth wild grapes :" which
was applied to many in Israel who refused God's mercy.
The same example is used by Christ, Matt. xxi. 33 ; Mark
xii. 1 ; Luke xx. 9, where Jesus shows, how to some a
vineyard was planted, and aU things given necessary for
them, to get them fruit to pay or restore to their master ;
and how the master many times waited to be merciful to
them, in sending servants after servants, and passing by
many offences, before he determined to destroy and cast
them out. This cannot be understood of the saints, or of
such as repent and are saved ; for it is said expressly, " He
will destroy them." Neither would the parable any ways
have answered the end for which it is alleged, if these men
had not been in a capacity to have done good ; yea, such
was their capacity, that Christ saith in the prophet, " What
could I have done more ? " So that it is more than mani
fest, that by this parable, repeated in three sundry evange-
hsts, Christ holds forth his long-suffering towards men,
and their wickedness to whom means of salvation being
afforded, do nevertheless resist, to their own condemna
tion. That there is a day of visitation given to the wicked,
wherein they might have been saved, and which being ex
pired, they are shut out from salvation, appears evidently
by Chri.st's lamentation over Jerusalem, expressed in three
sundry places, Matt, xxiii. 37 ; Luke xiii. 34 ; and xix
41, 42 ; " And when he was come near, he beheld the city,
and wept over it, saying : If thou hadst known, even thou,

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 91
at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy
peace ; but now they are hid from thine eyes 1 " First, he
insinuates that there was a day wherein tbe inhabitants
of Jerusalem might have known those things that belonged
to their peace. Secondly, That during that day he was
willing to have gathered them, even as an "hen gathereth
her chickens."
So, it is after real offers of mercy and salvation rejected,
that men's hearts are hardened, and not before. Thus that
saying is verified, " To him that hath, shall be given ; and
from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which
he hath."
That which comes in the second place to be proved is.
That whereby God offers to work this salvation during the
day of every man's visitation ; and that is. That he hath
given to every man a measure of saving, sufficient, and
supernatural light and grace. This I shall do, by God's
assistance, by some plain and clear testimonies of the scrip
ture. First, From that of John i. 9 : " That was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
This place doth so clearly favor us, that by some it is called
the Quaker's text ; for it doth evidently demonstrate our
assertion ; so that it scarce needs either consequence or de
duction, seeing itself is a consequence of tw^o propositions
asserted in the former verses, from which it foUoweth as a
conclusion in the very terms of our faith. The first of these
propositions is, " The life that is in him is the light of men : '¦
the second, " The light shineth in the darkness : " and from

92 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
these two he infers, and " He is the true light, which Ught-
eth every man that cometh into the world."
So that it is plain there comes no man into the world,
whom Christ hath not enlightened in some measure, and
in whose dark heart this light doth not shine ; though the
"darkness comprehend it not," yet it shineth there; and
the nature thereof is to dispel the darkness, where «aen shut
not their eyes upon it.
That this saving light and seed, or a measure of it, is
given to all, Christ tells us expressly in the parable of the
sower. Matt. xiii. from ver. 18 ; Mark iv., and Luke viii. 11,
he saith. That this seed sown in those several sorts of
grounds is the word of the kingdom, which the apostle
calls the word of faith, Rom. x. 8, James i. 21, the "im
planted ingrafted word, which is able to save the soul;"
the words themselves declare that it is that which is saving
in the nature of it, for in the good ground it fructified
abundantly. Let us then observe, that this seed of the kingdom, this
saving, supernatural, and sufficient yvord, was really sown
in the stony thorny ground, and by the wayside, where it
did not profit, but became useless as to these grounds : it
was, I say, the same seed that was sown in the good
ground. It is then the fear of persecution and deceitfulness
of riches, as Christ himself interpreteth the parable, which
hindereth this seed to grow in the hearts of many : not
but that in its own nature it is sufficient, being the same
with that which groweth up and prospereth in the hearts
of those who receive it. So that though all are not saved

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 93
by it, yet there is a seed of salvation planted and sown iu
the hearts of all by God, which would grow up and redeem
*he soul, if it were not-choked and hindered.
And to this answered the parable of the talents, Matt.
xxv. ; he that bad two talents was accepted, as well as he
that had five, because he used them to his master's profit :
and he that had one might have done so ; his talent was
of the same nature of the rest ; it was as capable to have
proportionably brought forth its interest as the rest. And
so though there be not a like proportion of grace given to
all, to some five talents, to some two talents, and to some
but one talent ; yet there is given to all that which is suffi
cient, and no more is required than according to that which
is given : " For unto whomsoever much is given, from him
shall much be required,'^ Luke xii. 48.
This saving spiritual light is the gospel, which the apos
tle saith expressly is preached "in every creature under
heaven ; " even that very " gospel whereof Paul was made
a minister," Col. i. 23. For the gospel is not a mere decla
ration of good things, being the " power of God unto sal
vation to aU those that believe," Rom i. 16. Though the
outward declaration of the gospel be taken sometimes for
the gospel ; yet it is but figuratively. For to speak prop
erly, the gospel is this inward power and life which preach
eth glad tidings in the hearts of all men, offering salvation
nnto them, and seeking to redeem them from their iniqui
ties, and therefore it is said to be preached " in every crea
ture under heaven : " whereas there are many thousands
of men and women to whom the outward gospel was never
preached.

94 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
Therefore the Apostle Paul, Romans i., where he saith,
"the gospel is the power of God unto salvation," adds,
that, " therein is revealed the righteousness of God from
faith to faith;" and also the "wrath of God against such
as hold the truth of God in unrighteousness : " for this rea
son, saith he, " because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them ; for God hath showed it unto them."
Now that which may be known of God, is known by the
gospel, which was manifest in them. For those of whom
the apostle speaks had no outward gospel preached unto
them ; so that it was by the inward manifestation of the
knowledge of God in them, which is indeed the gospel
preached in man, "that the righteousness of God is re
vealed from faith to faith;" that is, it reveals to the soul
that which is just, good, and righteous ; and that as the
soul receiveth it and believes, righteousness comes more
and more to be revealed from one degree of faith to another.
For though, as the following verse saith, the outward
creation declares the power of God ; yet that which may
be known of him is manifest within : by which inward
manifestation we are made capable to see and discern the
Eternal Power and Godhead in the outward creation ; so
were it not for this inward principle, we could no more
understand the invisible things of God by tfie outward
visible creation, than a blind man can see and discern the
variety of shapes and colors, or judge of the beauty of the
outward creation. Therefore he saith, first, " That which
may be known of God is manifest in them," and in and by
that they may read and understand the power and Godhead

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 95
iu those things that are outward and visible. And though
any might pretend that the outward creation doth of itself,
without any supernatural or saving principle in the heart,
even declare to the natural man that there is a God ; yet
what would such a knowledge avail, if it did not also com
municate to me what the will of God is, and how I shaU
do that which is acceptable to him ? For the outward cre
ation, though it may beget a persuasion that there is some
eternal power or virtue by which the world hath had its
beginning ; yet it doth not tell me, nor doth it inform me
of that which is just, holy, and righteous; how I shall be
delivered from my temptations and evil affections, and
come unto righteousness ; that must be from some inward
manifestation in my heart.
Whereas those Gentiles of whom the apostle speaks knew
by that inward law and| manifestation of the knowledge of
God in them to distinguish betwixt good and evil, as in
the next chapter appears. The prophet Micah, speaking of
man in general, declares this, Mic. vi. 8, " He hath showed
thee, 0 man, what is good. And what doth the Lord re
quire of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with God ? " He doth not say God requires,
till he hath first assured that he hath showed unto them.
Now because this is showed unto all men, and manifest in
them, therefore, saith the apostle, is the " wrath of God
revealed against them, for that they hold the truth in un
righteousness ; " that is, the measure of truth, the light,
the seed, the grace in them : for that they hide the talent
In the earth, that is, in the earthly and unrighteous part

96 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
in their hearts, and suffer it not to bring forth fruit, but to
be choked with the sensual cares of this life, the fear of
reproach, and the deceitfulness of riches, as by the parables
above mentioned doth appear.
But the apostle Paul opens and illustrates this matter
yet niore, Rom. x., where he declares, " That the word
which he preached " (now the word which he preached, and
the gospel which he preached, and whereof he was a minis
ter, is one and the same) " is not far off, but nigh in the
heart and in the mouth ; " which done, he frameth as it
were the objection of our adversaries in the 14th and 15th
verses, " How shall they believe in him of whom they have
not heard ? And how shall they hear without a preacher ? "
This he answers in the 18th verse, saying, " But, I say,
have they not heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went into
all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world;"
insinuating that this divine preacher hath sounded in the
ears and hearts of all men : for of the outward apostles
that saying was not true, neither then, nor many hundred
years after ; yea, for aught we know, there may be yet
great and spacious nations and kingdoms that never have
heard of Christ nor his apostles as outwardly. This inward
and powerful word of God is yet more fuUy described in
the epistle to the Hebrews, chap. iv. 12, 13 : " For the word
of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of sou
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
This is that faithful witness and messenger of God that

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 97
bears witness for God, and for his righteousness in the
hearts of all men : for he hath not left man without a wit
ness, Acts xiv. 1 7, and he is said to be " given for a witness
to the people," Isa. Iv. 4. And as this word beareth wit
ness for God, so it is not placed in men only to condemn
them: for as he is given for a "witness," so saith the
prophet, he is given for a leader and commander. The light
is given, that all through it may believe, John i. 7, " for
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the w^ord of God,"
which is placed in man's heart, both to be a witness for
God, and to be a means to bring man to God through faith
and repentance : it is therefore powerful, that it may divide
betwixt the soul and the spirit : it is like a two-edged sword,
that it may cut off iniquity from him, and separate betwixt
the precious and the vile ; and because man's heart is cold
and hard like iron naturally, therefore hath God placed this
word in him, which is said to be like a fire, and like a ham
mer, Jer. xxiii. 29, that like as by the heat of the fire the
iron, of its own nature cold, is warmed, and softened, and
by the strength of the hammer is framed according to the
mind of the worker ; so the cold and hard heart of man is
by the virtue and powerfulness of this word of God near
and in the heart, as it resists not, warmed and softened, and
receiveth a heavenly and celestial impression and image.
The third proposition which ought to be proved is.
That it is by this light, seed, or grace that God works the
salvation of all men, and many come to partake of the
benefit of Christ's death, and salvation purchased by him.
By the inward and effectual operations of which, as many
9 G

98 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
tieathen have come to be partakers of the promises who
were not of the seed of Abraham after the flesh, so may
some now, to whom God hath rendered the knowledge of
the history impossible, come to be saved by Christ. Hav
ing already proved that Christ hath died for all, that there
is a day of visitation given to all, during which salvation
is possible to them, and that God hath actually given a
measure of saving grace and light unto all, preached the
gospel to and in them, and placed the word of faith in their
hearts, the matter of this proposition may seem to be proved.
Yet shall I a little, for the farther satisfaction of all who
desire to know the truth, and hold it as it is in Jesus, prove
this from two or three clear scripture testimonies.
Our theme then hath two parts : First, That those that
have the gospel and Christ outwardly preached unto them,
are not saved but by the working of the grace and light in
their hearts.
Secondly, That by the working and operation of this,
many have been, and some may be, saved, to whom the
gospel hath never been outwardly preached, and who are
utterly ignorant of the outward history of Christ.
As to the first, I shall prove it in few words. And flrst
from the words of Christ to Nicodemus, John iii. 3, "Verily,
verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he can
not see the kingdom of God." Now this birth cometh not
by the outward preaching of the gospel, or knowledge of
Christ, or historical faith in him ; seeing many have that,
and firmly believe it, who are never thus renewed. The
apostle Paul also goes so far, while he commends the ne-

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 99
cessity and excellency of this new creation, as in a certain
respect to lay aside the outward knowledge of Christ, or
the knowledge of him after the flesh, in these words, 2 Cor.
y. 16, 17, " Wherefore henceforth know we no man aftei
the flesh ; yea, though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. There
fore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ;. old
things are passed away, behold all things are become new."
Such as come to know this new birth, to be in Christ
indeed, to be a new creature, to have " old things passed
away, and all things become new," may safely say with
the apostle, " Though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." Now
this new creature proceeds from the work of this light and
grace in the heart : it is that word which we speak of that
is sharp and piercing, that implanted word, able to save the
soul, by which this birth is begotten ; and therefore Christ
has purchased unto us this holy seed, that thereby this birth
might be brought forth in us, which is therefore also called
" the manifestation of the Spirit, given to every man to
profit withal ;" for it is written, that " by one Spirit we are
all baptized into one body." And the apostle Peter also
ascribeth this birth to the seed and word of God, which we
have so much declared of, saying, 1 Pet. i. 28, " Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
Though, then, this seed be small in its appearance, so that
Christ compares it to a " grain of mustard-seed, which is
the least of all seeds," Matt. xiii. 31, 32, and that it be hid

100 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
in the earthly part of man's heart ; yet therein is life and
salvation towards the sons of men wrapped up, which comes
to be revealed as they give way to it. And in this seed in
the hearts of all men is the kingdom of God, as in a capacity
to be produced, according as it receives depth, is nourished,
and not choked : hence Christ saith, that the kingdom of
God was in the very Pharisees, Luke xvii. 20, 21, who did
oppose and resist him, and were justly accounted as ser
pents, and a generation of vipers. The kingdom of Jesus
Christ, yea Jesus Christ himself, Christ within, who is the
hope of glory, and beeometh wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi-
cation, and redemption, is in every man's and woman's heart,
in that little incorruptible seed, ready to be brought forth,
as it is cherished and received in the love of it. For there
can be no men worse than those rebellious and unbelieving
Pharisees were ; and yet this kingdom was thus within
them, and they were directed to look for it there ; so it is
neither lo here, nor lo there, in this or the other observa
tion, that this is known, but as this seed of God in the
heart is minded and entertained.
And certainly hence it is, even because this Ught, seed,
and grace that appears in the heart of man is so little re
garded, and so much overlooked, that so few know Christ
brought forth in them. So that Christ, as he met with
opposition from aU kinds of professors in his outward ap
pearance, doth now also in his inward. It was the mean
ness of his outward man that made many despise him, say
ing, " Is not this the son of the carpenter ? Are not his
brethren and sisters among us ? Is not this a Galilean ?

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 101
And came there ever a prophet out of Galilee ? " and
such like reasonings. For they expected an outward de
liverer, who, as a prince, should deUver them with great
ease from their enemies, and not such a Messiah as should
be crucified shameftiUy, and as it Were lead them into many
sorrows, troubles, and afflictions. So the meanness of this
appearance makes some overlook it, who desire rather some
thing that they might exercise their subtilty, reason, and
learning about, and use the liberty of their own wills.
And others would have a Christ to save them without any
trouble ; to destroy all their enemies for them without them,
and nothing or Uttle within, and in the meanwhile to be
at ease to live in their sins secure.
Whence, when all is well examined, the cause is plain ;
it is "because their deeds are evil," that with one consent
they reject this light : for it checks the wisest of them all,
and the learnedest of them all ; in secret it reproves them ;
neither can all thefr logic silence it, nor can the securest
among them stop its voice from crying, and reproving them
within, for all their confidence in the outward knowledge
of Christ, or of what he hath suffered outwardly for them.
For, as hath been often said, " in a day it strives with all,
wrestles with all ; " and it is the unmortified nature, the
first nature, the old Adam, yet alive in the wisest, in the
learnedest, in the most zealous for the outward knowledge
of Christ, that denies this, that despises it, that shuts it
out, to their own condemnation. They come all under this
description, " Every one that doth evil, hateth the Ught,
9*

102 PROPOSITIONS v.- AND VI.
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be re
proved," John iii. 20.
So that it may be said now, and we can say from a true
and certain experience, as it was of old, Psalm cxvin. 22 ;
Matt. xxi. 42 ; Mark xu. 10 ; Luke xx. 17 ; Acts iv. 11.
The stone which the builders of aU kinds have rejected, the
same is become unto us the head of the corner. Glory to
God for ever ! who hath chosen us as first fruits to himself
in this day, wherein he is arisen to plead with the nations ;
and therefore hath sent us forth to preach this everlasting
gospel unto all, Christ nigh to all, the light in aU, the seed
sown in the hearts of all, that men may come and apply
their minds to it. And we rejoice that we have been made
to lay down our wisdom and learning, such of us as have
had some of it, and our carnal reasoning, to learn of Jesus ;
and sit down at the feet of Jesus in our hearts, and hear
him, who there makes all things manifest, and reproves aU
things by his light, Eph. v. 13.
For many are wise and learned in the notion, in the let
ter of the scripture, as the Pharisees were, and can speak
much of Christ, and plead strongly against Infidels, Turks,
and Jews, and it may be also against some heresies, who,
in the meantime, are crucifying Christ in the small appear
ance of his seed iu their hearts. Oh ! better were it to be
stripped and naked of all, and become a fool for Christ's
sake, thus knowing him to teach thee in thy heart, so as
thou mayest witness him raised there, feel the virtue of his
cross there, and say with the apostle, " I glory hi nothing,
save in the cross of Christ, whereby I am crucified to the

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIG^HT. 103
world, and the world unto me." This is better than to
write thousands of commentaries, and to preach many ser
mons. And it is thus to preach Christ and direct people
to his pure light in the heart, that God hath raised us up,
and for which the wise men of this world account us fools ;
because by the operation of this cross of Christ in our
hearts, we have denied our own wisdom and wills in many
things, and have forsaken the vain worships, fashions, and
customs of this world.
For these divers centuries the world hath been full of a
dry, fruitless, and barren knowledge of Christ, feeding upon
the husk, and neglecting the kernel ; following after the
shadow, but strangers to the substance. Hence the devil
matters not how much of that knowledge abounds, pro
vided he can but possess the heart, and rule in the will,
crucify the appearance of Christ there, and so keep the
.seed of the kingdom from taking root. For he has led
them abroad, lo here, and lo there, and has made them
wrestle in a false zeal so much one against another, eon- ,
tending for this outward observation, and for the other
outward observation, seeking Christ in this and the other
external thing, as in bread and wine ; contending one with
another how he is there, while some will have him to be
present therein this way, and some the other way ; and
some in scriptures, in books, in societies, and pilgrimages,
and: merits. But some, confiding in an external barren
faith, think aU is well if they do but firmly believe that
he died for their sins past, present, and to come ; while
in the meantime Christ lies crucified and slain, and is

104 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
daily resisted and gainsayed in his appearance in their
hearts. Thus, from a sense of this blindness and ignorance that
is come over Christendom, it is that we are led and moved
of the Lord so constantly and frequently to call all to turn
to the light in them, to mind the light in them, to believe
in Christ, as he is in them : and that in the name, power,
and authority of the Lord, not in school-arguments and
distinctions, we do charge them to lay aside their wisdom,
to come down out of that proud, airy, brain-knowledge,
and to stop that mouth, how eloquent soever to the worldly
ear it may appear, and to be silent, and sit down as in the
dust, and to mind the light of Christ in their own con
sciences ; which, if minded, they would find as a sharp two-
edged sword in their hearts, and as a fire and a hammer,
that would knock against and burn up all that carnal,
gathered, natural stuff', and make the stoutest of them all
tremble, and become Quakers indeed ; which those that
come not to feel now, and kiss not the Son while_ the day
lasteth, but harden their hearts, will feel to be a certain
truth when it is too late. To conclude, as saith the apostle,
all ought to examine themselves, whether they be in the
faith indeed ; and try their ownselves : for except Jesus
Christ be in them, they are certainly reprobates, 2 Cor.
xiii. 5.
That which remains now to be proved is. That by the
operation of this light and seed some have been and
may yet be saved, to whom the gospel is not outwardly
preached, nor the history of Christ outwardly known.

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 105
We have already shown how that Christ hath died for
all men ; and consequently these are enlightened by Christ,
^ and have a measure of saving light and grace ; yea, that
the gospel, though not in any outward dispensation, is
preached to them, and in them : so that thereby they are
placed in a possibility of salvation. But to those arguments,
by which it hath been proved, That all men have a measure
of saving grace, I shall add one, and that very observable,
not yet mentioned, viz., that excellent saying of the apostle
Paul to Titus, chap, ii., ver. 11, "The grace of God, that
brings salvation, hath appeared to all men; teaching us,
that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."
Some allege, This all comprehends not every individual,
but only all kinds : but is a bare negation sufficient to over
turn the strength of a positive assertion ? To put it beyond
all question, I shall instance another saying of the same
apostle, that we may use him as his own commentator, Rom.
V. 18 : " Therefore as by the offence of one, judgment came
upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life." We must either affirm that this loss, which leads to
condemnation, hath not come upon all ; or say, that this free
gift is come upon all by Christ.
From all which it naturally follows, that all men, even
the heathen, may be saved : for Christ was given as a " light
to enlighten the Gentiles," Isa. xlix. 6.
But if it be objected. That there is no name under heaven,
by which salvation is known, but by the name Jesus: There-

106 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
fore they (not knowing this) cannot be saved : I answer,
Though they know it not outwardly, yet if they know it
inwardly, by feeling the virtue and power of it, the name .
Jesus indeed, which signifies a Saviour, to free them from
sin and iniquity in their hearts, they are saved by it : 1
confess there is no other name to be saved by : but salvation
lieth not in the literal, but in the experimental knowledge ;
albeit, those that have the literal knowledge are not saved
by it, without this real experimental knowledge : yet those
that have the real knowledge may be saved without the
external. How many are injured by Adam's fall, that know
nothing of there ever being such a man in the world, or
of his eating the forbidden fruit ? Why may they not
then be saved by the gift and grace of Christ in them,
making them righteous and holy, though they know not
distinctly how that was purchased unto them by the death
and sufferings of Jesus that was crucified at Jerusalem ;
especiaUy seeing God hath made that knowledge simply
impossible to them ? As many men are killed by poison
infused into their meat, though they neither know what the
poison was, nor who infused it, so also on the other hand,
how many are cured of their diseases by good remedies,
who know not how the medicine is prepared, what the in
gredients are, nor oftentimes who made it ? The like may
also hold in spiritual things.
If there were' such an absolute necessity for this out
ward knowledge, that it were even of the essentials of sal
vation, then none could be saved without it ; whereas our
opponents deny not, but readily confess, that many in-

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 107
fants and deaf persons are saved without it : so that here
they break that general rule, and make salvation possible
without it. And is not a man in China, or in India, as
much to be excused for not knowing a thing which he
never heard of, as a deaf man here, who cannot hear ? For
as the deaf man is not to be blamed, because God hath been
pleased to suffer him to lie under this infirmity ; so is the
Chinese or the Indian as excusable, because God hath with
held from him the opportunity of hearing.
This manifestly appears by that saying of Peter, Acts x.
34 : " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of per
sons; but in every nation, he that feareth him, and work
eth righteousness, is accepted of him." Peter was before
liable to that mistake that the rest of the Jews were in ;
judging that all were unclean, except themselves, and that
no man could be saved, except they were proselyted to
their religion and circumcised. But God showed Peter
otherways in a vision, and taught him to call nothing com
mon or unclean ; and therefore, seeing that God regarded
the prayers of Cornelius, who was a stranger to the law
and to Jesus Christ as to the outward, yet Peter saw that
God had accepted him ; and he is said to fear God before
he had this outward knowledge : therefore Peter concludes
that every one in every nation, without respect of persons,
that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of
him. So he makes the fear of God and the working of
righteousness, and not an outward historical knowledge,
the quaUfication : they then that have this, where^'er they
be, they are saved. Now we have already proved, that to

108 PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
every man that grace is given, whereby he may live godly
and righteously ; and we see, that by this grace Cornelius
did so and was accepted, and his prayers came up for a
memorial before God, before he had this outward knowl
edge. Also, Was not Job a perfect and upright man, that feared
God, aud eschewed evil ? Who taught Job this ? How
knew Job Adam's fall ? And from what scripture learned
he that excellent knowledge he had, and that faith, by which
he knew his Redeemer Uved ? For many make him as old
as Moses. Was not this by an inward grace in the heart ?
Was it not that inward grace that taught Job to eschew
evil, and to fear God ? And was it not by the workings
thereof that he became a just and upright man ? How
doth he reprove the wickedness of men, chap. xxiv. ? and
condemn them, verse 13, for rebelling against this light,
for not knowing the way thereof, nor abiding iu the paths
thereof? It appears then Job believed that men had a
light, and that because they rebelled against it, therefore
they knew not its ways, and abode not in its paths ; even
as the Pharisees, who had the scriptures, are said to err,
not knowing the scriptures.
So WE SEE that it is the inward work, and not the out
ward history and scripture, that gives the true knowledge :
and by this inward light many of the heathen philosophers
were sensible of the loss receiyed by Adam, though they
knew not the outward history : hence Plato asserted. That
" man's soul was fallen into a dark cave, where it only con
versed with shadows." Pythagoras saith, " Man wander-

OP UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. 109
eth in this world as a stranger, banished from the presence
of God." And Plotinus compareth "man's soul, fallen
from God, to a cinder, or dead coal, ont of which the fire
is extinguished. " Many more such expressions, that might
be gathered out of their writings, show that they were not
without a sense of this loss. Also they had a knowledge
and discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a remedy in
them, to deliver them from that evil seed, and the evil in
clinations of their own hearts, though not under that par
ticular denomination. Some called him a Holy Spirit, as
Seneca, Epist. 41, who said, " There is a Holy Spirit in us,
that treateth us as we treat him." Cicero calleth it an
" innate light." Plotinus also calls him light, saying, That
" as the sun cannot be known but by its ow^n light, so God
cannot be known but with his own light : and as the eye
cannot see the sun but by receiving its image, so man can
not know God but by receiving his image ; and that it be-
hoveth man to come to purity of heart before he could
know God ; " calling him also Wisdom, a name frequently
given him in scripture.
Much more of this kind might be instanced, by which it
appears they knew Christ ; and by his w^orking in them
were brought from unrighteousness to righteousness, and
to love that power by which they felt themselves redeemed;
so that, as saith the apostle, " They show the work of the
law written in their hearts, and did the things contained in
the law ; " and therefore, as all doers of the law are, were
00 doubt justified, and saved thus by the power of Christ
in them. And as this was the judgment of the apostle, so
10

no PROPOSITIONS V. AND VI.
was it of the primitive Christians. Hence Justin Martyr
stuck not to caU Socrates a Christian, saying, that " aU such
as lived according to the divine word in them, which was
in all men, were Christians, such as Socrates and Heraclitus,
and others among the Greeks."
Seeing then it is by this inward gift, grace, and Ught,
that both those that have the gospel preached unto them,
come to have Jesus brought forth in them, and to have the
saving and sanctified use of all outward helps and advan
tages ; and also by this same light, that all may come to be
saved ; and that God calls, invites, and strives with all, in
a day, and saveth many, to whom he hath not seen meet to
convey this outward knowledge ; therefore we, having the
experience of the inward and powerful work of this light
in our hearts, even Jesus revealed in us, cannot cease to
proclaim the day of the Lord that is arisen in it, crying out
with the woman of Samaria, " Come and see one that hath
told me all that ever I have done ; Is not this the Christ ? "
That others may come and feel the same in themselves, and
may know, that that little small thing that reproves them
in their hearts, however they have despised and neglected
it, is nothing less than the gospel preached in them ; Christ,
the wisdom and power of God, being in and by that seed
seeking to save their souls.
This is that universal evangelical principle, in and by
which this salvation of Christ is exhibited to all men, both
Jew and Gentile, Scythian and Barbarian, of whatsoever
country or kindred he be : and therefore God hath raised
up unto himself, in this our age, faithful witnesses and

OF UNIVERSAL AND SAVING LIGHT. Ill
evangelists to preach again his everlasting gospel, and to
direct all, as well the high professors, who boast of the
law and the scriptures, and the outward knowledge of
Christ, as the infidels and heathen that know not him that
way, that they may all come to mind the light in them,
and know Christ in them, "the just one whom they have
so long killed, and made merry over, and he hath not re
sisted," James v. 6, and give up their sins, iniquities, false
faith, professions, and outside righteousness, to be crucified
by the power of his cross in them, so as they may know
Christ within to be the hope of glory, and may come to
walk in his light and be saved, who is that " true light that
enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world."

PROPOSITION VII.
CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION.
AS many as resist not this light, but receive the same,
it becomes in them a holy, pure, and spiritual birth,
bringing forth holinfess, righteousness, purity, and all those
other blessed fruits which are acceptable to God ; by which
holy birth, to wit, Jesus Christ formed within us, and
working his works in us, as we are sanctified, so are we
justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's
words, " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justifled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God," 1 Cor. vi. 11. Therefore it is not by
our works wrought in our will, nor yet by good w^orks
considered as of themselves ; but by Christ, who is both
the gift and the giver, and the cause producing the effects
in us ; who, as he hath reconciled us while we were enemies,
doth also in his wisdom save us and justify us after this
manner, as saith the same apostle elsewhere ; " According
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tit. iii. 5.

The doctrine of justification comes well in order after
the discus.sing of the extent of Christ's death, and of the
112

OP JUSTIFICATION. 113
grace thereby communicated, some of the sharpest contests
concerning this having from thence their rise. Many are
the disputes among those called Christians concerning this
point.. The Papists say, " They obtain remission of sins,
and are justifled by the merits of Christ, as the same are
applied unto them in the use of the sacraments of the
church, and are dispensed in the performance of such and
such ceremonies, pilgrimages, prayers, and performances,
though there be not any inward renewing of the mind,
nor knowing of Christ inwardly formed ; yet they are
remitted and made righteous ex opere operato, because of
the power and authority accompanying the sacraments and
the dispensers of them." The Protestants say, " That they
obtain remission of sins, and stand justified in the sight of
God by virtue of the merits and sufferings of Christ ; not
by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning thefr
sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as right
eous, they resting on him and his righteousness by faith ;
which faith, the act of believing, is not imputed unto them
for righteousness."
So the justification of neither here is placed in any inward
renewing of the mind, or by virtue of any spiritual birth,
or formation of Christ in them ; but only by a bare appli
cation of the death and sufferings of Christ outwardly per
formed for them : I except here, being unwilling to wrong-
any, what things have been said as to the necessity of in
ward holiness, either by some modern Papists, or some
modern Protestants, who in so far as they have labored
after a midst betwixt these two extremes'have come near
. 10* H

114 PROPOSITION vii.
to (he truth ; though this doctrine hath not since the
apostasy, so far as ever I could observe, been so distinctly
and evidently held forth according to the scripture's testi
mony as it hath pleased God to reveal it and preach it forth
in this day, by the witnesses of his truth whom he hath
raised to that end ; which doctrine, though it be briefly
held forth and comprehended in the thesis itself, yet I shall
a little more fully explain.
We RENOUNCE all natural power and ability in ourselves,
in order to bring us out of our lost and fallen condition and
first nature ; and confess, that as of ourselves we are able
to do nothing that is good, so neither can we procure re
mission of sins or justification by any act of our own, so
as to merit it, or draw it as a debt from God due unto us ;
but we acknowledge all to be of and from his love, which
is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance.
God manifested this love towards us, in the sending of
his beloved Son, tbe Lord Jesus Christ, into the world, who
gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for
a " sweet-smelling savor ;" having made peace through the
blood of his cross, that he might reconcile us unto himself,
and by the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto
God, and suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us unto God.
Forasmuch as all men who have come to man's estate
(the man Jesus only excepted) have sinned, therefore all
have need of this Saviour, to remove the wrath of God from
them due to their offences ; in this respect he is truly said
to have borne th6 iniquities of us all in his body on the

OP JUSTIFICATION. 11&
tree, and therefore is the only Mediator, having qualified
the wrath of God towards us ; so that our former sins stand
not in our way, being by virtue of his most satisfactory
sacrifice removed and pardoned. Neither do we think that
remission of sins is to be expected, sought, or obtained any
other way, or by any works or sacrifice whatsoever. So
then Christ by his death and sufferings hath reconciled us to
God, even while we are enemies ; that is, he offers recon
ciliation unto us ; we are put into a capacity of being
reconciled ; God is willing to forgive us our iniquities, and
to accept us, as is well expressed by the apostle, 2 Cor. v.
19 : " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath put
in us the word of reconciliation." And therefore the apostle,
in the next verses, entreats them in " Christ's stead to be
reconciled to God ; " intimating that the wrath of God being
removed by the obedience of Christ Jesus, he is willing to
be reconciled unto them, and ready to remit the sins that
are past, if they repent.
We consider then our redemption in a twofold respect.
The first is the redemption performed and accomplished
by Christ for us in his crucified body without us ; the other
is the redemption wrought by Christ in us, which no less
properly is called and accounted a redemption than the
former. By the first of these two, we that were unable of our-
selyes to do any good thing, but naturally joined and united >
to evil, and slaves to the power and spirit of darkness, are,
notwithstanding aU this, so far reconciled to God by the

116 PROPOSITION VII.
death of his Son, while enemies, that we are put into a
capacity of salvation, having the glad tidings of the gospel
of peace offered unto us, and God is reconciled unto us in
Christ, calls and invites us to himself.
By the second, we witness this capacity brought into act,
whereby receiving and not resisting the purchase of his
death, to wit, the light, spirit, and grace of Christ revealed
in us, we witness and possess a real, true, and inward re
demption from the power and prevalency of sin, and so
come to be truly and really redeemed, justified, and made
righteous, and to a sensible union and friendship with God.
Thus he died " for us, that he might redeem us from aU
Tit. ii. 14. iniquity;" and thus "we know him and the
Phil. iii. 10. power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of
his sufferings, being made conformable to his death."
This last follows the first in order, and is a consequence of
it, proceeding from it, as an effect from its cause : so as
none could have enjoyed the last, without the first had
been, such being the will of God ; so also can none now
partake of the first, but as he witnesseth the last.
We understand not by this justification by Christ, the
good works even wrought by the Spirit of Christ ; but we
understand the formation of Christ in us, Christ born and
brought forth in us, from which good works as naturally
proceed as fruit from a fruitful tree. It is this inward
birth in us, bringing forth righteousness and holiness in
us, that doth justify us ; which having removed and done
away the contrary nature and spirit that did bear rule and
bring condemnation, now is in dominion over all in our

OF JUSTIFICATION., 117
hearts. Those then that come to know Christ thus formed
in them, do enjoy him wholly and undivided, who is " the
LORD our RIGHTEODSNESS," Jer. xxin. 6. This is
to be clothed with Christ, and to have put him on, whom
God therefore truly accounteth righteous and just.
Yet can we not, as some Protestants have unwarily done,
exclude works from justification. For though we judge
the best works performed by man, endeavoring a conformity
to the outward law by his own strength, and in his own
will are defiled and polluted, yet we believe that such works
as naturally proceed from this spiritual birth and formation
of Christ in us are pure and holy, even as the root from
which they come ; and therefore God accepts them, justifies
us in them, and rewards us for them of his own free grace.
That the obedience, sufferings, and death of Christ is
that by which the soul obtains remission of sins, and is the
procuring cause of that grace, by whose inward workings
Christ comes to be formed inwardly, and the soul to be
made conformable unto him, and so just and justified, I
prove from Rom. iii. 25 : " Whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in hiS blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God." Here the apostle holds forth the
extent and efficacy of Christ's death, showing that thereby,
and by faith therein, remission of sins that are past is ob
tained, as being that wherein the forbearance of God is
exercised towards mankind. So that though men for the
sins they daily commit deserve eternal death ; yet, by virtue
of that most satisfactory sacrifice of Christ Jesus, the grace

118 PROPOSITION VII.
and seed of God moves in love towards them, during the
day of their visitation ; yet not so as not to strike against
the evil, for that must be bupnt up and destroyed, but to
redeem man out of the evil.
If God were perfectlj- reconciled with men, and did es
teem them just while they are actuaUy unjust, and do con
tinue in their sins, so that no part of their redemption is
to be wrought by him now, as to their reconciliation and
justification ; then the whole doctrinal part of the bible is
useless, and of no profit : in vain were the apostles sent
forth to preach repentance and remission of sins ; and in
vain do all the preachers bestow their labour, spend their
breath, and give forth writings ; seeing it is all but a vain
and ineffectual essay to do that which is already perfectly
done without them.
This also makes void the present intercession of Christ
for men. What will become of that great article of faith,
by which we affirm, " That he sits at the right hand of
God, daily making intercession for us ; and for which end
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be utterefl ? " To pray for those that are al
ready reconciled, and perfectly justified, is to no purpose :
to pray for remission of sins is yet more needless, if all be
remitted, past, present, and to come. Indeed there is not
any solid solving of this, but by acknowledging according
to the truth. That Christ by his death removed the wrath
of God, so far as to obtain remission of sins for as many
as receive that grace and light that he communicates nnto
them, and hath purchased for them byhis blood; which.

OP JUSTIFICATION. 119
as they believe in, they come to know remission of sins
past, and power to save them from sin, and to wipe it away,
so often as they may fall into it by un watchfulness or weak
ness, if, applying themselves to this grace, they truly repent ;
for " to as many as receive him, he gives power to become
tbe sons of God : " so none are sons, none are justified,
none reconciled, until they thus receive him in that Uttle
seed in their hearts : And life eternal is offered to those,
who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory,
honor, and immortality : for if the righteous man depart
from his righteousness, his righteousness shall be remem
bered no more. And therefore on the other part, none are
longer sons of God, and justified, than they patiently con
tinue iu righteousness and well-doing. And therefore
Christ lives always making intercession, during the day of
eveiy man's visitation, that they may be converted: and
when men are in some measure converted, he makes inter
cession that they may continue and go on, and not faint,
nor go back again. Much more might be said to confirm
this truth ; but I go on to take notice of the common objec
tions against it.
The first and chief is drawn from that saying of the
apostle before mentioned, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19, " God hath
leconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ: God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, nOt imputing
their trespasses unto them." From hence they seek to
infer, That Christ fully perfected the work of reconciliation,
while he was on earth.
But when the apostle speaks in the perfect time,

120 PROPOSITION VII.
saying, "He hath reconciled us," he speaks of him-
sell and the saints ; w^ho having received the grace of God
purchased by Christ, were through faith in him actually
reconciled. But as to the world, he saith reconciling not
reconciled ; which reconciling, though it denotes a time
somewhat past, yet it is by the imperfect time, denoting
that the thing begun was not perfected. Again, this very
place showeth that no other reconciliation is intended, but
the opening of a door of mercy upon God's part, and a re
moving of wrath for sins that are past ; so as men, notwith
standing their sins, are placed in a capacity of salvation :
for the apostle, in the following verse, saith, " Now then
we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled
to God." For if their reconciliation had already been per
fectly accomplished, what need any entreating then to be
reconciled ? Ambassadors are not sent after a peace already
perfected, and reconciliation made, to entreat for a recon
ciliation. Secondly, They object, verse 21st of the same chapter,
" For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
From whence they argue. That as our sin is imputed to
Christ, who had no sin ; so Christ's righteousness is im
puted to us, without our being righteous.
But though "Christ bare our sins," and "suffered for
Heb vii 26 ^®'" ^^^ ^^® among men "accounted a sinner,"
J Pet. ii. 22. and "numbered among transgressors ;" yet that
God reputed him a sinner, is nowhere proved. For it i.s

OP JUSTIFICATION. 121
said, He was found before him holy, harmless, and unde
filed, neither was there found any guile in his mouth.
Neither did he ever die that we should be reputed right
eous, though no more really such than he was a sinner.
By his " being made sin for us " must be under.stood his
suffering for our sins, that we might be made partakers of .
the grace purchased by him ; by the workings whereof we
are made the righteousness of God in him. For that the
apostle understood here a being made really righteous, and
not merely a being reputed such, appears by what follows,
seeing in verses 14, 15, 16, of the following chapter, he
argues largely against any supposed agreement of light and
darkness, righteousness 'and unrighteousness; which must
needs be admitted, if men are to be reckoned engrafted in
Christ, and real members of him, merely by an imputative
righteousness, wholly without them, while they themiselves
are actually unrighteous. And indeed it may be thought
strange, how some men have made this so fundamental an
article of their faith, which is so contrary to the whole
strain of the gospel : a thing which Christ in none of all
his sermons and gracious speeches ever wiUed any to rely
upon ; always recommending to us works, as instrumental
in our justification. And the more it is to be admired at,
because that sentence or term, so frequently in their mouths,
and so often pressed by them, as the very basis of their
hope and confidence, to wit, The imputed righteousness of
t;!hrist, is not to be found in all the Bible, at least as to my
observation. I come then to the second thing proposed by me, which
11

122 proposition vii.
is : That it is by this inward birth, or Christ formed within,
that we are justified in the sight of God. 1 suppose I have
said enough already to demonstrate how much we ascribe
to the death and sufferings of Christ, as that whereby sat
isfaction is made to the justice of God, remission of sins
obtained, and this grace and seed purchased, by and from
which this birth proceeds. The thing now to be proved is.
That by Christ Jesus formed in us, we are justified, or made
just. Let it be marked, I use justification in this sense
upon this occasion.
First, then, 1 prove this by that of the apostle Paul, 1
Cor. vi. 11, "And such were some of you; but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
First, This justified here understood, must needs be a being
really made just, and not a being merely imputed such ;
else sanctified and washed might be reputed a being es
teemed so, and. not a being really so. As none are said to
be sanctified that are really unholy, while they are such ;
so neither can any be truly said to be justified, while they
actually remain unjust. Only this verb justify hath, in a
metaphorical and figurative sense, been otherwise taken, to
wit, in a law sense ; as when a man really guilty of a crime
is freed from the punishment of his sin, he is said to be
justified ; that is, put in the place as if he were just.
Now is it not strange, that men should be so facile in a
matter of so great concernment, as to build the stress of
their acceptance with God upon a mere borrowed and meta
phorical signification, to the excluding, or at least esteeming

OF justification. 123
that not necessary, without which the scripture saith ex
pressly. " No man shall ever see God ? " For if hoUness be
requisite and necessary, of which this is said, then must
good works also ; unless our opposers can show us a holy
man without good works. But the question is not so much
of the use of the word where it is passingly or occasionally
used, as where the very doctrine of justification is handled.
Where-indeed to mistake it, viz., in its proper place, so as
to content ourselves with an imaginary justification, while
God requires a real, is of most dangerous consequence.
That excellent saying of the apostle, so much observed,
Rom. viii. 30, "Whom he called, them he also justified, and
whom he justified, them he also glorified," is commonly
called the golden chain, as being ackno\vledged to compre
hend the method and order of salvation. And therefore,
if justified were not understood here in its proper signifi
cation of being made just, sanctification would be excluded
out of this chain. And truly it is very worthy of obser
vation, that the apostle, in this succinct and compendious
account, makes the word justified to comprehend all betwixt
calling and glorifying ; thereby clearly insinuating, that the
being reaUy righteous is that only medium by which from
our calling we pass to glorification. Almost all do acknowl
edge the word to be so taken in this place ; and not only so,
but most of those who oppose are forced to acknowledge,
that as this is the most proper, so the most common signi
fication of it.
As then by justification is to be understood a really being
made righteous, I do boldly affirm, and that not only from

124 PROPOSITION VII.
a notional knowledge, but from a real, inward experimental
feeling of the thing, that the immediate, nearest cause of a
man's justification in the sight of God, is, the revelation of
Jesus Christ in the soul, changing, altering, and renewing
the mind, by whom (even the author of this inward work)
thus formed and revealed, we are truly justified and accepted
in the sight of God. For it is as we are thus covered and
clothed with him, in whom the Father is always well pleased,
that we may draw near to God, and stand with confidence
before his throne, being purged by the blood of Jesus in
wardly poured into our souls, and clothed with his life and
righteousness therein revealed. And this is that order and
method of salvation held forth by the apostle in that divine
saying, Rom. v. 10 : " For if when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." For the
apostle first holding forth the reconciliation wrought by the
death of Christ, wherein God is near to receive and redeem
man, holds forth his salvation and justification to be by the
life of Jesus. Now, that this life is an inward, spiritual
thing revealed in the soul whereby it is renewed and
brought forth out of death, where it naturally has been by
the fall, and so quickened and made alive unto God, the
same apostle shows, Eph. ii. 5 : " Even when we were dead
in sins, he hath quickened us together with Christ (by
whose grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together."
Now this none will deny to be the inward work of renova
tion, and therefore the apostle gives that-reason of their
being saved by grace, which is the inward virtue and power

OP JUSTIFICATION. 125
of Christ in the soul. Of the revelation of this inward life
the apostle also speaketh, 2 Cor. iv. 10 : " That the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." Now this
inward life of Jesus is that whereby, as is before observed,
he said, " We are saved."
As the original and fundamental cause of our justification
is the love of God manifested in the appearance of Jesus
Christ in the flesh, who by his life, death, sufferings, and
obedience, made a way for our reconciliation, and became
a sacrifice for the remission of sins that are past, and pur
chased unto us this seed and grace, from which this birth
arises, and in which Jesus Christ is inwardly received,
formedj and brought forth in us, in his own pure and, holy
image of righteousness, by which our souls live unto God.
and are clothed with him, and have put him on, even as
the scripture speaks, Eph. iv. 23, 24 ; Gal. iii. 27, we stand
justified and saved in and by him, and by his Spirit and
grace; Rom. in. 24; 1 Cor. vi. 11; Tit. iii. 7. So again,
reciprocally, we are hereby made partakers of the fulness
of his merits, and his cleansing blood is near, to wash
away every sin and infirmity, and to heal all our backsUd-
ings, as often as we turn towards him by unfeigned repent
ance, and become renewed by his Spirit. Those then that
find him thus raised, and ruling in them, have a true ground
of hope to believe that they are justified by his blood. But
let not any deceive themselves, so as to foster themselves
in a vain hope and confidence, that by the death and suffer
ings of Christ they are justified, so long as " sin lies at
their door," Gen. iv. 7, iniquity prevails, and they remain
11*

126 PROPOSITION VII.
yet unrenewed and unregenerate ; lest it be said unto them,
" I know you not." Let that saying of Christ be remem
bered, " Not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter,
but he that doth the wiU of my Father," Matt. vn. 21. To
which let these excellent sayings of the beloved disciple be
added; "Little children, let no man deceive you; he that
doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for if our heart
condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth
all things," 1 John iii. 7 and 20.
The third thing proposed to be considered is, concerning
the necessity of good works to justification.
In this matter we use the plain language of the holy
scripture, which saith expressly, James ii. 24, " Ye see then
how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only." If no man can be justified without faith, and no
¦faith be living, nor yet available to justification without
works, then works are necessary to justification.
This truth is so apparent and evident in the scriptures,
that for the proof of it we might transcribe most of the
precepts of the gospel. I shall instance a few, which of
themselves do so clearly assert the thing in question, that
they need no commentary, nor farther demonstration,
Heb. xii. 14, "Without holiness no man shall see God."
Matt. vii. 21, " Not every one that saith unto me Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that
doth the will of my Father which is in heaven." John xiii.
17, " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
I Cor. vii. 19, " Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision

OF JUSTIFICATION. 127
is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God."
Rev. xxii. 14, "Blessed are they that do his command
ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and
may enter in through the gates into the city : " and many
more that might be instanced.
But some object. That works are not necessary to justifi
cation : First, because of that saying of Christ, Luke xvii.
10, " When ye shall have done all these things that are
commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants," etc.
I answer ; As to God we are indeed unprofitable, for he
needeth nothing, neither can we add any thing unto him :
but as to ourselves we are not unprofitable ; else it might
be said, that it is not profitable for a man to keep God's
commandments ; which would contradict Christ's doctrine
throughout. Doth not Christ, Matt, v., through all those
beatitudes, pronounce men blessed for their purity, for their
meekness, for their peaceableness, etc. ? And is not then
that for which Christ pronounceth men blessed, profitable
unto them ? Moreover, Matt. xxv. 21, 23, Doth not Christ
pronounce the men " good and faithful servants " that im
proved their talents ? Was not their doing of that then
profitable unto them ?
Secondly, They object those sayings of the apostle, where
he excludes the deeds of the law from justification ; as first,
Rom. iii. 20, " Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight." And verse 28,
" Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith,
without the deeds of the law."
In answer to this objection, 1 say, there is a great dif-

128 PROPOSITION VII.
ference betwixt the works of the law, and those of grace,
or of the gospel. The first are excluded, the second not,
but are necessary. The first are those which are performed
in man's own will, and by his strength, in a conformity to
the outward law and letter ; and therefore are man's own
imperfect works, or works of the law, which makes nothing
perfect : and to this belong all the ceremonies, purifications,
washings, and traditions of the Jews. The second are the
works of the Spirit of grace in the heart, wrought in con
formity to the inward and spiritual law ; which works are
not wrought in man's will, nor by his power and abiUty,
but in and by the power and Spirit of Christ in us, and
therefore are pure and perfect in their kind, as shall here
after be proved, and may be called Christ's works, for that
he is the immediate author and worker of them : such
works we affirm absolutely necessary to justification, so
that a man cannot be justified without them ; and all faith
without them is dead and useless, as the apostle James saith.
Now, that, such a distinction is to be admitted, and that
the works excluded by the apostle in the matter of justifi
cation are of the first kind, will appear if we consider the
occasion of the apostle's mentioning this, as well here, as
throughout his epistle to the Galatians, where he speaks
of this matter and to this purpose at large : which was
this, That whereas many of the Gentiles, that were not of
the race or seed of Abraham, as concerning the flesh, were
come to be converted to the Christian faith and to believe
in him, some of those, that were of the Jewish proselytes,
thought to subject the faithful and believing Gentiles to

OP JUSTIFICATION. 129
the legal ceremonies and observations, as necessary to their
justification : this gave the apostle Paul occasion at length,
in his epistle to the Romans, Galatians, and elsewhere, to
show the use and tendency of the law, and of its works,
and to contradistinguish them from the faith of Christ,
and the righteousness thereof; showing how the former
was ceased and become ineffectual, the other remaining,
and yet necessary.
And that the works excluded by the apostle are of this
kind of works of the law, appears by the whole strain of
his epistle to the Galatians, chap, i., ii., iii., and iv. For
after, in chap, iv., he upbraideth them for their returning
unto the observation of days and times, and that, in the
beginning of chap, v., he showeth them their folly, and the
evil consequence of adhering to the ceremonies of circum
cision, then he adds, ver. 6, " For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth, but faith, which
worketh by love ; " and thus he concludes again, chap, vi.,
ver. 15, " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." From which
places appeareth that distinction of works before-mentioned,
whereof the one is excluded, the other necessary to justifi
cation. For the apostle showeth here, that circumcision,
which word is often used to comprehend the whole cere
monies and legal performances of the Jews, is not neces
sary, nor doth avail. Here then are the works which are
excluded, by which no man is justified ; but faith, which
worketh by love, but the new creature, this is that which
availeth, which is absolutely necessary : for faith, that work-
I

130 PROPOSITION VII.
eth by love, cannot be without works ; for, as it is said in
the same fifth chapter, ver. 22, love is a work of the Spirit ;
also the new creature, if it avail and be necessary, cannot
be without works ; seeing it is natural for it to bring forth
works of righteousness.
For a full answer to this objection, and for the establish
ing of this doctrine of good works, 1 shall instance another
saying of the same apostle Paul, Tit. iii. 6 : "Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost." It is generally granted by
all, that saved is here all one as if it had been said justi
fied. Now there are two kinds of works here mentioned :
one by which we are not saved, that is, not justified; and
another by which we are saved, or justified. The first, the
works of righteousness which we have wrought, that is,
which we in our first fallen nature, by our own strength,
have wrought, our own legal performances, and therefore
may truly and properly be called ours, whatever specious
appearances they may have. And that it must needs aud
ought to be so understood, doth appear from the other part:
" By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost ; " seeing regeneration is a work, comprehen
sive of many good works, even of all those which are called
the fruits of the Spirit.
Nowr in case it should be objected. That these may also
be called ours, because wrought in us, and also by us many
times as instruments, I answer ; It is far otherwise than
the former : for in the flrst we are yet alive in our own

OP JUSTIFICATION. 131
natural state, unrenewed, working of ourselves, seeking to
save ourselves, by endeavoring a conformity to the outward
letter of the law. But in this second we are "crucified
with Christ," we are become " dead with him," have "par-
'^aken of the fellowship of his sufferings," are made "con
formable to his death ; " and our first man, our "old man
with all his deeds," as well the openly wicked as the seem
ingly righteous, are all buried and nailed to the cross of
Christ ; and so it is no more we, but Christ alive in us, the
worker in ns.
And to conclude this proposition, let none be so bold as
to mock God, supposing themselves justified and accepted
iu the sight of God, by virtue of Christ's death and suffer
ings, while they remain unsanctified and unj ustified in their
own hearts, and polluted in their sins, lest their Job viii. 13.
hope prove that of the hypocrite, which perisheth. Neither
let any imagine that they can by their own works, or by
the performance of any ceremonies or traditions, or by the
giving of gold or money, or by afflicting their bodies in
will-worship and voluntary humility, or striving to conform
their way to the outwai;d letter of the law, flatter them
selves that they merit before God, or draw a debt upon
him, or that any man or. men have power to make such
kind of things effectual to their justification, lest they be
found foolish boasters and strangers to Christ and his
righteousness indeed. But blessed for ever are they, that
having truly had a sense of their own unworthiness and
sinfulness, and having seen all their own endeavors and
performances fruitless and vain, and beheld their own

132 PROPOSITION VII.
emptiness, and the vanity of their vain hopes, faith, and
confidence, while they remained inwardly pricked, pursued,
and condemned by God's holy witness in their hearts, and
so having applied themselves thereto, and suffered his grace
to work in them, are become changed and renewed in the
spirit of their minds, passed from death to life, and know
Jesus arisen in them, working both the will and the deed ;
and so having "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," in effect
are clothed with him, and partake of his righteousness and
nature ; such can draw near to the Lord with boldness, and
know their acceptance in and by him, in whom, and in aa
many as are found in him, the Father is well pleased.

PEOPOSITION VIII.
CONCERNING PERFECTION.
IN whom this pure and holy birth is fully brought forth,
the body of death and sin comes to be crucified and
removed, and their hearts united and subjected to the
truth ; so as not to obey any suggestions or temptations of
the evil one, but to be free from actual sinning and trans
gressing of the law of God, and in that respect perfect:
yet doth this perfection still admit of a growth ; and there
remaineth always in some part a possibility of sinning,
where the mind doth not most diligently and watchfully
attend unto the Lord.

Since we have placed justification in the revelation of
Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the heart, there
working his works of righteousness, and bringing forth the
fruits of the Spirit, the question is, How far he may pre
vail in us while we are in this Ufe, or we over our souls,
enemies, in and by his strength ? Those that plead for jus
tification wholly without them, merely by imputative right
eousness, denying the necessity of being clothed with real
and inward righteousness, do consequently affirm, "That it
12 133

134 PROPOSITION VIII.
is impossible for a man, even the best of men, to be free of
sin in this life, which, they say, no man ever was ; but on
the contrary, that none can, neither of himself, nor by any
grace received in this life [O wicked saying against the
power of God's grace], keep the commandments of God
perfectly ; but that every man doth break the command
ments in thought, word, and deed." We on the contrary,
though we freely acknowledge this of the natural fallen
man, in his first state, whatever his profession or pretence
may be, so long as he is unconverted and unregenerate, yet
we do believe, that to those in whom Christ copies to be
formed, and the new man brought forth, and born of the
incorruptible seed, as that birth, and man in union there
with, naturally doth the will of God, it is possible so far to
keep to it, as not to be found daily transgressors of the law
of God.
For the more clear stating of the controversy, let it be
considered, that we place not this possibility in man's own
will and capacity, as he is a man, the son of fallen Adam,
or as he is in his natural state, however wise or knowing,
or however much endued with a notional and literal knowl
edge of Christ, thereby endeavoring a conformity to the
letter of the law, as it is outward.
We attribute it wholly to man, as he is born again, re
newed in his mind, raised by Christ, knowing Christ alive,
reigning and ruling in him, and guiding and leading him
by his Spirit, and revealing in him the law of the Spirit of
life ; which not only manifests and reproves sin, but alsc
gives power to come out of it.

OP PERFECTION. 135
By this we understand not such a perfection as may not
daily admit of a growth, and consequently mean not as if
we were to be as pure, holy, and perfect as God in his
divine attributes of wisdom, knowledge, and purity ; but
only a perfection proportionable and answerable to man's
measure, whereby we are kept from transgressing the law
of God, and enabled to answer what he requires of us ;
even as he that improved his two talents so as to make
four of them, perfected his work, and was so accepted of
his Lord as to be called a " good and faithful servant,"
nothing less than he that made his five ten. Even as a
little gold is perfect gold in its kind, as well as a great
mass, and a child hath a perfect body as well as a man,
though it daily grow more and more. Thus Christ is said,
Luke ii. 52, to have " increased in wisdom and stature, and
in favor with God and man ; " though before that time he
had never sinned, and was no doubt perfect, in a true and
proper sense.
Though a man may witness this for a season, and there
fore all ought to press after it ; yet w-e do not affirm but
those that have attained it in a measure may, by the wiles
and temptations of the enemy, fall into iniquity, and lose
it sometimes, if they be not watchful, and do not diligently
attend to that of God in the heart. And we doubt not but
many good and holy men, who have arrived to everlasting
life, have had divers ebbings and flowings of this kind ;
for though every sin weakens a man in his spiritual condi
tion, yet it doth not so as to destroy him altogether, or
render him incapable of rising again.

136 PROPOSITION VIII.
Though 1 affirm, that after a man hath arrived at such a
state, in which he may be able not to sin, yet he may sin
nevertheless, I will not affirm that a state is not attainable
in this life, in which to do righteousness may be so natural
to the regenerate soul, that iu the stability of that condi
tion he cannot sin. Others may speak more certainly of
this state, if they have arrived at it. With respect to
myself, I speak modestly, because I ingenuously confess that
I have not yet attained it ; but I cannot deny that there is
such a state, as it seems to be so clearly asserted by the
apostle, 1 John iii. 9, " Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God."
The doctrine, That the saints nor can nor ever will be
rroe of sinning in this life, is inconsistent with the wisdom
of God, and with his glorious power and majesty, " who
Hab. i. 13. is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ; " who
having purposed in himself to gather to him a chosen
people that should worship him, and be witnesses for him
on earth, doth also no doubt sanctify and purify them.
It is inconsistent with the justice of God. For since he
requires purity from his children, and commands them to
abstain from every iniquity, and since his wrath is revealed
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, it must
needs follow, that he hath capacitated man to answer his
will, or else that he requires more than he has given power
to perform ; which is to declare him openly unjust, and with
the slothful servant to be a hard master.
This evil doctrine is highly injurious to Jesus Christ,

OP PERFECTION. 137
and greatly derogates from the power and virtue of his sac
rifice, and renders his coming and ministry, as to the great
end of it, ineffectual. For Christ, as for other ends, so
principally he appeared for the removing of sin, for the
gathering a righteous generation, that might serve the
Lord in purity of mind, and walk before him in fear, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and that evangelical
perfection which the law could not do. Hence he is said,
Tit. ii. 14, "to have given himself for us, that he might
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a pe
culiar people, zealous of good works." This is certainly
spoken of the saints while upon earth. Moreover, it is said
expressly, 1 John iii. 5, 8, That " for this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil ; and ye know that he was manifested to take
away our sins." And lest any should wrest this place of
the apostle, as if it were spoken only of taking away the
guilt of sin, as if it related not to this life, the apostle, as
if of purpose to obviate such an objection, adds in the fol
lowing verses, " Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not,"
etc. The end of Christ's coming is expressed by the apos
tle, Eph. V. 25, 26, 27, " Even as Christ also loved the
church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word : that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be
holy, and without blemish." Now if Christ hath really
thus answered the thing he came for, then the members of
his church are not always sinning in thought, word, and
12*

138 PROPOSITION VIII.
deed, or there is no difference betwixt being sanctified and
unsanctified, clean and unclean, holy and unholy, being
daily blemished with sin, and being without blemish.
This doctrine renders the work of the ministry, the
preaching of the word, the writing of the scripture, and
the prayers of holy men altogether useless and ineffectual.
Pastors and teachers are said to be " given for the perfect
ing of the saints," etc., " until we all come in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ." And if for effectuating this perfection in the
saints the ministry be appointed of God, do not such as
deny the possibility hereof render the ministry useless, and
of no profit ? The apostle tells us, 2 Tim. iii. 17, That the
" scriptures are for making the man of God perfect ;" and
if this be denied to be attainable in this life, then the scrip
tures are of no profit. The holy apostles prayed earnestly
for this end, and therefore no doubt believed it attainable.
Col. iv. 12, " Laboring fervently for you in prayers, that
ye may stand perfect," etc., 1 Thess. iii. 13 ; and v. 23, etc.
As THIS perfection or freedom from sin is attained and
made possible where the gospel and inward law of the
Spirit is received and known, so the ignorance hereof has
been and is an occasion of opposing this truth. For man,
not minding the light or law within his heart, which not
only discovers sin but leads out of it, and so beirtg a stran
ger to the new life and birth that is born of God, which
naturally does his will, and cannot of its own nature trans-
gross the commandments of God, doth, I say, in his natu-

OP PERFECTION. 139
ral state look at the commandments as they are without
him in the letter ; and labors in his own will after a con
formity to the law as it is without him, which he can never
obtain, but finds the more he wrestles, the more he falleth
short. So this is the Jew still in effect, with his carnal
commandment, with the law without, in the first covenant
state, which " makes not the comers thereunto perfect, as
pertaining to the conscience," Heb. ix. 9 : though they may
have here a notion of Christianity, and an external faith in
Christ. This hath made them strain and wrest the scrip
tures for an imputative righteousness whoUy without them,
to cover their impurities ; and this hath made them imagine
an acceptance with God possible, though they suppose it
impossible ever to obey Christ's commands. But alas I
0 deceived souls I that will not avail in the day wherein
God will judge every man according to his work, whether
good or bad. It will not save thee to say, it was necessary
for thee to sin daily in thought, word, and deed ; for such
as do so have certainly obeyed unrighteousness ; and what
is provided for such but tribulation and anguish, indigna
tion and wrath ; even as glory, honor, and peace, immor
tality and eternal Ufe, to such as have done good, and pa
tiently continued in well-doing.
So then, if thou desirest to know this perfection and
freedom from sin possible for thee, turn thy mind to the
light and spiritual law of Christ in the heart, and suffer
the reproofs thereof; bear the judgment and indignation
of God upon the unrighteous part in thee as therein it is
revealed, which Christ hath made tolerable for thee, and so

140 PROPOSITION VIII.
8uff(!r judgment in thee to be brought forth into victory,
and thus come to partake of the fellowship of Christ's suf
ferings, and be made conformable unto his death, that thou
mayest feel thyself crucified with him to the world by the
power of his cross in thee ; so that that life that sometimes
was alive in thee to this world, and the love and"lusta
thereof, may die, and a new life be raised, by which thou
mayest live henceforward to God, and not to or for thyself ;
and with the apostle thou mayest say. Gal. ii. 20 : It is no
morp. I, " but Christ Uveth in me ; " and then thou wilt be
a Christian indeed, and not in name only, as too many are ;
then thou wilt know what it is to have " put off the old
man with his deeds," who indeed sins daily in thought,
word, and deed ; and to have put on the new man, that is
renewed in holiness, after the image of him that hath cre
ated him : and thou wilt witness thyself to be God's work
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and so
not to sin always. And to this new man " Christ's yoke
Matt. xi. 30. Js easy, and his burden is Ught ; " yea, the com-
1 John T. 3. landmen ts of God are not unto this man griev
ous ; for it is his meat and drink to be found fulfiUing the
will of God.
This perfection or freedom from sin is possible, because
many have attained it, according to the express testimony
of the scripture ; some before the law, and some under the
law, through witnessing and partaking of the benefit and
effect of the gospel, and much more many under the gos
pel. As first, it is written of Enoch, Gen. v. 22, 24, that
Le walked with God, which no man while sinning can ; nor

OF PERFECTION. 141
doth the scripture record any failing of his. It is said of
Noah, Gen. vi. 9, and of Job, i. 8, and of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, Luke i. 6, that they were perfect ; but under the
gospel, see what the apostle saith of many saints in gen
eral, Eph. ii. 4, 5, 6, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
by grace ye are saved ; and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Je
sus," etc. I judge while they were sitting in these heav
enly places, they could not be daily sinning in thought,
word, and deed.
I shall proceed now to answer the objections of our
opposers. 1 shall begin with their chief and great argu
ment, which is the words of the apostle, 1 John i. 8, " If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us."
But he saith not, We sin daily in thought, word, and
deed. As Augustine w'ell observed, in his exposition upon
the epistle to the Galatians, It is one thing not to sin, and
another thing not to have sin. The apostle's words are not.
If we say we sin not, or commit not sin daily, but " if we
say we have no sin : " and betwixt these two there is a
manifest difference ; for in respect aU have sinned, as we
freely acknowledge, all may be said in a sense to have sin.
Again, sin may be taken for the seed of sin, which may be
in thoso that are redeemed from actual sinning ; but as to
the temptations and provocations proceeding from it being
resisted by the servants of God, and not yielded to, they

142 PROPOSITION VIII.
are the devil's sin that tempteth, not the man's that is pre
served. This being considered, as also how positive and
plain once and again the same apostle is in that very epistle,
as in divers places, is it equal or rational to strain this one
place, to contradict not only other positive expressions of
nis, but the whole tendency of his epistle, and of the rest
of the holy commands and precepts of the scripture ?
Their second objection is from two places of scripture,
much of one signification : the one is, 1 Kings viii. 46, " For
there is no man that sinneth not." The other is, Eccles.
vii. 20, " For there is not a just man upon earth, that doth
good, and sinneth not."
I answer. These affirm nothing of a daily and continual
sinning, so as never to be redeemed from it ; but only that
all have sinned, or that there is none that doth uot sin,
though not always, so as never to cease to sin ; and in this
lies the question. Yea, in that place of the King^he speaks
within two verses of the returning of such " with all their
souls and hearts ; " which implies a possibility of leaving
off sin. Secondly, There is a respect to be had to the sea
sons and dispensations ; for if it should be granted that in
Solomon's time there was none that sinned not, it will not
follow that there are none such now, or that it is a thing
not now attainable by the grace of God under the gospel.
They object some expressions of the apostle Paul, Rom.
vii. 19, " For the good that I would, I do not ; but the evil
which I would not, that I do." And verse 24, " 0 wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ? "

OP PERFECTION. 143
I answer, This place infers nothing, unless it were ap
parent that the apostle here were speaking of his own con
dition, and not rather in the person of others, or what he
himself had sometimes borne. There is nothing in the text
that doth clearly signify the apostle to be speaking of him
self, or of a condition he was then under, or was always to
be under ; yea, on the contrary, in the former chapter, as
afore is at large shown, he declares, they were dead to sin ;
demanding how^ such should yet live any longer therein ?
It appears that the apostle personated one not yet come to
a spiritual condition, in that he saith, verse 14, " But I am
carnal, sold under sin." Now is it to be imagined that the
apostle Paul, as to his own proper condition, when he wrote
that epistle, was a carnal man, who in chap. i. testifies of
himself, That he was separated to be an apostle, capable to
impart to the Romans spiritual gifts ; and chap. viii. 2,
That " the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus " had
" made him free from the law- of sin and death ? " So then
he was not carnal. As his calling himself carnal in chap.
vii. cannot be understood of his own proper state, neither
can the rest of what he speaks there of that kind be so
understood : yea, after, verse 24, where he makes that ex
clamation, he adds in the next verse, " I thank God, through
Jesus Christ our Lord;" signifying that by him he wit
nessed deliverance ; and so goeth on, showing how he had
obtained it in the next chapter, viz., viii. ver. 35, " Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ ? " And ver. 37,
" But in all these things we are more than conquerors : "
and in the last verse, " Nothing shall be able to separate

144 PROPOSITION. VIII.
us," etc. But wherever there is a continuing in sin, there
is a separation in some degree, and whoever committeth
the least sin, is overcome of it, and so in that respect is-
not a conqueror, but conquered. This condition then,
which the apostle plainly testified he with some others had
obtained, could not consist with continual remaining and
abiding in sin.
They object the faults and sins of several eminent saints,
as Noah, David, etc. But that doth not at all prove the
case : for the question is not whether good men may not
fall into sin, which is not denied; but whether it be not
possible for them not to sin ?
Blessed then are they that believe in him, who is both
able and willing to deliver as many as come to him through
true repentance from all sin, and do not resolve to be the
devU's servants all their lifetime, but daUy go on forsaking
unrighteousness, and forgetting those things that are behind,
" press forward toward the mark, for the prize of the high
caUing of God in Christ Jesus ; " such shall not find their
faith and confidence to be in vain, but in due time shall be
made conquerors through him in whom they have believed ;
and so overcoming, shall be established as pillars in the
house of God, so as they shall go no more out, Rev. iii. ] 2.

PEOPOSITION IX.
CONCERNING PBBSBVBRANCB AND THE POSSIBILITY OF
PALLING FROM GRACE.
ALTHOUGH this gift and inward grace of God be suffi
cient to work out salvation, yet in those in whom it is
resisted it both may and doth become their condemnation.
Moreover they in whose hearts it hath wrought in part to
purify and sanctify them in order to their further perfection,
may, by disobedience, fall from it, turn it to wantonness,
Jude 4, make shipwreck of faith, 1 Tim. i. 19, and after
having tasted the heavenly gift, and been made partakers
of the Holy Ghost, again fall away, Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6, yet
such an increase and stability in the truth may in this life
be attained, from which there can be no total apostasy.

As UPON THE one hand they err who affirm that the least
degree of true and saving grace cannot be fallen from, so
do they err on the other hand that deny any such stability
to be attained from which there cannot be a total and final
apostasy. And betwixt these two extremes lieth the truth
apparent in the scriptures, which God hath revealed unto
us by the testimony of his Spirit, and which also we are
made sensible of by our own experience.
13 K 145

146 PROPOSITION IX.
I freely acknowledge that it is good for all to be humble,
and in this respect not over confident, so as to foster them
selves in iniquity, or lie down in security, as if they had
attained this condition, seeing watchfulness and diligence
is of indispensable necessity to all mortal men, so long as
they breathe in this world ; for God will have this to be
the constant practice of a Christian, that thereby he may
be the more fit to serve him, and better armed against all
the temptations of the enemy. For since the wages of sin
is death, there is no man, while he sinneth, and is subject
thereunto, but may lawfully suppose himself capable of
perishing. Hence the apostle Paul himself saith, 1 Cor.
ix. 27 : " But I keep under my body, and bring it into sub
jection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway." Here the apostle
supposes it possible for him to be a castaway, and yet it
may be judged he was far more advanced in the inward
work of regeneration, when he wrote that epistle, than
many who nowadays too presumptuously suppose they
cannot fall away, because they feel themselves to have
attained some small degree of true grace. But the apostle
makes use of this supposition or possibility of his being a
castaway, as I before observed, as an inducement to him
to be watchful; " I keep under my body, lest," etc. Never
theless the same apostle, at another time, in the sense and
feeling of God's holy power, and in the dominion thereof,
finding himself a conqueror there-through over sin and his
soul's enemies, maketh no difficulty to affirm, Rom. viii.
38: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor Ufe, nor

OP PERSEVEvRANCE, ETC. 147
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," which clearly show¬eth
that he had attained a condition from which he knew he
could not fall away.
It appears such a condition is attainable, because we are
exhorted to it ; and the scripture never proposeth to us
things impossible. Such an exhortation we have from the
apostle, 2 Pet. i. 10 : " Wherefore the rather, brethren, give
diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye
do these things ye shall never fall." And though there be
a condition here proposed, yet since we have aheady proved
that it is possible fo fulfil this condition, then also the prom
ise annexed thereunto may be attained. And since, where
assurance is wanting, there is still a place left for doubtings
and despairs; if we should affirm it never attainable, then
should there never be a place known by the saints in this
world, wherein they might be free of doubting and despair ;
w^hich is contrary to the manifest experience of thousands.
God hath given to many of his saints and children, and
is ready to give unto all a full and certain assurance that
they are his, and that no power shall be able to pluck them
out of his hand. And that there is such assurance attain
able in this life, the scripture abundantly declareth, both in
general and as to particular persons. As first, Rev. iii. 12 :
" Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out," etc., which eon-
taineth a general promise unto all. Hence the apostle

14B PROPOSITION IX.
speaks of some that are sealed, 2 Cor. i: 22 : " Who hath
also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts:" wherefore the Spirit so seaUng is called the earn
est or " pledge of our inheritance," Eph. i. 13, " In whom
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." And
therefore the apostle Paul, not only in that of the Romans
above noted, declareth himself to have attained that con
dition, but 2 Tim. iv. 7, he affirmeth, " I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith :
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shaU give me at that
day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love
his appearing," which also many good men have and do
witness. There have been both of old and of late that
have turned the grace of God into wantonness, and have
fallen from their faith and integrity ; thence we may
safely conclude such a falling away possible. We also
see that some of old and of late have attained a certain
assurance, some time before they departed, that they should
inherit eternal life, and have accordingly died in that good
hope, of and concerning whom the Spirit of God testified
that they are saved. Wherefore we also see such a state
is attainable in this life, from which tnere is not a falling
away : for seeing the Spirit of God did so testify, it was
not possible that they should perish, concerning whom he
who cannot lie thus bare witness.

PROPOSITION X.
CONCERNING THE MINISTRY.
AS by the Ught or gift of God all true knowledge in
things spiritual is received and revealed, so by tho
same, as it is manifested and received in the heart, by the
strength and power thereof, every true minister of the
gospel is ordained, prepared, and supplied in the work of
the ministry ; and by the leading, moving, and drawing
hereof, ought every evangelist and Christian pastor to be
led and ordered in his labor and work of the gospel, both
as to the place w-here, as to the persons to whom, and as
to the time wherein he is to minister. Moreover, they who
have this authoritj' may and ought to preach the gospel,
though without human commission or literature ; as on the
other hand, they who want the authority of this divine
gift, however learned, or authorized by the commission of
men and churches, are to be esteemed but as deceivers, and
not true ministers of the gospel. Also they who have re
ceived this holy and unspotted gift, as they have freely
received it, so are they freely to give it, without hire or
bargaining, far less to use it as a trade to get Matt. x. s.
money by: yet if God hath called any one from their em
ployment or trades, by which they acquire their livelihocd,
13 * 1 10

150

PROPOSITION X.

it may be lawful for such, according to the liberty which
they feel given them in the Lord, to receive such temporals
(to wit, what may be needful for them for meat and cloth
ing) as are given them freely and cordially by those, to
whom they have communicated spirituals.

The church, according to the grammatical signification
of the word, as it is used in the holy scripture, signifies an
assembly or gathering of many into one place ; being no
other thing but the society or company of such as God
hath called out of the world, and worldly spirit, to walk in
his Light and Life. The church then so defined is to be
considered, as it comprehends all that are thus called and
gathered truly by God, both such as are yet in this inferior
world, and such as having already laid down the earthly
tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly mansions, which
together do make up the one catholic church, concerning
which there is so much controversy. Out of which church
we freely acknowledge there can be no salvation ; because
under this church and its denomination are comprehended
all, and as many, of whatsoever nation, kindred, tongue, or
people they be, though outwardly strangers, and remote
from those who profess Christ and Christianity in words,
and have the benefit of the scriptures ; all such as become
obedient to the holy light and testimony of God in their
hearts, so as to become sanctified by it, and cleansed from
the evils of their ways.
There may be members therefore of this catholic church

'' OP THE MINISTRY. 151
both among heathen, Turks, Jews, and all the several sorts
of Christians, men and women of integrity and simplicity
of heart, who though blinded in some things in their under
standing, and perhaps burdened with the superstitions and
formality of the several sects in which they are engrossed,
yet being upright in their hearts before the Lord, chieffy
aiming and laboring to be deUvered from iniquity, and lov
ing to follow righteousness, are by the secret touches of
this holy light in their souls enlivened and quickened,
thereby secretly united to God, and there-through become
true members of this catholic church. Now- the church in
this respect hath been in being in all generations ; for God
never wanted some such witnesses for him, though many
times slighted, and not much observed by this world ; and
therefore this church, though still in being, hath been often
times as it were invisible, in that it hath not come under
the observation of the men of this world, being, as saith
the scripture, Jer. iii. 14, "one of a city, and two of a
family." And yet though the church thus considered may
be as it were hid from wicked men, as not then gathered
into a visible fellowship, yea and not observed even by
some that are members of it, yet may there notwithistand-
ing many belong to it ; as when Elijah complained he was
left alone, 1 Kings xix. 18, God answered unto him, "I
have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have
not bowed their knees to the image of Baal ; " whence the
apostle argues, Rom. xi., the being of a remnant in his day.
Secondly, The church is to be considered as it signifies
a certain number of persons gathered by God's Spirit, and

152 PROPOSITION X.
by the testimony of some of his servants raised up for that
end, unto the belief of the true principles and doctrines of
the Christian faith, who through their hearts being united
by the same love, and their understandings informed in the
same truths, assemble together to wait upon God, to wor:
ship him, and to bear a joint testimony for the truth against
error, suffering for the same, and so becoming through this
fellowship as one family and household in certain respects,
do each of them watch over, teach, instruct, and care for
one another, according to their several measures and attain
ments : such were the churches of the primitive times
gathered by the apostles.
To be a member then of the Catholic church, there is
need of the inward calling of God by his light in the heart,
and a being leavened into the nature and spirit of it, so as
to forsake unrighteousness, and be turned to righteousness,
and in the inwardness of the mind, to be cut out of the wild
olive tree of our own first fallen nature, and ingrafted into
Christ by his Word and Spirit in the heart.
To be a member of a particular church of Christ, as this
inward work is indispensably necessary, so is also the out
ward profession of, and belief in, Jesus Christ, and those
holy truths delivered by his Spirit in the scriptures ; seeing
the testimony of the Spirit recorded in the scriptures, doth
answer the testimony of the same Spirit in the heart, even
as face answereth face in a glass. Hence it follows, that
the inward work of holiness, and forsaking iniquity, is
necessary in every respect to the being a member in the
church of Christ ; and that the outward profession is neces-

OP THE MINISTRY. 153
sary to be a member of a particular gathered church, but
not to tbe being a member of the Catholic church.
The particular churches of Christ, gathered in the apos
tles' days, soon after beginning to decay as to the inward
life, came to be overgrown with several errors, and the
hearts of the professors of Christianity to be leavened with
the old spirit and conversation of the world. Yet it pleased
God for some centuries to preserve that life in many, whom
he emboldened with zeal to stand and suffer for his name
through the ten persecutions : but these being over, tho
meekness, gentleness, love, long-suffering, goodness, and
temperance of Christianity began to be lost. For after
that the princes of the earth came to take upon them that
profession, and that it ceased to be a reproach to be a
Christian, but rather became a means to preferment ; men
became such by birth and education, and not by conversion
and renovation of spirit : then there was none so vile, none
so wicked, none so profane, who became not a member of
the church. And the teachers and pastors thereof becom
ing the companions of princes, and so being enriched by
their benevolence, and getting vast treasures and estates,
became puffed up, and as it were drunken with the vain
pomp and glory of this world : and so marshalled them
selves in manifold orders and degrees ; not without innu
merable contests and altercations who should have the
precedency. So the virtue, life, substance, and kernel of the Christian
religion came to be lost, and nothing remained but a shadow
and image; which dead image or carcass of Christianity,

154 PROPOSITION X.
to make it take the better with the superstitious multitude
of heathen that were engrossed in it, not by any inward con
version of their hearts, or by becoming less wicked or su
perstitious, but by a little change in the object of their su
perstition, not having the inward ornament and life of the
Spirit, became decked with many outward and visible or
ders, and beautified with the gold, silver, precious stones,
and the other splendid ornaments of this perishing world ;
so that this was no more to be accounted the Christian re
ligion, and Christian church, notwithstanding the outward
profession, than the dead body of a man is to be accounted
a living man ; which, however cunningly embalmed, and
adorned with ever so much gold or silver, or most precious
stones, or sweet ointments, is but a dead body still, without
sense, life, or motion. For that apostate church of Rome
has introduced no fewer ceremonies and superstitions into
the Christian profession, than were either among Jews or
heathen ; and that there hath been as much pride, covet-
ousness, uncleanness, luxury, profaneness, and atheism
among her teachers and chief bishops, as ever was among
any sort of people, none need doubt, that have read their
own authors.
Now, THOUGH Protestants have reformed from her in some
of the most gross points and absurd doctrines relating to
the church and ministry, yet, which is to be regretted, they
have only lopped the branches, but retain and plead ear
nestly for the same root, from which these abuses have
sprung. The Popish errors concerning the ministry, which
they have retained, are most of all to be regretted, by

OP THE MINISTRY. " 155
which chiefly the life and power of Christianity is barred
out among them, and they kept in death, barrenness and
dryness : there being nothing more hurtful than an error
in this respect. For where a false and corrupt ministry
entereth, all manner of other evils follow upon it. The
whole backslidings of the Jewish congregation of old are
hereto ascribed : " The leaders of my people have caused
them to err." The whole writings of the prophets are full
of such complaints ; and for this cause, under the New
Testament, we are so often warned and guarded to " be
ware of false prophets, and false teachers," etc. What may
be thought then, where all, as to this, is out of order ;
where both the foundation, call, qualifications, maintenance
and whole discipline are different from and opposite to the
ministry of the primitive church ; yea, and necessarily
tend to the shutting out of a spiritual ministry, and the
bringing in and establishing of a carnal ?
That then which comes first to be questioned in this
matter, is concerning the call of a minister ; to wit, What
maketii, or how cometh a man to be, a minister, pastor, or
teacher in the church of Christ ?
We answer ; By the inward power and virtue of the
Spirit of God. For, as saith our proposition. Having re
ceived the true knowledge of things spiritual by the Spirit
of God, without which they cannot be known, and being
by the same in measure purified and sanctified, he comes
'thereby to be called and moved to minister to others ; be
ing able to speak, from a living experience, of what he him
self is a witness; and his words and ministry, proceeding

156 PROPOSITION X.
from the inward power and virtue, reach to tbe heart of his
hearers, and make them approve of him, and be subject unto
him. Our opposers are forced to confess, that this were
indeed desirable and best ; but this they will not have to
be absolutely necessary.
But all ministers of the New Testament ought to be min
isters of the Spirit, and not of the letter, according to that
of 2 Cor. in. 6, and as the old Latin -hath it, "Not by the
letter, but by the Spirit." But how can a man be a min
ister of the Spirit, who is not inwardly caUed by it, and
who looks not upon the operation and testimony of the
Spirit as essential to his call ?
Christ proclaims them all thieves and robbers, that enter
not by him the door into the sheepfol 1, but climb up some
John X. 1. other way ; whom the sheep ought not to hear :
but such as come in without the call, movings, and leadings
of the Spirit of Christ, wherewith he leads his children into
all truth, come in certainly not by Christ, who is the door,
but some other way, and therefore are not true shepherds,
To ALL this they object the succession of the church ;
alleging, That since Christ gave a call to his apostles and
disciples, they have conveyed that call to their successors,
having power to ordain pastors and teachers; by which
power the authority of ordaining and making ministers and
pastors is successively conveyed to ns ; so that such, who
are ordained and caUed by the pastors of the church, are
therefore true and lawful ministers ; and others, who are
not so called, are to be accounted but intruders.
But against this vain succession, as asserted either by the

OF THE MINISTRY. 157
Papists or Protestants as a necessary thing to the call of a
minister, 1 answer ; Jesus Christ, as he regardeth not any
distinct particular family or nation in the gathering of his
children ; but only such as are joined to and leavened with
his own pure and righteous seed, so neither regards he a
bare outward succession, where his pure, immaculate, and
righteous life is wanting. He took not the nations into the
new covenant, that he might suffer them to fall into the old
errors of the Jews, or to approve them in their errors, but
that he might gather unto himself a pure people out of the
earth. Now this was the great error of the Jews, to think
the}' were the church and people of God, because they
could derive their outward succession from Abraham ;
whereby they reckoned themselves the children of God,
as being the offspring of Abraham, who was the Father
of the Faithful. But how severely doth the scripture
rebuke this vain and frivolous pretence ! TeUing them.
That God is able of the stones to raise children unto
Abraham ; and that not the outward seed, but those that
were found in the faith of Abraham, are the true children
of faithful Abraham. Far less then can this pretence hold
among Christians, seeing Christ rejects all outward affinity
of that kind : These, saith he, are my mother, Matt, xii. 48,
brethren and sisters, who do the will of my Mark iii. 33,
I etc.
Father which is in heaven : And again ; he looked
round about him, and said, Who shall do the will of God,
these, saith he, are my brethren. So then, such as do not
the commands of Christ, as are not found clothed with his
righteousness, are not his disciples ; and that which a man
14

158 PROPOSITION X.
hath not, he cannot give to another: and it is clear, that
no man nor church, though truly called of God, and as such
having the authority of a church and minister, can any
longer retain that authority, than they retain the power,
life, and righteousness of Christianity.
It is the life of Christianity, taking place in the heart,
that makes a Christian : and so it is a number of such;
being alive, joined together in the Ufe of Christianity, that
make a church of Christ ; and it is all those that are thus
alive and quickened, considered together that make the
Catholic church of Christ : therefore when this life ceaseth
in one, then that one ceaseth to be a Christian, and all
power, virtue, and authority, which he had as a Christian,
ceaseth with it ; so that if he hath been a minister or
teacher, he ceaseth to be so any more. Now where all
these members lose this life, there the church ceaseth to be,
though they still uphold the form, and retain the name :
for when that which made them a church, and for which
they were a church, ceaseth, then they cease also to be a
church : and therefore the Spirit, speaking to the church
of Laodicea, because of her lukewarmness, Rev. iii. 16,
threateneth to spew her out of his mouth. Now, suppose
the church of Laodicea had continued in that lukewarmness,
and had come under that condemnation and judgment,
though she had retained the name and form of a church,
and had had her pastors and ministers, as no doubt she had
at that time, yet surely she had been no true church of
Christ, nor had the authority of her pastors and teachers
been to be regarded, because of an outward succession,

OP THE MINISTRY. 159
though perhaps some of them had it immediately from the
apostles. From all which I infer. That since the authority
of the Christian church and her pastors is never separated
from the inward power, virtue, and righteous life of Chris
tianity ; where this ceaseth, that ceaseth also. But our
opposers acknowledge, That many, if not most of those,
by and through whom they derive this authority, were alto
gether destitute of this life and virtue of Christianity:
therefore they could neither receive, have, nor transmit
any Christian authority.
But IE IT BH OBJECTED, That though the generality of the
i^ishops and priests of the church of Rome, during the
apostasy, were such wicked men ; yet Protestants affirm,
and thou thyself seemest to acknowledge, that there were
some good men among them, whom the Lord regarded,
and who were true members of the Catholic church of
Christ ; might not they then have transmitted this au
thority ?
I answer ; This saith nothing, inasmuch as Protestants
do not at all lay claim to their ministry as transmitted to
them by a direct Une of good men ; which they can never
show, nor yet pretend to ; but generally place this succes
sion as inherent in the w^hole pastors of the apostate church.
Neither do they plead their call to be good and valid, be
cause they can derive it through a line of good men, separate
and observably distinguishable from the rest of the bishops
and clergy of the Romish church ; but they derive it as an
authority residing in the whole : for they think it here&y,
to judge that the quality or condition of the administrator
doth any ways invalidate or prejudice his work.

160 PROPOSITION X.
As no metaphysical and nice distinctions, that though
they were practically as to their own private states enemies
to God and Christ, and so servants of Satan ; yet they
were, by virtue of their office, members and ministers of
the church, and so able to transmit the succession ; I say,
as such invented and frivolous distinctions wOl not please
the Lord God, neither will he be deluded by such, nor make
up the glorious body of his church with such mere outside
hypocritical shows, nor be beholden to such painted sepul
chres to be members of his body, which is sound, pure, and
undefiled ; so neither will such distinctions satisfy truly
tender and Christian consciences. We may well object
against these, as the poor man did against the proud prel
ate, that went about to cover his vain and unchristian-like
sumptuousness, by distinguishing that it was not as bishop
but as prince he had all that splendor. To which the poor
rustic wisely is said to have answered, When the prince
goeth to heU, what shall become of the prelate ? This no
tion of succession supposeth that such as were professed
necromancers and open servants of Satan were the true
successors of the apostles, and in whom the apostolic au
thority resided, these being the vessels through whom this
succession is transmitted; though many of them, as all
Piotestants and also some Papists confess, attained these
offices in the, so called, church not only by such means as
Simon Magus sought it, but by much worse, even by
witchcraft, traditions, money, treachery, and murder, which
Platina himself confesseth of divers bishops of Rome.
But such as object not this succession of the church,

OP the ministry. 161
which yet most Protestants begin now to do, distinguish
in this matter, affirming, that in a great apostasy, such as
was that of the church of Rome, God may raise up some
singularly by his Spirit, who from the testimony of the
scriptures perceiving the errors into which such as bear
the name of Christians are fallen, may instruct and teach
them, and then become authorized by the people's joining
with and accepting of their ministry only.
But they say. That where a church is reformed, such as
they pretend the Protestant churches are, there an ordinary
orderly call is necessary ; and that of the Spirit, as extraor
dinary, is not to be sought after.
That the same immediate assistance of the Spirit is not
necessary for ministers in a gathered church as well as in
gathering one, I see no solid reason alleged for it : for
surely Christ's promise was to be with his children to the
end of the world, and they need him no less to preserve
and guide his church and children than to gather and beget
them. And truly this device of Satan, whereby he has
got people to put the immediate guidings and leadings of
God's Spirit as an extraordinary thing afar off, which their
forefathers had, but which they now are neither to wait
for nor expect, is a great cause of the growing apostasy
upon the many gathered churches, and is one great reason
why a dry, dead, barren, lifeless, spiritless ministry, which
leavens the people into the same death, doth so much
abound, and is so much overspreading even the Protestant
nations. There is also another sort of Protestants, who, denying
14* L

162 PROPOSITION X.
the necessity of this succession, take another way ; affirm
ing. That such as have the benefit of the scriptures, any
company of people agreeing in the principles of truth as
they find them there declared, may constitute among them
selves a church, and may choose to themselves a pastor,
who by the church thus constituted and consenting, is au
thorized, requiring only the assistance and concurrence of
the pastors of the neighboring churches, if any such there
be ; not so much as absolutely necessary to authorize, as
decent for order's sake. Also they go so far as to affirm.
That in a church so constituted, any gifted brother, as they
call them, if he find himself qualified thereto, may instruct,
exhort, and preach in the church ; though, as not having
the pastoral office, he cannot administer those which they
call their sacraments.
To this I answer. That this was a good step out of the
Babylonish darkness, and no doubt did proceed from a real
discovery of the truth. But as to their pretended call from
the scripture, I answer. The scripture gives a mere declara
tion of true things, but no call to particular persons ; so
that though I believe the things there written to be true,
and deny the errors which I find there testified against,
yet as to those things which may be my particular duty, I
am still to seek ; and therefore I can never be informed in
the scripture whether 1 (such a one by name) ought to be
a minister. And for the resolving this doubt I must needs
recur to the inward and immediate testimony of the Spirit.
Having thus far spoken of the call, I shaU proceed next
to treat of the qualifications and work of a true minister

OP the ministry. 163
As I have placed the true call of a minister in the motion
of the Holy Spirit, so is the power, Ufe, and virtue thereof,
and the pure grace of God that comes therefrom, the chief
and most necessary qualification, without which he can no
ways perform his duty, neither acceptably to God nor bene
ficially to men.
That this grace aud gift is a necessary quaUfication to a
minister, is clear from that of the apostle Peter, 1 Pet. iv.
10, 11, "As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God : if any man minister, let him do it
as of the abiUty which God giveth." But how can a man
be a good steward of that which he hath not ? Can un
godly men, that are not gracious themselves, be good stew
ards of the manifold grace of God ? "If any man minis
ter, let him do it as of the ability that God giveth." Now
what this abilitj- is, is manifest by the former words, to wit,
the gift received, and the grace whereof they are stewards.
Neither can it be understood of a mere natural ability, be
cause man in this condition is said " not to know the things
of God," and so he cannot minister them to others. And
the following words show this also, in that he immediately
subjoineth, " that God in all things may be glorified ; " but
surely God is not glorified, but greatly dishonored, when
natural men, from their mere natural abiUty, meddle in
spiritual things, which they neither know nor understand.
Though we make not human learning necessary, yet we
are far from excluding true learning ; to wit, that learning

164 PROPOSITION X.
which proceedeth from the inward teachings and instruc
tions of the Spirit, whereby the soul learneth the secret
ways of the Lord, becomes acquainted with many inward
travails and exercises of the mind ; and learneth by a living
experience how to overcome evil, and the temptations of it,
by following the Lord, and walking in his Ught, and wait
ing daily for wisdom and knowledge immediately from the
revelation thereof; and so layeth up these heavenly and
divine lessons in the good treasure of the heart, as honest
Mary did the sayings which she heard, and things which
she observed ; and also out of this treasure of tbe soul, as
the good scribe, brings forth things new and old, according
as the same Spirit moves, and gives true liberty, and as the
glory of God requires, for whose glory the soul, which is
the temple of God, learneth to do all things. This is that
good learning which we think necessary to a true minister ;
by and through which learning a man can well instruct,
teach, and admonish in due season, and testify for God
from a certain experience ; as did David, Solomon, and the
holy prophets of old, and the blessed apostles of our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who testified of what they had seen, heard,
felt, and handled of the word of life, 1 John i. 1.
But let us examine this literature, which they make so
necessary to the being of a minister ; as in the first place,
the knowledge of the tongues, at least the Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew. The reason of this is, That they may read the
scripture, which is their only rule, in the original languages,
knd thereby be the more capable to comment upon it, and
interpret it, etc. That also which made this knowledge be

OP THE MINISTRY. 165
the more prized by the primitive Protestants, was indeed
the dark barbarity that was over the world in the centuries
immediately preceding the reformation ; the knowledge of
the tongues being about that time, until it was even then
restored by Erasmus and some others, almost lost and .ex
tinct. And this barbarity was so much the more abominable,
that the whole worship and praj^ers of the people were in
the Latin tongue ; and among that vast number of priests,
monks, and friars, scarce one of a thousand understood his
breviary, or that mass which he daily read and repeated :
the scripture being, not only to the people, but to the
greater part of the clergy, even as to the literal knowledge
of it, as a sealed book. I shall not at all discommend the
zeal that the first reformers had against this Babylonish
darkness, nor their pious endeavors to translate the holy
scriptures : I do truly believe, according to their knowledge,
that they did it candidly : and therefore to answer the just
desires of those that desire to read them, and for other very
good reasons, as maintaining a commerce and understand
ing among divers nations by these common languages, and
others of that kind, we judge it necessary and commendable
that there be public schools for the teaching and instructing
such youth, as are inclinable thereunto, in the languages.
But all this will not make it a necessary qualification to
a minister, far less a more necessary qualification than the
grace of God and his Spirit ; because the Spirit and grace
of God can make up this want in the most rustic and igno
rant ; but this knowledge can no ways make up the w^ant of
the Spirit in the most learned and eloquent. For all that

166 PROPOSITION X.
which man by his own industry, learning and knowledge
in the languages, can interpret of the scripture's, or find
out, is nothing without the Spirit ; he cannot be certain,
but may still miss of the sense of it : whereas a poor man,
that knoweth not a letter, when he heareth the scriptures
read, by the same Spirit he can say, This is true ; and by
the same Spirit he can understand, open, and interpret it,
if need be : yea, finding his condition to answ^er the con
dition and experience of the saints of old, he knoweth and
possesseth the truths there delivered, because they are sealed
and witnessed in his own heart by tlie same Spirit. And
this we have plentiful experience of in many of those illiter
ate men, whom God hath raised up to be ministers in his
church in this day ; so that some such, by his Spirit, have
corrected some of the errors of the translators. I know
myself a poor shoemaker, that cannot read a word, who
being assaulted with a false citation of scripture, from a
public professor of divinity, before the magistrate of a city,
when he had been taken up for preaching to some few that
came to hear him ; I say, I know such a one, and he is yet
alive, who though the professor, who also is esteemed a
learned man, constantly asserted his saying to be a scrip
ture sentence, yet the poor man affirmed, not through any
certain letter-knowledge he had of it, but from the most
certain evidence of the Spirit in himself, that the professor
was mistaken ; and that the Spirit of God never said any
such thingasthe other affirmed : and the Bible being brought,
it was found as the poor shoemaker had said.
The second part of their literature is logic and philosophy,

OP THE MINISTRY. 167
au art so little needful to a true minister, that if one that
comes to be a true minister hath had it, it is safest for him
to forget and lose it ; for it is the root and ground of all
contention and debate, and the way to make a thing a great
deal darker, than clearer : yea, it often hinders man from
a clear understanding of things that his own reason would
give him.
If it be urged. That thereby the truth may be maintained
and confirmed, and heretics confuted ; I answer. The truth,
in men truly rational, needeth not the help thereof ; and
such as are obstinate, this will not convince ; for by this
they may learn twenty tricks and distinctions, how to shut
out the truth: and the truth proceeding from an honest,
heart, and spoken forth from the virtue and Spirit of God,
will have more influence, and take sooner and more effect
ually, than by a thousand demonstrations of logic ; as that
heathen philosopher acknowledged, who, disputing with
the Christian bishops in the council of Nice, was so subtle,
that he could not be overcome by them ; but yet by a few
words spoken by a simple old rustic, was presently con
vinced and converted to the Christian faith ; and being en
quired how he came to yield to that ignorant old man, and
not to the bishops ; he said, That they cont^ended with him
in his own way, and he could still give words for words ;
but there came from the old man that virtue, which he was
not able to resist. This secret virtue and power ought to
be the logic and philosophy wherewith a true Christian
minister should be furnished ; and for which they need not
be beholden to Aristotle. As to natural logic, by which

168 PROPOSITION X.
rational men, without that art and rules, or sophistical
learning, deduce a certain conclusion out of true proposi
tions, which scarce any man of reason wants, we deny not
the use of it ; and I have sometimes used it in this trea
tise. The main part of their Uterature is school-divinity,
which is man in his first, fallen, natural state, pleasing
himself with some notions of truth, and adorning them
with his own sensual and carnal wisdom, because he thinks
the simplicity of the truth too low and mean a thing for
him ; multiplying a thousand difficult and needless ques
tions, and endless contentions and debates. All which, he
who perfectly knoweth, is so much the farther from receiv
ing, understanding, or learning the truth, as it is in its own
naked simplicity ; because he is full, learned, rich, and wise
in his own conceit. The volumes that have been written
about it, a man in his whole age could scarce read, though
he lived to be very old ; and when he has read them all, he
has but wrought himself a great deal more vexation and
trouble of spirit than he had before.
They make the scripture the text of all this mass ; and
it is concerning the sense of it that their voluminous de
bates arise. But a man of a good upright heart may learn
more in half an hour, and be more certain of it, by waiting
upon God, and his Spirit in the heart, than by reading a
thousand of their volumes ; which by fiUing his head with
many needless imaginations, may well stagger his faith,
but never confirm it : and indeed those that give themselves
most to it, are most capable to fall into error, as appeareth

OP THE MINISTRY. 169
by the example of Origen, who, by his learning, was one
of , the first, that faUing into this way of interpreting the
scriptures, wrote so many volumes, and in them so many
errors, as very much troubled the church. Also Arius, led
by this curiosity and human scrutiny, despising the sim
plicity of the gospel, fell into his error, which was the cause
of that horrible heresy which so much troubled the church.
Methinks the simplicity, plainness, and brevity of the scrip
tures themselves, should be a sufficient reproof for such a
science ; and the apostles, being honest, plain, illiterate men,
may be better understood by such kind of men now, than
with all that mass of scholastic stuff, which neither Peter,
nor Paul, nor John, ever thought of.
Now, though the grossest of these abuses be swept away
by Protestants ; yet the evil root still remains, and is nour
ished and upheld ; and the science kept up, as being deemed
necessary for a minister ; while the pure learning of the
Spirit of truth is despised and neglected. And so he that
is to be a minister, must learn this art, that he may from
a verse of scripture, by adding his own conceptions to it,
each Sabbath-day, as they call it, or oftener, make a dis
course for an hour long ; and this is called the preaching
of the word : whereas the gift, grace, and Spirit of God,
to teach, open, and instruct, and to preach a word in season,
is neglected. But what availeth all this ? Is it not aU but
as death, without the power, life and spirit of Christianity,
which is the marrow and substance of a Christian ministry?
And he that hath this, and can speak from it, though he be
a poor shepherd, or a fisherman, and ignorant of all that
15

170 PROPOSITION X.
learning, and of all those questions and notions ; yet speak
ing from the Spirit, his ministry will have more influence
towards the cQuverting of a sinner unto God, than all of
them who are learned after the flesh.
And if in any age, since the apostles' days, God hath
purposed to show his power by weak instruments, for the
battering down of carnal wisdom, and restoring again the
ancient simplicity of truth, this is it. For in our day, God
hath raised up witnesses for himself, as he did fishermen
of old; many, yea, most of whom, are laboring and me
chanic men, who, altogether without that learning, have,
by the power and Spirit of God, struck at the very root
and ground of Babylon ; and in the strength and might
of this power, have gathered thousands, by reaching their
consciences, into the same power and life, who, as to the
outward part, have been far more knowing than they, yet
not able to resist the virtue that proceeded from them. Of
which I myself am a true witness ; and can declare from
certain experience, because my heart hath been often greatly
broken and tendered by that virtuous life that proceeded
from the powerful ministry of those illiterate men ; so that
by their very countenance, as weU as Avords, I have felt
the evil in me often chained down, and the good reached to
and raised. What shaU 1 then say to you, who are lovers
of learning, and admirers of knowledge ? Was not I also
a lover and admirer of it, who also sought after it, accord
ing to my age and capacity? But it pleased God, in. his
unutterable love, early to withstand my vain endeavors,
while I was yet but eighteen years of age ; and made me

OF THE MINISTRY. 171
seriously to consider, that without holiness and regener
ation, no man can see God ; and that the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from iniquity , a
good understanding ; and how much knowledge puffeth up,
and leadeth away from that inward quietness, stillness, and
humility of mind, where the Lord appears, and his heavenly
wisdom is revealed. If ye consider these things, then will
ye say with me, that all this learning, wisdom, and knowl
edge, gathered in this fallen nature, is but as dross, in com
parison of the cross of Christ ; especially being destitute
of that power, life, and virtue, which I perceived these
despised (because illiterate) witnesses of God to be filled
with : and therefore seeing, that in and among them, I,
with many others, have found the heavenly food that gives
contentment, let my soul seek after this learning, and wait
for it for ever.
Having thus spoken of the call and qualifications of a
gospel-minister, that which comes next to be considered, is.
What his proper work is, how, and by what rule, he is to
be ordered ? We walk still upon the same foundation, and
lean always upon the immediate assistance and influence
of that Holy Spirit, which God hath given his children, to
teach them all things, and lead them in all things : which
Spirit, being the Spirit of order, and not of confusion, leads
us, and as many as follow it, into such a comely and decent
order as beeometh the church of God. In a true church
of Christ, gathered together by God, not only into the be
lief of the principles of truth, but also into the power, life,
and Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God is the orderer, ruler,

172 PROPOSITION X.
and governor ; as in each particular, so in the general.
And when they assemble together to wait upon God, and
to worship and adore him ; then such as the Spirit set?
apart for the ministry, by its divine power and influence
opening their mouths, and giving them to exhort, reprove,
and instruct with virtue and power ; these are thus ordained
of God and admitted into the ministry, and their brethren
cannot but hear them, receive them, and also honor them,
for their work's sake. And so this is not monopolized by
a certain kind of men, as the clergy (who are to that pur
pose educated and brought up), and the rest to be despised
as laics ; but it is left to the free gift of God to choose any
whom he seeth meet thereunto, whether rich or poor, ser
vant or master, young or old, yea, male or female.
But IE IT BE objected here. That I seem hereby to make
no distinction at all betwixt ministers and others ; which
is contrary to the apostle's saying, 1 Cor. xii. 29, " Are all
apostles ? Are all prophets ? Are all teachers ? " Also
that the apostle not only distinguisheth the ministers of
the church in general from the rest of the members, but
also from themselves ; as naming them distinctly and sepa
rately, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.
I answer ; It is apparent, that this diversity of names is
not to distinguish separate offices, but to denote the different
and various operations of the Spirit ; a manner of speech
frequent with the apostle Paul, wherein he sometimes ex
patiates to the iUustrating of the glory and praise of God's
grace : as in particular, Rom. xii. 6 : Having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given us, whether

OP THE MINISTRY. 173
prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; or he
that teacheth, on teaching ;' or he that exhorteth, on exhor
tation." Now none will say from all this, that these are
distinct offices, or do not or may not coincide in one person,
as may all those other things mentioned by him in the sub
sequent verses, viz., Of loving, being kindly affectioned,
fervency of spirit, hospitality, diligence, blessing, rejoicing,
etc., which he yet numbers forth as different gifts of the
Spirit, and according to this objection might be placed as
distinct and separate offices.
In these very places mentioned it is clear that it is no
real distinction of separate offices ; because all acknowledge,
that pastors and teachers are one and the same, ahd coin
cide in the same office and person ; and therefore may be
said so of the rest. For prophecy as it signifies the fore
telling cf things to come, is indeed a distinct gift, but no
distinct office ; and it both may be and hath been given of
God to some, that not only have been pastors and teachers,
but also to some of the laics. Prophecy in the other sense,
to wit, as it signifies a speaking from the Spirit of truth, is
not peculiar only to pastors and teachers, who ought so to
prophesy ; but even a common privilege to the saints. That
prophesying, in this sense, may be common to all saints,
appears by verse 39, of the same chapter, where the apostle
speaking to all in general, saith, "Wherefore, brethren,
covet to prophesy;" and verse 1, he exhorts them saying,
"Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy."
As to evangelists the same may be said for whoever
15*

174 PROPOSITION X.
preacheth the gospel is really an evangelist, and so couse-
quently every true minister of the gospel is one ; else what
proper office can they assign to it, unless they should affirm
that none were evangelists but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, who wrote the account of Christ's life and sufferings ?
and then it were neither a particular office, seeing John and
Matthew were apostles, Mark and Luke pastors and teach
ers, so that there they coincided in one. And indeed it is
absurd to think, that upon that particular account the apos
tle used the word evangelists. Calvin acknowledgeth, that
.such as preach the gospel in purity, after some time of apos
tasy, may be truly called evangelist, and therefore saith,
that there were apostles in his time ; and hense the Protes
tants at their first coming forth, termed themselves evan-
gelici, or evangelics.
Lastly, an apostle, if we look to the etymology of the
word, signifies one that is sent ; and in respect every true
minister is sent of God, in so far he is an apostle ; though
the twelve, because of their being specially sent of Christ.
were therefore calleu apostles by way of excellency. And
yet that there was no limitation to such a number appears,
because after that number was filled up, the apostle Paul
was afterwards so called; therefore we judge that these are
no distinct separate offices, but only names used upon occa
sion to express the more eminent arising and shining forth
of God's grace. As if any minister of Christ should now
proselyte and turn a whole nation to the Christian faith,
though he had no distinct office, yet 1 doubt not but both
Papists and Protestants would judge it tolerable to call

OP THE MINISTRY. 17G
such an one an apostle, or an evangelist ; for on this ac
count the Jesuits call some of their sect apostles of India
and of Japan ; and Calvin testifies that there were apostles
and evangelists in his time, in respect to the reformation ;
upon which account also we have known John Knox often
called the apostle of Scotland. So that we conclude that
ministers, pastors, or teachers do comprehend all, and that
the office is but one, and therefore in that respect we judge
there ought to be no precedency among them.
If I SEEM to make no distinction betwixt the minister
and people, I answer. If it be understood of a liberty to
speak or prophesy by the Spirit, I say all may do that,
when moved thereunto, as above is shown; but we do be
lieve and affirm that some are more particularly called to
the work of the ministry, and therefore are fitted of the
Lord for that purpose ; whose work is more constantly and
particularly to instruct, exhort, admonish, oversee, and
watch over their brethren ; and that as there is something
more incumbent upon them in that respect than upon every
common believer, so also, as in that relation, there is due
to them from the flock such obedience and subjection as is
mentioned in these testimonies of the scripture, Heb. xiii.
17 ; 1 Thess. v. 12, 13 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; 1 Pet. v. 5. Also
besides these who are thus particularly called to the minis
try and constant labor in the word and doctrine, there are
also the elders, who though they be not moved to a frequent
testimony by way of declaration in words, yet as such are
grown up in the experience of the blessed work of truth in
their hearts, they watch over and privately admonish the

176 PROPOSITION X.
young, take care for the widows, the poor, and fatherless.
and look that nothing be wanting, but that peace, love,
unity, concord, and soundness be preserved in the church
of Christ; and this answers to the deacons mentioned
Acts vi.
That which we oppose, is the distinction of laity and
clergy, which in the scripture is not to be found, whereby
none are admitted unto the work of the ministry but such
as are educated at schools on purpose. And so he that is
a scholar thus bred up must not have any honest trade
whereby to get him a livelihood, if he once intend for
the ministry, but he must see to get him a place, and then
he hath his set hire for a livelihood to him. He must also
be distinguished from the rest by the color of his clothes ;
for he must only wear black, and must be a master of arts.
As THIS MANNER of separating men for the ministry is
nothing like the church in the apostles' days, so great evils
have and do follow upon it. For first. Parents seeing both
the honor and profit that attends the clergy, do allot their
children sometimes from their infancy to it, and so breed
them up on purpose. And others, come to age, upon the
same account betake them to the same trade, and having
these natural and acquired parts that are judged the neces
sary quahfications of a minister, are thereby admitted, and
so are bred up in idleness and pleasure, thinking it a dis
grace for them to work with their hands ; and so just study
a little out of their books, to make a discourse once or twice
a week during the running of an hour-glass, whereas the
gift, grace, and Spirit of God, to eaU and qnaUfy for the

OF THE MINISTRY'. 177
ministry, is neglected and overlooked. And many covetous,
corrupt, earthly, carnal men, having a mere show and form,
but strangers to, and utterly ignorant of, the inward work
of grace upon their hearts, are brought in and intrude them
selves, and so through them death, barrenness, and dark
ness, and by consequence, superstition, error, and idolatry
have entered and leavened the church. And they that will
narrowly observe, shall find that it was thus the apostasy
came to take place.
From this distinction of laity and clergy this abuse also
follows, that good, honest, mechanic men, and others who
have not learned the art and trade of preaching, and so are
not licentiated according to these rules they prescribe unto
themselves ; such, I say, being possessed with a false
opinion that it is not lawful for them to meddle with the
ministry, nor that they are any ways fit for it, because of
the defect of that literature, do thereby neglect the gift in
themselves, and quench many times the pure breathings of
the Spirit of God in their hearts ; which, if given way to,
might prove much more for the edification of the church
than many of the conned sermons of the learned. And all
this is done by men pretending to be Christians, who glory
that the first preachers and propagators of their religion
were such kind of plain mechanic men, and illiterate. And
even Protestants do no less than Papists exclude such kind
of men from being ministers among them, and thus limit
the Spirit and gift of God ; though their own histories de
clare how that kind of illiterate men did, without learning,
M

178 PROPOSITION X.
by the Spirit of God, greatly contribute in divers places to
the Reformation.
The last thing to be considered is, concerning the main
tenance of a gospel minister ; but before I proceed, I judge
it fit to speak something in short concerning the preaching
of women. Seeing male and female are one in Christ Jesus,
and that he gives his Spirit no less to one than to the other,
when God moveth by bis Spirit in a woman, we judge it
no ways unlawful for her to preach in the assemblies of
God's people. Neither think we that of Paul, 1 Cor. xiv.
34, to reprove the inconsiderate and talkative women among
the Corinthians, who troubled the church of Christ with
their unprofitable questions, or that, 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12, that
" women ought to learn in silence, not usurping authority
over the man," any ways repugnant to this doctrine; be
cause it is clear that women have prophesied and preached
in the church, else had that saying of Joel been ill applied
by Peter, Acts ii. 17. " Yonr sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and on my handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." And
seeing Paul himself, in the same epistle to the Corinthians,
giveth rules how women should behave themselves in their
public preaching and praying, it would be a manifest con
tradiction, if that other place were taken in a larger sense.
And the same Paul speaks of a woman that labored with
him in the work of the gospel : and it is written that Philip
had four daughters that prophesied. And lastly. It hath
been observed, that God hath effectually in this day con
verted many souls by the ministry of women ; and by them

OP THE MINISTRY. 179
also frequently comforted the souls of his children ; which
manifest experience puts the thing beyond all controversy.
Concerning the maintenance of ministers, we freely ac
knowledge, as the proposition holds forth, that there is an
obligation upon such to whom God sends, or among whom
he raiseth up a minister, that, if need be, they minister to
his necessities, and that it is lawful for him to receive what
is necessary and convenient. But Christ when he sent
forth his apostles, said, '' Freely ye have received, freely
give," Matt. x. 8, and yet they had liberty to receive meat
and drink from such as offered them, to supply their need.
Which shows that they were not to seek or require any
thing by force, or make a bargain beforehand, as the preach
ers as well among Papists as Protestants do in these days,
who will not preach to any until they be first sure of so
much a year ; but on the contrary, these were to do their
duty, and freely to communicate as the Lord should order
them, what they had received, without seeking or expect
ing a reward.
The scripture testimonies that urge this are in the same
nature as those that press charity and liberality towards
the poor, and command hospitality, etc., but these are not
nor can be stinted to a certain quantity, because they are
deeds merely voluntary, where the obedience to the com
mand lieth in the good will of the giver, and not in the
matter of the thing given, as Christ showeth in the ex
ample of the widow-'s mite. So that though there be an
obligation upon Christians to minister of outward things to
tiieir ministers, yet there can be no definition of the quan-

180 PROPOSITION X.
tity but by the giver's own consent, and a little from one
may more truly fulfil the obligation than a great deal from
¦ another. But it is usually objected. That Christians are become so
hard-hearted, and generally so little heed spiritual things,
that if ministers had not a settled maintenance secured them,
they and their families might starve for want of bread.
This objection might have some weight as to a carnal
ministry, made up of natural men, who have no life,
power, nor virtue with them, and so may insinuate some
need of such a maintenance for such a ministry ; but it
saith nothing as to such as are called and sent of God, who
sends no man a wayfaring upon his own charges ; and so
go forth in the authority and power of God, to turn people
from darkness to light ; for such can trust to him that
sendeth them, and do believe that he will provide for them,
knowing that he requireth nothing of any but what he
giveth power to perform ; and so when they return, if he
inquire, can say they wanted nothing. And such also
when they stay in a place, being immediately furnished by
God, and not needing to borrow what they preach from
books, and take up their time that way, fall a working at
their lawful employments and labor with their hands, as
Paul did when he gathered the church at Corinth. And
indeed if this objection had any weight, the apostles and
primitive pastors should never have gone forth to convert
the nations, for fear of want. Doth not the doctrine of
Christ teach us to venture all, and part with all, to serve
God? Can they then be accounted ministers of Christ

OF THE MINISTRY. 181
who are afraid to preach him lest they get not money for
it, or will not do it until they be sure of their payment ?
What serves the ministry for but to perfect the saints, and
so to convert them from that hard-heartedness ?
But by keeping up of this kind of maintenance for the
ministry and clergymen, so called, there is a first bait laid
for covetousness, w-hich is idolatry, and of all things most
hurtful ; so that for covetousness' sake, many, being led by
the desire of filthy lucre, do apply themselves to be minis
ters, that they may get a livelihood by it. The scandal
that by these means is raised among Christians is manifest.
For though they pretend, at their accepting of and entering
into their church, that they have nothing befpre them but
the glory of God and the salvation of souls ; yet if a richer
benefice offer itself, they presently find it more for God's
glory to remove from the first, and go thither. And thus
they make no difficulty often to change, while notwithstand
ing they accuse us that we allow ministers to go from place
to place, and not to be tied to one place ; but we allow this
not for the gaining of money, but as moved of God. For
if a minister be called to minister in a particular place, he
ought not to leave it, except God call him from it, and then
he ought to obey : for we make the will of God inwardly
revealed, and not the love of money and more gain, the
ground of removing.
The sum then of what is said is. That the ministry that
we have pleaded for, and which also the Lord hath raised
up among ns is, in all its parts, like the true ministry of
the apostles and primitive church.
16

182 PROPOSITION X.
The ministers we plead for, are such as are immediately
called and sent forth by Christ and his Spirit ; are actuated
and led by God's Spirit, and by the power and operation
of his grace in their hearts, are in some measure converted
and regenerate, and so are good, holy, and gracious men ;
such as labor in the work of the ministry, not from their
own mere natural strength and ability, but as they are
moved, assisted, and influenced by the Spirit of God, and
minister according to the gift received ; such as, being holy
and humble, contend not for precedency and priority, but
rather strive to prefer one another, and serve one another
in love, neither desire to be distinguished from the rest, nor
yet to be called of men master ; such as having freely re
ceived, freely give ; who seek no man's goods, but seek
them, and the salvation of their souls ; whose hands sup
ply their own necessities, working honestly for bread to
themselves and their families : and if at any time they be
called of God, so as the work of the Lord hinder them
from the use of their trades, take what is freely given them
by such to whom they have communicated spirituals ; and
having food and raiment, are therewith content. Such
were the holy prophets and apostles.

PROPOSITION XI.
concerning WORSHIP.
ALL true and acceptable worship to God is offered iu the
inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own
Spirit, which is neither limited to places, times, nor per
sons. For though we are to worship him always, and
continually to fear before him ; yet as to the outward
signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we
ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we
will ; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the
stirring and secret inspiration of the Spirit of God in our
hearts ; which God heareth and accepteth of, and is never
wanting to move us thereunto, when need is ; of which he
himself is the alone proper judge. All other worship then,
both praises, prayers, or preachings, w-hich man sets about
in his own will, and at his own appointment, which he can
both begin and end at his pleasure, do or leave undone as
himself seeth meet, whether they be a prescribed form, as
a Uturgy, etc., or prayers conceived extempore by the natu
ral strength and faculty of the mind, they are all but super
stition, will-worship, and abominable idolatry in the sight
of God, which are now to be denied and rejected, and sepa
rated from, in this day of his spiritual arising: however it
IK.'^

184 PROPOSITION XI.
might have pleased him (who winked at the times of igno
rance Avith a respect to the simplicity and integrity of some,
and of his own innocent seed, which lay as it were buried
in the hearts of men under that mass of superstition) to
blow upon the dead and dry bones, and to raise some
breathings of his own, and answer them ; and that until
the day should more clearly dawn and break forth.

Let it be considered, that what is here affirmed, is spoken
of the worship of God in these gospel-times, and not of the
worship that was under or before the law ; for the particu
lar commands of God to men then, are not sufficient to
authorize us now to do the same things; else we might be
supposed at present acceptably to offer sacrifice as they did,
which all acknowledge to be ceased. So that what might
have been both commendable and acceptable under the law,
may justly now be charged with superstition.
Albeit 1 say, that this worship is neither limited to times,
places, nor persons ; yet I would not be understood, as if
I intended the putting away of all set times and places to
worship : God forbid I should think of such an opinion.
Nay, we are none of those that forsake the assembling of
¦ourselves together ; but have certain times and places, in
which we carefully meet together, nor can w'c be driven
therefrom by the threats and persecutions of men, to wait
upon God, and w^or.ship him. To meet together we think
necessary for the people of God ; because, so long as we
are clothed with this outward tabernacle, there is a necessitv

OP WORSHIP. 185
to the entertaining of a joint and visible fellowship, and
bearing of an outward testimony for God, and seeing of
the faces of one another, that we concur with our persons
as well as spirits.
But the limitation we condemn, is, that whereas the Spirit
of God should be the immediate mover and influencer of
man in the particular acts of worship, when the saints are
met together, this Spirit is limited in its operations by
setting up a particular man or men to preach and pray in
man's will ; and all the rest are excluded from so much as
believing that they are to wait for God's Spirit to move
them in such things ; and so they neglecting that in them
selves which should quicken them, and not waiting to feel
the pure breathings of God's Spirit, so as to obey them,
are led merely to depend upon the preacher, and hear what
he will say. These preachers thus set apart come not thither
to meet with the Lord, and to wait for the inward motions
and operations of his Spirit ; and so to pray as they feel
the Spirit to breathe through them, and in them ; and to
preach, as they flnd themselves moved by God's Spirit, and
as he gives utterance, so as to speak a word in season to
refresh weary souls, and as the present condition and state
of the people's hearts require ; suffering God by his Spirit
both to prepare people's hearts, and also give the preacher
to speak what may be fit and seasonable for them ; but he
[viz., the preacher] without waiting or feeling the inward
influence of the Spirit of God, declaims what he has pre
pared, whether it be fit or seasonable for the people's con-
16*

186 PROPOSITION XI.
dition, or not ; and when he has ended his sermon, he saith
his prayer also in his own will.
We are not against set times for worship : only these
times being appointed for outward conveniency, we may
not therefore think with the Papists, that these days are
holy, and lead people into a superstitious observation of
them ; being persuaded that all days are alike holy in the
sight of God. We, not seeing any ground in scripture for
it, cannot be so superstitious as to believe that either the
Jewish sabbath now continues, or that the first day of the
week is the anti-type thereof, or the true Christian sabbath ;
which we believe to have a more spiritual sense : and there
fore we know no moral obligation by the fourth command,
or elsewhere, to keep the first day of the week more than
any other, or any holiness inherent in it. But forasmuch
as it is necessary that there be some time set apart for the
saints to liieet together to wait upon, God ; and that it is
fit at some times they be freed from their other outward
affairs ; and that reason and equity doth allow that servants
and beasts have some time allowed them to be eased from
their continual labor ; and that it appears that the apostles
and primitive Christians did use the first day of the week
for these purposes ; we find ourselves sufficiently moved for
these causes to do so also, without superstitiously straining
the scriptures for another reason. And though we there
fore meet, and abstain from working upon this day, yet
doth not that hinder us from having meetings also for wor
ship at other times.
Though according to the knowledge of God, revealed

OP WORSHIP. 187
onto us by the Spirit, through that more full dispensation
of light which we believe the Lord hath brought about in
this day, we judge it our duty to hold forth that pure and
spiritual worship which is acceptable to God, and answer
able to the testimony of Christ and his apostles, and like
wise to testify against and deny not only manifest super
stition and idolatry, but also all formal will worship, which
stands not iu the power of God ; yet, I say, we do not deny
the whole worship of all those that have borne the name of
Christians even in the apostasy, as if God had never heard
their prayers, nor accepted any of them : God forbid we
should be so void of charity I The Popish mass and vespers
I do believe to be, as to the matter of them, abominable
idolatry and superstition, and so also beUeve the Protes
tants ; yet wiU neither I nor they affirm, that in the dark
ness of Popery no upright-hearted men, though zealous in
these abominations, have been heard of God, or accepted
of him. Who can deny but that both Bernard and Bona-
venture, Taulerus, Thomas a Kempis, and divers others
have both known and tasted of the love of God, and felt
the power aud virtue of God's Spirit working with them
for their salvation ? And yet ought we not to forsake and
deny those superstitions which they were found in ? So
likewise, though we should confess that through the mercy
and wonderful condescension of God, there have been up
right in heart both among Papists and Protestants, yet can
we not therefore approve of their way in the general, or
not go on to the upholding of that spiritual worship, which
the Lord is calling all to, and so to the testifying against
whatsoever stands in the way of it.

188 PROPOSITION XI.
As to the public worship, we judge it the duty of all to
be diligent in the assembling of themselves together, and,
when assembled, the great work of one and all ought to be
to wait upon God ; and returning out of their own thoughts
and imaginations, to feel the Lord's presence, and know a
gathering into his name indeed, where he is in the midst,
according to his promise. And as every one is thus gath
ered, and so met together inwardly in their spirits, as well
as outwardly in their persons, there the secret power and
virtue of life is known to refresh the soul, and the pure
motions and -breathings of God's Spirit are felt to arise ;
from which, as words of declaration, prayers or praises
arise, the acceptabla worship is known, which edifies the
church, and is well-pleasing to God. And no man here
limits the Spirit of God, nor bringeth forth his own conned
and gathered matter ; but every one puts that forth which
the Lord puts into their hearts : and it is uttered forth not
in man'swill and wisdom ; but in the evidence and demon
stration of the Spirit, and of power. Yea, though there
be not a word spoken, yet is the true spiritual worship per
formed, and the body of Christ edified ; yea, it may, and
hath often fallen out among us, that divers meetings have
passed without one word ; and yetour souls have been greatly
edified and refreshed, and our hearts wonderfuUy overcome
with the secret sense of God's power and Spirit, which
without words hath been ministered from one vessel to
another. This is indeed strange and incredible to the mere
natural and carnally-minded man, who will be apt to judge
all time lost where there is not something spoken that is
obvious to the outward senses.

OP WORSHIP. 189
A s THERE CAN BE nothing more opposite to the natural
will and wisdom of man than this silent waiting upon
God, so neither can it be obtained, nor rightly compre
hended by man, but as he layeth down his own wisdom
and will, so. as to be content to be thoroughly subject to
God. And therefore it was not preached, nor can be so
practised, but by such as find no outward ceremony, no
observations, no words, yea, not the best and purest words,
even the words of scripture, able to satisfy their weary
and afflicted souls : because where all these may be, the life,
power, and virtue, which make such things .effectual, may
be wanting. Such, I say, were necessitated to cease from
all externals, and to be silent before the Lord ; and being
directed to that inward principle of life and light in them
selves, as the most excellent teacher, which " can
, 1 - , . .1 tsa. xxx. 20.
never be removed into a corner,'' came thereby
to be taught to wait upon God in the measure of life and
grace received from him, and to cease from their own for
ward words and actings, in the natural willing and com
prehension, and feel after this inward seed of life ; that, as
it moveth they may move with it, and be actuated by its
power, and influenced, whether to pray, preach, or sing.
And so from this principle of man's being silent, and not
acting in the things of God of himself, until thus actuated
by God's light and grace in the heart, did naturally spring
that manner of sitting silent together, and waiting together
upon the Lord. For many thus principled, meeting to
gether in the pure fear of the Lord, did not apply them
selves presently to speak, pray, or sing, etc., being afraid

190 PROPOSITION XI.
to be found acting forwardly in their own wills ; but each
made it their work to retire inwardly to the measure of
grace in themselves, not being only silent as to words, but
even abstaining from all their own thoughts, imaginations,
and desires ; so watching in a holy dependence upon the
Lord, and meeting together not only outwardly in one
place, but thus inwardly in one Spirit, and in one name of
Jesus, which is his power and virtue, they come thereby
to enjoy and feel the arisings of this life, which, as it pre
vails in each one, becomes as a fiood of refreshment, and
overspreads the whole meeting : for man, and man's part
and wisdom, being denied and chained down in every in
dividual, and God exalted, and his grace in dominion in
the heart, thus his name comes to be one in all, and his
glory breaks forth and covers all ; and there is such a holy
awe and reverence upon every soul, that if the natural
part should arise in any, or the wise part, or what is not
one with the life, it would presently be chained down, and
judged out. And when any are, through the breaking
forth of this power, constrained to utter a sentence of ex
hortation or praise, or to breathe to the Lord in prayer,
Prov. xxvii. t^^^u all are sensible of it ; for the same life in
"• them answers to it, " as in water face answer
eth to face."
This is that divine and spiritual worship which the world
neither knoweth nor understandeth, which the vulture's
eye seeth not into. Yet many and great are the advan
tages, which my soul, with many others, hath tasted of
hereby, and which would be found of aU such as would

OF WORSHIP. 191
seriously apply themselves hereunto : for, when people are
gathered thus together, not merely to hear men, j^^ x 20 &
nor depend upon them, but all are inwardly xxvi. 3.
taught to stay their minds upon the Lord, and wait for hia
appearance in their hearts ; thereby the forward working
of the spirit of man is stayed and hindered from mixing
itself with the worship of God ; and the form of this wor
ship is so naked and void of all outward and worldly splen
dor, that all occasion for man's wisdom to be exercised in
that superstition and idolatry hath no lodging here ; and
so there being also an inward quietness and retiredness of
mind, the witness of God ariseth in the heart, and the
light of Christ shineth, whereby the soul cometh to see its
own condition. And there being many joined together in
this same work, there is an inward travail and wrestUng ;
and also, as the measure of grace is abode in, an overcom
ing of the power and spirit of darkness ; and thus we are
often greatly strengthened and renewed in the spirits of
our minds without a word, and we enjoy and possess the
holy fellowship and communion of the body and Eph. iv. 23.
blood of Christ, by which our inward man is nourished and
fed ; which makes us not to dote upon outward water, and
bread and wine, in our spiritual things.
Now as many thus gathered together grow up in the
strength, power, and virtue of truth, and as truth comes
thus to have victory and dominion in their souls, then they
receive an utterance, and speak steadily to the edification
of their brethren, and the pure life hath a free passage
through them, and what is thus spoken edifieth the body

192 PROPOSITION XI,
indeed. Such is the evident certainty of that divine
strength that is communicated by thus meeting together
and waiting in silence upon God, that sometimes when one
hath come in that hath been unwatchful and wandering in
his mind, or suddenly out of the hurry of outward busi
ness, and so not inwardly gathered with the rest, so soon
as he retires himself inwardly, this power being in a good
measure raised in the whole rneeting will suddenly lay hold
upon his spirit, and wonderfully help to raise up the good
in him and beget him into the sense of the same power, to
the melting and warming of his heart ; even as the warmth
would take hold upon a man that is cold coming in to a
stove, or as a flame will lay hold upon some little combus
tible matter being near unto it.
Yea, if it fall out that several met together be straying
in their minds though outwardly silent, and so wandering
from the measure of grace in themselves, which through
the working of the enemy and negligence of some, may
fall out ; if either one come in, or may be in, who is watch
ful, and in whom the life is raised in a great measure, as
that one keeps his place he will feel a secret travail for the
rest in a sympathy with the seed which is oppressed in the
other, and kept from arising by their thoughts and wander
ings ; and as such a faithful one waits in the light, and
keeps in this divine work, God oftentimes answers the
secret travail and breathings of his own seed through such
a one, so that the rest will find themselves secretly smitten
without words, and that one will through the secret travail
of his soul bring forth the Ufe in them, just as a little water

OF WORSHIP. 193
thrown into a pump brings up the rest, whereby life will
come to be raised in all, and the vain imaginations brought
down ; and such a one is felt by the rest to minister life
unto them without words.
Yea, sometimes, when there is not a word in the meet
ing, but all are silently waiting, if one come in that is rude
and wicked, and in whom the power of darkness prevaileth
much, perhaps with an intention to mock or do mischief, if
the whole meeting be gathered into the life, and it b'e raised
in a good measure, it will strike terror into such a one, and
he will feel himself unable to resist ; but by the secret
strength and virtue thereof, the power of darkness in him
will be chained down : and if the day of his visitation be
not expired, it will reach to the measure of grace in him,
and raise it up to the redeeming of his soul And this we
often bear witness of, so that we have had frequent occasion
in this respect, since God hath gathered us to be a people,
to renew this old saying of many, " Is Saul also among the
prophets ? " For not a few have come to be con- i Sam. x. 12.
vinced of the truth after this manner, of which 1 myself,
in part, am a true witness, who not by strength of argu
ments, or by a particular disquisition of each doctrine,
and convincement of my understanding thereby, came to
receive and bear witness of the truth, but by being secretly
reached by this life ; for when I came into the silent assem
blies of God's people, I felt a secret power among them,
which touched my heart, and as I gave way unto it, I found
the evil weakening in me, and the good raised up, and so I
became thus knit and united unto them, hungering more
17 N

194 PROPOSITION Xl.
and more after the increase of this power and life, whereby
I might feel myself perfectly redeemed.
And indeed this is the surest way to become a Christian,
to whom afterwards the knowledge and understanding of
principles will not be wanting, but will grow up so much
as is needful, as the natural fruit of this good root ; and
such a knowledge will not be barren or unfruitful. After
this manner we desire therefore all that come among us to
be proselyted, knowing that though thousands should be
convinced in their understandings of all the truths we main
tain, yet if they were not sensible of this inward life, and
their souls not changed from unrighteousness to righteous-
1 Cor. vi. 17. ness, they could add nothing to us. For this is
that cement whereby we are joined " as to the Lord," so
to one another, and without this none can worship with us.
Yea, if such should come among us, and from that under
standing and convincement they have of the truth, speak
ever so true things, and utter them forth with ever so much
excellency of speech, if this life were wanting, it would not
edify us at all, but be as " sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal" As THIS WORSHIP is Steadfastly preached and kept to, it
becomes easy, though it be very hard at first to the natural
man, whose roving imaginations and running worldly de
sires are not so easily brought to silence. And therefore the
Lord oftentimes, when any turn towards him, and have true
desires thus to wait upon him, and find great difficulty
through the unstayedness of their minds, doth in condescen
sion and compassion cause his power to break forth in a

OF WORSHIP. 195
more strong and powerful manner. And when the mind
sinks down, and waits for the appearance of life, and
the power of darkness in the soul wrestles and works
against it, then the good seed, as it ariseth, will be found
to work as physic in the soul, especially if such a weak one
be in the assembly of divers others in whom the life is
arisen in greater dominion, and through the contrary work
ings of the power of darkness there will be found an inward
striving in the soul. And from this inward travail, while
the darkness seeks to obscure the light, and the light breaks
through the darkness, which it always will do if the soul
gives not its strength to the darkness, there will be such a
painful travail found in the soul, that it will even work
upon the outward man, so that oftentimes, through the
working thereof, the body will be greatly shaken, and
groans, and sighs, and tears, will lay hold upon it ; yea,
and this not only as to one ; but when the enemy hath pre
vailed in any measure in a whole meeting by drawing out
the minds of such as are met from the life in them, as they
come to be sensible of this power of his that works against
them and to wrestle with it by the armor of light,
sometimes the power of God will break forth into a whole
meeting, and there will be such an inward travail while
each is seeking to overcome the evil in themselves, that
by the strong contrary workings of these opposite powers,
like the going of two contrary tides, every individual will
be strongly exercised as in a day of battle, and thereby
trembling and a motion of body will be upon most, if not
upon all ; which, as the power of truth prevails, will from

196 PROPOSITION XI.
pangs and groans end with a sweet sound of thanksgiving
and praise. And from this the name of Quakers, i. e..
Tremblers, was first reproachfully cast upon us ; which,
though it be none of our choosing, yet in this respect we
are not ashamed of it, but have rather reason to rejoice
therefore, even that we are sensible of this power that hath
oftentimes laid hold of our adversaries, and made them
yield unto us, and join with us, and confess to the truth,
before they had any distinct knowledge of our doctrines, so
that sometimes many at one meeting have been thus con
vinced : and this power would sometimes also reach to and
wonderfully work even in little children, to the admiration
and astonishment of many.
Many are the blessed experiences which 1 could relate
of this silence and manner of worship ; yet I do not so much
commend and speak of silence as if we had bound ourselves
by any law to exclude praying or preaching, or tied our
selves thereunto ; not at all : for as our worship consisteth
not in words, so neither in silence, as silence ; but in a holy
dependence of the mind upon God : from which dependence
silence necessarUy follows in the first place, until words can
be brought forth, which are from God's Spirit. And God
is not wanting to move in his children to bring forth words
of exhortation or prayer, when it is needful ; so that of the
many gatherings and meetings of such as are convinced of
the truth, there is scarce any in whom God raiseth not up
some or other to minister to his brethren ; and there are
few meetings that are altogether silent.
Yet we judge it needful there be in the first place some

OF WORSHIP. 197
time of silence, during which every one may be gathered
inward to the word and gift of grace ; and we doubt not,
but assuredly know that the meeting may be good and re
freshful, though from the sitting down to the rising up
thereof there hath not been a word outwardly spoken :
there being no absolute necessity laid upon any so to do,
all have chosen rather quietly and silently to possess and
enjoy the Lord in themselves, which is very sweet and
comfortable to the soul that hath thus learned to be gath
ered out of all its own thoughts and workings, to feel the
Lord to bring forth both the will and the deed ; which many
can declare by a blessed experience.
That to wait upon God, and to watch before him, is a
duty incumbent upon all, I suppose none will deny ; and
that this also is a part of worship will not be called in ques
tion, since there is scarce any other so frequently commanded
in the holy scriptures, as may appear from Psalm xxvii. 14,
and xxxvii. 7, 34 ; Prov. xx. 22 ; Isai. xxx. 18 ; Hosea xii.
6 ; Zeph. iii. 8 ; Matt. xxiv. 42, and xxv. 13, and xxvi. 41 ;
Mark xiii. 33, 35, 37 ; Luke xxi. 36 ; Acts i. 4, and xx. 31 ;
1 Cor. xvi. 13 ; Col. iv. 2 ; 1 Thess. v. 6 ; 2 Tim. iv. 5 ; 1
Pet. iv. 7. Also this duty is often recommended with very
great and precious promises, as Psalm xxv. 3, and xxxvii.
9, and Ixix. 6 ; Isai. xUi. 23 ; Lam. iii. 25, 26. They that
wait upon the Lord shaU renew their strength, etc., Isa. xl.
31. Now how is this waiting upon God, or watching be
fore him, but by this silence of which we have spoken ?
The time appointed of God being come wherein by Jesus
Christ he hath been pleased to restore the true spiritual
17*

198 proposition xi.
worship, and the outward form of worship which was ap
pointed by God to the Jews, and whereof the manner and
time of its performance was particularly determined by God
himself, being come to an end, we find that Jesus Christ,
the author of the Christian religion, prescribes no set form
of worship to his children under the more pure administra
tion of the new covenant, save that he only tells them, that
the worship now to be performed is spiritual, and in the
Spirit. Aud it is especially to be observed, that in the
whole New Testament there is no order nor command given
in this thing, but to follow the revelation of the Spirit, save
only that general one of meeting together ; a thing dearly
owned and diligently practised by us, as shall hereafter more
appear. True it is, mention is made of the duties of pray
ing, preaching, and singing; but what order or method
should be kept in so doing, or that presently they should
be set about so soon as the saints are gathered, there is not
one word to be found : yea, these duties, as shall afterwards
be made appear, are always annexed to the assistance, lead
ings, and motions of God's Spirit. Since then man in his
natural state is thus excluded from acting or moving in
things spiritual, how or what way shall he exercise this
first and previous duty of waiting upon God but by silence,
and by bringing that natural part to silence ? Which is no
other ways but by abstaining from his own thoughts and
imaginations, and from all the self-workings and motions
of his own mind, as well in things materially good as evil ;
that he being silent, God may speak in him, and the good
seed may arise. If the soul be still thinking and working

OF WORSHIP. 199
In her own will, and busily exercised in her own imagina
tions, though the matters as in themselves may be good
concerning God, yet thereby she incapacitates herself from
discerning the still, small voice of the Spirit, and so hurts
herself greatlj-, in that she neglects her chief business of
waiting upon the Lord.
And since it is the chief work of a Christian to know
the natural will in its own proper motions crucified, that
God may both move in the act and in the will, the Lord
chiefly regards this profound subjection and ,self-deniaL
For some men please themselves as much, and gratify their
own sensual wills and humors in high and curious specu
lations of religion, affecting a name and reputation that
way, or because those things by custom or otherways are
become pleasant and habitual to them, though not a whit
more regenerated or inwardly sanctified in their spirits, as
others gratify their lusts in acts of sensuality, and there
fore both are alike hurtful to men, and sinful in the sight
of God, it being nothing but the mere fruit and effect of
man's natural and unrenewed will and spirit. Yea, should
one, as many no doubt do, from a sense of sin and fear of
punishment, seek to terrify themselves from sin by multi
plying thoughts of death, hell, and judgment, and by pre
senting to their imaginations the happiness and joys of
heaven, and also by multiplying prayers and other religious
performances ; as these things could never deliver him from
one iniquity, without the secret and inward power of God's
Spirit and grace, so would they signify no more than the
fiiT-leaves wherewith Adam thought to cover his naked-

200 PROPOSITION XI.
This great duty then of waiting upon God, must needs
be exercised in man's denying self, both inwardly and out
wardly, in a still and mere dependence upon God, in ab
stracting from all the workings, imaginations, and specu
lations of his own mind ; that, being emptied as it were of
himself, he may be fit to receive the Lord, who will have
no co-partner nor co-rival of his glory and power. And
so man's place is to wait in this ; and as hereby there are
any objects presented to his mind concerning God, or things
relating to religion, his soul may be exercised in them with
out hurt, and to the great profit both of himself and others ;
because those things have their rise not from his own will,
but from God's Spirit : and therefore as in the arisings and
movings of this, his mind is still to be exercised in think
ing and meditating, so also in the more obvious acts of
preaching and praying. And so it may hence appear we
are not against meditation, as some have sought falsely to
infer from our doctrine ; but we are against the thoughts
and imaginations of the natural man in his own will, from
which all errors and heresies concerning the Christian re
ligion in the whole world have proceeded. But if it please
God at any time, when one or more are waiting upon him,
not to present such objects as give them occasion to exer
cise their minds in thoughts and imaginations, but purely
to keep them in this holy dependence, and as they persist
therein, to cause his secret refreshment and the pure in
comes of his holy life to flow in upon them, then they have
good reason to be content, because by this, as we know by
good and blessed experience, the soul is more strengthened.

OF WORSHIP. 201
renewed, and confirmed in the love of God, and armed
against the power of sin, than any way else ; this being a
foretaste of that real and sensible enjoyment of God, which
the saints in heaven daily possess, which God frequently
affords to his childfen here for their comfort and encourage
ment, especially when they are assembled together to wait
upon him.
The excellency of this silent waiting upon God doth
appear, in that it is impossible for the enemy, viz., the
devil, to counterfeit it, so as for any soul to be deceived or
deluded by him in the exercise thereof. He well knoweth
that so long as self bears rule, and the Spirit of God is not
the principal and chief actor, man is not put out of his
reach ; so therefore he can accompany the priest to the
altar, the preacher to the pulpit, the zealot to his prayers,
yea, the doctor and professor of divinity to his study, and
there he can cheerfully suffer him to labor and work among
his books, yea, and help him to find out and invent subtile
distinctions and quiddities, by which both his mind and
others through him, may be kept from heeding God's Light
in the conscience, and waiting upon him. There is not any
exercise whatsoever, wherein he cannot enter and have a
chief place, so as the soul many times cannot discern it,
except in this alone : for he can only work in and by the
natural man, and when the natural man is silent, there he
must also stand. And therefore when the soul comes
to this silence, then the devU is shut out ; for the pure
presence of God and shining of his Light he cannot abide.
When we retire out of aU, and are turned in, both by being

202 PROPOSITION XI.
diligent and watchful upon the one hand, and also silent
and retired out of all our thoughts upon the other, as we
abide in this sure place, we feel ourselves out of his reach.
The nature of this worship, which is performed by the
operation of the Spirit, the natural maH" being silent, doth
appear from these words of Christ, John iv. 23, 24 : " But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth : for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit, and
they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and
in Truth." He hath instituted an inward and spiritual
worship : so that God now tieth not his people to the
temple of Jerusalem, nor yet unto outward ceremonies
and observations ; but taketh the heart of every Christian
for a temple to dwell in ; and there immediately appeareth,
and giveth him directions how to serve him in any outward
acts. Since, as Christ argueth, God is a Spirit, he will now
be worshipped in the Spirit, where he reveals himself, and
dwelleth with the contrite in heart. Before God be wor
shipped in the inward temple of the heart, it must be purged
of its own filth, and all its own thoughts and imaginations,
that so it may be fit to receive the Spirit of God, and to be
actuated by it. And doth not this directly lead us to that
inward silence, of which we have spoken, and exactly
pointed out ? And further. This worship must be in truth:
intimating that this spiritual worship, thus acted, is only
and properly a true worship ; as being that which cannot
be counterfeited by the enemy, nor yet performed by the
hypocrite

OF WORSHIP. 203
, Some object, if your worship merely consist in inwardly
retiring to the Lord, and feeling of his Spirit arise in you,
and then to do outward acts as ye are led by it, what need
ye have public meetings at set times and places, since every
one may enjoy this at home ? Or should not every one
stay at home, until they be particularly moved to go to
such a place at such a time ; since to meet at set times and
places seems to be an outward observation and ceremony,
contrary to what ye at other times assert?
I answer, first; Our meeting at set times and places is
not a part of our worship, but a preparatory accommodation
of our outward man, in order to a public visible worship ;
since we set not about the visible acts of worship when we
meet together, until we be led thereunto by the Spirit of
God. Secondly, God hath seen meet, so long as his chil
dren are in this world, to make use of the outward senses,
not only as a riieans to convey spiritual life, as by speaking,
praying, praising, etc., which cannot be done to mutual
edification but when we hear and see one another ; but
also to entertain an outward, visible testimony for his
name in the world : he causeth the inward Ufe the more to
abound when his children assemble themselves diligently
together to wait upon him ; so that as many candles lighted,
and put in one place, do greatly augment the light, and
make it more to shine forth, so when many are gathered
together into the same life, there is more of the glory of
God, and his power appears, to the refreshment of each
individual; for that he partakes not only of the light and
life raised in himself, but in all the rest. And therefore

204 PROPOSITION XI.
Christ hath particularly promised a blessing to such aa
assemble together in his name, seeing he will be "in the
midst of them." And therefore the Lord hath shown that
he hath a particular respect to such as thus assemble them
selves together, because that thereby a public testimony
for him is upheld in the earth, and his name is thereby
glorified ; and therefore such as are right in their spirits,
are naturally drawn to keep the meetings of God's people,
and never w^ant a spiritual influence to lead them thereunto ;
and if any do it in a mere customary way, they will no
doubt suffer condemnation for it.
Some object. That this manner of worship in silence is
not to be found in all the scripture :
I answer ; We make not silence to be the sole matter of
our worship ; since, as I have said above, there are many
meetings, which are seldom altogether silent ; some or
other are still moved either to preach, pray, or praise : and
so in this our meetings cannot be but like the meetings of
the primitive churches recorded in scripture, since our op
posers confess that they did preach and pray by the Spirit.
Seeing the scripture commands to meet together, and when
met, the scripture prohibits prayers or preachings, but as
the Spirit moveth thereunto ; if people meet together, and
the Spirit move not to such acts, it will necessarily follow
that they must be silent.
Thus having shown the excellency of this worship, I
shall add something more particularly of preaching, pray
ing, and singing.
Preaching, as it is used both among Papists and Protes-

UF WORSHIP. 205
tants, is for one man to take some place or verse of scrip
ture, and thereon speak for an hour or two, what he hath
studied and premeditated in his closet, and gathered to
gether from his own inventions, or from the writings and
observations of others ; and then he brings it forth, and
repeats it before tho people : and how much the more fer
tile and strong a man's invention is, and the more indus
trious and laborious he is in collecting such observations,
and can utter them with the excellency of speech and hu
man eloquence, so much the more is he accounted an able
and excellent preacher.
To this we oppose, that when the saints are met to
gether, and every one gathered to the gift and grace of
God in themselves, he that ministereth, being actuated
thereunto by the arising of the grace in himself, ought to
speak forth what the Spirit of God furnisheth him w ith ;
not minding the eloquence and wisdom of words, but the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: and that either
in the interpreting some part of scripture, in case the
Spirit, which is the good remembrancer, lead him so to do,
or otherwise words of exhortation, advice, reproof, and in
struction, or the sense of some spiritual experiences : all
which will still be agreeable to the scripture, though per
haps not founded upon any particular chapter or verse, as
a text. Franciscus Lambertus, speaketh well, " Beware th'at thou
determine not precisely to speak what before thou hast medi
tated, whatsoever it be ; for though it be lawful to determine
the text which thou artto expound, yet not at aU the interpre
ts

206 PROPOSITION XI.
tation ; lest if thou so dost, thou take from the Holy Spirit
that which is his, to wit, to direct thy speech, that thou
mayest prophesy in the name of the Lord, void of all learn
ing, meditation, and experience, and as if thou hadst studied
nothing at all ; committing thy heart, thy tongue, and thy
self wholly unto his Spirit, and trusting nothing to thy
former studying or meditation ; but saying with thyself,
in great confidence of the divine promise, ' The Lord will
give a word with much power unto those that preach the
gospel.' But above all things be careful thou follow not
the manner of hypocrites, who have written almost word
for word what they are to say, and afterwards, when they
are in the place of prophesying, pray the Lord to direct
their tongue ; but in the mean time, shutting up the way
of the Holy Spirit, they determine to say nothing but what
they have written. 0 unhappy kind of prophets, which
depend not upon God's Spirit, but upon their own writings
or meditation ! Why prayest thou to the Lord, thou false
prophet, to give thee his Holy Spirit by which thou mayest
speak things profitable, and yet thou repellest the Spirit ?
Why preferrest thou thy meditation or study to the Spirit
of God ? Otherwise why committest thou not thyself to
the Spfrit ? "
This manner oe preaching as used by them, considering
that they also affirm that it may be and often is performed
by men who are wicked, or void of true grace, cannot ed
ify the church or beget or nourish true faith, but is destruc
tive to it, being directly contrary to the nature of tho
Christian and apostolic ministry mentioned in the scrip-

OF WORSHIP. 207
tures : for the apostle preached the gospel " not in the wis
dom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be of none
effect," 1 Cor. i. 17. But this preaching not being done by
the actings and movings of God's Spirit, but by man's in
vention and eloquence, in his own will, and through his
natural and acquired parts and learning, is in the wisdom
of words, and therefore the cross of Christ is thereby made
of none effect. The apostle's speech and preaching was not
" with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstra
tion of the Spirit and of power," that the faith of their
hearers " should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God," 1 Cor. ii. 3, 4, 5. But this preaching
haying nothing of the Spirit and power in it, both the
preachers and hearers confessing they wait for no such
thing, nor yet are sometimes sensible of it, must needs
stand in the enticing words of man's wisdom, since it is
by the mere wisdom of man it is sought after, and the
mere strength of man's eloquence and enticing w-ords it is
uttered ; and therefore no wonder if the faith of such as
hear and depend upon such preachers and preachings stand
in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God. The
apostles declared. That they " spake not in the words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teach
eth," 1 Cor. ii. 13. But these preachers confess that they
are strangers to the Holy Ghost, his motions and opera
tions, neither do they wait to feel them, and therefore they
speak in the words which their own natural wisdom and
learning teach them.
Their way is contrary to the method and order of the

208 PROPOSITION XI.
primitive church mentioned by the apostle, 1 Cor. xiv. 30,
etc., where in preaching every one is to wait for his reve
lation, and to give place one unto another, according as
things are revealed ; but here there is no waiting for a
revelation, but the preacher must speak, and not that which
is revealed unto him, but what he hath prepared and pre
meditated beforehand.
But if any object after this manner, Have not many
been benefited, yea, and both converted and edified by the
ministry of such as have premeditated their preaching?
Yea, and hath not the Spirit often concurred by its divine
influence with preachings thus premeditated, so as they
have been powerfully borne in upon the souls of the hearers
to their advantage ?
I answer, Though that be granted, which I shall not
deny, it will not infer that the thing was good in itself,
more than because Paul was met with by Christ to the
converting of his soul riding to Damascus to persecute the
saints, that he did well in so doing. But besides, it hath
oftentimes fallen out, that God, having a regard to the
simplicity and integrity either of the preacher or hearers,
hath fallen in upon the heart of a preacher by his power
and holy influence, and thereby hath led him to speak things
that were not in his premeditated discourse, and which
perhaps he never thought on before ; and those passing
ejaculations and unpremeditated but living exhortations,
have proved more beneficial and refreshing both to preacher
and hearers than all their premeditated sermons. But all
that will not allovyr them to continue in these things which

OF WORSHIP. 209
ill themselves are not approved, but contrary to the prac
tice of the apostles, when God is raising up a people to
serve him, according to the primitive purity and spirit
uality ; yea, such acts of God's condescension, in times of
darkness and ignorance, should engage all more and more
to follow him, according as he reveals his most perfect and
spiritual w-ay.
Concerning prayer, let it be considered that it is two
fold, inward and outward. Inward prayer is that secret
turning of the mind towards God, whereby, being secretly
touched and awakened by the light of Christ in the con
science, and so bowed down under the sense of its iniqui
ties, unworthiness, and misery, it looks up to God, and
joining with the secret shinings of the seed of God, it
breathes towards him, and is constantly breathing forth
some secret desires and aspirations towards him. It is in
this sense that we are so frequently in scripture commanded
to pray continually, Luke xviii. 1 ; 1 Thess. v. 17 ; Eph.
vi. 18 ; Luke xxi. 36, which cannot be understood of out
ward prayer, because it wore impossible that men should
be always upon their knees, expressing words of prayer ;
and this would hinder them from the exercise of those
duties no less positively commanded. Outward prayer is,
when as the Spirit being thus in the exercise of inward
retirement, and feeling the breathing of the Spirit of God
to arise powerfully in the soul, receives strength and liberty
by a superadded motion and influence of the Spirit to bring
forth either audible sighs, groans, or words, and that either
in public assemblies, or in private, or at meat, etc.
IS* O

210 PROPOSITION XI.
As then inward prayer is necessary at all times, so, so
long as the day of every man's visitation lasteth, he never
wants some influence less or more, for the practice of it ;
because he no sooner retires his mind, and considers him
self in God's presence, but he flnds himself in the practice
of it.
The outward exercise of prayer, as needing a greater
and superadded influence and motion of the Spirit, as it
cannot be continually practised, so neither can it be so
readily, so as to be effectually performed, until his mind be
some time acquainted with the inward ; therefore such as
are diligent and watchful in their minds, and much retired
in the exercise of this inward prayer, are more capable to
be frequent in the use of the outward, because that this
holy influence doth more constantly attend them ; and they
being better acquainted with, and accustomed to, the mo
tions of God's Spirit, can easily perceive and discern them.
And indeed, as such who are most diligent have a near
access to God, and he taketh most delight to draw them by
his Spirit to approach and call- upon him, so when many
are gathered together in this watchful mind, God doth
frequently pour forth the Spirit of prayer among them and
stir them thereunto, to the edifying and building up of one
another in love.
But because this outward prayer depends upon the in
ward, as that which must follow it, and cannot be accept
ably performed but as attended with a superadded influence
and motion of the Spirit, therefore cannot we prefix set times
to pray outwardly, so as to lay a necessity to speak words

OF WORSHIP. 211
at such and such times, whether we feel this heavenly influ
ence and assistance or no ; for that, we judge, were a tempt
ing of God and a coming before him without due prepara
tion. We think it fit for us to present ourselves before him
by this inward retirement of the mind, and so to proceed
further, as his Spirit shall help us and draw us thereunto ;
and we find that the Lord accepts of this, yea, and seeth
meet sometimes to exercise us in this silent place for the
trial of our patience, without allowing us to speak further,
that he may teach us not to rely upon outward performances,
or satisfy ourselves, as too many do, with the saying of our
prayers ; and that our dependence upon him may be the
more firm and constant, to wait for the holding out of his
sceptre, and for his aUowance to draw near unto him, with
greater freedom and enlargement of Spirit upon our hearts
towards him. Yet nevertheless we do not deny but some
times God, upon particular occasions, very suddenly, yea,
upon the very first turning in of the mind, may give power
and liberty to bring forth words or acts of outward prayer,
so as the soul can scarce discern any previous motion : nev
ertheless that saying of Bernard is true, that all prayer is
lukewarm, which hath not an inspiration preceding it.
Though we affirm that none ought to go about prayer
without this motion, yet we do not deny but such sin as
neglect prayer ; but their sin is, in that they come not to
that place where they may feel that which would lead them
thereunto. And therefore we question not but many,
through neglect of this inward watchfulness and retired
ness of mind, miss many precious opportunities to pray,

212 PROPOSITION XI.
and thereby are guilty in the sight of God ; yet would they
sin if they should set abont the act until they first felt the
influence. As one that is careless and otherways busied
may miss to hear one speaking unto him, or even not hear
the bell of a clock, though' striking hard by him, so may
many, through negligence, miss to hear God oftentimes
calling upon them, and giving them access to pray unto
him ; yet wUl not that aUow them, without his liberty, to
pray in their own wills.
Though this be the only true and proper method of prayer,
as that which is alone acceptable to God, yet shall we not
deny but he oftentimes answered the prayers and concurred
with the desires of some, especially in times of darkness,
who have greatly erred herein ; so that some that have sat
down in formal prayer, though far wrong in the matter as
well as manner, without the assistance or influence of God's
Spirit, yet have found him to take occasion there-through
to break in upon their souls, and wonderfully tender and
refresh them ; yet as in preaching and elsewhere hath afore
been observed, that will not prove any such practices, or
hinder any from coming to practise that pure, spiritual, and
acceptable prayer, which God is again restoring and leading
his people into, out of all superstitions and mere empty
formalities. That there is a necessity of this inward retirement of
the mind as previous to prayer, that the Spirit may be felt
to draw thereunto, appears, for that in most of those places
where prayer is commanded, watching is prefixed thereunto,
as necessary to go before, as Matt. xxiv. 42 ; Mark xiii. 33

OP WORSHIP. 213
and xiv. 38 ; I/uke xxi. 36, from which it is evident that
this watching was to go before prayer. Now to what end
is this watching, or what is it, but a waiting to feel God's
Spirit to draw unto prayer, that so it may be done accept
ably ?
This necessity of the Spirit's moving and concurrence
appears abundantly from that of the apostle Paul, Rom.
viii. 26, 27 : " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmi
ties : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought;
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groan
ings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the
hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God." It appears also from Eph. vi. 18, and Jude 20, where the
apostle commands " to pray always in the Spirit, and watch
ing' thereunto ; " which is as much as if he had said, that
we were never to pray without the Spirit, or watching there
unto. And Jude showeth that such prayers as are in the
Holy Ghost only, tend to the bmlding up of ourselves in
our most holy faith.
The apostle Paul saith expressly, 1 Cor. xii. 3 : " That
no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost : " if then Jesus cannot be thus rightly named but
by the Holy Ghost, far less can he be acceptably caUed
upon. The confidence that the saints have that God will hear
them, is, if they "ask anything according to his will,"
I .John V. 14. So if the prayer be not according to big

214 PROPOSITION XI.
will, there is no ground of confidence that he will hear.
Now our opposers will acknowledge that prayers with
out the Spirit are not according to the will of God, and
therefore such as pray without it have no ground to expect
an answer : for indeed to desire a man to fall to prayer ere
the Spirit in some measure less or more move him there
unto, is to desire a man to see before he opens his eyes, or
to walk before he rises up, or to work with his hands before
he moves them.
From this false opinion of praying without the Spirit,
and not judging it necessary to be waited for, as that which
may be felt to move us thereunto, hath proceeded the super
stition that is among those called Christians ; so that many
deceive themselves now, as the Jews did of old, thinking
it sufficient if they pay their daily sacrifices, and offer their
customary oblations ; from thence thinking all is well, and
creating a false peace to themselves, because they have
offered up their sacrifices of morning and evening prayers.
And therefore it is manifest that their constant use of these
things doth not a whit influence their Uves and conversa
tions, but they remain for the most part as bad as ever.
Yea, it is frequent both among Papists and Protestants, for
them to leap as it w-ere out of their vain, light, and pro
fane conversations at their set hours and seasons, and faU
to their customary devotion ; and then, when it is scarce
finished, and the words to God scarce out, the former pro
fane talk comes after it. If there be any such thing as vain
oblations, or prayers that are abomination, which God heai-
eth not (as is certain there arc, ard the scripture te-tifies,

OP WORSHIP. 215
Isa. Ixvi. 3 ; Jer. xiv. 12), certainly such prayers as are
acted in man's will, and by his own strength, without God's
Spirit, must be of that number.
Seeing then God hath called us to his spiritual worship,
and to testify against the humian and voluntary worships
of the apostasy, if we did not stand immovable to the truth
revealed, but should join with them, both our testimony for
God would be weakened and lost, and it would be impossible
steadily to propagate this worship in the world, whose pro
gress we dare neither retard nor hinder by any act of ours ;
though therefore we shall lose not only worldly honor, but
even our lives.
As to the singing of psalms, there will not be need of
any long discourse ; for that the case is just the same as in
the two former of preaching and prayer. We confess this
to be a part of God's worship, and very sweet and refresh
ing, when it proceeds from a true sense of God's love in the
heart, and arises from the divine influence of the Spirit,
which leads souls to breathe forth either a sweet harmony,
or words suitable to the present condition ; whether they be
words formerly used by the saints, and recorded in scrip
ture, such as the Psalms of David, or other words ; as were
the hymns and songs of Zacharias, Simeon, and the blessed
Vil gin Mary. But as for the formal customary way of
singing, it hath no foundation in scripture, nor any ground
in true Christianity : yea, besides all the abuses incident to
prayer and preaching, it hath this more peculiar, that often
times great and horrid lies are said in the sight of God :
for all manner of wicked profane people take upon them to

216 PROPOSITION XI.
personate the experiences and conditions of blessed David ;
which are not only false, as to them, but also as to some of
more sobriety, who utter them forth. Such singing doth
more please the carnal ears of men, than the pure ears
of the Lord, who abhors all lying and hypocrisy. That
singing then that pleaseth him must proceed from that
which is PURE in the heart, even from the Word of Life
therein, in and by which, richly dwelling in ns, spiritual
songs and hymns are returned to the Lord, according to
that of the apostle. Col. iii. 16. But as to artificial music,
either by organs, or other instruments, or voice, we have
neither example nor precept for it in the New Testament.
But lastly ; The great advantage of this true worship
of God, which we profess and practise, is, that it consisteth
not in man's wisdom, arts, or industry ; neither needeth the
glory, pomp, riches, nor splendor of this world to beautify
it, as being of a spiritual and heavenly nature; and there
fore too simple and contemptible to the natural mind and
will of man, that hath no delight to abide in it, because he
finds no room there for his imaginations and inventions, and
hath not the opportunity to gratify his outward and carnal
senses : so that this form being observed, is not likely to be
long kept pure without the power ; for it is of itself so
naked without it, that it hath nothing in it to invite and
tempt men to dote upon it, further than it is accompanied
with the power.

PROPOSITION XII.
CONCERNING BAPTISM.

A S there is one Lord, and one. feiithi..^a...there is one bap-
-Li tism ; which is not the putting away the filth ofthe
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience before Qqd, by

the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ^ And this bap- Eph. iv. s.
tism is a, pure and spiritual thing, tn ¦^n'^'j ^-^^ Roin.'yi.'4. '
baptism of the Spirit and fire, by which we are Coi.'ii.'i2.'
^.__£  ¦— — ~.— A.  ¦ '¦ .I.....'—- •' John iii. 30.
buried with him, that being washed and purged i cor. i. 17.
from our sins, we may walk in newness of life : of which
the baptism of John was a. figure, which was commanded
for a time, and not to continue for ever. As 'to the baptism
of-inMts,.. it, i*,a jme^jiuffiafljjidiliau,^. fc^^^^
precept nor practice is to be fpunji iUi.Stljthe^scriptiirq.

God, in condescension to his chosen people the Jews,
did prescribe to them by his servant Moses many ceremo
nies and observations, as types and shadows of the sub
stance, which in due time was to be revealed ; which con
sisted for the most part in washings, outward purifications
and cleansings, which were to continue until the time of
reformation, until the spiritual worship should be set up;
19 217

218 PROPOSITION XII.
and that God, by the more plentiful pouring forth of hi?
Spirit, and guiding of that anointing, should lead his chil
dren into all truth, and teach them to worship him in a way
more spiritual and acceptable to him, though less agreeable
to the carnal and outward senses. Notwithstanding God's
condescension to the Jews in such things, we see that they
would be either decUning to the other superstitions of the
Gentiles, or adding some new ceremonies of their own ; to .
which they were so devoted, that they were still apt to
prefer them before the commands of God, and that under
the notion of zeal and piety. This we see abundantly iu
the example of the Pharisees, the chiefest sect among the
Jews, whom Christ so frequenth- reproves for making void
the commandments of God by their traditions. Matt. xv.
6, 9, etc. This complaint may at this day be no less justly
made as to many bearing the name of Christians, who have
introduced many things of this kind, partly borrowed from
the Jews, which they more earnestly contend for, than for
the weightier points of Christianity.
This is verified concerning those things which are called
sacraments, about which they are very ignorant in religious
controversies, who understand not how much debate and
contention there has been among those caUed Christians.
The name sacrament however is not to be found in all the
scripture ; but was borrowed from the military oaths among
the heathen, from whom the Christians, when they began
to apostatize, did borrow many superstitious terms and ob
servations, that they might thereby ingratiate themselves,
and the more easily gain the heathen to their religion ;

OF BAPTISM. 219
which practice, though perhaps intended by them for good,
yet, as being the fruit of human policy, and not according
to God's wisdom, has had very pernicious consequences.
Or these sacraments (so called) baptism is always first
numbered, which is the subject of the present proposition.
As to which these things following come to be proposed
and proved.
First : There is but one baptism, as well as but one Lord,
one faith, etc.
Secondly : That this one baptism, which is the baptism
of Christ, is not a washing with, or dijjping in water, but
a being baptized bv the Spirit.
Thirdly : That the baptism of John was but a figure of
this ; and therefore, as the figure, to give place to the sub
stance ; which though it be to continue, yet the other
ceaseth. As for the first, viz.. That there is but one baptism, there
needs no other proof than the words of the text, Eph. iv.
.5 : " One Lord, one faith, one baptism :'' where the apostle
po.sitively and plainly affirms, that as there is but one body,
one Spirit, one faith, one God, etc., so there is but " one
baptism." Secondly, That this one baptism, which is the baptism
of Christ, is not a washing with water, appears, first, froip
the testimony of John, the proper and peculiar administrator
of water baptism. Matt. tii. 11, "I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance ; but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."

220 PROPOSITION XII.
Here John mentions two manners of baptizing, and two
different baptisms ; the one with water, and the other witb
the Spirit; the one whereof he was the minister of; the
other whereof Christ was the minister of: and.such as were
baptized with the first, were not therefore baptized with
the second.
This is further confirmed by the saying of Christ himself.
Acts i. 4, 5, " But wait for the promise ofthe Father, which,
saith he, ye have heard of me : for John truly baptized with
water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence." There can scarce two places of scrip
ture run more parallel than this doth with the former, a
little before mentioned ; and therefore concludeth the same
way as did the 'other. For Christ here grants fuUy that
John completed his baptism, as to the matter and substance
of it: "John," saith he, "truly baptized with water;"
which is as much as if he had said, John did truly and
fully administer the baptism of water; "But ye shall be
baptized with," etc. This showeth that they were to be
baptized with some other baptism than the baptism of
water ; and that although they were formerly baptized with
the baptism of water, yet not with that of Christ, which
they were to be baptized with.
Peter observes the same distinction. Acts xi. 16, "Then
remembered 1 the word of the Lord, how that he said,
John indeed baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost." The apostle makes this application
upon the Holy Ghost's falUng upon them ; whence he infers,
that they were then baptized with the baptism of the Spirit

OP BAPTISM. 221
Prom all which three sentences, relative one to another,
first of John, secondly of Christ, and thirdly of Peter, it
doth evidently follow, that such as were truly and really
baptized with the baptism of water, were notwithstanding
not baptized with the baptism of the Spirit, which is that
of Christ ; and such as truly and really did administer the
baptism of water, did, in so doing, not administer the bap
tism of Christ. So that if there be now but one baptism,
as we have already proved, we may safely conclude that it
is that of the Spirit, and not of water.
That the one baptism of Christ is not a washing with
water, appears from 1 Pet. iii. 21 : " The like figure where
unto, even baptism, doth also now save us, not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ." So plain a definition of baptism is not in all the
Bible ; and therefore, seeing it is so plain, it may well be
preferred to all the coined definitions of the school-men.
The apostle tells as first negatively what it is not, viz.,
" Not a putting away of the filth of the flesh : " then surely
it is not a washing with water, since that is so. Secondly,
he tells ns affirmatively what it is, viz., " The answer of a
good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ; " where he affirmatively defines it to be the " answer
(or confession, as the Syriac version hath it) of a good con
science." Now this answer cannot be but where the Spirit
of God hath purified the soul, and the fire of his judgment
hath burned up the unrighteous nature ; and those in whom
this work is wrought may be truly said to be baptized with
19*

222 PROPOSITION XII.
the baptism of Christ, i. e. of the Spirit and of fire. More
over, the apostle in this place doth seem especially to guard
against those that might esteem water baptism tbe true
baptism of Christ ; because, lest by the comparison induced
by him in the preceding verse, betwixt the souls that were
saved in Noah's ark, and us that are now saved by bap
tism ; lest, I say, any should have thence hastily con
cluded, that because the former were saved by water, this
place must needs be taken to speak of water baptism, to
prevent such a mistake, he plainly affirms that it is not
that, but another thing. Moreover, Peter calls this here
which saves drtirmton, the anti-type or the " thing figured;"
whereas it is usually translated, "as if the like figure did
now save us ;" thereby insinuating that as they were saved
by water in the ark, so are we now by water baptism. But
this interpretation crosseth his sense, he presently after de
claring the contrary, as hath above been observed.
That the one baptism of Christ is not a washing with
water, as it hath been proved by the definition of the one
baptism, so it is also manifest from the necessary fruits and
effects of it, which are three times particularly expressed
byjhe apostle Paul ; as first, Rom. vi. 3, 4, where he saith,
" That so many of them as were baptized into Jesus Christ,
were baptized into his death, buried with him by baptism
into death, that they should walk in newness of Ufe." Sec
ondly, to the Galatians, iii. 27, he saith positively, " For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put
on Christ." And thirdly, to the Colossians, U. 12, he saith,
That they were " buried with him in baptism," and risen

OP BAPTISM. 223
" with him through the faith of the operation of God."
It is to be observed here, that the apostle speaks generally ;
he saith not. Some of you that were baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ, but "as many of you;" which is as
much as if he had said, Every one of you that hath been bap
tized into Christ, hath put on Christ. Whereby it is evi
dent that this is not meant of water baptism, but of the
baptism of the Spirit ; because else it would follow, that
whosoever had been baptized with water baptism had put
on Christ, and were risen with him.
That John's baptism is ceased, many of our opposers
confess ; but if any should allege it is otherwise, it may be
easily proved by the express words of John, not only as
being insinuated there, where he contra-distinguisheth his
baptism from that of Christ, but particularly where he
saith, John iii. 30, " He [Christ] must increase, but I
[John] must decrease." From whence it clearly follows,
that the increasing or taking place of Christ's baptism is
the decreasing or abolishing of John's baptism ; so that if
water baptism was a particular part of John's ministry, and
is no part of Christ's baptism, as we have already proved,
it will necessarily follow that it is not to continue.
If water baptism had been to continue a perpetual ordi
nance of Christ in his church, he would either have practised
it himself, or commanded his apostles so to do. But that
he practised it not, the scripture plainly affirms, John iv. 2.
And that he commanded his disciples to baptize with water,
I could never yet read. As for what is alleged, that Matt.
xxviii. 19, etc. where he bids them baptize, is to be under-

224 PROPOSITION XII.
stood of water baptism, that is but to beg the question, and
the grounds for that shall be hereafter examined. I find
not any standing ordinance or appointment of Christ neces
sary to Christians, for which we have not either Christ's own
practice or command; but for baptizing with water, though
so earnestly contended for, we find not any precept of Christ.
But to make water baptism a necessary institution of
the Christian religion, which is pure and spiritual, and not
carnal and ceremonial, is to derogate from the new covenant
dispensation, and set up the legal rites and ceremonies, of
which this baptism, or washing with water, was one, as
appears from Heb. ix. 10, where the apostle speaking there
of saith, that " it stood only in meats and drinks, and divers
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of
reformation." If then the time of reformation, or the dis
pensation of the gospel, which puts an end to the shadows,
be come, then such baptisms and carnal ordinances are no
more to be imposed. For how baptism with water comes
now to be a spiritual ordinance, more than before in the
time of the law, doth not appear, seeing it is but water
still, and a washing of the outward man, and a putting
away of the filth of the flesh stiU : and as before, those that
were so washed, were not thereby made perfect, as pertain
ing to the conscience, neither are they at this day. If
water baptism was once a carnal ordinance, as the apostle
positively affirms it to have been, it remains a carnal ordi
nance still ; and if a carnal ordinance, then no necessary
part of the gospel or new covenant dispensation ; and if
no necessary purt of it, then not needful to continue, nor

OP BAPTISM. 225
to be practised by such as live and walk under this dispen
sation. If water baptism had been an ordinance of the gospel,
then the apostle Paul would have been sent to administer
it; but he declares positively, 1 Cor. i. 17 : " That Christ
sent him not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." He
being in special manner the apostle of Christ to the Gen
tiles, if water baptism be to be accounted the badge of
Christianity, he had more need than any of the rest to be
sent to baptize with water, that he might mark the Gentiles
converted by him with that Christian sign. But since Paul
was the apostle of the Gentiles, and in his ministry doth
through all, as by his epistles appears, labor to wean them
from the former Jewish ceremonies and observations, his
commission did not require of him that he should lead those
converts into such Jewish observations and baptisms;
however that practice was indulged in and practised by the
other apostles among their Jewish proselytes, for which
cause he thanks God that he had baptized so few : inti
mating that what he did therein he did in condescension to
their weakness, even as at another time he circumcised
Timothy. Some object. That Christ, who had the Spirit above
measure, was notwithstanding baptized with water.
I answer, So was he also circumcised : it will not follow
from thence that circumcision is to continue : for it behoved
Christ to fulfil all righteousness, not only the ministry of
John, but the law also ; therefore did he observe the Jew
ish feasts and rites, and keep the passover. It will not
P

226 PROPOSITION XII.
thence follow that Christians ought to do so now ; and
therefore Christ, Matt. iii. 15, gives John this reason of
his being baptized, desiring him to " suffer it to be so now; "
whereby he sufficiently intimates that he intended not
thereby to perpetuate it as an ordinance to his disciples.
They object. Matt, xxviii. 19: "Go ye therefore and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This is the great
objection, and upon which they build the whole superstruc
ture. As to what Christ saith, in commanding them to "bap
tize in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit," the Greek
is ii,i to ovojiLa,, that is, into the name ; now the name of the
Lord is often taken in scripture for something else than a
bare sound of words, or literal expression, even for his vir
tue and power, as may appear from Psal. liv. 1 ; Cant. i. 3 ;
Prov. xviii. 10, and in many more. Now that the apostles
were by their ministry to baptize the nations into this
name, virtue, and power, and that they did so, is evident
by these testimonies of Paul above mentioned, where he
saith, " That as many of them as were baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ ; " this must have been a baptizing into
the name, i. e., power and virtue, and not a mere formal
expression of words adjoined with water baptism ; because,
as hath been above observed, it doth not follow as a natural
or necessary consequence of it. I would have those who
desire to have their faith built upon no other foundation than
the testimony of God's Spirit and scriptures of truth, thor
oughly to consider whether there can be any thing further

OP BAPTISM. 227
alleged for this interpretation than what the prejudice of
education and influence of tradition hath imposed. Per
haps it may stumble the unwary and inconsiderate reader,
as if the very character of Christianity were aboUshed, to
tell him plainly that this scripture is not to be understood
of baptizing with water, and that this form of " baptizing
in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit," hath no war
rant from Matt, xxviii., etc.
Let it be considered, that if it had been a form prescribed
by Christ to his apostles, then surely they would have
made use of that form in the administering of water bap
tism to such as they baptized with water ; but though it
be particularly expressed that they baptized such aud such,
as Acts ii. 41, and viii. 12, 13, 38, and ix. 18, and x. 48, and
xvi. 15, and xviii. 8, yet there is not a word of this form.
And in two places, Acts viii. 16, and xix. 5, it is said of
some that they were " baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus ; " by which it appears, that the apostles did no ways
understand that Christ by his commission, Matt, xxviii.,
did enjoin them such a form of water baptism, seeing they
did not use it. And therefore it is safer' to conclude, that
what they did in administering water baptism, they did
not by virtue of that commission, else they would have so
used it : for our adversaries I suppose would judge it a
great heresy to administer water baptism only in the name
of Jesus, without mention of Father or Spirit, as it is ex
pressly said they did, in the two places above cited.
They say. If this were not understood of water baptism,
it would be a tautology, and all one with teaching.

228 PROPOSITION XII.
I say, Nay: Baptizing with the Spirit is somewhat fur
ther than teaching, or informing the understanding ; for it
imports a reaching to, and melting the heart, whereby it is
turned, as well as the understanding informed.
They say, Baptism in this place must be understood with
water, because it is the action of the apostles ; and so can
not be the baptism of the Spirit, which is the work of
Christ, and his grace ; not of man, etc.
1 answer ; Baptism with the Spirit, though not wrought
without Christ and his grace, is instrumentally done by
men fitted of God for that purpose ; and therefore no ab
surdity follows, that baptism with the Spirit should be ex
pressed as the action of the apostles. For though it be
Christ by his grace that gives spiritual gifts, yet the apostle,
Rom. i. 11, speaks of his imparting to them spiritual gifts ;
and he tells the Corinthians, that he had "begotten them
through the gospel," 1 Cor. iv. 15. And yet to beget
people to the faith, is the work of Christ and his grace, not
of men. To convert the heart, is properly the work of
Christ ; and yet the scripture oftentimes ascribes it to men,
as being the instruments,
- They object the constant practice of the apostles in the
primitive church, who, they say, did always administer
water baptism to such as they converted to the faith of
Christ. 1 answer ; That it was the constant practice of the apos
tles, is denied ; for we have shown, in the example of Paul,
that it was not so ; since it were most absurd to judge that
he converted only those few, even of the church of Corinth,

OP BAPTISM. 229
whom he saith he baptized ; nor were it less absurd to think
that that was a constant apostolic practice, which he, who
was not inferior to the chiefest of the apostles, and who
declares he labored as much as they all, rejoiceth he was
so little in.
But if from the sameness of the word, because Christ
bids them baptize, and they afterwards in the use of water
are said to baptize, it be judged probable that they did un
derstand that commission. Matt, xxviii., to authorize them
to baptize with water, and accordingly practised it; I
answer. Although it should be granted, that for a season they did
so far mistake it, as to judge that water belonged to that
baptism, which however I find no necessity of granting, yet
I see not any great absurdity would thence follow. For it
is plain they did mistake that commission, as to a main part
of it, for a season ; as where he bids them " Go, teach all
nations ; " since some time after they judged it unlawful to
teach the Gentiles ; yea, Peter himself scrupled it, until by
a vision constrained thereunto ; for which, after he had done
it, he was for a season, until they were better informed,
judged by the rest of his brethren. Now, if the education
of the apostles as Jews, and their propensity to adhere and
stick to the Jewish religion, did so far influence them, that
even after Christ's resurrection, and the pouring forth of
the Spirit, they could not receive nor admit of the teaching
of the Gentiles, though Christ, in his commission to them,
commanded them to preacli to them; what further ab
surdity were it to suppose, that, through the like mistake,

230 PROPOSITION XII.
the chiefest of them having been the disciples of John, and
his baptism being so much prized there among the Jews,
they also took Christ's baptism, intended by him of the
Spirit, to be that of water, which was John's, and accord
ingly practised it for a season ? It suffices us, that if they
were so mistaken, though I say not that they were so, they
did not always remain under that mistake : else Peter would
not have said of the baptism which now saves, " that it is
not a putting away of the filth of the flesh," which certainly
water baptism is.
But further. They urge much Peter's baptizing Corne
lius; in which they press two things, First, That water
baptism is used, even to those that had received the Spirit.
Secondly, That it is said positively, " he commanded them
to be baptized," Acts x. 47, 48.
But neither of these doth necessarily infer water baptism
to belong to the new covenant dispensation, nor yet to be
a perpetual standing ordinance in the church. It is no
wonder if Peter, who thought it so strange (notwithstand
ing aU that had been spoken by Christ), that the Gentiles
should be made partakers of the gospel, and who with
great difficulty was brought to come to them and eat with
them, was incUned to put this ceremony upon them ; which
being, as it were, the particular dispensation of John, the
forerunner of Christ, seemed to have greater affinity with
the gospel, than the other Jewish ceremonies then used by
the church. As to these words, " And he commanded them
to be baptized ; ' it amounteth to no more, than that Peter
did at that time command those persons to be baptized with

OF BAPTISM. 231
water ; but it saith nothing that Peter commanded water
baptism to be a standing and perpetual ordinance to the
church. Why doth Peter's commanding Cornelius and his
household to be baptized at that time infer water baptism
to continue, more than his constraining, which is more than
commanding, the Gentiles in general to be circumcised, and
observe the law ? We find at that time, when Peter bap
tized CorneUus, it was not yet determined whether the
Gentiles should not be circumcised ; but on the contrary, it
was the most general sense of the church that they should :
and therefore no wonder if they thought it needful at that
time that they should be baptized ; which had more affinity
with the gospel.
They object from the signification of the word baptize,
which is as much as to dip and wash with water ; alleging
thence, that the very word imports a being baptized with
water. But baptizing with water was a rite among the Jews, as
Paulus Riccius showeth, even before the coming of John :
and the ceremony received that name from the nature of
the practice, as used both by the Jews and by John ; yet
v/e find that Christ and his apostles frequently make use
of these terms to a more spiritual signification. So circum
cision was only used and understood among the Jews to be
that of the flesh ; but the apostle tells us of the circum
cision of the heart and spirit made without hands. So that
though baptism was used among the Jews only to signify
a washing with water, yet both John, Chi-ist, and his apos
ties, speak of a being " baptized with the Spirit, and with

232 PROPOSITION XII.
fire ; " which they make the peculiar baptism of Christ, aa
contradistinguished from that of water, which was John's,
as is above shown. So that though baptism among the
Jews was only understood of water, yet among Christians
it is very well understood of the Spirit without water.
They object, John iii. 5, "Except a man be born of
water, and of the Spirit," etc., hence inferring the neces
sity of water baptism, as well as of the Spirit.
But if this prove any thing, it will prove Avater baptism
to be of absolute necessity ; and therefore Protestants
rightly affirm, w^hen this is urged upon them by Papists,
to evince the absolute necessity of water baptism, that
water is not here understood of outward water ; but mysti
cally, of an inward cleansing and washing. Even as where
Christ speaks of being baptized with fire, it is not to be
understood of outward material flre, but only of purifying,
by a metonymy ; because to purify is a proper effect of
fire, as to wash and make clean is of, water; therefore the
scripture alludes to water, where it can as little be so under
stood, as where we are said to be saved by the washing of
regeneration. Tit. iii. 5.
They object. That the baptism of water is a visible sign
or badge to distinguish Christians from infldels, even as
circumcision did the Jews.
I answer ; This saith nothing at all, unless it be proved
to be a necessary precept, or part of the new covenant dis
pensation ; it not being lawful for us to impose outward
ceremonies and rites, and say, they will distinguish us
from infidels. Circumcision was po.sitively commanded,

OF BAPTISM. ' 233
and said to be a seal of the first covenant ; but as we have
already proved that there is no such command for baptism,
so there is not any word in all the New Testament, calling
it a badge of Christianity, or seal of the new covenant.
The professing of faith in Christ, and a holy life answering
thereunto, is a far better badge of Christianity than any
outward washing. A Christian is not known to be a Chris
tian by his being baptized, especially when he was a child,
unless he tell them so much ; and may not the professing
of faith in Christ signify that as well ? I know there are
divers of those called the Fathc^rs, that speak much of water
baptism, calling it Characterum Christianitatis : but so did
they also of the sign of the cross, and other such things,
justly rejected by Protestants. For the mystery of iniq
uity, which began to work in , the apostles' days, soon
spoiled the simplicity and purity of the Christian worship ;
insomuch that not only many Jewish rites were retained,
but many heathenish customs and ceremonies introduced
into the Christian worship ; as particularly that word sac
rament. As FOR INFANT BAPTISM, it is a tradition without precept
or example in Scripture. He that proves water baptism
ceased, proves that infant baptism is vain : but he that
should prove that water baptism continues, has not thence
proved that infant baptism is necessary ; that needs some
thing further.
We travail above all to lay hold upon and cleave unto
the Light of the glorious gospel revealed unto us. And the
harmony of the truth we profess in this may appear, b'y
20*

234 PROPOSITION XII.
briefiy observing how in all things we follow the spiritual
gospel of Christ, as contradistinguished from the carnality
of the legal dispensation ; while others through rejecting
this gospel, are still laboring under the burden of the law
which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear.
For the law and rule of the old covenant and Jews was
outward, written in tables of stone and parchment. But
the law of the new covenant is inward and perpetual,
written in the heart. The worship of the Jews was out
ward, and limited to set times, places, and persons, and
performed according to set prescribed forms and obser
vations. But the worship of the new covenant is neither
limited to time, place, nor person, but is performed in the
Spirit and in truth ; not according to set forms and prescrip
tions, but as the Spirit of God immediately moves, and
leads. So likewise the baptism- among the Jews under the law
was an outward washing with outward water, only to
typify an inward purification of the soul, which did not
necessarily follow upon those that were thus baptized ; but
the baptism of Christ under the gospel is the baptism of
the Spirit and of fire ; not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards
God ; and such is the baptism that we labor to be baptized
withal, and contend for.

PROPOSITION XIII.
concerning the communion, or PARTICIPATION OP THE
BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.
THE communion of the body and blood of Christ is in-
ward and spiritual, which is the participa,tion qf h.i.s
¦flesh aiid blood, by which the inward man is ^ q^^. ^
dailv nourished in the hearts of those in whom is. i'-

John vi. 32,
Christ dwells. Of which things the breaking of 33, 35.
bread by Christ with his disciples was a figure, ^ ^°'^- ^- *•
which even they who had received the substance used in
the chureh for a time, for the sake of the weak; even as
abstaining from things strangled, and from blood,
the washing one another's feet, and the anoint- John xiii. 14.
ing of the sick with oil: all which are com- '"'"''^ ''• "¦
manded with no less authority and solemnity than the
former ; yet seeing they are but shadows of better things,
they cease in such as have obtained the substknee.
The communion of the body and blood of Christ is a
mystery hid frarn all natural vc\^n, in their first fallen state,
which they cannot understand as they there abide ; neither
can they be partakers of it, nor yet are they able to discern
the LordTs body. And forasmuch as the Christian world,

236 PROPOSITION XIII.
so called, for the most part hath been laboring in their own
natural understandings, about the things of God and relig
ion ; therefore hath this mystery been much hid and sealed
up from them, while they have been contending about the
form, but strangers to the substance, life, and virtue.
The BODY THEN of Christ, which beliexeia. partake jifr-is
spiritual, and not carnal ; and his blood, which they drink
of, is pure and heavenly, and not_.hu,ia3-a_or elementary.
it is that heavenly seed, that divine, spiritual, celestial sub
stance, of which we spake before in the fifth and sixth
propositions. This is that spiritual body of Christ, whereby
and through which he communicateth life_to men, and sal
vation to as many as believe in him, and receJxe, him ; and
whereby also man comes^tojave fellowship and communion
with GodL 
This is proved from the sixth of John, from verse 32 to
the end, where Christ speaks more at large of this matter,
than in any other place : and indeed this evangelist and
beloved disciple, who lay in the bosom of our Lord, gives
us a more full account of the spiritual sayings and doctrine
of Christ than any other : and it is observable, that though
he speaks nothing of the ceremony used by Christ of break
ing bread with his disciples, neither in his evangelical ac
count of Christ's life and sufferings, nor in his epistles ;
yet he is more large in this account of the participation of
the body, flesh, and blood of Christ, than any of them alL
For Christ, in this chapter, perceiving that the Jews did
follow him for love of the loaves, desires them, verse 27,
to " labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OP CHRIST. 237
meat which endureth for ever : " but forasmuch as they,
not understanding the spiritual language and doctrine of
Christ, did judge the manna which Moses gave their fathers,
to be the most exceUent bread, as coming from heaven ;
Christ, to better inform them, affirmeth. First, That it is
not Moses, but his Father, that giveth the true bread from
heaven, verses 32 and 48. Secondly, This bread he calls
himself, verse l35, " 1 am the bread of Ufe : " and verse 51,
" 1 am the living bread, which came down from heaven."
Thirdly, He declares that this bread is his flesh, verse 51,
" The bread that 1 will give, is my flesh ; " and verse 55,
" For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink in
deed." Fourthly, The necessity of partaking thereof, verse
53, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life iu you." And lastly, The blessed
fruits and necessary effects of this communion of the body
and blood of Christ, verse 33, "This bread giveth Ufe to
the world." Verse 50, He that eateth thereof, dieth not.
Verse 58, " Ho that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."
Verse 54, Whoso eateth this flesh, and drinketh this blood,
shall live for ever. Verse 56, And he dwelleth in Christ,
and Christ in him. Verse 57, And shall live by Christ.
From this large description of the origin, nature, and
effects of this body, flesh, and blood of Christ, it is apparent
that it is spiritual, and to be understood of a spiritual body,
and not of that body, or temple of Jesus Christ, which was
born of the Virgin Mary, and in which he walked, lived,
and suffered in the land of Judea; because it is said, that
it came down from heaven. Now the outward body of

238 PROPOSITION XIII.
Christ came not down from heaven. Also, it is the soul,
not the body, that is to be nourished by this flesh and blood.
Now outward flesh cannot nourish nor feed the soul.
That this body, and spiritual flesh and blood of Christ, is
to be understood of that divine and heavenly seed, before
spoken of by us, appears both by the nature and fruits of
it. First, it is said, it is that which cometh down from
heaven, and giveth life unto the world : now this answers
to that light and seed, which is testifled of, John i., to be
the light of the world, and the life of men. For that spir
itual light and seed, as it receives place in men's hearts, and
room to spring up there, is as bread to the hungry and
fainting soul, that is, as it were, buried and dead in the
lusts of the world ; which receives life again, and revives,
as it tasteth and partaketh of this heavenly bread : and they
that partake of it are said to come to Christ ; neither can
any have it, but by coming to him, and believing in the
appearance of his light in their hearts ; by receiving which,
and believing in it, the participation of this body and bread
is known. And that Christ understands the same thing
here by his body, flesh, and blood, which is understood,
John i., by the " light enlightening every man," and tbe
life, etc., appears; for the light and life, spoken of John i.,
is said to be Christ ; " He is the true light : " and the bread
and flesh, etc., spoken of in John vi., is called Christ ; " I
am the bread of life," saith he. Again, They that received
that light and life, John i. 12, obtained power to become
the sons of God, by believing in his name : so also here,
John vi. 35, he that cometh unto this bread of life shaU not

OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 239
hunger ; and he that believes in him, who is this bread, shall
never thirst. So, then, as there was the outward visible
body and temple of Jesus Christ, which took its origin from
the Virgin Mary ; there is also the spiritual body of Christ,
by and through which He that was the " Word in the be
ginning with God," and was and is GOD, did reveal him
self to the sons of men in all ages, and whereby men in all
ages come to be made partakers of eternal life, and to have
communion and fellowship with God and Christ.
Now as the outward body and temple was called Christ,
so was also his spiritual body, no less properly, and that
long before that outward body was in being. Hence the
apostle saith, 1 Cor. x. 3, 4, that the " Fathers did all eat
the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink : for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ." This cannot be under
stood otherwise than of this spiritual body of Christ ; which
.spiritual body of Christ, though it was the saying food of
the righteous both before the law and under the law ; yet
under the law it was veiled and shadowed under divers
types; yea, and not only so, but it was veiled and hid, in
some respects, under the outward body of Christ, or during
the continuance of it ; so that the Jews could not understand
Christ's preaching about it while on earth ; and not the Jews
only, but many of his disciples, judging it a hard John vi. eo, gg.
saying, murmured at it ; and many from that time went
back from him, and walked no more with him. I doubt not
but that there are many also at this day, professing to be
the disciples of Christ, that do as Uttle understand this

240 PROPOSITION XIII.
matter as those did, and are as apt to be offended, an'd
stumble at it, while they are gazing and following after
the outward body, and look not to that by which the saints
are daily fed and nourished.
For as Jesus Christ, in obedience to the will of the Father,
did by the eternal Spirit offer up that body for a propitia
tion for the remission of sins, and finished his testimony
upon earth thereby, in a most perfect example bf patience,
resi^-nation, and hoUness, that all might be made partakers
of the fruit of that sacrifice ; so hath he likewise poured
forth into the hearts of all men a measure of that divine
light and seed wherewith he is clothed ; that thereby, reach
ing nnto the consciences of all, he may raise them up out
of death and darkness by his life and light; and thereby
may be made partakers of his body, and there-through come
to have fellowship with the Father and with the Son.
If it be asked, How and after what manner man comes
to partake of it, and to be fed by it ? I answer in the plain
John vi. 35 ^nd express words of Christ, " I am the bread
and 55. ^f jjfg )) g^jth he; "he that cometh to me shaU
never hunger ; he that believeth in me shall never thirst."
And again, " For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed." So whosoever thou art that askest this ques
tion, or readest these lines, whether thou accountest thy
self a believer, or really feelest, by a certain and sad expe
rience, that thou art yet in the unbelief, and findest that
the outward body and fiesh of Christ is so far from thee,
that thou canst not reach it, nor feed upon it ; yea, though
thou be one who has often swallowed down and taken in

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 241
that which the Papists have persuaded thee to be the real
flesh and blood of Christ, and hast believed it to be so,
though all thy senses told thee the contrary ; or, being a
Lutheran, hast taken that bread, in and with and under
which the Lutherans have assured thee that the flesh and
blood of Christ is ; or, being a Calvinist, hast partaken of
that which the Calvinists say, though a figure only of the
body, gives them who take it a real participation of the
body, flesh, and blood of Christ, though they never knew
how nor what way ; I say, if for all this thou findest thy
soul yet barren, yea, hungry, and ready to starve, for want
of "something thou longest for ; know that that light that
discovers thy iniquity to thee, that shows thee thy barren
ness, thy emptiness, is that body which thou must partake
of, and feed upon: but that till by forsaking iniquity thou
turnest to it, comest unto it, receivest it, though thou may
est hunger after it, thou canst not be satisfied with it ; for
it hath no communion with darkness, nor canst 2 Cor. ti. 14.
thou drink of the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils :
and be partaker of the Lord's table, and the table of devils,"
1 Cor. X. 21.
" He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood," saith
Christ, "dwelleth in jne, and I in him." This John vi. 56.
cannot be understood of outward eating of outward bread ;
and as by this the soul must have fellowship with God, so
also, so far as all the saints are partakers of this one body '
and one blood, they come also to have a joint communion.
Hence the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 17, in this respect saith, that
they " being many, are one bread, ?.nd one body ; " and to
•JI " Q

242 PROPOSITION XIII.
§
the wise among the Corinthians he saith, " The bread which
we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? "
This is the true and spiritual supper of the Lord, which
men come to partake of, by hearing the voice of Christ,
and opening the door of their hearts, and so letting him in,
according to the plain words of the scripture, Rev. iii. 20,
" Behold I stand at the door and knock ; if gjay man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me." So that the supper
ofthe Lord, and the supping with the Lord,. and partaking
of his flesh and blood, is no ways limited to the ceremony
of breaking bread and drinking wine at particular times,
but is truly and really enjoyed, as often as the soul retires
into the light of the Lord, and feels and partakes of that
heavenly Ufe by which the inward man is nourished ; which
may be and is often witnessed by the faithful at all times,
though more particularly when they are assembled together
to wait upon the Lord.
But WHAT CONFUSION the professors of Christianity have
run into who, for want of a true spiritual understanding,
have sought to tie this supper of the Lord to that ceremony
used by Christ before his death, of breaking bread and
drinking wine with his disciples. And though they for the
most part agree generally in this, yet how do they contend
and debate one against another ! Now all those uncertain
opinions, and the contentions therefrom arising, have pro
ceeded from their all agreeing in two general errors con
cerning this thing ; which being denied and receded from,
as they are by us, there would be an easy way made for

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 243
reconciliation, and we should all meet in one spiritual and
true understanding of this mystery.
The first of these errors is, in making the communion or
participation of the body, flesh, and blood of Christ to re
late to that outward body, vessel, or temple, that was born
of the Virgin Mary, and walked and suffered in Judea ;
whereas it should relate to the spiritual body, flesh, and
blood of Christ, even that heavenly and celestial Ught and
life, which was the food and nourishment of the regenerate
in all ages, as we have already proved.
The second error is, in tying this participation of the
body and blood of Christ to that ceremony used by him
with his disciples in the breaking of bread, etc., as if it had
only a relation thereto, or were only enjoyed in the use of
that ceremony.
Now the ccmmunion or participation of the flesh and
blood of Christ hath no such necessary relation to the
breaking of bread and drinking of wine : for if it had any
such necessary relation, it would either be from the nature
of the thing, or from some divine precept.
It is not from the nature of it ; because to partake of the
flesh and blood of Christ is a spiritual exercise. But to
eat bread and drink wine is a natural act, which in itself
adds nothing to the soul, neither has anything that is spirit
ual in it. All acknowledge that many eat of the! bread and
drink of the wine, even that which they say is consecrate
and transubstantiate into the very body of Christ, who no'-
withstanding have hot life eternal, have not Christ dwelling
in them, nor do Uve by him, as all do who truly partake
of the flesh and blood of Christ.

244 PROPOSITION XIII.
It hath not relation by divine precept ; for if it had, it
would be mentioned in that which is accounted the institu
tion of it, or else in the practice of it by the saints recorded
in scripture ; but so it is not. For as to the institution, or
rather narration, of Christ's practice in this matter, we have
it recorded by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
In the first two there is only an account of the matter-of-
fact, to wit, That, Christ brake bread, and gave it his dis
ciples to eat, saying, " This is my body ;" and blessing the
cup, he gave it them to drink, saying, " This is my blood ;"
but nothing of any desire to them to do it. In the last,
after the bread (but before the blessing, or giving them the
wine), he bids them do it in remembrance of him. The
end of this for which they were to do it, if at all, is to re
member Christ ; which the apostle yet more particularly
expresses, 1 Cor. xi. 26, " to show forth the Lord's death ; "
but to remember the Lord, or to declare his death, which
are the special ends annexed to the use of this ceremony, is
not at all to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ ;'neither
have they any more necessary relation to it than any other
two different spiritual duties.
But if it be said. That Jesus Christ calls the bread here
his body, and the wine his blood, therefore he seems to have
had a special relation to his disciples partaking of his €esh
aud blood in the use of this thing ;
I answer, His calling the bread his body, and the wine
his blood, would yet infer no such thing ; though it is not
denied but that Jesus Christ, in all things he did, yea, and
from the use of aU natural things, took occasion to raise the

OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OP CHRIST. 245
minds of his disciples and hearers to spirituals. Hence
from the woman of Samaria drawing water, he took occa
sion to tell her of that living water, which " whoso drinketh
of shall never thirst;" which indeed is all one with his
blood here spoken of ; yet it will not follow that that well
or water had any necessary relation to the living water, or
the living water to it, etc. So Christ takes occasion, from
the Jews following him for the loaves, to tell them of this
spiritual bread and flesh of his body, which was more nec
essary for them to feed upon ; it will not therefore follow
that their following him for the loaves had any necessary
relation thereunto. So also Christ here, being at supper
with his disciples, takes occasion, from the bread and wine
which was before them, to signify unto them. That as that
bread which he brake unto them, and that wine which he
blessed and gave Unto them, did contribute to the preserv
ing and nourishing of their bodies, so was he also to give
his body and shed his blood for the salvation of their souls.
And therefore the very end proposed in this ceremony to
those that observe it is, to be a memorial of his death.
But if it be said, That the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 16, calls the
bread which he brake the communion of the body of Christ,
and the cup the communion of his bloody I do most wil
lingly subscribe unto it ; but do deny that this is under
stood of the outward bread ; for the apostle in this chapter
speaks not one word of that ceremony ; for having in the
beginning of it shown them how the Jews of old were
made partakers of the spiritual food and water, which was
Christ, and how several of them, through disobedience and
21*

246 PROPOSITION XIII.
idolatry, fell from that good condition, he exhorts them, by
the example of those Jews whom God destroyed of old, to
flee those evils ; showing them that they, to wit, the Cor
inthians, are likewise partakers of the body and blood of
Christ; of which communion they would rob themselves
if they did evil, because " they could not drink of the cup
of the Lord and the cup of devils, and partake of the Lord's
table and the table of devils," ver. 21, which shows that
he understands not here the using of outward bread and
wine ; because those that do drink the cup of devils, and
eat of the table of devils, yea, the wickedest of men, may
partake of the outward bread and outward wine.
But that which they most of all are always urging, is
from 1 Cor. xi., where the apostle calls the cup the " cup
of the Lord ; " and saith, " That they who eat of it and
drink it unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood of
the Lord ; " and ver. 29, Eat and drink their own damna
tion. Now his calling the cup " the cup of the Lord," and say
ing. They are guilty of the body and blood of Christ, and
eat their own damnation in not discerning the Lord's body,
etc., amounts to no more than this. That since the Corin
thians were in the use of this ceremony, and so performed
it as a religious act, they ought to do it worthily, or else
they should bring condemnation upon themselves. Now
this will not more infer the thing so practised by them to
be a necessary religious act obligatory upon others, than
when the apostle saith, Rom. xiv. 6, "He that regardeth
the day, regardeth it unto the Lord," it can be thence in-

OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 247
ferred that the days that some esteemed and observed did
lay an obligation upon others to do the same. But yet, as
he that esteemed a day, and placed conscience in keeping
it, was to regard it to the Lord, and so he was to do it
worthily ; and if he did it unworthily, he would be guilty
of the Lord's day, and so keep it to his own damnation ;
so also such as observe this ceremony of bread and wine,
it is to them the bread of the Lord, and the cup of the
Lord, because they use it as a reUgious act ; and forasmuch
as their end therein is to show forth the Lord's death, and
remember his body that was crucified for them, and his
blood that was shed for them, if they do it without that
due preparation and examination which every religious act
ought to be performed in, then, instead of truly remember
ing the Lord's death, and his body and his blood, they ren
der themselves guilty of it, as being in one spirit with
those that crucified him, and shed his blood, though pre
tending with thanksgiving and joy to remember it.
And that no more can be hence inferred, appears from
another saying of the same apostle, Rom. xiv. 23, " He
that doubteth is damned if he eat," etc., where he, speak
ing of those that judged it unlawful to eat flesh, etc., saith,
If they eat doubting, they eat their own damnation. Now
it is manifest from all this, that either the doing or forbear
ing of this was to another, that placed no conscience in it,
of no moment. So I say, he that eateth that which in his
conscience he is per.snaded it is not lawful for him to eat,
doth eat his own damnation ; so he also that placeth con
science in eating bread and wine as a religious act, if he do

248 PROPOSITION XIII.
it unprepared, and without that due respect wherein sucl:
acts should be gone about, he eateth and drinketh his own
damnation, not discerning the Lord's body, i. e., not mind
ing what he doth, to wit, with a special respect to the Lord,
and by way of special commemoration of the death of
Christ. We find this ceremony only mentioned in scripture in
four places, to wit, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and by Paul
Matt. xxvi. to the Corinthians. Matthew and Mark give
Mark xiv ^'^Ij ^^^ accouut of the mattei'-of-fact, without
Lake xxii ^"^^ precept to do so afterwards ; simply declar-
'°- . ing, that Jesus at that time did desire them to
1 Cor. XI. ^
23, etc. eat of the bread, and drink of the cup ; to w-hich
Luke adds these words, " This do in remembrance of me."
If we consider this action of Christ with his apostles, there
will appear nothing for a foundation to such a superstruc
ture as many have sought to build upon it : for both Mat
thew and Mark express it as an act done by him as he was
eating. Matthew saith, " And as they were eating ; " and
Mark, " And as they did eat, Jesus took bread," etc. Now
this act was no singular thing, neither any solemn institu
tion of a gospel ordinance ; because it was a constant cus
tom among the Jews, as Paulus Riccius observes at length
in his Celestial Agriculture, that when they did eat the
passover, the master of the family did take bread, and bless
it, and breaking it, gave of it to the rest; and likewise tak
ing wine, did the same. Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all right
eousness, and also observed the Jewish feasts and customs.
used this also among his disciples; and as in most other thing?

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OP CHRIST. 249
he labored to draw their minds to a further thing, so in the
use of this he takes occasion to put them in mind of his
death and sufferings, which were shortly to be.
And that expression of Luke, " Do this in remembrance
of me," amounts to no more 'than this, that being the last
time that Christ did eat with his disciples, he desired them,
that in their eating and drinking they might have regard
to him, and by the remembering of that opportunity, be
the more stirred up to foUow him diligently through suffer
ings and death, etc. But what man of reason, laying aside
the prejudice of education, and the influence of tradition,
will say, that this account of the matter-of-fact given by
Matthew and Mark, or this expression of Luke, to "do
that in remembrance of him," will amount to these conse
quences which the generality of Christians have sought to
draw from it ; as calling it the principal seal of the cove
nant of grace, by which all the benefits of Christ's death
are sealed to believers.
But to give a further evidence, how these consequences
have not any foundation from the practice of that ceremony,
nor from the words following, "do this," etc., let us con
sider another of the like nature, as it is at length expressed
by John, chap. xiii. 4, 5, 8, 12, 14, 15 : " Jesus riscth from
supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and
girded himself: after that, he poureth water into a basin,
and began* to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded : Peter said unto
him. Thou shalt never wash my feet: Jesus answered him,
If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. So after

250 PROPOSITION XIII.
he had washed their feet, he said. Know ye what I have
done to you ? If I then your Lord and Master have washed
your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet : for I
have given you an example, that ye should do as I have
done to you."
As to which, let it be observed, that John relates this
passage to have been done at the same time with the other
of breaking bread ; both being done the night of the pass-
over, after supper. If we regard the narration of this, and
the circumstances attending it, it was done with far more
solemnity, and prescribed far more punctually and particu
larly than the former. It is said only, "As he was eating,
he took bread ; " but here he rose up, he laid by his garments,
he girded himself, he poured out the water, he washed their
feet, he wiped them with a towel ; he did this to all of them ;
which are circumstances surely far more observable than
those noted in the other. The former was a practice common
among the Jews, used by all masters of famiUes upon that
occasion ; but this, as to the manner, and person acting it,
to wit, for the master to rise up, and wash the feet of his
servants and disciples, was more singular and observable.
In the breaking of bread, and giving of wine, it is not
mentioned that he particularly put them into the hands of
all ; but breaking it, and blessing it, gave it the nearest,
and so they from hand to hand ; but here it is mentioned,
that he washed not the feet of one or two, but of many.
He saith not in the former, that if they do not eat of that
bread, and drink of that wine, they shall be prejudiced by
it; but here he saith expressly to Peter, that if he wash

OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OP CHRIST. 251
him not, he hath no part with him. In the former he saith,
as it were passingly. Do this in remembrance of me ; but
here he sitteth down again, he desires them to consider
what he hath done, tells them positively, that as he hath
done to them, so ought they to do to one another ; and yet
again, he redoubles that precept, by telling them, he has
given them an example, that they should do so likewise.
If we respect the nature of the thing, it hath as much
in it as either baptism or the breaking of bread ; seeing it
is an outward element of a cleansing nature, appUed to the
outward man, by the command and the example of Christ,
to signify an inward purifying. I would willingly propose
this seriously to men, who will be pleased to make use
of that understanding that God hath given them, and not
be imposed upon by the custom or tradition of others;
Whether this ceremony, if we respect either the time that
it was appointed in, or the circumstances wherewith it was
performed, or the command enjoining the use of it, hath
not as much to recommend it for a standing ordinance of
the gospel, as either water baptism, or bread and wine, or
any other of that kind ? If they say. That the former, of
washing the feet, was only a ceremony ; what have they,
whence they can show, that this breaking of bread is more ?
If they say, That the former was only a sign of humiUty and
purifying ; what have they to prove that this was more ?
If they say. That one was only for a time, and was no evan
gelical ordinance ; what hath this to make it such, that
the other wanted. Neither can anything be alleged, that
the one should cease, aud not the other; or the one continue,

252 PROPOSITION XIII.
and not the other, but the mere opinion of the affirmers ;
which by custom, education, and tradition hath begotten in
the hearts of people a greater reverence for, and esteem
of the one than the other.
What inconveniences have Christians brought upon
themselves, by superstitiously adhering to this ceremony!
Out of which difficulties it is impossible for them to extri
cate themselves, but by laying it aside, as they have done
others of the Uke nature. Por besides what is above-
mentioned, I would gladly know how from the words they
can be certainly resolved that these vvords " Do this " must
be understood to the clergy. Take, bless, and break this
bread, and give it to others ; but to the laity only. Take
and eat, but do not bless.
If it be said, That the clergy were only present ;
Then may not another from thence as easily infer, that
the clergy only ought to partake of this ceremony ; because
they were the apostles only then present, to whom it was
said. Do this ? But if this [Do this] be extended to all,
how comes it aU have not liberty to obey it, in both bless
ing, breaking, and distributing, as well as taking and eating?
Besides all these, even the Calvinist Protestants of Great
Britain could never yet accord among themselves about the
manner of taking it, whether sitting, standing, or kneeling :
whether it should be given to the sick, and those that are
ready to die, or not. Which controversies, though they
may be esteemed of smaU moment, yet have greatly con
tributed, with other things, to be the occasion not only of
much contention, but also of bloodshed and devastation.

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 253
Have we not reason, not finding the nature of this prac
tice to be obligatory upon us, more than those others which
our adversaries have laid aside, to avoid this confusion;
since those that use it can never agree, neither concerning
the nature, efficacy, nor manner of doing it ? And this
proceeds, because they take it not plainly, as it Hes in the
scripture. For would they take it as it lies, it would im
port no more, than that Jesus Christ at that time did thereby
signify unto them, that his body and blood was to be offered
for them; and desired them, that whensoever they did eat
or drink, they might do it in remembrance of him ; or with
a regard to him, whose blood was shed for them.
Now that the primitive church gathered immediately
after his ascension, did so understand it, doth appear from
their use and practice ; as first. Acts ii. 42, " And they con
tinued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread," etc. This cannot be understood
of any other than of their ordinary eating ; for as nothing
else appears from the text, so the context makes it plain ;
for they had all things in common : and therefore it is said,
verse 46, " And they continuing daily with one accord in
the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did
eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."
Those who will not wilfully close their eyes, may see here,
that the breaking being joined with their eating, shows
that nothing else is here expressed, but that having all
things in common, and so continuing together, they also
did break their bread and eat their meat tpgether : in doing
whereof, I cannot doubt but they remembered the Lord : to
22

254 PROPOSITION XIII.
follow whom they had, with so much zeal and resignation,
betaken themselves.
This is further manifest from Acts vi. 2 ; for the apostles,
having the care and distribution of that money which the
beUevers, having sold their possessions, gave unto them,
and finding themselves overcharged with that burthen, ap
pointed deacons for that business, that they might give
themselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of
the word ; not leaving that to serve tables. This cannot
be meant of any sacramental eating, or religious act of
worship ; seeing our opposers make the distributing of that
the proper act of ministers, not of deacons : and yet there
can be no reason alleged, that that breaking of bread, which
they are said to have continued in, and to have done from
house to house, was other than those tables which the apos
tles served ; but here gave over, as finding themselves over
charged with it.
Now as the increase of the disciples did incapacitate the
apostles any more to manage this, so it would seem their
further increase, and dispersing in divers places, hindered
the continuance of that practice of having things in com
mon ; but notwithstanding, so far at least to remember or
continue that ancient community, they did at certain times
come together, and break bread together. Hence it is said,
Acts XX. 7, on Paul's coming to Troas, that " upon the first
day of the week, when the disciples came together to break
bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the
morrow, and continued his speech until midnight." Here
is no mention made of any sacramental eating ; but only

OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 265
that Paul took occasion from their being together to preach
unto' them. These words joined together [and when he
had broken bread, and eaten, and talked] show it was no
religious act of worship, but only an eating for bodily re
freshment, for which the Christians used to meet together
some time ; and doing it in God's fear, and singleness of
heart, doth notwithstanding difference it from the eating or
feasting of profane persons.
But let it be observed, that in all the Acts there is no
other nor further mention of this matter. But if that cere
mony had been some solemn sacrifice, as some will have it,
or such a special sacrament as others plead it to be ; it
is strange that that history, which in many less things
gives a particular account of the Christians' behavior,
should have been so silent in the matter : only we find that
they used sometimes to meet together to break bread and
eat. Now as the early Christians began by degrees to de
part from that primitive purity and simplicity, so did they
also to accumulate superstitious traditions, and vitiate the
innocent practices of their predecessors, by the intermixing
either of Jewish or heathenish rites ; and likewise in the
use of this, abuses began very early to creep in among
Christians, so that it was needful for the apostle Paul to
reform t'jcm, and reprove them for it, as he doth at large,
1 Cor. xi., from verse 17 to the end. The apostle condemns
them, in that, because this custom of supping in general
was used among Christians to increase their love, and as a
memorial of Christ's supping with the disciples, they had
BO vitiated it as to eat it apart ; aud to come full, who had

256 PROPOSITION XIII.
abundance ; and hungry, who had little at home ; whereby
the very use and end of this practice was lost and perverted:
and therefore he blames them, that they did not either eat
this in common at home, or reserve their eating tiU they
came all together to the public assembly.
Because this custom of eating and drinking together some ¦
time, had its rise from Christ's act with the apostles, the
night he was betrayed, therefore the apostle proceeds, verse
23, to give them an account of that : " For 1 have received
of the Lord that which also I deUvered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread," etc. Those that understand the difference betwixt
a narration of a thing, and a command, cannot but see, if
they will, that there is no command in this place, but only
an account of matter-of-fact ; he saith not, I received of the
Lord, that as he took bread, so I should command it to you
to do so likewise ; there is nothing like this in the place :
yea, on the contrary, verse 25, where he repeats Christ's
imperative words to his apostles, he placeth them so as they
import no command ; " This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me:" and then he adds, " For as often as
ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's
death tiU he come :" but these words " as often" import no
more a command, than to say. As often as thou goest to
Rome, see the Capitol, will infer a command to me to go
thither. But whereas .they urge the last words, "Ye show forth
the Lord's death tiU he come ; " insinuating. That this im
ports a necessary continuance of that ceremony, until Christ
come at the end of the world to judgment ;

OP THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. 257
I answer ; They take two of the chief parts of the con
troversy here for granted, without proof. First, that " as
often" imports a command; the contrary whereof is shown;
neither will they ever be able to proye it. Secondly, That
this coming is to be understood of Christ's last outward
coming, and not of his inward and spiritual, that remains
to be proved : w^hereas the apostle might well understand
it of his inward coming and appearance, which perhaps
some of those carnal Corinthians, that used to come drunk
en together, had not yet known ; and others, being weak
among them, and inclinable to dote upon outwards, this
might have been indulged to them for a season, and even
used by those who knew Christ's appearance in Spirit (as
other things were), especially by the apostle, who became
weak to the weak, and all to all, that he might save some.
Several testimonies of scripture do suBiciently show,
that such external rites are no necessary part of the new
covenant dispensation, therefore not needful now to con
tinue, however they were for a season practised of old.
The first is Rom. xiv. 17, "For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in
the Holy Ghost." Another of the same apostle is yet more
plain. Col. U. 16, " Let no man therefore judge you in meat
or in drink," etc. " Which are a shadow of things to come:
but the body is of Christ." Then since our opposers con
fess, that their bread and wine is a sign or shadow : there
fore, according to the apostle's doctrine, we ought not to
be judged in the non-observation of it. But is it unfit
for those that are dead with Christ to be subject to such
22* R

258 PROPOSITION xiii.
ordinances ? See what he saith, verse 20, " Wherefore, if
ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world,
why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordi
nances (Touch not, taste not, handle not : which all are to
perish with the using) after the commandments and doc
trines of men ? "
But doth not this contending for the use of water, bread,
and wine, as necessary parts of the gospel worship, destroy
the nature of it, as if the gospel were a dispensation of
shadows, and not of the substance ? Whereas the apostle, in
that of the Colossians above mentioned, argues against the
use of these things, as needful to those that are dead and
arisen with Christ, because they are but shadows. And
since, through the whole Epistle to the Hebrews, he
argues with the Jews, to wean them from their old wor
ship, for this reason, because it was typical and figura
tive ; is it agreeable to right reason to bring them to
another of the same nature ? What ground from scrip
ture or reason can our opposers bring us, to evince that one
shadow or figure should point to another shadow or figure,
and not to the substance ? And yet they make the figure
of circumcision to point to water baptism, and the paschal
Iamb to bread and wine.
If any now at this day, from a true tenderness of spirit,
and with real conscience towards God, did practise this
ceremony in the same way, method, and manner as did the
primitive Christians recorded in scripture, I should not
doubt to affirm but they might be indulged in it, and the
Lord might regard them, and for' a season appear to them

OF THE BODY A.ND BLOOD OP CHRIST. 259
in the use of these ttings, as many of us have known him
to do to us in the time of our ignorance ; providing always
they did not seek to obtrude them upon others, nor judge
such as found themselves delivered from them, or that they
do not pertinaciously adhere to them. For w^e certainly
know that .the day is dawned, in which God hath arisen,
and hath dismissed all those ceremonies and rites, and is
only to be worshipped in Spirit, and that he appears to
them who wait upon him ; and that to seek God in these
things is, with Mary at the sepulchre, to seek the living
among the dead : for we know that he is risen, and revealed
in Spirit, leading his children out of these rudiments, that
they may walk with him in his light : to whom be glory
for ever. Amen.

PROPOSITION XIV.
CONCERNING THE POWER OP THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE IN
MATTERS PURELY RELIGIOUS, AND PERTAINING TO THB
CONSCIENCE.
SINCE God hath assumed to himself the power and do
minion of the conscience, who alone can rightly instruct
and govern it, therefore it is not lawful for any, whosoever,
Luke ix. by virtue of any authority or principality they
Matt. vii. 12, bear in the ffovernment of this world, to force
13, 29. °
Tit. iii. 10. the consciences of others ; and therefore all kill
ing, banishing, fining, imprisoning, and other such things
which are inflicted upon men for the alone exercise of their
conscience, or difference in worship or opinion, proceedeth
from the spirit of Cain the murderer, and is contrary to
the truth ; providing always, that no man, under the pre
tence of conscience, prejudice his neighbor in his life or
estate, or do anything destructive to, or inconsistent with,
human society ; in which case the law is for the trans
gressor, and justice is to be administered upon aU, without
resnect of persons.

The QUESTION is. Whether the civil magistrate hath power
to force men in things religious to do contrary to their coU'
260

THE POWER OF THB CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 261
science ; and if they will not, to pnni.sb thepi IclJldL^^'^^j
liberties, or lives ? This we hold in the negative.
But as we would have the magistrate to avoid this ex
treme of encroaching upon men's consciences, so on the
other hand we are far from joining with or strengthening
such libertines as would stretch the liberty of their con
sciences to the prejudice of their neighbors, or to the ruin
of human society. We understand therefore by matters
of conscience such as immediately relate betwixt God and
man, or men and men, that are under the same persuasion,
as to meet together and worship God in that way which
they judge is most acceptable unto him, and not to encroach
upon, or seek to force their neighbors, otherwise than by
reason, or such other means as Christ and his apostles used,
viz.: Preaching and instructing such as will hear and re
ceive it; but not at all for men, under the notion of conscience,
to do anything contrary to the moral and perpetual statutes
generally acknowledged by all Christians ; in which case
the magistrate may very lawfully use his authority. But
the liberty we lay claim to is such as the primitive church
justly sought under the heathen emperors, to wit, for men
of sobriety, honesty, and a peaceable conversation, to enjoy
the liberty and exercise of their conscience towards God
and among themselves, and to admit among them such aa
by their persuasion and influence come to be convinced of
the same truth with them, without being therefore molested
by the civil magistrate. Though we would not have men
hurt in their temporals, nor robbed of their privileges as
men and members of the commonwealth, because of their

262 PROPOSITION XIV-
inward persuasion ; yet we are far from judging that in the
church of God there should not be censures exercised against
such as fall into error, as well as such as commit open evils ;
and therefore we believe it may be very lawful for a Chris
tian church, if she find any of her members fall into any
error, after due admonitions and instructions according to
gospel order, if she find them pertinacious, to cut them off
from her fellowship by the sword of the Spirit, and deprive
them of those privileges which they had as fellow-mem
bers ; but not to cut them off from the world by the tem
poral sword, or rob them of their common privileges as
men, seeing they enjoy not these as Christians, or under
such a fellowship, but as men, and members of the crea
tion. That no man, by virtue of any power or principality
he hath in the government of this world, hath power over
the consciences of men, is apparent, because the conscience
of man is the seat and throne of God in him, of which
Gcd is the alone proper and infallible judge, who by his
power and Spirit can alone rectify the mistakes of con
science, and therefore hath reserved to himself the power
of punishing the errors thereof as he seeth meet.
This pretended power of the magistrate is inconsistent
with the nature of the gospel. It was contrary to the
nature of Christ's ministry to use any force or violence in
the gathering of souls to him. This he abundantly ex
pressed in his reproof to the two sons of Zebedee, who
would have been calling for fire from heaven to burn those
that refused to receive him : we see what Christ saith tr

THE POWER OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 263
them, " Ye know not what spirit ye are of," Luke ix. 55,
" For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives,
but to save them." Here Christ shows that such kind of
zeal was no ways approved of by him ; and such as think
to make way for Christ or his gospel by this means, do not
understand what spirit they are of. If it was not accord
ing to the wisdom of Christ, who was and is King of kings,
by outward force to constrain others to believe him or re
ceive him, do not they grossly offend him, who will needs
be wiser than he, and think to force men against their per
suasion to conform to their doctrine and worship ?
This foeoing of men's consciences is contrary to sound
reason and the very law of nature. For man's understand
ing cannot be forced by all the bodily sufferings another
man can inflict upon him, especially in matters spiritual
and supernatural. It is argument, and evident demon
stration of reason, together with the power of God reach-
uig the heart, that can change a man's mind from one
opinion to another, and not knocks and blows and such
Uke things, which may well destroy the body, but never
can inform the soul, which is a free agent, and must either
accept or reject matters of opinion as they are borne in
upon it by something proportioned to its own nature. To
sect to force minds in any other manner, is to deal with
men as if they were brutes, void of understanding. By
that course indeed men may be made hypocrites, but can
never be made Christians ; and surely the products of such
compulsion, even where the end is obtained, to wit, an out
ward assent or conformity, whether in doctrine or worship,

264 PROPOSITION XIV.
can be no ways acceptable to God, who desireth not any
sacrifice, except that which cometh thoroughly from the
heart, and will have no constrained ones : so that men, by
constraining force, are so far from being members of the
church, that they are made ten times more the servants of
Satan than before ; in that to their error is added hypocrisy,
the worst of evils in matters of religion, and that which
above all things the Lord's soul most abhors.
The ground of persecution is an unwillingness to suffer ;
for no man that will persecute another for his conscience,
would suffer for his own if he could avoid it, seeing his
principle obliges him, if he had power, by force to establish
that which he judges is the truth, and so to force others
to it.
The true, faithful, and Christian suffering is for men to
profess what they are persuaded is right, and so practise
and perform their worship towards God, as being their true
right so to do ; and neither to do more in that, because of
outward encouragement from men ; nor any whit less, be
cause of the fear of their laws and acts against it. Thus
for a Christian man to vindicate his just Uberty with so
much boldness, and yet innocency, will in due time, though
through blood, purchase peace ; as this age hath in some
measure experienced, and many are witnesses of it ; which
yet shall be more apparent to the world, as truth takes
place in the earth.
But of this excellent patience and sufferings, the wit
nesses of God, in scorn caUed Quakers, have given a man
ifest proof : for so soon as God revealed his truth among

THE POWER OP THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 265
fhem, without regard to any opposition whatsoever, or
what they might meet with, they went up and down, a?
they were moved of the Lord, preaching and propagating
the truth in market-places, highways, streets, and public
temples, though daily beaten, whipped, bruised, haled, and
imprisoned therefor. And when there was anywhere a
church or assembly gathered, they taught them to keep
their meetings openly, and not to shut the door, nor do it
by stealth, that all rnight know it, and those who would
might enter. And as hereby all just occasion of fear of
plotting against the government was fully removed, so this
their courage and faithfulness in not giving over their meet
ing together (but more especially the presence and glory
of God manifested in the meeting being terrible to the con
sciences of the persecutors), did so weary ont the malice
of their adversaries, that oftentimes they were forced to
leave their work undone. For when they came to break
up a meeting, they were obliged to take every individual
out by force, they not being free to give up their liberty by
dissolving at their command : and when they were haled
out, unless they were kept forth by violence, they presently
returned peaceably to their place. Tea, when sometimes
the magistrates have pulled down their meeting-houses,
they have met the next day openly upon the rubbish, and
so by innocency kept their possession and ground, being
properly their own, and their right to meet and worship
God being not forfeited to any. As this patient but yet
courageous way of suffering made the persecutors' work
very heavy and wearisome unto them, so the courage and
23

266 PROPOSITION XIV.
patience of the sufferers, using no resistance, nor bringing
any weapons to defend themselves, nor seeking any ways
revenge upon such occasions, did secretly smite the hearts
of the persecutors, and made their chariot wheels go on
heavily. Glory to God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that now these
twenty -five years, since we were known to be a distinct and
separate people, hath given us faithfully to suffer for his
name, without shrinking or fleeing the cross ; and what
liberty we now enjoy, it is by his mercy, and not by any
outward working or procuring of our own, but it is He has
wrought upon the hearts of our opposers.

PROPOSITION XV.
CONCERNING SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS, ETC.
SEEING the chief end of all religion is to redeem men
from the spirit and vain conversation of this world, and
to lead into inward cornmunion with God, before Ephes. v. ii.
whom if we fear always we are accounted happy ; l^^^'^'^'
therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, J^r. x. 3.
A Q+s T 26
both in word and deed, are to be rejected and Matt. xv. is.
forsaken by those who come to this fear ; such ^°'- "• '•
as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings
of the body, and such other salutations of that kind, with
all the foolish and superstitious formalities attending them ;
all which man hath invented in his degenerate state, to feed
his pride in the vain pomp and glory of this world : as also
the unprofitable plays, frivolous recreations, sportings, and
gamings, which are invented to pass away the precious
time, and divert the mind from the witness of God in the
heart, and from the living sense of his fear, and from that
evangelical spirit wherewith Christians ought to be .eav-
ened and which leads into sobriety, gravity, and godly
fear ; in which as we abide, the blessing of the Lord is felt
to attend us in those actions in which we are necessarily
engaged, in order to the taking care for the sustenance of
the outward man. 267

268 PROPOSITION XV.
Having hithekto treated of the principles of religion,
both relating to doctrine and worship, I am now to speak
of some practices which have been the product of this prin
ciple, in those witnesses whom God hath raised up in this
day to testify for his truth.
There are some things, which most plead for the lawful
ness of and allow themselves in, as no ways inconsistent
with the Christian religion, which we have found to be no
ways lawful unto us, and have been commanded of the
Lord to lay them aside ; though the doing thereof hath
occasioned no small sufferings and buffetings, and hath
procured us much hatred and malice from the world.
I. That it is not lawful to give to men such flattering
titles, as Your Holiness, Your Majesty, Your Emineney,
Your Excellency, Your Grace, Your Lordship, Your Hon
or, etc., nor use those flattering words, commonly called
Compliments. II. That it is not lawful for Christians to kneel, or pros
trate themselves tO any man, or to bow the body, or to
uncover the head to them.
III. That it is not lawful for a Christian to use super
fluities in apparel, as are of no use save for ornament and
vanity. IV. That it is not lawful to use games, sports, plays,
'nor among other things comedies among Christians, under
the notion of recreations, which do not agree with Chris
tian silence, gravity, and sobriety ; for laughing, sperting
gaming, mocking, jesting, vain talking, etc., is not Chris.
tian Uberty, nor harmless mirth.

OF SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 269
V. That it is uot lawful for Christians to swear at all
under the gospel ; not only not vainly, and in their common
discourse, but even not in judgment before the magistrate.
VI. That it is not lawful for Christians to resist evil, or
to war or flght in any case.
I WOULD NOT HAVE any judge, that hereby we intend to
destroy the mutual relation that either is betwixt prince
and people, master and servants, parents and children ; nay,
not at aU : we shall evidence that our principle in these
things hath no such tendency, and that these natural rela
tions are rather better established, than any ways hurt by
it. Next, Let not any judge, that from our opinion in these
things, any necessity of levelling will follow, or that all
men must have things in common. Our principle leavfes
every man, to enjoy that peaceably, which either his own
industry, or his parents, have purchased to him ; only he is
thereby instructed to use it aright, both for his own good
and that of his brethren ; and all to the glory of God : in
which also his acts are to be voluntary, and no ways con
strained. And further, we say not hereby, that no man
may use the creation more or less than another : for we
know, that as it hath pleased God to dispense it diversely,
giving to some more, and some less, so they may use it
accordingly. The several conditions, under which men are
diversely stated, together with their educations answering
thereunto, do sufficiently show this : the servant is not the
same way educated as the master ; nor the tenant as the
landlord ; nor the rich as the poor ; nor the prince as the
peasant. Now, though it be not lawful for any, however
23*

270 proposition xv.
great abundance they may have, or whatever thefr educa
tion may be, to use that which is merely superfluous ; yet
seeing their education has accustomed them thereunto, and
their capacity enables them so to do without being profuse
or extravagant, they may use things better in their kind
than such whose education hath neither accustomed them
to such things, nor their capacity will reach to compass
them. For it is beyond question, that whatever thing the
creation affords is for the use of man, and the moderate use
of them is lawful ; yet they may be unlawful to some and
not to others. The safe place is, for such as have fulness,
to watch over themselves, that they use it moderately, and
rescind all superfluities ; being willing, as far as they can,
to help the need of those to whom Providence hath allotted
a smaller allowance. Let the brother of high degree re
joice, in that he is abased ; and such as God calls in a low
degree, be content with their condition, not envying those
brethren who have greater abundance ; knowing they have
received abundance, as to the inward man, which is chiefly
to be regarded ; and that as to the inward and spiritual
fellowship of the saints, they become the brethren and
companions of the greatest and richest: and in this re
spect, Let him of low degree rejoice that he is exalted.
These things premised, I would ask all such as choose
to be Christians indeed, whether it would not greatly con
tribute to the commendation of Christianity, and to the
increase of the life and virtue of Christ, if aU superfluous
titles of honor, profuseness, and prodigality in meat and
apparel, gaming, sporting, and playing, were laid aside and

of salutations and RECREATIONS. 271
forborne? And whether such as lay them aside, m so
doing, walk not more like the disciples of Christ and his
apostles, than such as use them ? Whether the laying
them aside would hinder any from being good Christians ?
Or if Christians might not be better without them than
with them ? God hath made it manifest in this age, that
by discovering the evil of such things, and leading his wit
nesses out of them and to testify against them, he hath
produced effectually in many that mortification and abstra,c-
tion from the love and cares of this world, who daily are
conversing in the world, but inwardly redeemed out of it,
which was judged could only be obtained by such as were
shut up in cloisters and monasteries. Thus much in
general. As TO THE FIRST WO affirm positively. That it is not law
ful for Christians either to give or receive these titles of
honor, as. Your Holiness, Your Majesty, Your Excellency,
Your Emineney, etc. These titles are no part of that
obedience which is due to magistrates or superiors. We
find not that in the scripture any such titles are used,
either under the law or the gospel. Their use lays a neces
sity upon Christians frequently to lie ; because the persons
obtaining these titles, either by election or hereditarily,
may frequently be found to have nothing really in them
deserving them. It is apparent, and cannot be denied by
any, but that those virtues are not in many of the persons
expressed by the titles they bear. Such as are truly vir
tuous, must not be styled by their virtues, because not
privileged by the princes of this world ; and such as have

272 proposition xv.
them not, must be so called, because they have obtained a
patent so to be : and all this is done by those who profess
to be his followers, that commanded his disciples, Not to
be called of men, Master ; and told them, such could not
believe as received honor one from another, and sought not
the honor which cometh from God only.
The Christians speak to the apostles without any such
denomination as. If it4)lease Your Grace, Your Holiness,
Your Lordship, nor Your Worship ; thej'- are neither called.
My Lord Peter, nor My Lord Paul ; nor yet Master Peter,
nor Master Paul ; nor Doctor Peter, nor Doctor Paul ; but
singly Peter and Paul ; and that not only in the scripture,
but for some hundreds of years after : so that this appears
to be a manifest fruit of the apostasy. For if these titles
arise either from the office or worth of the persons, it will
not be denied, but the apostles deserved them better than any
now that call for them. But the case is plain ; the apostles
had the holiness, the excellency, the grace ; and because
they were holy, excellent, and gracious, they neither used,
nor admitted of such titles. As to that title of Majesty,
usually ascribed to princes, we do not find it given to any
such in the holy scripture ; but that it is specially and pe
culiarly ascribed unto God.
All THESE TITLES and styles of honor are to be rejected
by Christians, because they are to seek the honor that comes
from above, and not the honor that is from below : but these
honors are not that honor that comes from above, but are
from below. For judge. Is it the meek and innocent Spirit
of Christ that covets that honor ? Is it that Spirit that

OF salutations AND RECREATIONS. 273
must be of no reputation in this world, that has its con
versation in heaven, that comes to have fellowship with the
sons of God ? Is it that Spirit, I say, that loves pmi. ii. 20.
that honor, that seeks after that honor, that pleads for the
upholding of that honor, that frets, and rages, and fumes,
when it is denied that honor ? If we look either to the
nature of this honor, the cause of it, the ways it is con
veyed, the terms in which it is deUvered, it cannot be used
by such as desire to be Christians in good earnest.
Now besides these general titles of honor, what gross
abuses are crept in among such as are called Christians in
the use of compliments, wherein not servants to masters,
or others, with respect to any such kind of relations, but
others who have no such relation, do say and write to one
another, at every turn. Your humble servant. Your most
obedient servant, etc. Such wicked customs have, to the
great prejudice of souls, accustomed Christians to lie ; and
to use lying is now come to be accounted civility. It is
strange, that such as pretend to scripture as their rule
should not be ashamed to use such things ; since Elihu,
who had not the scriptures, could say, Job xxxii. 21, 22 :
" Let me not accept any man's person, neither let me give
flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flatter
ing titles ; in so doing my Maker would soon take me away."
It will NOT BE unfit in this place to say something con
cerning the using of the singular number to one person ;
concerning which James Howel, in his epistle to thejiobility
of England, before the French and EngUsh Dictionary, takes
Qotice, " That both in France, and in other nations, the
S

274 PROPOSITION XV.
word thou was used in speaking to one ; but by succession
of time, when the Roman commonwealth grew into an
empire, the courtiers began to magnify the emperor (aa
being furnished with power to confer dignities and offices),
using the word you ; jea, and deifying him with more re
markable titles. So that the word you in the plural num
ber, together with the other titles and compellations of
honor, seem to have taken their rise from monarchical gov
ernment ; which afterwards, by degrees, came to be derived
to private persons." The same is witnessed by John
Maresius, of the French academy, in the preface of his
Clevis. " The use of the word you, when one person is
spoken to, was only introduced by these base flatterers of
men of latter ages, to whom it seemed good to use the
plural number to one person, that he may imagine himself
alone to be equal to many others in dignity and worth ;
from whence at last it eame to persons of lower quality."
Seeing it is manifest to us that this form of speaking to
men in the plural number doth proceed from pride, as well
as that it is in itself a lie, we found a necessity upon us to
testify against this corruption, by using the singular equally
unto all. And although no reason can be given why we
should be persecuted upon this account, especially by Chris
tians, who profess to follow the rule of scripture, whose
dialect this is ; yet it would perhaps seem incredible if I
should relate how much we have suffered for this thing.
Secondly, Next unto this of titles, the other part of honor
used among Christians is the kneeling, bowing, and uncov
ering of the head to one another.

OF SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 275
God, who is the creator of man, and he to whom he
oweth the dedication both of soul and body, is over all to
be worshipped and adored, and that not only by the spirit,
but also with the prostration of body. Now kneeling, bow
ing, and uncovering of the head, is the alone outward sig
nification of our adoration towards God, and therefore it is
not lawful to give it unto man. He that kneeleth, or pros
trates himself to man, what doth he more to God ? He
that boweth, and uncovereth his head to the creature, what
hath he reserved to the Creator ? Men being alike by cre
ation, though their several relations require from them
mutual services according to those respective relations, owe
not worship one to another, but all equally are to return it
to God : because it is to him, and his name alone, that every
knee must bow, and before whose throne the four and
twenty elders prostrate themselves. Therefore for men to
take this one from another, is to rob God of his glory : since
all the duties of relations may be performed one to another
without these kind of bowings, which therefore are no es
sential part of our duty to man, but to God. We see that
Peter refused it from Cornelius, saying. He was a man.
Yea, we see, that the angel twice refused this kind of bow
ing from John, Rev. xix. 10, and xxii. 9, for this reason,
" Because I am thy feUow-servant, and of thy brethren ; "
abundantly intimating that it is not lawful for fellow-ser
vants thus to prostrate themselves one to another : and in
this respect all men are fellow-servants.
These things being thus considered, it is remitted to the
Judgment of such as are desirous to be found Christiana

276 PROPOSITION XV.
indeed, wl ether we are worthy of blame for waiving it to
men. Let those then that will blame us consider whether
they might not as well accuse Mordecai of incivility, who
was no less singular than we in this matter. And foras
much as they accuse us herein of rudeness and pride, though
the testimony of our consciences in the sight of God be a
sufficient guard against such calumnies, yet there are of us
known to be .men of such education, as forbear not these
things for want of that they call good breeding ; and we
should be very void of reason to purchase that pride at so
dear a rate, as many have done the exercise of their con
science in this matter ; many of us having been sorely
beaten and buffeted, yea, and several months imprisoned,
for no other reason but because we could not so satisfy the
proud unreasonable humors of proud men as to uncover
our heads and bow our bodies. And this I can say boldly,
in the sight of God, from my own experience, and that of
many thousands more, that however small or fooUsh this
may seem, yet we behoved to choose death rather than do
it, and that for conscience' sake : and that in its being so
contrary to our natural spirits, there are many of us, to
whom the forsaking of these bowings and ceremonies was
as death itself ; which we could never have left, if we could
have enjoyed our peace with God in the use of them.
Though it be far from us to judge all those to whom God
hath not shown the evil of them under the like hazard ;
yet nevertheless we doubt not but to such as would prove
faithful witnesses to Christ's divine light in thefr con
sciences, God will also show the evil of these things.

OF SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 277
The third thing to be treated of, is the vanity and su
perfluity of apparel. We shall not say that all persons are
to be clothed alike, because it will perhaps neither suit their
bodies nor their estates. And if a man be clothed soberly,
and without superfluity, though they may be finer than that
which his servant is clothed with, we shall not blame him
for it : the abstaining from superfluities which his condi
tion and education have accustomed him to, may be in him
a greater act of mortification than the abstaining from finer
clothes in the servant, who never was accustomed to them.
The iniquity lies then here, First, When from a lust of
vanity, and a desire to adorn themselves, men and women,
not content with what their condition can bear, or their
country easily affords, do stretch to have things, that from
their rarity, and the price that is put upon them, seem to
be precious, and -so. feed their lust the more ; and this all
sober men of all sorts will readily grant to be evil. Sec
ondly, When men are not content to make a true use of
the creation, whether the things be fine or coarse, and do
not satisfy themselves with what need and conveniency
call for, but add thereunto things merely superfluous.
Those that will needs so adorn themselves in the use of
their clothes, as to beset them with things having no real
use or necessity, but merely for ornament sake, do openly
declare that the end of it is either to please their lust, for
which end these things are chiefly invented and contrived,
or otherwise to gratify a vain and ostentatious mind ; and
it is obvious these are their general ends in so doing. Yea,
we see how easily men are puffed up with their garments,
24

278 PROPOSITION XV.
and how proud and vain they are, when adorned to their
mind. Now how far these things are below a true Chris
tian, and how unsuitable, needs very little proof. Hereby
those who love to be gaudy and superfluous in their clothes,
show they concern themselves little with mortiflcation and
self-denial, and that they study to beautify their bodies
more than their souls ; which prove they think little upon
mortality, and so certainly are more nominal than real
Christians. The scripture severely reproves such practices, both com
mending and commanding the contrary ; as Isa. iii., how
severely doth the prophet reprove the daughters of Israel
for their tinkling ornaments, their cauls, and their round
tires, their chains and bracelets, etc., and yet is it not strange
to see Christians allow themselves in these things, from
whom a more strict and exemplary conversation is required?
Christ desires us not to be anxious about our clothing. Matt.
vi. 25, and to show the vanity of such as glory in the
splendor of their clothing, tells them. That even Solomon,
in all his glory, was not to be compared to the lily of the
field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is east into tbe oven.
But surely they make small reckoning of Christ's words
and doctrine that are so curious in their clothing, and so
industrious to deck themselves, and so earnest to justify it,
and so enraged when they are reproved for it.
The apostle Paul is very positive in this respect, 1 Tim.
ii. 9, 10, " I will therefore in like manner also that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness
and sobriety, and not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls

OF SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 279^
or costly array, but (which beeometh women professing
godliness) with good works." To the same purpose saith
Peter, 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4, " Whose adorning let it not be that.
outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold,
or of putting oh of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man
of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the orna
ment of a meek and quiet spirit," etc. Here both the
apostles do very positively and expressly assert that the
adorning of Christian women ought not to be outward, nor
consist in the apparel : and that they ought not to use the
plaiting of the hair, or ornaments, etc., which was at that
time the custom of the nations. But is, it not strange, that
such as make the scripture their rule, and pretend they are
guided by it, should not only be so generally in the use of
these things, which the scripture so plainly condemns, but
also should attempt to justify themselves in so doing ? For
the apostles not only commend the forbearance of these
things, as an attainment commendable in Christians, but
condemn the use of them as unlawful ; and yet may it not
seem more strange, that in contradiction to the apostles'
doctrine, as if they had resolved to slight their testimony,
they should condemn those that out of conscience apply
themselves seriously to follow it, as- if in so doing they
were singular, proud, or superstitious ?
Fourthly, Let us consider the use of games, sports,
comedies, and other such things-, commonly used by all the
several sorts of Christians, under the notion of divertise-
ment and recreation, and see whether these things can con
sist with the seriousness, gravity, and Godly fear, which

280 PROPOSITION XV.
the gospel calls for. The apostle commands us. That
" whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we do it all
to the glory of God." But I judge none wiU affirm, That
in the use of these sports and games God is glorified : if
any should so say, they would declare they neither knew
God nor his glory. And experience abundantly proves,
that in the practice of these things men mind nothing less
than the glory of God, and nothing more than the satis
faction of their own carnal lusts, wills, and appetites. The
apostle desires us, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 31 : Because the time is
short, that they that buy should be as though they pos
sessed not ; and they that use this world, as not abusing
it, etc. But how can they be found in the obedience of
this precept that plead for the use of these games and sports,
who, it seems, think the time so long, that they cannot flnd
occasion enough to employ it, neither in taking care for
their souls, nor yet in the necessary care for thefr bodies ;
but invent these games and sports to pass it away.
The apostle Peter desires us, " To pass the time of our
sojourning here in fear," 1 Pet. i. 17. But will any say,
That such as use dancing and comedies, carding and dicing,
do so much as mind this precept in the use of these things?
There is no duty more frequently commanded, nor more
incumbent upon Christians, than the fear of the Lord, to
stand in awe before him, to walk as in his pre,-<ence ; but if
such as use these games and sports will speak from their
consciences, they can, I doubt not, experimentaUy declare,
that this fear is forgotten in their gaming ; and if God by
his light secretly touch them, or mind them of the vanity

OP SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 281
of their way, they strive to shut it out, and use their gaming
as an engine to put away from them that troublesome guest,
aud thus make merry over the Just One, whom they have
slain and crucified in tnemselves.
But further, if Christ's reasoning be to be heeded, who
saith. Matt. xii. 35, 36: That "the good man, ont of the
good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things ; and
an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil
things," and that " of every idle word we shall give an ac
count in the day of judgment," it may be easily gathered
from what treasure these inventions come ; and it may be
easily proved, that it is from the evil, and not the good.
Let men that believe their souls are immortal, and that
there will be a day of judgment in which these words of
Christ will be accomplished, answer me, how all these will
make account in that great and terrible day, of all these
idle words that are necessarily made use of about dancing,
gaming, carding, and comedies acting ? And yet how is
it that by Christians not condemning these things, but
allowing of them, many that are accounted Christians take
up their whole time in them, yea, make it their trade and
employment ? And it cannot be denied, as being obviously
manifest by experience, that such as are masters of these
occupations, and are most delighted in them, if they be not
open Atheists and profligates, are such at best as make
religion or the care of their souls their least business. Now
if these things were discountenanced by Christians, as in
consistent with their profession, it would remove these
things : for these wretches would be necessitated then to
24*

282 PROPOSITION XV.
betake themselves to some honest livelihood, if they were
not fed and upholden by these. And as hereby a great
scandal and stumbling-block would be removed from off
the Christian name, so also would that in part be takcL
out of the way which provokes the Lord to withhold his
blessing, and by occasion of which things the minds of
many remain chained in darkness, and drowned in lust,
sensuality, and worldly pleasures, without any sense of
God's fear, or their own souls' salvation.
But they object. That men's spirits could not subsist if
they were always intent upon serious and spiritual matters,
and that therefore there is need of some divertisenient to
recreate the mind a little, whereby it, being refreshed, is
able with greater vigor to apply itself to these things.
We do not plead that men should be always in the same
intentiveness of mind, knowing how impossible it is, so
long as we are clothed with this tabernacle of clay. But
this will not allow us at any time so to recede from the
remembrance of God, and of our souls' chief concern, as
not still to retain a certain sense of his fear ; which cannot
be so much as rationally supposed to be in the use of these
things which we condemn. Now the neces.sary occasions
in which all are involved, in order to the care of the out
ward man^ are a relaxation of the mind from the more seri
ous duties ; and those are performed in the blessing, as the
mind is so leavened with the love of God, and the sense of
his presence, that even in doing these things the soul car-
rieth with it that divine influence and spiritual habit. Now
if any will plead, that for relaxation of mind, there may be

OF SALUTATIONS AHD RECREATIONS. 283
a liberty allowed beyond these things which are of abso
lute need to the sustenance of the outward man, I shall not
much contend against it ; provided these things be nOt such
as are wholly superfluous, or in their proper nature and ten
dency lead the mind into lust, vanity, and wantonness, as
being chiefiy contrived and framed for that end, or gener
aUy experienced to produce these effects. In all which
things we are not so to forget God, in whom we both live
and are moved. Acts xvii. 28, as not to have always some
secret reserve to him, and sense of his fear and presence ;
which also frequently exerts itself in the midst of these
things by some short aspiration and breathings.
Fifthly, the use of swearing is to be considered, -which
is so frequently practised almost among aU Christians ; not
only profane oaths among the profane, in their common
discourses, whereby the most holy name of God is in a
horrible manner daily blasphemed ; but also solemn oaths,
with those that have some show of piety ; whereof the
most part do defend swearing before the magistrate with
so great zeal, that not only they are ready themselves to
do it upon every occasion, but also have stirred up the
magistrates to persecute those who, out of obedience to
Christ, their Lord and master, judge it unlawful to swear ;
upon which a/:count not a few have suffered imprisonment
and the spoiling of their goods.
But considering these clear words of our Saviour, Matt.
v. 33, 34, "Again, ye have heard- that it hath been said
by them of old time. Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but
shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto

284 PROPOSITION XV.
you. Swear not at axl, neither by heaven," etc. "But
let your communication be yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for what
soever is more than these cometh of evil:" as also the
words of the apostle James, v. 12, " But above all things,
my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the
earth, neither by any other oath ; but let your yea be yea,
and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation : " I
say, considering these clear words, it is surprising how any
one that professeth the name of Christ can pronounce any
oath with a quiet conscience, far less to persecute other
Christians that dare not swear, because of their master
Christ's authority. Por Christ, First, proposeth it to us
negatively, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, nor by the
earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by thy head, etc. And again,
" Swear not by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other
oath." Secondly, he presseth it affirmatively, " But let
your communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay ; for what
soever is more than these, cometh of evil." And saith
James, " Lest ye fall into condemnation."
Which words both aU and every one of them do make
such a full prohibition, and so free of all exception, that it
is strange how men that boast the scripture is the rule of
their faith and life, can counterfeit any exception ! Cer
tainly reason ought to teach every one, that it is not law
ful to make void a general prohibition coming from God
by such opposition, unless the exception be as clearly and
evidently expressed as the prohibition. Neither is it to be
omitted that, without doubt, the most learned doctors of
each sect know that these fore-mentioned words were

OP SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 285
understood by the ancient fathers of the first three hundred
years after Christ to be a prohibition of all sorts of oaths.
It IS evident that Christ forbids somewhat that was
permitted under the law, to wit, to swear by the name of
God, because it was not lawful for any man to swear but
by God himself. And because he saith, "Neither by
heaven, because it is the throne of God ;" therefore he ex
cludes all other oaths, even those which are made by God ;
for he saith, chap, xxiii. 22, " He that shall swear by heaven,
sweareth by the throne, of God, and by him that sitteth
thereon :" which is also to be understood of the rest. And
that he might put the matter beyond all controversy, he
adds, "Neither by any other oath :" therefore seeing to
swear before the magistrate by God is an oath, it is here
without doubt forbidden.
It is objected. That by these words oaths by God's name
cannot be forbidden, because the Heavenly Father hath
commanded them ; for the Father and the Son are one,
which could not be, if the Son had forbid that which the
Father commanded.
I answer, They are indeed one, and cannot contradict
one another : nevertheless the Father gave many things to
the Jews for a time, because of their infirmity under the
old covenant, which had only a shadow of good things to
come, not the very substance of things, until Christ should
come, who was the substance, and by whose coming aU
these things vanished, to wit, sabbaths, circumcision, the
paschal lamb : men used then sacrifices, who lived in con
troversies with God, and one with another, which all are

286 PROPOSITION XV.
abnegated in the coming ofthe Son, who is the Substance,
Eternal Word, and Essential Oath and Amen, in whom
the promises of God are Yea and Amen : who came that
men might be redeemed out of strife, and might make an
end of controversy.
It is OBJECTED, That solemn oaths which God commanded,
cannot be here forbidden by Christ ; for he saith, that they
come from evil : but these did not come from evil ; for God
never commanded anything that was evil, or came from
evil. I answer, There are things which are good because com
manded, and evil because forbidden ; other things are com
manded because good, and forbidden because evil. As
circumcision and oaths, which were good when and be
cause they were commanded, and in no other respect ; and
again, when and because prohibited under the gospel, they
are evil.
And in all these Jewish constitutions, however cere
monial, there was something of good, to wit, in their
season, as prefiguring some good : as by circumcision, the
purifications, and other things, the holiness of God was
typified, and that the IsraeUtes ought to be holy, as their
God was holy. In the Uke manner oaths, under the shadows
and ceremonies, signified the verity of God, his faithfulness
and certainty ; and therefore that we ought in all things to
speak and witness the truth. But the witness of truth was
before all oaths, and remains when aU oaths are abolished :
and this is the morality of all oaths ; and so long as men
abide therein, there is no necessity or place for oaths.

OP SALUTATIONS AND REQREATIONS. 287
It is OBJECTED that the apostle Paul approves oaths used
among men, when he writes, Heb. vi. 16: "For men verily
swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to
them an end of all strife."
I answer; The apostle tells indeed in this place what
men at that time did, who lived in controversies and incre
dulity ; not what they ought to have done, nor what the
saints did, who were redeemed from strife and incredulity,
and had come to Christ, the Truth and Amen of God.
Moreover, he only alludes to a certain custom usual among
men, that he might express the firmness of the divine
promise, in order to excite in the saints so much the more
confidence in God promising to them ; not that he might
instigate them to swear against the law of God, or confirm
them in that ; no, not at all : for neither doth 1 Cor. ix. 24
teach Christians the vain races, whereby men oftentimes,
even to the destruction of their bodies, are wearied to ob
tain a corruptible prize ; so neither doth Christ, who is the
Prince of Peace, teach his disciples to fight, albeit he takes
notice, Luke xiv. 31, what it behoveth such kings to do
who are accustomed to fight, as prudent warriors therein.
It is no ways lawful for a Christian to swear, whom
Christ has called to his essential truth, which was before
all oaths, forbidding him to swear ; and on the contrary,
commanding him to speak the truth in all things, to the
honor of Christ who called him ; that it may appear that
the words of Us disciples may be as. truly believed as the
oaths of all the worldly men. Neither is it lawful for them
to be unfaithful in this, that they may please others, or that

288 PROPOSITION XV.
they may avoid their hurt : for thus the primitive Christians
for some ages remained faithful, who being required to
swear, did unanimously answer, I am a Christian, I do not
swear. Who needs to doubt, but that since Christ would
have his disciples attain the highest pitch of perfection, he
abrogated oaths, as a rudiment of infirmity, and in place
thereof established the use of truth ? Who can now think
that the holy martyrs and ancient fathers of the first three
hundred years so opposed themselves to oaths only that
they might rebuke vain and rash oaths, which were also
prohibited under the mosaical law ; and not also swearing
by the true God in truth and righteousness, which was
there commanded ?
Sixthly, The last thing to be considered is revenge
and war, an evil as opposite and contrary to the Spirit and
doctrine of Christ as Ught to darkness. Through contempt
of Christ's law the whole world is filled with violence, op
pression, murders, spoilings, burnings, devastations, and
all manner of lasciviousness and cruelty. And this finds
place, and is fomented, among those men that profess them
selves disciples of our peaceable Lord and master Jesus
Christ, who by exceUency is called the Prince of Peace,
and hath expressly prohibited his children aU violence;
and on the contrary, commanded them, that, according to
his example, they should foUow patience, charity, forbear
ance, and other virtues worthy of a Christian ?
Hear then what this great prophet saith, whom every
soul is commanded to hear, under the pain of being cut off
Matt, v., from verse 38 to the end of the chapter. For

OP SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 289
thus he saith : " Ye have heard that it hath been said. An
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth : But I say unto
yon, That ye resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any
man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel
thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that
asketh thee ; and from him that would borrow of thee, turn
not thou away. Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy ; but I say
unto you. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefuUy use you and persecute you ; that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven. For ho
maketh his siin to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye ? Do not even
the publicans the same ? And if ye salute your brethren
only, what do yon more than others ? Do not even the
publicans so ? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect."
James testifies. That wars and strifes come from the lusts,
which war in the members of carnal men ; but Christians,
that is, those that are truly saints, " have cruel- j;j,„gs j^ j
fied the flesh, with its affections and lusts;" Cai. ..24.
therefore they cannot indulge them by waging war. The
prophets Isaiah and Micah have expressly proph- i^^. ii. 4.
esied, That in the mountain of the house of the Mif-"-3-
Lord, Christ shaU judge the nations, and then "they shall
2-5 T

290 PROPOSITION »V,
beat their swords into ploughshares," etc. And the ancient
fathers of the first three hundred years after Christ did
affirm these prophecies to be fulfilled in the Christians of
their times.
Christ said, That "his kingdom is not of this world,"
John xviii ^^'^ therefore that his servants shall not fight ;
36. therefore those that fight are not his disciples
nor servants. He reproved Peter for the use of the sword,
saying, " Put up again thy sword into his place ; Matt, xxvi,
for all they that take the sword shall perish with ^^-
the sword."
The apostle admonisheth Christians, That they defend
Eom. xii. ^lot tbemsclves, neither revenge by rendering
17 to 21. gyjj j-Qj, g^.j] . ]jy^ give place unto wrath, because
vengeance is the Lord's. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. If thine enemy hunger, feed
MaTkviii. ^^^ i i^ ^^ thlrst, give him drink. Christ caUs
34- his children to bear his cross, not to crucify or
kill others ; to patience, not to revenge ; to truth and sim
plicity, not to fraudulent stratagems of war ; to flee the
glory of this world, not to acquire it by warlike endeavors ;
therefore war is altogether contrary unto the law and Spirit
of Christ.
Something is expressly forbidden by Christ, Matt. v. 38,
etc., which was granted to the Jews in their time, because
of their hardness ; and on the contrary, we are commanded
that singular patience and exercise of love which Moses
:ommanded not to his disciples. From whence TertulUan
saith well against Mare., " Christ truly teacheth a new

OF SALUTATIONS AND RECREATIONS. 291
patience, even forbidding the revenge of an injury ; which
was permitted by the Creator."
If it is OBJECTED, That defence is of natural right, and
that religion destroys not nature, I answer, Be it so ; but
to obey God, and commend ourselves to him in faith and
patience, is not to destroy nature, but to exalt and perfect
it; to wit, to elevate it from the natural to the supernatural
life, by Christ living therein, and comforting it, that it may
do all things, and be rendered more than conqueror.
It is as easy to obscure the sun at midday, as to deny
that the primitive Christians renounced all revenge and
war. And although this thing be so much known, yet it
is as well known that almost all the modern sects live in
the neglect and contempt of this law of Christ, and likewise
oppress others who in this agree not with them for con
science' sake towards God : even as we have suffered much
in our country, because we neither could ourselves bear
arms, nor send others in our place, nor give our money for
the buying of drums, standards, and other miUtary attire ;
and lastly, because we could not hold our doors, windows,
and shops close, for conscience' sake, upon such days as
fasts and prayers were appointed to desire a blessing upon,
a,nd success for, the arms of the kingdom or commonwealth
under which we Uve ; neither give thanks for the victories
acquired by the'effusion of much blood. By which forcing
of the conscience, they would have constrained our brethren,
living iu divers kingdoms at war together, to have implored
our God for contrary and contradictory things, and conse
quently impossible : for it is impossible that two parties
fighting together should both obtain the -victory. And

292 PROPOSITION XV.
because we cannot concur with them in this confusion,
therefore we are subject to persecution.
If IT BE OBJECTED, That the scriptures and old fathers, so
caUed, did only prohibit private revenge, not the use of
arms for the defence of our country, body, wives, children,
and goods when the magistrate commands it, seeing the
magistrate ought to be obeyed ; therefore although it be
not lawful for private men to do it of themselves, neverthe
less they are bound to do it by the command of the magis
trate ; I answer, If the magistrate be truly a Christian, or
desires to be so, he ought himself, in the first place, to obey
the command of his master, saying, " Love your enemies,"
etc., and then he could not command us to kiU them : but
if he be not a true Christian, then ought we to obey our
Lord and King, Jesus Christ, whom he ought also to obey :
for in the kingdom of Christ all ought to submit to his
laws, from the highest to the lowest.
But lastly, since nothing seems more contrary to man's
nature, (seeing of all things the defence of one's self seems
most tolerable ;) and as it is most hard to men, so it is the
most perfect part of the Christian religion, as that wherein
the denial of self and entire confidence in God doth most
appear ; and therefore Christ and his apostles left us hereof
a most perfect example. The present confessors of the
Christian name, who are not yet in the patient suffering
spirit, are not yet fitted for this form of Christianity, and
therefore cannot be undefending themselves until they
attain that perfection. But for such whom Christ has
brought hither, it is not lawful to defend themselves liy
arms, but they ought over aU to trust to the Lord.

THE CONCLUSION.
TF in God's fear, candid reader, thou appliest thyself to
-L consider this system of religion here delivered, with its
consistency and harmony, as well in itself as with the
scriptures of truth, I doubt not but thou wilt say with me
and many more, that this is the spiritual day of Christ's
appearance, wherein he is again revealing the ancient paths
of truth and righteousness. For thou mayest observe here
the Christian religion in all its parts truly established and
vindicated, as it is a living, inward, spiritual, pure, and
substantial thing, and not a mere form, show, shadow,
notion, and opinion, as too many have hitherto held it.
God hath raised for this end, and gathered us, that by us
he might confound the wisdom of the wise, and bring to
nought the understanding of the prudent ; and might, in
and by his own Spirit and power in a despised people (that
no flesh might glory in bis presence), pull down that dead,
dark, corrupt image, and mere shadow and shell of Chris
tianity wherewith Antichrist hath deceived the nations : for
which end he hath called us to be a flrst-fruits of those that
serve him, and worship him no more in the oldness of the
letter, but in the newness of the Spirit. The mouth of
the Lord hath spoken itl yea, he that hath arisen in a
small remnant shall arise and go on by the same arm of
25 * 2'*3

294 THE CONCLUSION.
power iu his spiritual manifestation, until he hath con
quered all his enemies, until all the kingdoms of the earth
become the kingdom of Christ Jesus.
Unto him that hath begun this work, not among the
> rich or great ones, but among the poor and small, and
hath revealed it not to the wise and learned, but unto
the poor, unto babes and suckUngs ; even to him, the
Only-wise and Omnipotent GOD, be honor, glory,
thanksgiving, and renown, from henceforth and for
ever. Amen. Hallc-lu-.lAH.

The Ehd.

E UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 08561 8040