muu r" Mnw23 / THE TKSTIMONY OP GEORGE FOX, WILLIAM PENN, ROBERT BARCLAY, AND THE EARLY FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS, TO THE NECESSITY OF THE PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD AND SAVI0UR""JESUS CHRIST FOR 'a*... OF "THE WORLD. -* SAVI0UR""JESUS CHRIST FOR THE. SINS .*> COMPILED BY JOSEPH E. MAULE. "Thia is Ufe eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."-rJ0HN' xvii, 3. NW^^. ^ I Philadklphia : 1 , ' 1893. THE TESTIMONY OP GEORGE FOX, WILLIAM PENN, ROBERT BARCLAY, AND THE EARLY FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS, TO THE NECESSITY OF THE PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD. COMPILED BY JOSEPH E. MAULE. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou haat sent."— John xvii, 3. Philadklphia : 1893. Approved by the Committee on Publications of the General Meeting of Friends for Pennsylvania, New .Tersey, Delaware, &c., 10th mo. 26th, 1893. Edward H. Fostbe, Clerk. Testimonies to the Divinity and Atonement OF OUR Saviour. " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." — John, iii, 16. " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." — John, iii,. 36. " This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." — John, xvii, 3. " I am the way, the truth and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." — John, xiv, 6. " If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." — John, viii, 24- " Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." — Matt., xi, 27. The above are the sayings of our Holy Redeemer, of whom the apostle Paul testifies : — " For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," — Gol., ii, 9, and, " Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." — I. Cor., XV, 3. Strong efi'orts have been made of latter time, to induce people to believe that George Fox, William Penn and the early Friends did not hold to the doctrine of the necessity of the Propitiatory Sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the cross for the redemption of mankind ; thus doing them great injustice; for all who reject that great sacrifice for sins, are not such as hold the doctrines of the early Friends. 4 An essay on The Faith of the Society of Friends, prepared for the Congress of Religions at Chicago, and recently published in the Friends' Intelligencer and in the Public Ledger of Philadelphia, conveys a very erroneous impression regarding the early Friends, as though they did not believe in the Divinity and Atonement of our Saviour. From this essay the following extracts are taken : " If it were needful to state more precisely and more com pactly the faith of the Friends, I should say — and I speak only as an individual member — that it may be given under five headings. The first of these is fundamental to all religion. The second is the distinctive doctrine of Friends, without which there can be no Quakerism. And it, and the statements which follow it, as they vary from the declared creeds of other religious bodies, separate and differentiate Friends from the ' Churches ' generally. I will call them The First Five Principles of Quakerism. First — The Supreme Being Second — The Divine Immanence Third — The Scriptures Fourth — The Divi.riity of Christ. Convinced that the Divine nature, the Christ spirit, the Word ' which was in the beginning,' dwelt in Jesus in an unparalleled, and to our finite perceptions, an immeasurable degree, we regard him (as John G. Whittier has formulated it) as ' the highest possible manifestation of God in man.' Fiith— r/(e Christ Rule in Daily Life." And just previously to this, it is said, that whatever " in the theologies of men " " proceeds in harmony " with the idea of " a benignant and merciful God " — " a God of love " — '¦ proceeds on the line of Quakerism ; and contrariwise, whatever scheme of doctrine is built upon the conception of an angry and aggrieved Deity, demanding to be appeased and propitiated, has no logical or natural relation to it. But it is true that as to this some Friends may dilfer. In doctrine it is hard to see eye to eye. Is there any church, where the mind is free, in which belief is uniform." Let the honest inquirer read the testimony of the early Friends themselves to the necessity for what our Holy Redeemer did for us without us, for our salvation ; and he may be convinced they were full believers in the necessity of the death and sufferings of Christ Jesus for the 'restoration of lost and fallen man; as well as in the Light of Christ within; and that Christ Jesus, who died on the cross, is the same as He who rose from the dead, and ascended to the glory He had with the Father before the world was, to whom all power is given in Heaven and on earth. He said to his servant John in Revelations, " I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell and of death." He died not as He was God, but died as He was man, as George Fox said ; and by that one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Heb. X, 14-.) As we yield obedience to the inshinings of His light, spirit and grace to our souls, thereby — and thereby only — can we savingly realize that God is love. George Fox. Journal, 164-4- — " This priest Stevens asked me. Why Christ cried out upon the cross, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ' ? and why he said, ' If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will, but thine be done'? I told him, at that time, the sins of all mankind were upon Him, and their iniquities and transgressions, with which He was wounded ; which He was to bear and to be an offering for, as He was man, but died not, as He was God ; so, in that He died for all men, tasting death for every man. He was an offering for the sins of the whole world. This I spoke, being at that time, in a measure, sensible of Christ's sufferings." 1686.—" Christ took upon him the seed of Abraham ; he doth not say, the corrupt seed of the Gentiles. So, according to the flesh, He was of the holy seed of Abraham and David, and His holy body and blood was an offering and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, as a Lamb without blemish, whose flesh saw no corruption. By the one offering of Himself, in the New Testament, or New Covenant, he hath put an end to all the offerings and sacrifices amongst the Jews in the Old Testament. Christ, the holy Seed, was crucified, dead and buried, according to the flesh, and raised again the third day, and his flesh saw no corruption. Though He was crucified in the flesh, yet quickened again by the Spirit, and is alive, and liveth for evermore, and hath all power in Heaven and earth given to him, and reigneth over all, and is the one Mediator between God and man, even the man Christ Jesus." William Dewsbury. 1656 — In a work entitled "Christ Exalted," etc., he makes the following reply to an opponent : " This charge is false as the other, in the presence of God, we witness against thee ; no other Christ we bear testimony of, to be the salvation of lost man and woman, but that Christ, according to Scripture testimony, who was born of the Virgin, and made a good confession before Pilate, and suffered at Jerusalem, and rose again the third day, and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God : and this Christ we witness, the true light, who lighteth ever)' one that comes into the world, and saith, ' I stand at the door and knock ; who opens, I will come into liim, and sup with him and he with me ; ' Rfv. iii, 20. And we wit ness him faithful ; and as many as receive him, to them, He gives power to become the sons of God ; and this is the condemnation of all, because they believe not in Him. John xii." Edward Burrough. 1668 — " Again, concerning Christ, we believe, that He is one with the Father, and was with him before the world was ; and what the Father worketh, it is by the Son ; for He is the arm of God's salvation, and the very power and wis dom of the Creator, and was, is, and is to come, without beginning or end. And we believe, that all the prophets gave testimony of Him, and that He was made manifest in Judea and Jerusalem, and did the work of the Father, and was persecuted of the Jews, and was crucified by his ene mies, and that He was buried and rose again, according to the Scriptures." 1659. — " Jesus Christ died and rose again and ascended according to the Scriptures, this we do believe : and Christ was and is the substance, the end of all signs and examples, yet was he an Example to the saints; and the Apostle exhorted to walk as they had Christ for an example; and while He was in the world. He did, and spoke, and acted many things, as parables, signs, and examples, the substance of which is to be received in the saints, and known by them through the Spirit; and we believe saints are justified by Christ, and through faith in Him which was, and is, and is to come, who is blessed forever. And none are justified by his death and suffering and blood without them, but who witness Christ within them ; for all are reprobates, and to be condemned, and cannot be justified, that have not Christ in them ; as thou mayest read, except Christ be in you, you are reprobates. And all that believe in Christ and receive Him, they are healed through his sufferings and stripes ; for He sanctifies them, and gives them remission of sin, and jus tifies them, and in Him the saints are complete, and the new man, the regenerate, is justified ; and the old man is in the degeneration, and knows not Christ in him, and hath not received him, but only heard of him without him, and believes the relation ; but this faith doth not justify ; for all the false Christians upon earth have this faith ; but that faith alone justifies, which gives to receive Christ, and him to live in us and to dwell in us by that faith." Francis Howgill. The Heart of New England Hardened. 1659. — " We say, according to the Scripture of Truth, and not according to Ahy fallacy, that in the man, Christ, did the fullness of the Godhead dwell ; and God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; and He saith, I and my Father are one ; and the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, subsist in one eter nal power, life and glory ; which thou with all thy stupid generation, are ignorant of. And that Christ we acknow ledge, is such a Christ as is able to save to the utmost, them that come unto Him, and receive Him, and believe in Him ; and is such a Christ as is able to raise them that have been dead, and such a Christ as giveth eternal life to them that. believe." " When we say, Christ manifest in the flesh, we say, that holy thing which was brought forth and born of a virgin, and conceived of the Holy Ghost, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells, in whom the eternal power of the Father was manifested, that He was the Christ which was manifested in the flesh and justified in the spirit, preached among the Gentiles, seen of angels, and received up into glory ; and this is according to the Scriptures of Truth, and thy judgment must be judged." George Whitehead. The Path of the Just Cleared. 1655. — " ' Before Abraham was, I am ; ' who was in the beginning ; which was the Word, by which all things were made; which Word became flesh, and dwelt among the disciples, and suffered at Jerusalem, and witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate ; whom Pilate delivered up to the Jews and the chief priests and elders, whom they mocked and despitefully used, and put to death concerning the flesh ; but is raised up by 9 the Spirit and ascended into glory ; which glory He prayed for, even that glory whereby He was at first by his Father glorified in, wherein He is glorified in his saints, and is God over all, blessed for ever." 1692. — " We sincerely profess and declare in the sight of God and men, that we do faithfully believe and profess the divinity and humanity — or manhood — of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God ; and that in the fullness of time He took flesh, being miraculously conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary, and suffered the cruel death of the cross, as an universal offering and sacrifice, both in His body and blood shed thereon, for the sins of the whole world ; and was buried and rose again the third day, and visibly ascended (was seen in His ascending), and passed into Heaven and glory ; and that He ascended far above all heavens, that He might fill all things ; and that by His suffering and sacri fice He hath obtained eternal redemption for us, which, through faith in His name and power, true repentance and conversion, we livingly receive and effectually partake of." Isaac Penington. 1667. — " First, we do own that the Word of God, the only begotten of the Father, did take up a body of the flesh of the virgin Mary, who was of the seed of David, according to the Scriptures, and did the will of the Father therein, in holy obedience unto Him, both in life and death. Secondly, That He did offer up the flesh and blood of that body, though not only so ; for He poured out his soul. He poured out his life, a sacriflce or offering for sin, (do not, oh ! do not stumble at it ; but rather wait on the Lord to understand it ; for we speak in this matter what we know ;) a sacrifice unto the Father, and in it tasted death for every man ; and that it is upon consideration, and through God's acceptance of this sacrifice for sin, that the sins of believers 10 are pardoned, that God might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus, or who is of the faith of Jesus." 1675. — " Now as touching the outward, which ye say we deny, because of our testimony to the inward, I have fre quently given a most solemn testimony thereto ; and God knoweth it to be the truth of my heart ; and that the testi fying to the inward (from which the outward came) doth not make the outward void, but rather establish it in its place and service. God, Himself, who knew what virtue was in the inward, yet hath pleased to make use of the outward ; and who may contradict or slight His wisdom and counsel therein? Glorious was the appearance and manifestation of his Son in the flesh, precious His subjection and holy obedience to his Father; his giving Himself up to death for sinners, was of great esteem in His eye ! It was a spotless sacrifice of great value, and effectual for the remission of sins ; and I do acknowledge, humbly unto the Lord, the remission of my sins thereby, and bless the Lord for it ; even for giving up his Son to death for us all, and giving all that believe in His name and power, to partake of remis sion tlirough Him." William Penn. To John Faldo. 1673. — " Before I leave this particular, I must again declare, that we are led by the LigJit and Spirit of Christ, with holy reverence, to confess unto the blood of Christ, shed at Jerusalem, as that, by which a propitiation was held forth, to the remission of the sins that were past, through the forbearance of God, unto all that believe; and we embrace it as such; and do firmly believe, that thereby God declared his great love unto the world, for by it is the consciousness of sin declared to be taken awaj^ or remission sealed to all that have known true repentance and faith in His appearance. But because of the condition, I mean faith and repentance, therefore do we exhort all to turn their minds to the Light and Spirit of Christ within, that by see- 11 ing their conditions, and being by the same brought both into true contrition and holy confidence in God's mercy, they may come to receive the benefit thereof; for without that necessary condition, it will be impossible to obtain remission of sins, though it be so generally promulgated thereby." Primitive Christianity Revived. 1696. — " We do believe, that Jesus Christ was our holy Sacrifice, Atonement and Propiti ation ; that He bore our iniquities, and that by his stripes we were healed of the wounds Adam gave us in his fall ; and that God is just in forgiving true penitents, upon the credit of that holy offering Christ made of Himself to God for us, and that what He did and suffered, satisfied and pleased God, and was for the sake of fallen man that had dis pleased God ; and that through the offering up of Himself once for all, through the Eternal Spirit, He hath forever perfected those, in all times, that were sanctified, wlio walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Testimony to the Truth as held by the People called Quakers. 1698. — " Of Christ's coming both in flesh and Spirit: — Because the tendency (generally speaking) of our ministry, is, to press people to the inward and spiritual appearance of Christ by His spirit and grace in their hearts, to give them a true sight and sense of, and sorrow for sin, to amendment of life and practice of holiness ; and because we have often opposed that doctrine, of being actually justified by the merits of Christ, whilst actual sinners against God, by living in the pollutions of this wicked world ; we are by our adversaries rendered such, as either deny or undervalue the coming of Christ without us, and the force and efficacy of his death and sufferings, as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Whereas we do, and hope we ever shall, as we always did, confess to the glory of God the Father, and the honour of his dear and beloved Son, that He, to wit, Jesus Christ, took our nature upon him, was like us in all things, sin excepted ; that He was born of the virgin Mary, went 12 about amongst men doing go.od and working many miracles; that He was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Chief Priests, etc. ; that He suffered death under Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, being crucified between two thieves, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea ; rose again the third day from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, and sits at God's right hand, in the power and majesty of his Father, and that by Him, God the Father will one day judge the whole world, both of quick and dead, according to their works." Giles Barnardiston. Reply to Jeffrey Bullock. 1676. — " And our testimony has always had a reverent esteem of that precious blood that was spilled without the gates, as being of great value in the sight of the Lord, and having a testimony in it towards the remission of sin, to oblige all that are sensible of the end thereof, not to live unto themselves, but unto Him that died for them. And as they are to be blamed that will not come to the Light, but cry it down, relying upon the death and suf ferings without it; so art thou, who pretendest to cry up the Light, to render the loving kindness of the Lord invalid, in sending his Son to lay down his life and precious blood, and ta.ste death for mankind. And such as speak from the Light, which is the Life that was in that blessed body, can never disregard, but have an high esteem of what He did and suffered therein." Robert Barclay. Apology. 1678. — " 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 trans acted, which are recorded in the Holj' Scriptures, concern ing the birth, life, miracles, sufferings, resurrection and ascension of Christ ; so we do also believe that it is the duty 13 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 ; but to resist that holy Seed, which, as minded, would lead and incline every one to believe it, as it is offered unto them ; though it revealeth not in every one, the outward and explicit knowledge of it, nevertheless, it always assenteth to it, where it is declared. Nevertheless 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 bore 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." Thomas Ellwood. Journal, 1699. — " Now herein George Keith's both injustice and malice is the greater, in charging William Penn and his brethren, the Quakers, with Deism; inasmuch as he assuredly knows (which some other adversaries have not had the like opportunity to know, as he hath had), by cer tain experience, drawn by so many years' intimate conversa tion with William Penn and the Quakers, in free and familiar conferences, and in reading their books ; that William Penn and the Quakers, both in word and writing, publicly and privately, have always and on all occasions, confessed, acknowledged, owned as well as believed, the incarnation of Christ according to the Holy Scriptures, viz: 'That the Word was made flesh.' John i, I4. That when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Gal.iv,4,5. That Christ Jesus being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, made Himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, and 14 became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phil, ii, 5, 6, 7, 8. Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. 1 Cor. xv, 3, 4- That He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Rom. iv, 25. That He is the propitia tion for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. 1 John ii, 2. That He ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. Eph. iv, 10. That He is the one Mediator between God and men. 1 Tim,, ii, 5. That He is at the right hand of God, and maketh intercession for us. Rom. viii, 34- And is our advocate with the Father. 1 John ii, 1. And that it is He which was ordained of God, to be the Judge of quick and dead. Acts x, 42. These things, I say, George Keith cer tainly knows, have been constantly held, believed, professed and owned by William Penn and his brethren, the Quakers in general, both privately and publicly, in word and writing. These things are so often testified of in our meetings, and have been so fully and plainly asserted and held forth in our books, that we might call in almost as many witnesses thereof, as have frequented our meetings or attentively read our books." John Grattan. Journal. 1703. — " We preach the same Jesus Christ that was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, rose again the third day, ascended into Heaven, and is on the right hand of the Majesty on high, and will come to judge quick and dead. This is our Intercessor, Advocate with the Father, our Mediator betwixt God and man, the man Christ Jesus : this is He, who of God is made unto us, wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemp tion, the author and finisher of our faith, our hope of glory, our life, light, strength and salvation ; our captain, ensign, deliverer, preserver, and helper; without Him, we are as 15 nothing and can do nothing. He is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." John Banks. 1704- — " I believe in that same Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for remission of sins, and the salvation of my soul ; even He, which was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, who made a good confession before Pontius Pilate, and was crucified without the gates of Jeru salem ; dead and buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into glory, far above all heavens, that He might fill all things, according to the testimony of the Holy Scrip tures, for which I have a godly and reverent esteem." Similar testimonies are borne by many others; for the early Friends did " see eye to eye : " although they were gathered from different professions and various circum stances in life, yet there was a oneness of belief, into which they were brought through obedience to the teachings of the one Spirit of Truth, the Light of Christ in their souls. The idea now cherished by many, that all differences of view are to be borne with in a religious Society, they did not hold ; but on the contrary they jealously guarded what they were fully convinced of, and firmly believed to be the doctrines of the Gospel. Thus, Robert Barclay, in his Anarchy of the Ranters, published in 1 676, says : — " As if a body be gathered into one fellowship, by the belief of certain principles, he that comes to believe other wise naturally scattereth himself; for that the cause that gathered him is taken away Suppose a people really gathered unto the belief of the true and certain prin ciples of the gospel : if any of these people shall arise and contradict any of those fundamental truths, whether have not such as stand, good right to cast such an one out from 16 among them, and to pronounce positively, this is contrary to the Truth we profess and own, and therefore ought to be rejected, and not received, nor yet he that asserts it as one of us? And is not this obligatory upon all the members, seeing all are concerned in the like care as to themselves, to hold the right and shut out the wrong? I cannot tell, if any man of reason can well deny this: however I shall prove it next from the testimony of the Scripture." And again, a few pages further on, he says : — " Were such a principle to be received or believed, that in the Church of Christ no man should be separated from, no man condemned or excluded the fellowship and commu nion of the body, for his judgment or opinion in matter of faith, then what blasphemies so horrid, what heresi-es so damnable, what doctrines of devils, but might harbour it self in the Church of Christ? What need then of sound doctrine, if no doctrine make unsound ? What need of con vincing and exhorting gainsayers, if to gainsay be no crime ? Where should the unity of the faith be? Were not this an inlet to all manner of abomination ; and to make void the whole tendency of Christ's and His apostles' doctrine; and render the gospel of none effect; and give a liberty to the unconstant and giddy will of man to innovate, alter and overturn it at his pleasure ? So that from all that is above mentioned, we do safely conclude, that where a people are gathered together into the belief of the principles and doc- . trines of the gospel of Christ, if any of that people shall go from their principles, and assert things false and contrary to what they have already received ; such as stand and abide firm in the faith, have power, by the Spirit of God, after they have used Christian endeavours to convince and reclaim them, upon their obstinacy, to separate from such, and to exclude them from their spiritual fellowsliip and commu nion : — For otherwise, if this be denied, farewell to all Chris tianity, or to the maintaining of any sound doctrine in the Church of Christ." 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