There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Rom 8:1-14)

Three selections from

The Great Mystery of the Great Whore Unfolded

by

George Fox

1659

Scanned from the 1990 reprint of the 1831 edition of Fox's Works (page numbers are indicated on the left), and with endnotes of some of the text's biblical references, by George Amoss Jr. Biblical quotations in endnotes are from the King James with Apocrypha file of the freeware program e-Sword.

Note: These selections from The Great Mystery present Fox’s responses (indicated in the text by “A.”) to certain anti-Quaker “principles” or arguments against Quaker preaching (indicated by “P.”).

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Magnus Byne’s book, called, ‘The Scornful Quakers Answered.’ His Principles follow.

P. He saith, ‘Beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.¹ Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God, because many false spirits are gone out into the world.’²

A. Must thou show thy ignorance of the letter? so much a man unlike to divide the word aright? ³ For Christ saith, false prophets should come, and antichrists, that should be inwardly ravening wolves, that had the sheep’s clothing; these John saw were come before the apostles’ decease;⁴ which went forth from them, and all the world went after them. And they could not have deceived the world, if the wolf had not had the sheep’s clothing upon him. You may read in the Revelations, how they ravened and devoured, and drunk the blood of the martyrs, saints, and prophets; and so you that are crying to the world, ‘they are come but now,’ are the deceivers of the world, as you may read Matt. vii. and I John ii. 4, Revel. chap. xiii. xiv. xvii. xviii. and are not dividing the word aright. For now are people come from them, and coming to Christ the rock, the foundation of God, and to that spirit which you have ravened from; which stands sure, before the world

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was made, out of the waters. For the nations are as waters,⁵ and the false spirits, the false prophets, and the mother of harlots⁶ have ruled, and with the sheep’s clothing have deceived the nations; but now the Lamb and the saints shall rule: for ye have confessed that ye have not the infallible spirit, as the prophets, Christ, and the apostles had: so we say you are ravened from it, and only have the sheep’s clothing. The prophets, Christ, and the apostles, had an infallible spirit, ⁷ out of which the false prophets, antichrists, devils, and deceivers always were; and the mother of harlots, and Babylon,⁸ though they might get the sheep’s clothing.

P. He saith, ‘It is filthy blasphemy to say, the spirit of Christ that dwells in the son, dwells in man, and he must be infallible, and he must be perfect, and sinless:’ and saith, ‘Let them alone to their father the devil,’ &c. See his epistle to the reader.

A. ‘He that hath not the spirit of Christ is none of his;’⁹ and who hath the spirit of Christ hath that which is infallible, and this is out of the spirit the devil is in. And they that were not in the spirit, and are not in the spirit that dwells in the son, though they have all the scriptures, are in the spirit of blasphemy, that will blaspheme against the son: and there thou art. And the false spirits that are in the world are on heaps about the son’s, the prophets’, and apostles’ words, out of the infallible spirit of those that gave them forth, who were perfect and sinless, as in Rom. vi. they ‘were made free from sin.’¹⁰ The apostle said they were perfect, and he ‘spoke wisdom among them that were perfect.’¹¹ And this you deny who are ravened from the spirit of God, and the one offering which ‘perfects for ever them that are sanctified;’¹² and so are the unsanctified.

P. He saith, ‘There are many ways to Sion.’

A. There is but one way to God,¹³ out of the fall, into the paradise, to the tree of life,¹⁴ out of the condemnation, and that is Christ the light, the covenant of God. Now with the light the way to the Father is seen. In the first Adam¹⁵ are many ways, fighting about their ways, and destroying one another about their ways; but Christ the light, the way to the Father, teacheth otherwise, to love enemies and to do good to them, and to overcome evil with good,’ and ‘heap coals of fire upon their heads;’¹⁶ which way is but one, which you who deny the light are out of, in the many ways, and names, horns, and heads, and images, which is the beast’s number, ravened from the spirit of God, and from the one way, Christ the light, in which is unity.

P. He saith, ‘The scripture may be understood by the help of tongues,’¹⁷ page 12.

A. All scripture was given forth by inspiration; and so without the same inspiration it is not understood again. Pilate had the tongues, and

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yet did not understand the scripture, nor Christ the substance of it. And these your tongues, you have set up since the apostacy, ye raveners from the spirit.

P. He saith, ‘Tithes is not his infirmity, the Lord hath given him tithes: and he doth take them as the Lord giving him maintenance, and it is his liberty.’

A. Tithes to the first priesthood were allotted by God;¹⁸ but Christ, the second priesthood, ended that priesthood and tithes, and the priests that took them, made by God’s law, and disannuled the commandment that gave them. And Christ is come, the everlasting priesthood, not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchisedeck, the similitude,¹⁹ in whom the similitude ends, Christ the end, the substance, the end of war. So thou that takest tithes art (out of the substance of Melchisedeck and the first priesthood that took tithes) in the transgression, and in the imitation, and the veil is over thy heart, and thy liberty is bondage, in the unsanctified state. But the sanctification is in the son of God, who ends types and similitudes. And he it is that sanctifies, and who preacheth the gospel, lives of the gospel.²⁰ And the pope hath given thee thy tithes by his command, and not by the command of the Lord, for Christ and his apostles established them not.

P. He saith, ‘that the scriptures are the sure word of God:²¹ and that the scriptures are a precious light,’ page 17. Again he saith, ‘The son of God is the first principle of the pure religion.’

A. The fulness of the godhead dwells in the son, and he is in the Father,²² and he is the author of the first principle, and the end of the law, for he is all and in all; for many have something from him, yet cannot say he is come; but he that hath him, hath life eternal, hath the substance, the end of things. And the scripture declares and testifies of the light, which is Christ; but many may have the scriptures, and stand against the light, ‘for they are they that testify of me,’²³ the light. So Christ is the precious light, and the scriptures are the words of God; but Christ the word was before they were given forth, the word in whom these words of God end. So thou mayst see thy ignorance.

P. He saith, ‘While we stay in Sodom, we crucify the Lord of glory.²⁴ And Christ is buried in us,’ &c.

A. And John Bunyan, a teacher there, fights against him; and thus they are not only against the truth, but one against another. But he must know the suffering of Christ in the spiritual Sodom in him, and see the seed that suffers there, before it reign, and he reign with Christ in glory.

P. He saith, ‘It comprehends our suffering in the flesh after his example.’ Page 21.

A. At this do the priests of Newcastle, and John Bunyan, and many

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others of the teachers of the nation, rage; and here you are one against another; but Christ said, ‘why persecutest thou me?’ And he was in prison, and it is your work to put him in prison.

P. He saith, ‘he hath the tithes of two parishes; and it is the old man²⁵ that minds the earthly things,’ page 23. Again he saith, ‘And those that take tithes are not antichrist. And the scripture is a choice vessel of the Lord’s sanctuary,’ and ‘it is the letter and the history,’ &c. page 25.

A. Well may people be all in confusion, when ye say the scripture is a history, a declaration, the letter, a vessel, the choice vessel of the Lord’s sanctuary, a light, and yet the word of God! Now is not this to break people to pieces? The scriptures of truth are the words of God and they are called a declaration, and a treatise. And the choice vessels were those that gave them forth, vessels of mercy, and of honour. And they that take tithes, and pay them, are out of the substance, Christ, who is the end of tithes; for he is the sum of tithes, and all other figures that pertained to the first priesthood, first covenant, and of all similitudes. So thou taking tithes of two parishes, hast the mark of the old man. For the apostles preached up and down in many synagogues where the priest[s] were, yet they did not seek for the tithes that belonged to them that pertained to the first priesthood. They preached the gospel, and lived of the gospel, and said, ‘they were evil beasts, that minded earthly things;’²⁶ of whose spirit ye are found, judged by the word, which is Christ.

P. He saith, ‘He is called of men master through man’s courtesy,’ and calls them, ‘blind and sinful, and in error, that speak against it.’ Again, ‘it is not oppression in him to take tithes of two parishes,’ &c. page 28, 30.

A. Here under the wo of Christ art thou come; who said, ‘Wo unto them that were called of men master;’ and said to his disciples, ‘It shall not be so among you, for ye have all one master, which is Christ,’²⁷ and they abode in his doctrine. And we do not read of Mr. Paul, Mr. Peter, Timothy, or Titus, or Mr. James or John; but among you, the apostates, we read of such titles. And you set up that which Christ, (him by whom the world was made, before it was made,) came to fulfil and end, in the world, which typed him forth, Christ the way to the Father out of the world. And tithes in the first priesthood are not the way, they are oppressors that cry them up, and builders up of that which Christ ended, so transgressors; not having the son nor the Father. And they bring not the glad tidings, for the jails may witness in the nation, that glad tidings are not brought; and the courts, and the oppressed parishes, in which ye take treble damages of many people

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that ye do not work for, and cast into prison; and so this is not the gospel, this is not the glad tidings.

P. He saith, ‘I find not this power of binding kings with chains, and nobles with fetters of iron, which is the honour of the saints;²⁸ this scripture I find not fulfilled,’ &c. page 35. Again he saith,’ A saint may be found in that which is sinful, though this man (the Quaker) will not allow of sin.’ Again, ‘The people of God are more than conquerors in the Lord,²⁹ which gives them rest and peace in the midst of their wars.’ Again, ‘Hope keeps the soul groaning and waiting³⁰ all the while in the earthly tabernacle,’ &c.

A. I know the power, and spirit, and sword of the saints that executes the judgments, to bind, and chain, and fetter kings and nobles; thou art out of it, but it is now among the saints; and that scripture is fulfilled, yea in England, among the saints. And such as are more than conquerors, see the end of wars, and that which causeth wars. He that is a conqueror may be in the war; but he that is more than a conqueror, is in that which takes away the occasion of wars, and is come to that which was before wars were. And he that hath this hope, (which is Christ,) hath that which purifies himself, even as he is pure, and comes to witness the kingdom of God that stands in joy, peace, and righteousness, and so is not always groaning in the earth, under the earthly tabernacle, while he is upon the earth, but comes to know the body of sin put off, and a being made free from the body of sin.³¹ And a saint is not sinful, neither do the saints ever allow or approve of sin; he that allows and approves of that is out of the sanctified state.

P. ‘Notwithstanding thy passing the first and second resurrection, ³² (as thou sayst,) there remains a torment for thee at the last day, and wo,’ page 42.

A. They are blessed that have part in the first resurrection, the second death hath no power over them; but are made free from wrath that is to come, and are passed from death to life, and are translated into the kingdom of the son of God, and are in unity with the son of God and the Father both; and so thou utterest forth lies.

P. He saith, ‘To declare against such as are called of men master, is a matter of his faith.’

A. They had not faith that were called of men master, whom Christ cried wo against; nor the Jews; neither have you who break his commands.

P. He saith, ‘The spirit that declares in the letter, keeps me from vanity, frees me from the law of sin and condemnation.’

A. The spirit that was in the saints that gave forth the letter, freed them from the law of sin and condemnation, and kept them from vanity. The spirit is not in the letter, for many may have that,

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and not the spirit: and all are in sin and vanity, and are not freed from the law of condemnation, but who are in the spirit.

P. He saith, ‘They are to feed the people, who are ordained over a particular place, over which the holy ghost hath made them overseers;³³ and they are covetous wretches and worldings that keep back their tithes. And no more wages he receives than what the gospel allows. And he is a thief that keeps back the hire from the labourer, and the Lord gives man tithes as a portion in the earth,’ &c. See pages 57, 58, 59, 60.

A. The holy ghost made the apostles and elders overseers of the church. But you have been made overseers by men, by the pope, by your schools and colleges. So thus you deceive the people, by telling them the holy ghost made you overseers. For ye say ye have not the same infallible spirit as the prophets, Christ, and the apostles had, as witness Samuel Eaton in his book, and divers others. Tithes were allotted by God to the priests and Levites, and people in the first covenant and priesthood, and they were robbers that kept them back; but Christ is come, the everlasting covenant, who ends the first covenant, tithes, and priesthood, and blots out the ordinances. Therefore they that are covetous, will take them by violence from the people. But they that are come to the gospel allowance, ‘freely ye have received, freely give,’³⁴ what they set before them, of that they are to eat, preach the gospel, and live of the gospel. These triumph and trample upon the first priesthood, types, figures, and shadows; see that the priesthood is changed, the ordinances blotted out, the commandment disannuled that gave them; witness the one offering for the sin of the whole world, and are of the royal priesthood. Such as these cannot pay tithes; covetous persons and worldlings may take them, that are apostatized from the apostles, by whom the true seed is oppressed; who went forth from the apostles by a usurped authority, under whom you are sheltered for your tithes, which were set up by the pope’s authority. But now you are seen and judged by them who are come to the apostles that you went from.

P. He saith, ‘The Lord hath given tithes for the maintenance of the ministry of this nation.’ Again he saith, ‘This light within is turned into utter darkness,’ pages 62, 65.

A. It has been the Pope and the apostates from the apostles that have given tithes; from the spirit that the apostles were in they are ravened that take them, for the apostles took none. Their fruits in the nation declare it; if they will not give the priests tithes, how they cast them into prisons, and dungeons, until death! Christ’s maintenance the apostles witnessed; freely they had received, and they gave again freely; and he that ‘preached the gospel lived of the gospel,’ and coveted no man’s silver, goods, nor apparel. But do not ye covet men’s silver and goods,

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when ye take treble damages of them, and cast them into prison.? Is not this the work of the ministry of the nation? Is not the overflowing scourge of the Almighty gone over you? and the rod and the lash come upon you all?

Again, the light within hath led to the light of life, and leads to the light of life, out of utter darkness, in which those and thy generation are seen that stand against the light. So all you apostates are whelmed under in the apostacy since the days of the apostles, who are out of the allowance of Christ, his wages and maintenance, the giving freely, which shows they have not received of God, but buy and sell, yea and after great rates too; and so are the merchants that John speaks of in the Revelations:³⁵ and this cumbers the creation, yea, nations; ye bring not the glad tidings to them, but burthen them: ye are seen and felt.

P. He saith, ‘away with your bodily, fleshly, literal trembling and quivering.’ See page 70.

A. Habakkuk’s lips quivered, David’s flesh trembled, Daniel trembled, Paul trembled, David’s bones quaked; and that man the Lord regards who trembles at his word, though cast out by thee and thy generation in this age, as in the days of Isaiah.³⁶ So thou and thy generation, who say ‘away with trembling of the flesh and body,’ say, away with the power of God that throws down that which defiles the flesh. Before sin is condemned in the flesh, and the powers of darkness wrought out of it, you must know trembling; thou and all thy generation, before the devil be dispossessed of your earthly tabernacles, you must know trembling; and thou and thy generation have showed your ignorance of the mighty power of God, the ‘salvation that is wrought out with fear and trembling.’³⁷ And of that power that in all ages threw down the nature that captivated the seed of God, and defiled the flesh, and darkened the understanding, the sense, and reason, and warred against the soul, ye have showed your ignorance of that power whereby the body, soul, and spirit come to be sanctified. And before this be so, ye must know a bodily trembling and shaking; but he cries, ‘away with it’ before ever he came to it, lest he should be tormented before his time; who is one of them who ever were against the holy men of God. But the power of the Lord God has overtaken thee, and with that are ye comprehended, and ye are in the press, and your cluster is full, and the sickle is gone out.³⁸

P. He saith, ‘The priesthood is changed, but not the tithes abolished by the coming of any substance; and he that keeps back the tithes of God, hath preferred his mammon before his God, and is guilty of the sin of Ananias:³⁹ and denying to pay tithes is weakening the bands of the ministers: and God in wisdom hath provided by an outward law, in the absence of the inward, for the maintenance of the ministry by tithes or other maintenance, and so they own a tribute unto God; and so they

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must pay tribute, and custom to whom custom is due.’⁴⁰ Again he saith, ‘custom, tribute, tithes, &c. love will teach these things are due, therefore covet not another’s portion.’

A. When the apostle had spoken of tithes, before the law, to Melchisedeck like unto the son of God; and spoken of tithes to the priesthood made by a law that had a command to take them; he said the priesthood was changed, the law was changed, the command was disannuled that gave tithes, the son of God was come, the end of the similitude and likeness before the law. ‘Now,’ saith he, ‘of the things (tithes were things before the law and in the law) which we have spoken, this is the sum: Christ a minister of the sanctuary, ⁴¹ and of the true tabernacle which God hath pitched and not man.’ So there is the sum of the things, and the substance; and the plenteous redemption, that leads men out of the earth, that brings them to lay down all at the feet of the apostles, which is beyond tenths which were due to the service of the Lord. Here the earth comes to be known to be the Lord’s, is given up, and man redeemed out of it. Of this glorious gospel are ye all ignorant. And so tithes are not to be compared with Ananias, and not to be viewed as a tribute, but as a custom which has got up since the days of the apostles, in the apostacy, the nations having drunk the whore’s cup, and kings and queens, that had gone out of the power of Christ which the apostles were in, into the beast’s power, have made schools to make their ministers, and have made laws to set up tenths. So this custom of the sin hath taken away the sense of it, that people have been so hardened that they have torn people, spoiled their goods, and cast them into prison, and taken treble damages, and kept them in prison, and haled them before courts and sessions, assizes, and benches. Which is not like the ministers of Christ; for the law is changed of God that gave tenths, and since that was changed the law is in the heart,⁴² and a new covenant. And since the apostacy men have got the sheep’s clothing, ravened from the spirit, wolves, whose fruits declare it; who have deceived nations, and the world, and have got up a law from man, and a command from man, the pope being the author. The law and command of God are changed that gave tithes, and they have got up the law and command of man to take them, and the law of God and his command are denied, as spoken by the apostle, Heb. vii. But all that are in the wisdom of God see over these things, and feel over them, and judge you all, and execute judgment, and are in the power and authority to execute judgment, and convince all, and are in the honour of saints.⁴³ So your ministry, if tithes fall, is weakened; but the ministry of Christ came in when tithes fell, and that ministry fell that held up tithes, and that priesthood during which the priests’ lips were to preserve the people’s knowledge. So by the fall of that minis-

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try that took tithes, the ministry of Christ came in. The rise of this ministry is since the days of the apostles in the apostacy, that is made by kings, bishops, popes, schools, and colleges. Tithes falling, the hands of this ministry that takes tithes, thou sayst, is weakened; it is not, therefore, the power of God that strengthens the hand, but the earthly. Now I say, in the fall of the maintenance, which weakens this ministry, ye have showed what ye are covered withal, and in the fall of this is the rise of the Lamb and his ministry, the preaching of the everlasting gospel; and the everlasting gospel shall be preached to them that dwell on the earth, which is the power of God: and though the devil, and the beast, and the false prophets, and the kings of the earth do make war against the saints and the Lamb, yet the saints and the Lamb shall get the victory.

P. He saith, ‘Christ without the church doth not comprehend all the elect; and we are not elected, though we receive Christ, because we are elected in him,’ &c. page 80.

A. Thou art meddling with things too weighty for thee, Christ is the elect whom God upholds, and the election obtains it, (the victory,) and Christ knows his, and said he had other sheep,⁴⁴ and he knew all the elect. And he is the wisdom of the Father, the light, the life, and the power of God, the offering, the sacrifice for the whole world, the redemption of mankind. And who receive him, and are in him, are the elect, and out of their own works, and have possessed him, and his image and glory; are come to the throne of grace; he is in all and over all, the salvation to the ends of the earth, and they who are elected receive Christ, and are in him.

P. He saith, ‘Thy denial of sin, and satan, and antichrist, to be where they are in power and part, is the old trick of the evil one,’ &c. page 83.

A. They who are come into the Lamb’s power, are come out of the power of the beast, sin, and satan; into the city, the paradise of God, where no unclean thing enters, but the tree of life is the food;⁴⁵ and they are atop of sin, satan, and antichrist, and all thy tricks; and witness against all sin.

P. He saith, ‘When the dissolution comes, he bids farewell to all the saints of God,’ page 94. Again, ‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar,’⁴⁶ page 89.

A. The saints are in Christ and God; and at the dissolving of the earthly, or sin, they do not bid all the saints farewell; for then they come into unity with them, with the elect. And John shows there was a time to see they had sinned, and a time to see they had sin, and a time to confess it and forsake it, and a time to witness the blood of

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Jesus Christ to cleanse from all sin, a time to witness the birth of God born, which doth not commit sin, and the seed of God remaining in them, that the wicked one could not touch them.

P. He saith, ‘The saints are neither in the fulness of the godhead, nor part: away with this blasphemy that saith this,’ &c. page 92.

A. The work of the ministry was to bring people to the knowledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the unity of the faith, to the measure and stature of the fulness of Christ,⁴⁷ and Christ will dwell in the saints, and God will dwell in them.⁴⁸ And thou sayst they have no part of the fulness of the godhead; but John saith, ‘Of his fulness have we all received;’⁴⁹ in whom dwells the godhead bodily. And ye are all in the blasphemy that are out of this part of the fulness.

P. He saith, ‘The Quakers know a man whether he be a saint or a devil, as soon as they see him, or hear him speak, or act, and they are beyond all our forefathers. And the apostle saith, ““What man

knoweth the things of a man, saving the spirit of a man that is in him,” so ye are not as Christ in this respect.’ And thou sayst ‘ thou art as Christ in this present world: and no man can be without sin in this house of clay.’ And sayst, ‘I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me; and my flesh is sin’s freehold,’ &c. pages 94, 95.

A. Here thou hast showed that the Quakers have a spirit given to them beyond all the forefathers (which we do witness) since the days of the apostles, in the apostacy. And they that are in the power and the life of truth, can discern who are saints, who are devils, and who are apostates, without ever speaking a word. And the natural man knows not the things that are in another man; but with the spirit within him may know what is in himself: but the spiritual man searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. Here thou hast made no distinction betwixt the spiritual and natural. And as Christ ‘is, so are we in this present world;’ and where Christ is manifest, he destroys sin in the flesh; here they come to be as he is, they come to be above clay and mortal, and fading, and so the flesh, which thou calls sin’s freehold, comes to be put off, and the body of it, and they come to be made free from the law by the body of Christ. And the creature comes into the liberty of the sons of God. And this the saints witnessed while they were on earth. And as thou wast born in iniquity, thou showest thou wast born in the unregeneration; there were some sanctified from the womb, there are some children clean, who are believers. He that can receive it, let him. So thou art an ignorant man, not able to divide the word aright, nor canst minister unto the people, not knowing the condition they are in, unless they tell thee, and so art apostatized from the apostles, and not one of the ministers of the spirit, that minister to the spirit; for could not the apostles preach and speak

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to the Jews and Gentiles, unless they came and told them what condition they were in? or did all the Jews and Gentiles come and tell the apostles what condition they were in before they preached to them?

P. He saith, ‘The light in man is imperfect weak, faint light,’ page 97. Again, ‘The light in the Gentiles is called a natural light,’ page 88.

A. The light that every man hath that cometh into the world, is not an imperfect light, a weak, nor faint light, nor a natural light; but they who are weak, go from it, and faint, and hate it, and despise it, as Esau, and run into the earth. But those who believe it, have the light of life; and who receive it, become the sons of God.⁵⁰ And the light in the Gentiles, which brought them to do the law, was spiritual, not natural; whom the apostle sets up to be the circumcision, and the Jew inward; and throws out the Jew outward, and circumcision both. And this brings to have ‘praise of God,’ which the Jews had not in the outward, and makes the Jew no Jew, and their circumcision no circumcision, and judges them, and all professors upon the earth that are from that that doth the law in their heart, and the Jew inward. And you are from that, who stand against the light of Christ that doth enlighten, &c.

P. He saith, ‘if any hypocrite reign, his power is of God: and saints are to yield to the power, and it must be honoured, and have obedience from the saints,’ page 101. ‘And so they that call them corrupt magistrates, are the filthy dreamers that Jude speaks of,’ page 102.

A. Such as are turned into corruption, and are hypocrites, are gone from the higher power, which the soul should be subject to, and it is gone over them; and so for the Lord’s sake the saints cannot be subject to that power, but to the power that brings down the hypocrisy, and the corruptions in magistrates; and as they come to be clothed with the power of God, they are able to put a difference betwixt the precious and the vile; and that the saints own; those are a praise to them that do well.⁵¹ The Jews of old time, that feared God, that lived in the law of God, could not obey the heathen magistrates, bow to their gods, nor to their commands, nor their power or authority. Nor could the apostles bow to the authority of the Jews, to their ordinances which Christ came to put an end to, nor the power that held them up, nor that among the Gentiles, held up by the magistrates. For Christ was come to reign, who had all power in heaven and earth given to him. And since the days of the apostles the saints cannot bow to that which the pope, and kings, and queens set up in the apostacy, though they call it a supreme power that commands the things. But who are in the power of God, it destroys that which defiles the flesh, and the evil speaker, and that is the dignity which the saints own and live in, and speak not

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evil of, but they who do so transgress the spirit of God, and go from it, and are such as Jude speaks of.⁵² Therefore have the martyrs, saints, and prophets suffered, since the days of the apostles, by the beast, the false prophets, and the great whore, which have been in the power of the devil that went, out of truth: and that the saints were not subject to. But now Christ is come to reign, and the Lamb and the saints shall have the victory; and the higher power is owned, that is higher than all the transgressors upon earth, that reaches to the soul, and the transgressed principle of God in every man upon the earth; for the beast’s power hath set up your tithes, temples, and colleges, and compelled men to worship it, which the saints could not do, and therefore have suffered by it, who have worshipped God in the Spirit and truth, that the devil is out of; and such were in the higher power.

P. He saith, ‘There is a kind of infiniteness in the soul; and it cannot be infiniteness in itself,’ page 103.

A. Is not the soul without beginning, coming from God, returning into God again, who hath it in his hand, which hand goes against him that does evil, which throws down that which wars against it? And Christ the power of God, the bishop of the soul,⁵³ which brings it up into God, and which came out from him, hath this a beginning or ending? And is not this infinite in itself, and more than all the world?

P. He saith, ‘The soul is a creature; and yet it is a noble power, and an essence, and is the appetite, fancy,’ &c. Again he saith, ‘he knows that the soul is a spiritual thing, and cannot be divided into parts and powers, as being one single entire essence,’ page 107.

A. The soul is in the death in transgression, so man’s spirit is not sanctified while the soul is in death. And fancy, appetite, anger, pleasure, &c. which thou sayst ‘are taken for the soul usually, and called the soul,’ are they that war against it: thus thou divides the soul, which is one, into parts, and art ignorant of it, and yet thou hast said it cannot he divided! So thou art in confusion in Babylon. The soul being living, and the spirit sanctified, that diligent hearkening is come to where the counsel of God is stood in, his voice heard, his hand felt, that the soul comes up into, that comes from God; that is living and immortal, and gives a creature its feeling, and sensibleness to divine things: and so the covenant of God comes to be received wherein the soul lives to the bishop of it, which is immortal, and then that birth of the new creature is known, whereby the spirit of man is sanctified, and the God of the spirits of all flesh is known. Now where the power and life guides up to God the Father of life, that works down and directs the mind up to God, the immortal to the immortal, whereby light springs, Christ is known, and the soul praiseth God the saviour, who, in its low estate, hath regarded and reached down to it. Now where

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the light is hated, and that of God within transgressed, (that doth pertain to the righteous law of God, and answers it,) the spirit of man is not sanctified; and man’s understanding being darkened, the higher power is denied, the soul comes into death, transgressing of the law is known, the witness is buried which should guide the mind, whereby the soul should live in the diligent hearkening. Hereby man comes to be defiled, and his spirit, and body, and mind, whereby he glorifies not God in his body, and soul, and spirit, and glorifies not the God of the spirits of all flesh.⁵⁴ Hereby he comes to be an alien and a stranger to the life of God, and his ways and covenant. And thou sayst ‘The soul is a spiritual thing, and yet a creature, an appetite, and fancy.’ Every man that cometh into the world, though they be in the first Adam, have a light from Christ the second Adam, the bishop of their souls. So every one being turned to the light which Christ the second Adam hath enlightened them withal, they shall see the bishop of their souls, Christ the power of God,⁵⁵ which is immortal, and brings the immortal soul into the immortal God. Christ is their sanctification, who sanctifies their spirits, and bodies, and brings the soul up into God, from whom it came, whereby they come to be one soul.⁵⁶ For in the lusts of the world, and the affections of it, is the war against it, and there are the powers of wickedness. The soul must be in the higher power, higher than the flesh, which stains the man, spirit and body, and the powers of wickedness. So the light being turned to, man receiveth the spirit of God, which sanctifies him, the spirit of sanctification in Christ Jesus the sanctification and redemption. So every man that cometh into the world has a light from Christ Jesus, the way out of the fall, the second Adam, and receiving the light he receives his redemption and sanctification, whereby his spirit, body, and soul are sanctified.

P. He saith, ‘The binding of satan shall not be by a personal reign of Christ in a body.’ He saith, ‘The Quaker denies the light written in Scripture:’ and saith, ‘When ye pretend most love to Christ within, and light within, ye deny the Lord that bought you; and the high talk of a light within, goes out for ever into utter darkness.’

A. Who own the ‘light within,’ and ‘Christ within,’ and are come into it, own the Lord that bought them, Christ, and no other; and they that receive not this within, are reprobates, without him, yet talk of him as the devils, false prophets, and deceivers. And they that go from the light within, go into utter darkness, and stumble, and do not know whither they go, and want the garments, the Lamb’s clothing. And so, ‘he that believes in the light within, hath the witness in himself,’ abides not in the darkness, nor in the condemnation, but hath the light of life. And the light within that ‘shines in the heart, gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.’

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And who know satan bound, and the false prophet, antichrist, beast, and mother of harlots taken and cast into the fire, know Christ to reign, and know his bodily presence; they know his flesh, and are of his flesh and of his bone, and his spirit, and mind, and power, who hath all power in heaven and earth given to him; they are over the devil, over the antichrists, false prophets, beast, and mother of harlots, reign above their power, triumph, and tread upon their power; and this is known by the light within. And now doth Christ reign in his saints, and the paradise of God is known, and Eden, where all things are sanctified, and blessed, and good; where there is no curse, but blessing. And he that went out of this, earthly Adam, transgressed and disobeyed, which brought the death upon all his posterity. But who are come in through the obedience of another, the second Adam, Christ Jesus, who became the curse, and took away the curse, who is the sanctification, and brings the blessing and redemption, (by and through whom are many entered into the paradise of God,) have the right to the tree of life. And they are not come into this who are yet in the disobedience. The unbeliever, liar, reviler, whoremonger, and adulterer, hate the light, in the disobedience, and cannot touch the tree of life, for the sword turns every way upon them. And as for all thy hard expressions and revilings in thy book, they come from the disobedience, over which the sword is that keeps it in awe, over whom goes the higher power, and that cannot touch nor taste of the tree of life in the paradise of God, in the Ancient of days. Thou shalt feel my words to be truth.

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Robert Simpson, Robert Parnell, John Andrews, Thomas Ewen, Bryan Hanson, and Richard moon, in their book called, ‘The Church of Christ in Bristol recovering her veil.’ Their principles follow.

It is a true word to you: you are recovering the veil more than the life and substance, that takes away all veils, as your principles in your book make manifest.

P. You say, ‘Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. And also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, and draw many disciples after them. And they went out from us: it is manifest they are not of us.’ 1 John ii, &c.⁵⁷

A. You have brought these words to show your ignorance; for the apostles saw such as should ‘depart from the faith,’ and the false pro-

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phets and antichrists, that Christ said should come, John saw were come, and went forth from them before the apostles’ decease. They went forth from the church, and departed from the faith, in which faith the church had unity, and this they apostatized from; they have had the sheep’s clothing,⁵⁸ and so got up an imagined church with a veil on it,⁵⁹ in the apostacy. And these were they that drew disciples after them, who caused ‘the way of truth to be evil spoken of;’⁶⁰ and the ‘seducing spirits, and the doctrine of devils,’⁶¹ have been up since the days of the apostles, which they saw come in before their decease; and such ‘went from the faith, in which is the unity.’ And thus they are in the enmity, destroying, persecuting, and prisoning one another about religion, church, doctrine, and scriptures, and Christ’s, the prophets’, and apostles’ words; which shows they are out of unity with God, and with the scriptures, and there you are; and out of the faith that ‘works by love,’⁶² by which they should heap coals of fire on the heads⁶³ of all the adversaries. And so this is the dawning of the day,⁶⁴ the ending of the night of apostacy; you who are of the skirts of the great whore are seen, as you have manifested yourselves by the tale you have told to the world in your book, who style yourselves, ‘the Church of Christ,’ which is made up by the letter.⁶⁵ How want ye the life the saints lived in, that gave forth the scriptures! Oh! ye want the covering of the spirit of the Lord God.⁶⁶ And now being departed from the faith,⁶⁷ ye are the false spirits and false prophets that Christ said should come, ‘that would get the sheep’s clothing, but be inwardly ravening wolves, whose fruits should declare them;’ which John saw were come, which went forth from them, which led the world after them; and the false apostles, and satan’s ministers and messengers, which the apostle saw come up before his decease. These, since the days of the apostles, have been the guides and leaders of the world, and teachers, and gatherers of people into names, into heads, into horns,⁶⁸ whereby one hath been against another; they have gathered people out of peoples, and brought people to a head, and not to Christ, and yet all have professed themselves Christians. So they have had the sheep’s clothing, but inwardly ravened from the spirit of God, and so have been wolves, tearing the lambs to pieces, yea, and many goats⁶⁹ and beasts too sometimes, whose fruits have sufficiently declared them since the days of the apostles, and in this nation. And these have deceived the world, and have been the wrestlers against flesh and blood,⁷⁰ strikers at the creature; such as have ‘departed from the faith,’ ravened from the spirit, gone forth from the apostles, had the sheep’s clothing, have been the teachers and gatherers into sects, and names, and heaps⁷¹; and every one will cry, ‘his church,’ ‘his church,’ and all against the light which comes from Christ, in which the church stands.

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But now he is redeeming and recovering that which hath been lost, since the days of the apostles, in this night of the apostacy. The light come, the night is gone, the Lamb and the saints are going on conquering, and to conquer. The throne of the Lamb is set up⁷²; and all those false prophets, beasts, antichrists, mother of harlots, great whore, and kings of the earth, and the devil, are making war against the Lamb and the saints. Now are all the antichrists appearing, and are in arms, and rising against Christ and his light. The Lamb is on the white horse, who slays with his sword, ‘which are the words of his mouth, and the Lamb and⁷³ the saints shall have the victory.’ Glory in the highest! and rejoice, ye holy prophets, over her.

P. They say, ‘The mystical body may sometimes be subject to distempers, and humours, and wants.’ See page 1.

A. Are you judges? Can you judge of the mystical body which the saints are baptized into?⁷⁴ Are the humours, wants, and distempers in the body which the saints are baptized into? Are they not in your body? Do you in this divide the word aright? distinguish things in the ground,⁷⁵ and speak aright of things? And yet ye would not be judged, and say, ‘Judge not.’⁷⁶ And is not mystical, spiritual?

P. You say, ‘The scriptures are the word of God.’

A. The scripture itself saith, ‘The word is God.’⁷⁷ Christ’s ‘name called the word of God,’⁷⁸ and the scriptures are words, the words of God, the words of Christ, the declaration which the ministers of the word set forth; which words end in Christ the word, who fulfils them. And they are called the scriptures of truth which cannot be broken; so ye do not speak as the church did that gave forth scripture. And the spirit of God was the rule in speaking forth the scriptures, which brings to know the right use of them again.

P. They say, ‘To call that light in every man Christ, is to slight Christ’s glorious person in heaven, and to nullify it.’

A. Have you not in this showed your ignorance? and to be those that went forth from the apostles, and so are hardened from the spirit they were in; who said, ‘Christ is all in all,’⁷⁹ which ‘doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world?’⁸⁰ And none see the person of Christ in heaven, but who are in the light that he hath enlightened them withal; yea, the covenant of light to the Gentiles and heathens as well as Jews, and so God is not a respecter of persons. And all that are from this light, are now making war against the Lamb and the saints, and the accuser of the brethren⁸¹ is cast out, and the light which enlightens every man who comes into the world, is Christ.

P. They say. ‘It is a delusion for them that are in the light to see what men’s inward states are before God.’ See page 29.

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A. Have ye given yourselves the name ‘church of Christ,’ and is there not a spirit of discerning among you?⁸² Have ye not manifested here that ye are harlotted from the church of Christ the apostles were of? And how can ye minister, or teach people, if ye do not discern their states, how they stand before God? How can you commend yourselves to every man’s conscience in God’s sight? How can ye present the souls of men to God, and see not how their states are in his sight? How come ye to have fellowship in the spirit? How can you, or any, minister to the state and condition that people are in, and see where they are, and not know how they stand in God’s sight? In this how have you showed your ignorance of the scriptures, and the epistles written to the saints, which speak to the state and conditions the saints were in! Ye have a name, but how have ye declared yourselves dead from the life! How have ye stained your own glory, and marred your own beauty, and let yourselves out of the steps and paths of the church of Christ!

P. Simpson saith, ‘If my heart deceive me not, I could wish that God would recover you out of the devil’s snare.’ See page 40. And ye speak of’ breaking of bread, and ordinances, and the Lord’s supper, and baptism.’ See page 35.

A. The prayers of the faithful that are in the spirit, are acceptable;⁸³ but he that doubts, knows not his own heart, and prays without discerning,⁸⁴ being out of that which purifies it. And for baptism, and ordinances, and the Lord’s supper, and the bread that the saints broke, ye have all been ignorant of them in this night of apostacy since the days of the apostles. Paul told the Corinthians, ‘what he had received of the Lord, he delivered unto them;’ and ‘as oft as they did eat that bread, and drink that cup, they did show forth the Lord’s death till he came,’ and they were to do it in remembrance of him.⁸⁵ And afterwards the apostles wrote again to the said Corinthians, and told them, ‘the light that shined in their hearts would give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus;’⁸⁶ and said, ‘while we look not at things that are seen, but at things that are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporal, (bread, wine, and water are seen,) but the things that are not seen are eternal.’⁸⁷ And bids them examine themselves, and prove their own selves, and said, ‘Know ye not that Christ Jesus is in you, except you be reprobates?’⁸⁸

P. He saith, ‘He hath been a preacher of the gospel at Bristol and Wells, and he hath not need to seek a proof of any man.’ See page 43. And he saith, ‘I am no preacher, to bid every man turn to the light within him, neither did I ever read or hear, that any of the apostles or holy men of God preached such a gospel.’ And they said of

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Sarah Latchet, who had been one of them, and was excommunicated, was fittest to send her to Bridewell.’

A. This was not the work of the ministers of the gospel, to wrestle flesh and blood, which is yours. And they in the sight of God had witnesses, and they could seek them; which thou sayst thou needs not. And they turned people from the darkness to the light; and Christ bid them ‘believe in the light while they had it, that they might become the children of the light.’⁸⁹ And the apostle’s doctrine was, ‘that the light that shined in their hearts, would give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus,’ and this thou never heardest of, as thou sayst. And thy gospel that is not this, and agrees not to the apostles,’ is another, and so accursed. And the saints were one another’s epistles written in one another’s hearts, read and seen of all men.⁹⁰ And thou hast been a bad preacher at Wells and Bristol, that knowest not the light.

P. They say, ‘A man may he a christian, a believer, a converted soul, he may be in Christ, and yet not have received the spirit of sealing and establishing,’ page 53.

A. This is like the rest of their doctrine, who, being out of it themselves, are not able to judge of the state of babes, believers, and converted souls who are in Christ. For they that are in Christ have the spirit; and they that are converted, are converted by the spirit. And he that believeth, cometh to be sealed with the spirit of promise.⁹¹

P. They say, ‘The light in every man is a notion,’ and yet say ‘they seek God by prayer, solemnly.’ And ‘they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, that bid all men turn to the light within them, and from the believing on the person of Jesus Christ,’ page 60.

A. None open the kingdom of heaven to all men, but who turn people to the light ‘which Christ Jesus hath enlightened every man with that cometh into the world.’ And none believe in Christ, but who believe in the light which Christ, the light, ‘hath enlightened them with;’ and such have the witness in themselves,⁹² and can set to their seals that God is true; and they see their sanctification, justification, and redemption. And none ever pray the acceptable prayer of the Lord, but who are in the light that cometh from Christ; and such call not the light ‘a notion,’ for all notions are among such as are out of the light, ‘with which Christ doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world.’ They are from the rock, the foundation, and sanctification, and see not Christ. And this is not to deny Christ, but receive him, and believe in him. And all upon the earth are antichrists, that deny the light ‘that doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world,’ and are from it. VOL. III, 22

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P. And as for your speaking of judging, and ‘not to judge before the time, until the Lord do come,’ &c.

A. That was spoken to the Corinthians, and the apostle adds, ‘who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart.’⁹³ Now the same apostle said to the same Corinthians, ‘that God would dwell in them, and walk in them,’⁹⁴ and they were not to judge until the time that he did come. And he told them, ‘the saints should judge the world,’⁹⁵ and the world should be judged by them. Now where the Lord is come, such as have the son, and the Father, and bring this doctrine, they are to be received; and they know where sin and transgression are finished, and where it is standing. So if any man have an ear to hear this, and can receive it, let him.

And as for the rest of the things in your book, your silence might have covered your shame, ‘for every man’s words shall be his burden.’ Therefore, he that hath the word of God, speaks that which shall be so, which now comes to be richly known, and is known among the saints and believers, the true church which is come out of the apostacy, since the days of the apostles, to that the apostles were in.

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Jonathan Clapham, ‘a labourer of the gospel,’ as he saith, and William Jenkin: their book to the protector, called ‘A discovery of the Quakers’ doctrine.’ Their principles, &c.

P. He saith, ‘I dare not say that I am infallible, as the pope and the Quakers.’ And ‘the magistrate in this external politic kingdom is a mediator, though he is no officer nor magistrate in the spiritual kingdom of his church. And if this be received by magistrates, that they have nothing to do with the worship of God, Christ is little beholding to them. Then they may protect the worship of Mahomet, as well as Christ’s.’ And yet ye say, ‘That the magistrate is the officer of Christ.’ See his epistle to the protector.

A. How is it, then, if the magistrate be no officer of the church⁹⁶, that you make use of magistrates to prison, to persecute, to give you tithes, and to quench the spirit when any thing is revealed to ‘another that sits by?’⁹⁷ Were not the magistrates in all ages stirred up by the blind priests, prophets, and teachers, to persecute and prison such as they judged to be blasphemers? And so, did not all the saints in all ages suffer, not as for truth, but as for blasphemy; yea, by them that had the form, covered with the sheep’s clothing⁹⁸?

Now the magistrate that is in the power of Christ, is beyond an

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external kingdom, and sees over the kingdoms of the world; and as he is a help-governor for Christ, he is a member of the church, and knows who worship God, and who worship idols. And who worship God are in the power of God, in that which sees over all external kingdoms; that is the higher power which the soul must be subject to, and that is the true magistrate. And thou not being infallible, art not in the spirit, and so art not a minister, and art not able to judge of powers, nor magistrates, nor kingdoms, nor churches. For who is in the infallible, is in the spirit that Christ was in, and the apostles and prophets that gave forth scriptures. But we say, that thou, nor the pope, thy elder brother, (in the apostacy from the apostles,) are either of you infallible, nor in the infallible spirit that the apostles were in; but ye are both erred from it in the apostacy, as your fruits declare.

P. They say, ‘The magistrates are to protect the church from the ravenous wolves; for ye are to stop the freedom of the Quakers in your dominions, and their license, and the Lord bless your highness.’ See his epistle to the protector.

A. Before, thou saidst they were not officers in the spiritual church, and now wouldst thou have them to limit and quench the spirit? and to be your executioners, by telling them the Quakers seduce people? Ye have manifested your own spirits, that ye have not the spirit to resist their spirits, but are crying to the magistrates. And did John bid the saints call to the magistrates, to the outward powers of the earth, to try seducers, or did the saints so? And have not you manifested yourselves to be them that cry, ‘help men!’ against Christ and the saints? and cry to the mountains to cover you; crying to the magistrates, ‘Help men of Israel! these are the men that will turn the world upside down’⁹⁹ and so go to the arm of flesh? Have not ye here showed your spirits to be them that should come, who were inwardly ravened, who John saw were come, and to be the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the blasphemers; such as you cannot tear, yourselves, you would have the magistrates to tear. But the Lord hath opened an understanding among many of them that they see you.

P. He saith, ‘We dare not contest with the Quakers, they teach men, by minding the light in the conscience, to attain a moral righteousness, that is the highest; and as if they had accomplished it wholly now, and not to be fulfilled in another world.’ See epistle to the protector.

A. We do believe that you are not able to resist the Quakers, who have appeared in that that cannot be shaken¹⁰⁰. Therefore, is it not a shame to you to say you are a church and ministers, and to say the magistrate is no officer in the spiritual church; and yet fly to the magistrate, and tell him you dare not contest with the Quakers, and

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bless him if he will but stop them! Think ye not the magistrates will see you in these things? And the light which Christ, the righteousness of God,¹⁰¹ ‘hath enlightened every man that cometh into the world, withal,’ leads man to the end of the righteousness of the law, that comes to be fulfilled in all its righteousness whatsoever. And so the light is too heavy for thee, and too hard for thee; and it is the precious stone thou stumblest at. And things fulfilled in another world, the prophecies, the parables, the types, the figures, the shadows, the gifts, the revelations, the dispensations, these things were in this world manifested. And who comes to Christ, who is the end of all, comes into the power of the world that hath no end. What is there to fulfil there, in the world that hath no end. Things are to be fulfilled in this world, that hath an end. And thus thou hast showed thy ignorance.

P. He saith, ‘The scripture is the word of God.’ And saith, ‘Christ is not properly the word, but figuratively,’ page 3. ‘And the scripture is in more proper sense, without figure, called the word of God.’ He saith, ‘Without the scripture we do not know how to worship God aright, and serve him, and therein attain to eternal life.’

Again they say, ‘God is not pleased to use this way of immediate revelation now: neither indeed is it the work of God’s holy spirit to discover things unto us now immediately,’ page 5.

A. Christ’s name is called ‘the word of God’ properly, and not figuratively, and more properly than the scripture, as in the Revelations. And the scriptures are the words of God, and words which Christ the word fulfils. So it is proper to call the scriptures the words of God, and proper to call Christ’s name the word of God, and ‘the word that became flesh,’¹⁰² that is proper scripture. And they that had not the scriptures, worshipped God, before the scriptures were written, as Abraham and Enoch, and others; and they attained to eternal life. And if people have all the scriptures, and not the spirit which was before they were given forth, they want the standing rule; they cannot know the scriptures; they cannot worship God aright; they cannot find eternal life; they have not unity with God; neither do any worship God aright, but they who are in the spirit that gave them forth. And we do believe you, that immediate revelations now by the holy spirit of God revealing things to you immediately, ye have not; and you say it is not the work of God’s spirit now, nor the way of God now, &c. You that have ravened from the spirit of God inwardly, have been the wolves which Christ said should come,¹⁰³ which John saw were come¹⁰⁴, after whom the world hath gone, and ye have burst into names, and heads, and horns, and sects. And the power was given to the beast, and the false prophets; and the great whore hath corrupted the earth. All nations

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have drunk her cup of fornication,¹⁰⁵ and the kings of the earth. So they have fled to the kings for help against the saints, and against the Lamb,¹⁰⁶ but the Lamb and the saints shall have the victory. And so when you have been ravened from the spirit of God, it hath not been likely ye should attain to immediate revelation by the spirit of God. But now who are come to the Lamb, are come to that ye have ravened from, they witness immediate revelation. They are come to that the apostles were in, the spirit of Christ, the spirit of God; they witness immediate revelation. Who are come into the fear of God, the things of God are revealed unto them; who are come into the spirit of God, it reveals to them the deep things of God.¹⁰⁷ So you that deny immediate revelation by God’s holy spirit now, and discovering things to you immediately, you have showed your spirits to be the false spirits, unclean spirits that be in the earth, like the frogs that go out of the mouth of the beast and the false prophet,¹⁰⁸ which was discovered by John, and revealed to John, discovered and made manifest; and now with the same holy spirit of God are all you apostates revealed and discovered to the children of the light, to the lambs and the saints, who witness the spirit of God which reveals the things of God to them, and immediate revelation. The false prophets, false apostles, false teachers, in their false prophecies and teachings, who had gotten the form, ever denied the power, and immediate revelation by God’s holy spirit. And was it not they that cried to the powers of the earth for help against the saints in all ages, which were discovered and judged by the spirit of God, and must go into the fire.

P. He saith, ‘The scriptures are able to make wise unto salvation, and they are a more sure word of prophecy than any voice we can hear from heaven,’ page 6. ‘And we will call them the word of God, whether the Quakers will or not, and we are to go to the law and testimony,’ page 7.

A. And in this ye are contrary to the ministers of the word, who call the scriptures the words of God, and Christ the word; and call the scriptures a declaration and a treatise, which Christ the word came to fulfil. And the law and testimony, which you say is the Old and New Testament, many may have, and yet stand against ‘the law’ which ‘is light,’ as saith Solomon; and stand against ‘the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy,’ and crucify them that are in the law and testimony, as witness the ravening wolves that have had the sheep’s clothing, but inwardly ravened from the spirit; which Christ said should come, and John saw were come, went out from the apostles, whom the world have since gone after. And many may have the scripture, and stand against the voice from heaven, as the Jews did against him that spoke from

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heaven, who was more sure; he that spoke from heaven, was the end of the scriptures, and comes to fulfil them. And the scriptures are not able ‘to make wise unto salvation,’ as you say, who leave out the faith; but through faith they are.

P. ‘Let the Quakers show wherever Christ or the apostles bid people look to the light within them. And the Quakers say they write from the spirit of the Lord, and speak from God immediately and infallibly, as did the apostles, and doth not this bring them under the curse in the revelations?’¹⁰⁹ page 8. ‘And say the letter is a dead and killing letter,’ these he calls ‘wicked errors.’ And ‘to say the light within is sufficient, is an old Popish argument.’

A. The light which every man that cometh into the world is enlightened with, is the salvation to the ends of the earth, and sufficient; for he that believes in it shall have the light of life, and come to witness the law of God in his mind and in his heart; and the new covenant, in which he shall not need to say, ‘Know the Lord.’ And the letter of scripture, paper and ink, is a dead letter: and thou and you all that speak and write, and not from God immediately and infallibly, as the apostles did, and prophets, and Christ, but only have gotten the words, you are all under the curse, in another spirit, ravened from the spirit that was in the apostles, only have had the sheep’s clothing, inwardly ravening wolves; so deceived the world and the nations, and have been held up by the powers of the world, the powers of the earth. And the kings of the earth have drunk the cup of fornication, and they were like to maintain that which they have drunk. And so power hath been given to the beast over all kindreds, tongues, and nations, and they should make war against the Lamb and the saints, and continue it till the words of God were fulfilled. And the apostles told the Corinthians, ‘that light that shined in their hearts would give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.’ And so all people upon the earth that have gotten a knowledge, if the light that has shined in their hearts hath not given it them, what they know, they know naturally; in these things they corrupt themselves. And so thou and you that are ignorant of the apostles’ doctrine, the light that gives people the knowledge, and the immediate infallible spirit that the apostles were in, and that the scriptures were given forth from, are, together with the pope, in another spirit than the apostles were in, comprehended by the spirit that gave forth scriptures.

P. ‘And what a dreadful judgment is upon them that leave the scriptures to look to the light within them,’ page 9. ‘And many deceivers should come into the world that confess not Christ come in the flesh, receive them not into your houses.’ And ‘the man Christ is testified against by the light,’ page 13. And he saith, ‘They publicly deny

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the resurrection of the dead body.’ And saith, ‘The sufferings of Christ in the flesh were but an example and a figure.

A. Christ ended all figures in suffering, and examples, and patterns; yet he is the saints’ pattern and example, as the scripture witnesses, and there is no other example nor pattern to be heeded but Christ alone, which they are to learn of. But to say he is nothing but a figure, for that thou, and you all, will be judged: for he ended all figures and is the resurrection, and the life both.¹¹⁰ ‘And thy dead body shall live with my dead body,’¹¹¹ this is scripture. And they that said the resurrection was past in the days of the apostles, overthrew the faith of some.¹¹² That which overthrew the faith, denying the resurrection, kept the seed in death, where it hath been in you all since the days of the apostles; for who are of faith, are of Abraham, of Christ according to the flesh;¹¹³ and so if the dead arise not, their preaching is vain, and their faith is vain. So I say, mortal must put on immortality, and corruption must put on incorruption. ‘The first man was made a living soul, the second was made a quickening spirit; there are earthly bodies, and heavenly bodies,’ and there is a resurrection of the just and unjust, the one to eternal life, the other to condemnation. And the judge is ‘the man Christ Jesus,’ to judge the quick and the dead, who both died and rose again, that he might be God of the dead and the living. And the light which every man hath that cometh into the world, doth not testify against Christ; and the light doth not bring to deny the scriptures, but to own them. And none own them aright, nor Christ, but who are in the light which cometh from him. And all that deny the light that doth enlighten every man, &c. are the wolves, and the false prophets, and antichrists, that have gotten the sheep’s clothing; and such cannot be received into the houses of the saints, that are from the light which every man is enlightened withal. And none confess Christ come in the flesh, but who are in the light which Christ hath enlightened them with. And so now all professors, and teachers upon the earth, and kings of the earth, are ravened inwardly from the light which Christ enlightened them all with; standing against the light, and the Lamb, and the saints, that are in it; and are not to be received into the houses of the saints, neither to bid them God speed; for they are out from God that are out of the light which Christ the son hath enlightened them with.

P. And he saith, ‘Christ hath a human reasonable soul.’ Again, ‘Christ, the eternal son of God, distinct from the Father eternally; before he was made flesh, his spirit was distinguished from the Father, and was the son from eternity; and not only when he was manifested by descending on Christ in the likeness of a dove, or by falling upon the apostles like cloven tongues,’ &c. See page 17.

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A. Christ saith he is in the Father, and the Father is in him, and he will send them the spirit of truth, the comforter, that proceeds from the Father and the son;¹¹⁴ and Christ saith, he was glorified with the Father before the world began; and yet ye say, the son is distinguished from the Father from eternity. And the son saith he is in the Father, and the Father is in him. And you say the spirit is distinguished from the Father and the son from eternity, and Christ saith it proceeds from him and the Father, and he is the God and father of the spirits of all flesh, and the substance of all things. And is not a human soul earthly? for you say that Christ had a human soul, and is not human earthly? and hath a human body, and is not a human body an earthly body? Is not his body of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh¹¹⁵? and is not his body a glorified body? Was not the first man of the earth, earthly, and had a human body, the second man the Lord from heaven? And is not the soul immortal, which cometh out from God who is immortal, and goes into God again? and is not human, or earthly, mortal? And are there not three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the word, and the spirit, and are they not all one? How then are they distinct? And there are three that bear record in earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood, which agree in one. And Christ saith, ‘I and my Father, are one;’ and ‘I in the Father, and the Father in me,’ and he is in the saints, and so not distinct.

P. He saith, ‘It is impudency in the Quakers to deny the word trinity, and the three persons. And the church ever denied such as deny the doctrine of the trinity.’ See pages 18, 19.

A. As for the word trinity, and three persons, we have not read it in the Bible, but in the common-prayer-book, or mass-book, which the pope was the author of. But as for unity we own it, and Christ being the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his substance (of the Father) we own; that which agrees with the scriptures, and for that which the scripture speaks not, which men speak and teach for doctrine, their own words, that the scriptures speak not nor teach, such the scriptures shut out, and we deny.

P. He saith, ‘That it is the weak, ignorant, dark, and the wicked sect of the devil, that maintain an equality with God; the soul to be one being with God, or part of God.’ And saith, ‘The Quakers say, there is no scripture speaks of a human soul, and the soul is taken up into God, and God is all in all.’

A. The assembly, or synod of priests, put forth a catechism, and say that the holy ghost and the son are equal with the Father in power and glory: and this they put forth that people should learn it: then, if any come to witness the holy ghost, they come to witness that which is equal in power and glory with the Father? if any come to witness

the son of God revealed in them, (which he that hath not, hath not life,) do they not come to witness him who is equal in power and glory with the Father? This is your own catechism. And is it blasphemy to confess your own words, that you have given people to learn? God breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul; God, who hath all souls in his hand. And is not this [breath of life]¹¹⁶ that cometh out from God, which is in God’s hand, part of God, of God, and from God, and goes to God again?¹¹⁷ which soul Christ is the bishop of. And dost not thou speak of a human soul, an earthly soul, and is earthly, immortal? cannot it die or be killed? And is not that which came out from God, which God hath in his hand, taken up into God again, which Christ the power of God is the bishop of, is not this of God’s being? And doth not the scripture say, ‘God is all and in all?’ And how dost thou here divide the word of God aright, who showest so much ignorance of the letter of scripture?

P. He saith, ‘It is a wretched doctrine to say men have not a human soul in them, and to say that the soul is a part of the divine essence.’

A. Is not that of God that came out from him? and is not the earthly and human of the ground? and is that not mortal? And dost thou say it is human, and is not that earthly? And where doth the scripture of the prophets, Christ or the apostles, tell people of a human soul; and of Christ having a human body in heaven? And doth not the apostle speak of his glorified body?

P. He saith, ‘That God should dwell in his saints, and Christ inhabit in believers; how can this be? the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, how much less shall the strait heart of man?’

A. The scripture saith God will dwell in men, and walk in men, and Christ that fills heaven and earth ‘is in you, except ye be reprobates;’¹¹⁸ and so, in this thou hast showed thyself one not able to divide the word aright. And the bodies of the saints are the temples of God, and God will dwell in them, and walk in them, and he will be their God, and they shall be his people.

P. He saith, ‘Nor is it an essential indwelling of the divine nature in God’s people,’ &c.

A. Doth not the apostle say, the saints were made partakers of the divine nature?¹¹⁹ and that God dwells in the saints, and Christ is in

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them, except they be reprobates? And do not the saints come to eat the flesh of Christ?¹²⁰ And if they eat his flesh, is it not within them?

P. He saith, ‘God dwells not in the saints as a personal union,’ &c See page 22.

A. How come the saints then to eat of his flesh, and to be of his flesh and bone?¹²¹ and to know God dwelling in them? and to have unity with the son and the Father? and to be of his body, which is, the church, of which Christ is the head¹²²?

P. To say a man is justified and made righteous by God’s putting righteousness into us, and by righteousness wrought in the creature, confounds justification and sanctification,’ &c. See page 25.

A. The apostle brought people to the faith that was in their hearts, by which they were justified, for with the heart man believes unto righteousness, &c. And they were to believe in the light, that was, Christ. And the light that shined in their hearts gave the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus their saviour. Now justification by the works of the law, was, ‘do this and live.’ They were to circumcise the children; if they did not, they were to be cut off: and they were to keep the law. But the faith of Christ ended the works of the law: for it took away the nature that the law went upon. Now the Papists, and priests, are out of the works of the law, and the works of faith that works by love;¹²³ for they are slaying one another about religion, though they pretend works, and this was ever out of the faith of Christ Jesus, to kill one another about religion. Now the apostles were in the works of faith, who neither prisoned nor persecuted any that were contrary minded, nor wrestled against flesh and blood, but against the power that captivated creatures. And so all this work about works doth show you and the Papists both to be out of the faith that works by love, where love should overcome all things, and bear all things. I do not measure priests and professors, nor Papists, by the works of the law which the apostle speaks of, which the false teachers were bringing people to in the days of the apostles. Neither do I compare or measure Papists, or priests, with the works of ‘faith that works by love,’ that becomes all to all, for the winning some of them. Papists, and priests, and professors will kill one another about their faith, which is not the faith that works by love; but contrary to the apostles’ and Quakers’ faith.

P. He saith, ‘Our warfare cannot be expected to be over as long as we are in the body: and the best of saints do not live free from sin,’ page 27.

A. The apostles said they were made free from sin, and that the blood of Jesus Christ the son of God cleanseth us from all sin; and such as witnessed the everlasting covenant of God, that blotted out their sins

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and transgressions. And they witnessed the one offering tbat perfected forever them that are sanctified. And the saints witnessed the kingdom of God, which stands in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy ghost, and were new creatures, the old man being put off; and they were more than conquerors. So thou art ignorant of the scriptures, and it is the doctrine of devils to preach that men shall have sin, and be in a warfare so long as they are on earth; that is not the doctrine of Christ which brings people to the faith, which gives the victory, in which they have unity one with another, and please God.

P. He saith, ‘To witness heaven within and hell within, and the resurrection, is the mystery of iniquity,’ page 31.

A. Which shows thou never knew heaven in thyself, nor hell there, nor Christ the resurrection and the life, which they are blessed that are made partakers of the first resurrection, on them the second death shall have no power. And the scriptures do witness heaven within. And if Christ that was offered up, the resurrection and the life, be not within thee, thou art a reprobate.

P. He saith, ‘We shall have incorruptible, powerful, glorious, and spiritual bodies;’ and yet they say ‘Christ is in heaven with a human body’ (which is earthly,) see page 34. Again ‘the spirit can enter into heaven, while the body is upon the earth,’ &c. And he saith, ‘the fourth commandment commandeth the keeping of a seventh day: and he that breaketh the least commandment and teacheth men so to do, is least in the kingdom of heaven,’ page 41.

A. Have not all the priests and teachers in England denied the Jews’ sabbath, the seventh day? and do not you work on it? and do not you not meet together on the first day of the week? and do not you all teach men to break the commandment there? And you keep markets and fairs on the seventh day, the Jews’ sabbath; ye meet together on the first day of the week, which is the eighth day, and so not one in seven. And if the saints sat in heavenly places with Christ Jesus;¹²⁴ and if the saints in heaven must have a glorious body, and Christ a human body, (which I say is earthly,) how doth this agree with scripture, that says Christ’s is a glorious body? And is it an earthly body the saints eat, when they the flesh of Christ? And are not people in their first state, in the earthly, before they come to witness a spiritual body like unto his glorious body? How do you divide the word aright? And they that have the spirit of Christ, their spirits are in heaven, and they have unity with the Father.

P. ‘We have no such immediate converse with God now, as to see him face to face,’ page 42.

A. We do believe you have not, who are gone from the spirit that

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the prophets and apostles were in, ravened from it since the days of the apostles in the apostacy, and so are not in the counsel of God; and are out of his teaching and instruction, and so far from having fellowship with God; for who have fellowship with him come to see him. And you are not of Abraham’s seed who saw God face to face, but are of the Pharisees’ stock, who never saw his shape, John v.

P. And you say, ‘In the last days false prophets should arise, and show signs and wonders; and if it were possible they should deceive the elect.¹²⁵ And the coming of the man of sin is after the working of satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders,’ &c. page 44.

A. Christ said, the false prophets and antichrists should come, which John saw were come; yea, many antichrists were gone out into the world. And the apostle Paul saw the man of sin before his decease, the coming of him with the lying signs and wonders; which man of sin since the days of the apostles, in this night of apostacy, has ruled and reigned, with his lying signs and wonders; and these are not the true signs, but lying. And when they were ravened from the spirit of God they got the sheep’s clothing while inwardly ravening wolves, ‘which if it were possible, would deceive the very elect;’ which went forth from the apostles in the apostacy; and since they have deceived the nations, the wolves, the inwardly raveners, though covered with the sheep’s clothing. And here these things have been among you in the apostacy: and the apostates have reigned and ruled, and have had the dominion since the days of the apostles. But now with that which ye all have ravened from, are ye made manifest and comprehended. So this man of sin, with his lying signs and wonders, who ravened from the spirit of God, as the devil did, who went from the truth, is he that compels all his members to plead for the body of sin while they be upon earth, and so to keep them out of the faith of God’s elect, that gives the victory over the world. And such he cannot deceive, nor any of his members, that are ravened from the spirit of God.

P. He saith, ‘The Quakers’ despising the fashions of the world, contem